food

From: Eric J. Korpela <korpela_at_ssl.berkeley.edu>
Date: Thu Nov 8 11:40:51 2001

> I find it somewhat interesting how Americans define "foreign". Doesn't that
> require something "indigenous"? =)
> I can't say that I know much about American cousine, save for hamburgers, but
> there is a shop in Stockholm which specialises in American food, and I must
> say that the general impression I've got is that it's absolutely deranged.
> Two examples: Mustard and mayonnaise mixed into one bottle. Smoke essence,
> added to food in order to get a "grilled" quality.
> And everything is very colourful.
> Oh, and then there's that marshmallow butter, which I think you're supposed to
> have on your sandwich. Makes Nutella seem like a wholesome product. =)

Outside of the US, the general impression you get of American food is
always deranged. I've lived in the US for my entire life and have never
been subjected to marshmallow butter, or a mixed mustard and mayonnaise.
Smoke essence, occasionally, since it's usually an ingredient of BBQ potato
chips.

The reality is that in the US, when you go for Mexican food you are usually
getting american food with mexican roots. Same goes for any other ethnicity.
American food, like american culture, is a mixture of whatever people brought
with them and what was already here when they arrived. The best of it is
great, the worst of it is really bad. You can't claim it lacks variety, though.

But you can bet when you try to get American food outside of North America,
you're far more likely to find an overcooked burger with sweet relish on it
than a steaming pile of crawdads.

Eric
Received on Thu Nov 08 2001 - 11:40:51 GMT