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[Nilaul]

You do realize that every country in Europe has its own different complete set of dishes, and in each country, you have multiple regional specific dishes.

 

[Summer Haze]

The Greggs near me has always baked and sold their own bread, and it's surprisingly good.

 

[perfectchaos007]

You do realize that every country in Europe has its own different complete set of dishes, and in each country, you have multiple regional specific dishes.

You do realize its the same case in America. People in California don't even know what fried okra is, whereas in the south its a common side item.

 

[pablito]

You do realize its the same case in America. People in California don't even know what fried okra is, whereas in the south its a common side item.

I do! At my elementary school we would do these cultural food days. We had a classmate from the south, and she'd bring us some. I didn't like it though, lol.

 

[manfestival]

I miss my US food. My body craves it all the time but I get some decent food here

 

[BlackSalad]

I miss my US food. My body craves it all the time but I get some decent food here

Whenever I return from abroad, one of my first meals is usually Taco Bell.

 

[gngf123]

Pret and Eat also sell pastries, by your definition are they bakeries as well?

FYI this is what a bakery in Europe looks like and what I mean:

Not only are the pictures you posted originally from Marks and Spencer - a supermarket, but it's really not uncommon to find stuff like this in the UK either:

This is a bakery that my mum and nan visit here in England. There's plenty of these around if you are willing to look. Not everything is Gregg's and supermarket bakeries.

 

[Philly40]

I think to be called a bakery you need at least time-served qualified bakers in every shop.

That certainly doesn't apply to Greggs.


When I was 15 I worked in a supermarket that had a team of experienced bakers, now most supermarkets in the UK just reheat and par-bake

 

[Vagabundo]

I found it hard to get good food in the San Fran outside of higher end restaurants. General supermarkets just had shit in them, here in Ireland the supermarkets have a good range of stuff. Italy was amazing for food, fresh gorgeous food everywhere.

 

[Khrno]

That like max level cultural appropriation mate...
Mexico is not the US
Salvador is not the US
Ethiopia is not the US

Ethiopia aside:

Here you have a fancy looking map with flags, of what the real América is, and not the appropriated term by the modern people of the United States.

 

[pbsapeer]

Love how this has just become a debate about Gregg's. Where is the love for sayers??

 

[Aureon]

People keep failing to understand what is being discussed here.

Its not American food versus European food, its food you find in those countries. Which is why Britain and especially America excel in this, because they are more international, and more willing to give up their boring traditional food.

If you knew much about Britain, you'd know its pretty rare to eat traditional British food. Thats the difference. The rest of Europe just eat their boring combinations of meat and potatoes. Britain is obviously the country that is most touched by immigration and the cultures associated it with that. Which is why it is said Pakistani and Indian food is considered the national cuisine often. The ubiquity of Pakistani cuisine in Britain alone makes the food in that country better than any European country.

And obviously London is by far the most international and global city in Europe hands down, and the cuisine reflects that.

The rest of Europe you just find their own cuisine mainly, and its mostly shit. Sorry, outside of perhaps Greek food, all European food is mediocre and inferior compared to Middle Easten, Asian, and South American cuisines. You get much more of these superior foods in London than anywhere else in Europe.

Still, it all still pales to NYC, i'd say, though.

The foods consumed in the majority of Europe, is boring and old. Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Eastern Europe, Switzerland, Spain man all of those places suck. Spains national dish is a bland mixture of shrimp, chicken and chorizo. What kinda of fucked up combination of meats is that? Nasty.

It's pretty fun how you left out Italy and France.

 

[milanbaros]

You do realize its the same case in America. People in California don't even know what fried okra is, whereas in the south its a common side item.

As much as I appreciate the size and breadth of US culture, this comparison to Europe as a whole has to stop. The idea that the US has anywhere close to the cultural diversity that Europe does is borderline offensive.

Do you think people in South Tyrol live similar lives to those in Sicily? Or Estonia to Gibraltar for example.

The response should be that the US culture is indeed diverse but please stop trying to say in any way that is similar to Europe.

 

[Locke562]

Are there people in this thread arguing that food is cultural appropriation?

 

[Liljagare]

I guess if I had to do some sort of comparison, I might say that the only thing that I found that truly differentiates the US and many countries found in Europe is just portion size. Every time I go to the US, the portions are just much bigger than I am used to, especially when I am ordering dishes like steak. It's like, you are expected to take home every meal and live several days off of it.

In terms of quality, each to his own. I think fast food in the US is much more creative than most that I have found in continental Europe but I think that might be because many people in the US might have grown up on fast food so it just became a bit of a creative outlet in the end. Most of the people I have met in places in mainland Europe don't seem to eat fast food as frequent , on the whole, as people in the US.

Processed foods I think are really great in the US. Spray cheese is excellent and one of the things I buy from online sites selling American foods. The fact that I could go into a Krogers and buy things like prunes flavoured with everything but not coming in the original prune flavour, awesome.

One big difference I thought in the US was how expensive quality basic foods seemed to be. I had to pay well over 4 dollars for a carton of organic milk and alot more for eggs that didn't come from caged chickens. In Sweden, there is a huge push for people to buy organic, high quality foods and the prices are reasonable. But in the US it seemed the prices were really high in comparison.

 

[cvxfreak]

Been to 53 countries. You find good food and bad food everywhere. Shop wisely and pursue a balanced diet.

 

[jem0208]

Orval is great too, so is Rodenbach and St Bernadus. Point remains what British beers match or exceed these because I've been missing out.

Good British beer is all about the Craft Breweries. There is so much variety if you know where to look.

 

[Dr.Phibes]

Been to 53 countries. You find good food and bad food everywhere. Shop wisely and pursue a balanced diet.

Yup. Some folks here really need to watch some Anthony Bourdain. And btw, saying that UK milk is the best and then posting some Arla crap is rich. UK milk can't compare to milk from Northern Germany since we have better cattle and more fertile soil. Also milk tastes the best when it's fresh and still warm.

 

[grumble]

You get crap food in America, you get crap food in Europe. If your experience of a country's cuisine is limited to fast food and franchise restaurants then you're always going to be disappointed.

It's like holidaying in the UK and living off Greggs cheese pasties and fish and chips, it's no indication of the great food that's out there in pretty much every town and city. It's the same in America.

That is true, but fast food chains are WAY less prevalent in Europe than in the US. It isn't as much of a thing at all. European dining is dominated by small, independently owned restaurants. Some small US cities have pretty limited food options outside of the chains, though obviously big cities have everything.

Outside of the UK, whose cuisine isn't particularly good (though improving), the European approach to food is really different. The food is typically prepared with more care, people are a touch pickier, and there is a food culture that starts young. The pictures of children's lunches from different countries is a real thing.

I've lived in both places. It isn't a small difference.

 

[hodgy100]

Gregg's stopped making their lamb and mint slice so now they are dead to me.

 

[ty_hot]

Italian pizza disliked??? I assume they were eating in the tourist traps of Rome, or were missing the pineapple.

Yup, most Brazilians dont like it. We are used to pizzas with a lot of topping, not those italian things that they call "pizza" where you need to be lucky to eat any topping . We dont eat one pizza per person because of that, you can easily share one pizza in 3 or 4 people. Btw sao Paulo is the city with more pizzarias per person in the world.

Anyway, as I cant eat Brazilian pizza in Spain, I've been eating in a Italian restaurant and I got used to it and even enjoy it (while still missing the real one ). But when people visit Italy they dont like it in general.

 

[harriet the spy]

People keep failing to understand what is being discussed here.

Its not American food versus European food, its food you find in those countries. Which is why Britain and especially America excel in this, because they are more international, and more willing to give up their boring traditional food.

If you knew much about Britain, you'd know its pretty rare to eat traditional British food. Thats the difference. The rest of Europe just eat their boring combinations of meat and potatoes. Britain is obviously the country that is most touched by immigration and the cultures associated it with that. Which is why it is said Pakistani and Indian food is considered the national cuisine often. The ubiquity of Pakistani cuisine in Britain alone makes the food in that country better than any European country.

And obviously London is by far the most international and global city in Europe hands down, and the cuisine reflects that.

The rest of Europe you just find their own cuisine mainly, and its mostly shit. Sorry, outside of perhaps Greek food, all European food is mediocre and inferior compared to Middle Easten, Asian, and South American cuisines. You get much more of these superior foods in London than anywhere else in Europe.

Still, it all still pales to NYC, i'd say, though.

The foods consumed in the majority of Europe, is boring and old. Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Eastern Europe, Switzerland, Spain man all of those places suck. Spains national dish is a bland mixture of shrimp, chicken and chorizo. What kinda of fucked up combination of meats is that? Nasty.

I agree about your general point concerning the US- and you can find great good in London - but average food in london is *shit*, and far worse than most big European cities.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

I agree about your general point concerning the US- and you can find great good in London - but average food in london is *shit*, and far worse than most big European cities.

This is quite inaccurate. How did you reach this conclusion/where are you from?

 

[ZackieChan]

As an American coming into this thread now...
letthemfight.gif

 

[dragonbane]

I have been in New York twice for 2 weeks each and everything I tried from Indian over Italian to Sushi I had either far better or similar here in Berlin where I live for far less too. I was fairly disappointed tbh since NYC is so praised. It wasnt bad by any means, but not good enough for the asking price. The variety is certainly there, but the same can be said about my city.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Good British beer is all about the Craft Breweries. There is so much variety if you know where to look.

yes

 

[Steiner_Zi]

As an American coming into this thread now...
letthemfight.gif

It's no coincidence that both World Wars originated in Europe, right? The topic was about US vs Europe food and us Europeans managed to pick up a fight amongst ourselves.

London is indeed the most international city in Europe with great diversity in cuisines but IMO there is something missing, people don't value food the same way as they value it like in France, Italy or Greece.

 

[Paracelsus]

Yup, most Brazilians dont like it. We are used to pizzas with a lot of topping, not those italian things that they call "pizza" where you need to be lucky to eat any topping . We dont eat one pizza per person because of that, you can easily share one pizza in 3 or 4 people. Btw sao Paulo is the city with more pizzarias per person in the world.

Anyway, as I cant eat Brazilian pizza in Spain, I've been eating in a Italian restaurant and I got used to it and even enjoy it (while still missing the real one ). But when people visit Italy they dont like it in general.

What tells pizza from "pizza" is not the topping, it's how you prepare, flatten and cook the dough. What americans call pizza is usually a pie shaped like a pizza. Literally glorified salted cakes, or as well call them, "flat cakes".

Usually when you go to a place worth the time, as long as you're willing to pay they're also willing to put any topping you want on your thing. The base is what matters, and only the flat pizza with crust is the real deal.

 

[harriet the spy]

This is quite inaccurate. How did you reach this conclusion/where are you from?

I reached that conclusion from living in London. It's an opinion of course but reached by the large majority of non Brits I know living in London.
My feelings are exactly those of Steiner above. International food doesn't make it automatically better when the food itself is just ok. I like Indian/thai food a lot but the average Indian / Thai restaurant in london is nothing to write home about. I'd eat a NY pizza a million times before eating from one of those fried chicken halal shops.

 

[daviyoung]

It's no coincidence that both World Wars originated in Europe, right? The topic was about US vs Europe food and us Europeans managed to pick up a fight amongst ourselves.

Basically the war for independence then

 

[Skellig Gra]

Good British beer is all about the Craft Breweries. There is so much variety if you know where to look.

I had some nice craft brews last time I was in the Lake District, any recommendations?

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

Based on that post or in general?

In general, your posts seem like someone from a big city, a musical purist who shit talks (not always a bad thing).

 

[Westbahnhof]

Yup, most Brazilians dont like it. We are used to pizzas with a lot of topping, not those italian things that they call "pizza" where you need to be lucky to eat any topping . We dont eat one pizza per person because of that, you can easily share one pizza in 3 or 4 people. Btw sao Paulo is the city with more pizzarias per person in the world.

Anyway, as I cant eat Brazilian pizza in Spain, I've been eating in a Italian restaurant and I got used to it and even enjoy it (while still missing the real one ). But when people visit Italy they dont like it in general.

I know I'm just nitpicking about semantics, but yo.. "those italian things that they call "pizza""? With quotation marks?
Traditional Italian pizza is the base, the definition of pizza.
I'm sure all varieties are delicious dishes with their own strengths, but "what Italians call pizza" is the most "pizza" pizza possible.

What you're doing is a bit like going to China and proclaiming "Eh, your food is okay, but nothing compared to the proper Chinese food I eat in my home country".

 

[CyclopsRock]

It's pretty fun how you left out Italy and France.

To some extent Italy, and to a much greater extent France suffer from "Beatles Syndrome" - a lot of younger people today will listen to the Beatles and shrug, not getting what the big deal is. The problem is that the Beatles's impact on modern music is so significant that modern pop and rock music has almost made the Beatles sound passé; They changed what music is, made it what it is now, so they sound just like everything else.

For a lot of the world, especially in the west but their tendrils reach far further than that, food and "cooking" is French. The way we cook, the way we season, the way we taste, even the way we eat, it's straight out of the French rule book. It's become so common that a lot of people don't even realise they're eating French food when they're eating it. As such, people can look at a menu of a French restaurant and shrug, not seeing anything special about it, precisely because it's changed the way we think about food to exist in its image.

That said, the person you quoted is right, the UK has an incredible food scene, mostly due to our absolute abandonment of English food. I'm pretty sure that St John's near Smithfield in London remains the only "English" restaurant - pigs trotters and the like - to have a Michelin star. But there's little you can't get in London, and for the most part it's amazing. A lot of other countries with stronger cuisines of their own don't have this much variety.

 

[ghostofsparta]

All I eat is pizza and fried chicken

 

[lukeskymac]

I've heard Americans drink sodas during lunch/dinner :/

1) That's not an American-only thing

2) When the hell else would you drink a soda? If I'm not eating something I only drink water.

 

[Sweet Bellic]

What tells pizza from "pizza" is not the topping, it's how you prepare, flatten and cook the dough. What americans call pizza is usually a pie shaped like a pizza. Literally glorified salted cakes, or as well call them, "flat cakes".

Usually when you go to a place worth the time, as long as you're willing to pay they're also willing to put any topping you want on your thing. The base is what matters, and only the flat pizza with crust is the real deal.

Pizza in America takes many forms... most predominantly being the flat kind with crust.

I have been in New York twice for 2 weeks each and everything I tried from Indian over Italian to Sushi I had either far better or similar here in Berlin where I live for far less too. I was fairly disappointed tbh since NYC is so praised. It wasnt bad by any means, but not good enough for the asking price. The variety is certainly there, but the same can be said about my city.

When you visit a foreign place you're generally at a disadvantage when it comes to food. Yes, you can consult Yelp or some locals, but you're mostly flying blind. I had one of the worst sandwiches of my life in France, and the worst pizza I've ever eaten was in the Netherlands... doesn't mean all French or Dutch cuisine must suck, or be inferior to that found in my homeland. Just means I didn't know what I was doing when I was there. It's easy to know all the good spots when you've lived somewhere for decades, not so much when you're only somewhere for two weeks.

 

[manfestival]

So far salchipapas are better in the US as flavor goes than in Peru but soon I shall be in the motherland of salchipapas to compare

 

[UltimaPooh]

Ethiopia aside:

Here you have a fancy looking map with flags, of what the real América is, and not the appropriated term by the modern people of the United States.

It's not appropriation it's in the name of our country... This were Americans. If you y'all wanted to be called Americans you should have put America in your name. Which is more important being identified as an American or being identified as the country you're from?

Not only that but the rest of the world outside of the Americas calls us Americans it's not just US citizens.

 

[Metroxed]

It's not appropriation it's in the name of our country... This were Americans. If you y'all wanted to be called Americans you should have put America in your name. Which is more important being identified as an American or being identified as the country you're from?

Not only that but the rest of the world outside of the Americas calls us Americans it's not just US citizens.

In the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking worlds (including Portugal and Spain), the term "America" always refers to the entire Americas, thus making all people living there "Americans". It leads to confusion in forums with people from different cultural origins such as this one. In English it's fine to call the US "America" though.

However:

If you y'all wanted to be called Americans you should have put America in your name.

"America" was originally the name for South America, long before the US even existed. Eventually it became the name for the whole northern and southern landmasses and once the US was founded, it became its name by default in English. In Spanish however "America" still keeps its original meaning (America = North America & South America).

In fact, if you see how the name of the US originated, you can see it followed the original meaning of the word America. By the time the US became independent, it was the only independent nation in America (America as it was understood at the time, ie North & South America); as each of the thirteen colonies became states and they united together, they became the "United States of America", but that "of America" did not come with the implication that "America" was only and exclusively the place they were located.

When speaking in English people who said "Americans" were usually referring to US citizens, but for example in Spanish "americanos" referred to the inhabitants of the Spanish colonies in North and South America (and later the citizens of those countries).

 

[hurricanes]

If you limited American food to American cuisine, they have beyond terrible food. But the U.S. is a immigrated countries and all bigger cities have a variety of cuisines from different parts of the world. In that sense it's ok.

 

[Mudcrab]

If you limited American food to American cuisine, they have beyond terrible food. But the U.S. is a immigrated countries and all bigger cities have a variety of cuisines from different parts of the world. In that sense it's ok.

lmao what is American cuisine to you?

 

[daviyoung]

Corn dogs
Twinkies
Grits

 

[Benjamin1981]

America doesn't have any variety in bread which makes Europe automatically superior.

 

[Pandora012]

Kinda weird how we are basically comparing a whole continent to a country. That said, apparently here in the US we don't have a variety of bread to choose from.

 

[perfectchaos007]

America doesn't have any variety in bread which makes Europe automatically superior.

come again? Does Europe have Giant Alligator bread like in the 2nd picture? Didn't think so

 

[Schattenjäger]

The food in Italy is always amazing
The vegetables taste so much fresher especially tomatoes

 

[buttery fistful]

US knows how to appreciate a good italian meal

idk why but I just love this picture

 

[mrkgoo]

Processed food in the US is way worse than in Europe. I had some corn puffs that absolutely dripped with fat. They were better used as bbq fire starters than food. They were nowhere near as fluffy and crunchy as the corn puffs around here. Most processed foods in the US contain far more fat, sugar and salt than in Europe.

Also, they tend to put too much salt in cooked food as well. Went to several restaurants and could tell the difference in saltiness between what they served and what restaurants serve around here.

I think the opening here is the thing. The processed stuff is really bad. I'm all for crappy processed foods at times, but largely the stuff I got in US was not the same as what I was used to (part of the problem), but it honestly seemed worse.

But as mentioned you can get everything, so go beyond that and there's some really great food too.

 

[hurricanes]

lmao what is American cuisine to you?

If you want to say that American cuisine is everything the old and new immigrants bring with them, this is the end of the discussion. There is nothing to talk about since you just steal every cuisine on earth because some of their people come to the U.S.

What we usually defined as American cuisine are traditional American dishes from the early immigrants, which is a mixture of German and English dishes with modifications, and southern American dishes(like soul food). Modern American cuisine takes notes from other cuisines as well, but it shouldn't change the core characteristics.

And yes, beyond a handful of dishes, I dislike most of what American cuisine has to offer. I dislike English cuisine as well if that make you feel better.