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Difference in food between Europe and USA
- Thread starter fireflame
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hydrophilic attack
Member
Like the hat?
Banned
hydrophilic attack
Member
when it comes to european beer germany is a distant third behind uk and belgium
Can you give me examples of UK beers that are better than German?
This thread is about food being "too rich" in the US and people just started going different places.
I don't have any first hand experience with grocery stores in Europe, but even in a medium sized city like Pittsburgh there are so many options for high quality, fresh produce here. I don't think I've ever bought food in a WalMart in my life.
This seems like an okay place to ask Americans, as it's not worth a thread:
Do any of you know Leberkäse? Some wunderbarer Leberkas?
Does it exist in the US? Could one get it? If so, how is it?
I've seen this in Seattle. I assume you can find it basically anywhere German and Dutch immigrants settled in the U.S., which would be a lot of places.
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Bitching about cheese is one of those things that make little sense since there are plenty of well stocked shops in America with good cheese and there's no shortage of trash-tier supermarket cheese all over Europe. Anything pre-shredded or pre-sliced is going to be bad wherever you live.
Now, if we are talking about the quality of the cheese served in restaurants... that may be a different and more complex conversation.
Now, if we are talking about the quality of the cheese served in restaurants... that may be a different and more complex conversation.
Like the hat?
Banned
Any moderately decent grocery store is going to have an in-house bakery.
Also, from my experience, this:
Maybe, but I haven't tasted any bread over there that's really comparable to what we have over here in the old world.
A lot of my friends and family have been to the US usually say that the food is unnecessarily rich/greasy/sweet. It even infects your ethnic restaurants because it's what Americans love. It's not necessarily a bad thing but European food is a lot cleaner on the palette. It's all about those few quality ingredients rather than deep frying it and adding blocks of cheese to a meal.
hydrophilic attack
Member
i guess german beer is nice if you like lagers lmao
can't think of many German beers that can compare to the british ale tradition
fredrancour
Member
Westbahnhof
Banned
I see.. Onto my list of things to try in the US it goes.
If anyone has eaten it in both Europe and the US, I'd welcome first hand accounts of taste differences.
Haunted
Member
You can eat healthy European food even over in the US, so you should be fine in general.
Just stay away from junk food chains or cheap diners and you're good.
bolded is a key point
Just stay away from junk food chains or cheap diners and you're good.
Knödel vs Spätzle, now that's a battle for the ages.In Europe you'll find all kinds of good cuisines if you know where to look.
Quality gradually declines from the south to the north.
In the US the only thing that really stood out to me was BBQ, which is worlds better than what you can find in Europe.
However, I think Austria and Germany have the best venison, although the truly good stuff is seasonal. If you get your hands on some young deer in spring with Spätzle and a good sauce you're going to think god himself cooked for you.
Don't let anyone tell you that Knödel is the way to go.
The quality of cuisine in the US largely depends of the presence of immigrants.
In NYC you'll find decent pizza because lots of Italian immigrants are there.
Yet it doesn't really compare to what you can find in central Europe.
In Austin, TX I went to East Side Pies because it was recommended to me as the best Pizza in town and it was pretty much the worst shit I ever had. Some hipster dudes advertising their "local products"... too bad if your local cheese and ham is garbage tier, your pizza will be garbage tier as well.
Would've been better to import actual good products than use the local ones.
bolded is a key point
There is decent bread in America. Get it from a bakery, not Walmart.
Also these threads never make sense, as with the huge amount of European immigration to the US, there is literally everything here that there is over there. You may have to look for it a bit, but it's here.
FutureLarking
Member
Yeah, red and yellow
Even when they do have it's quite expensive though. I think one of the bigger problems, certainly in certain parts of America compared to say a much smaller place like the UK is getting the same level of fresh ingredients everywhere consistently. You see crazy shit like shipping foods across the entire country for some reason. Don't have to worry about that when you're small. There's less incentive too freeze or add mad preservatives in smaller countries because food get's where it needs to be quicker.
MsKrisp
Member
Also, from my experience, this:
That's supposed to be bread? Looks like sliced cheese
That doesn't really make sense to me at all. At what point does the division occur? How far back does it need to go? All food is just local variations of ancient stuff - "Heat meat, grind grains, gather plants. Mush together. Eat."
America doesn't have unique cuisine (except barbeque which is technically a Caribbean style brought to what would be the modern US by Spanish colonists) because it's only existed as a unique cultural entity for like 200 years. American culture is just a weird mashup of various immigrant cultures. The actual unique, aboriginal cuisine of the continent was exterminated and coopted.
But are they American cheeses or imported from Europe?
A simple sandwich is a meal.You don't nave to est 3k calories a day you know?
Also, from my experience, this:
I guess we're just gonna pretend like bakeries and artisan breads aren't a thing in the US?
This all really reads like "Oh yeah, well my dad could beat up your dad" the thread.
Vermont, Wisconsin, NY, Oregon and CA makes some delicious cheeses. There are excellent cheese makers in just about every state but if you only shop at the traditional supermarket you might not see or know about them. That has more to do with profit margins and the way supermarkets are run rather than lack of quality cheese makers.
Snowybreak
Member
Wegmans has an amazing in-house bakery.
I'm Asian American, so I eat a lot of Asian and Asian-inspired foods on a daily basis. I also make spaghetti sauce, pork chops, mashed potatoes, and bacon & eggs on a somewhat regular basis. I don't eat bread in general, as rice (and beans to an extent) is clearly superior.
My one trip to Germany have taught me that cream and butter are often used in dishes, making things really rich for my liking. I mean they even sell little cubes/rounds of spinach that has frozen cream. The vegetable dishes are similar to what I've experienced in American cuisine, generally only flavored with salt and pepper, or maybe a creamy sauce. I also stayed with my BF who did a lot of German home cooking for us. So my experience might be due to his diet and preferences.
My one trip to Germany have taught me that cream and butter are often used in dishes, making things really rich for my liking. I mean they even sell little cubes/rounds of spinach that has frozen cream. The vegetable dishes are similar to what I've experienced in American cuisine, generally only flavored with salt and pepper, or maybe a creamy sauce. I also stayed with my BF who did a lot of German home cooking for us. So my experience might be due to his diet and preferences.
1.21Gigawatts
Banned
I paid a fortune in Whole Foods for somewhat decent bread that probably was good when it was fresh, but not anymore after it was wrapped in plastic for some time.
Quality is comparable to the one from the automated baking machines in Aldis in Germany, just that Aldi charges you a few cents for their bread while Whole Food charges you several dollars.
Still, you'll find better bread for 1/5th the price at every corner bakery in Europe.
Don't even try to find decent bread in places like HEB in the US.
My most shocking experience with bread in the US was when I had literally the best barbecue in my whole life and it was served with a gooey piece of "bread". They called it whole wheat but it was just some cheap slice of factory made toast that wasn't even toasted.
Like this:
Thats not bread if you ask me. Serving it together with that amazing brisket was almost comical, as if they've done it on purpose to fuck with people.
People in Europe pull the same shit with what they call "BBQ".
They get a cheap piece of pre seasoned meat from the supermarket, put it on the grill for a couple of minutes to burn it from both sides and then eat it with tonnes of cheap sauces to cover up the poor taste. And then they flush it down with a bunch of beer because no one can properly chew that hard ass piece meat after it was ruined on the grill.
So more and more people don't even bother with pieces of meat anymore and buy sausages...
Get a smoker people, learn how to properly BBQ, its worth it.
Edit:
I have to add that vegetarian and vegan options are MUCH better in the US.
Thats mainly a city thing, but the variety and quality is great, while Europe is lagging behind quite a bit in that regard.
I live in Munich and there is exactly two good vegan restaurants in the entire city. For a city of 1.4 mil people thats a shame.
pottymouth
Member
Nutella is not peanut butter.
Goro Majima
Kitty Genovese Member
I thought even truly 100% "American Food" can draw at least a dotted line to French cuisine at some point in the past. Supposedly we were heavily influenced by the French above all else cooking wise.
I guess that's why a discussion on what's truly and uniquely American food is probably a more lengthy and complex situation than other nations. Especially when you consider that the United States is so young and has only been properly settled from coast to coast for a little over 100 years and still continues to take on immigrants from numerous nations from around the globe. Cities like Dallas and Houston were practically villages in the early 1900s and we've added nearly 100 million people since I was born in 1981.
I guess that's why a discussion on what's truly and uniquely American food is probably a more lengthy and complex situation than other nations. Especially when you consider that the United States is so young and has only been properly settled from coast to coast for a little over 100 years and still continues to take on immigrants from numerous nations from around the globe. Cities like Dallas and Houston were practically villages in the early 1900s and we've added nearly 100 million people since I was born in 1981.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
Im guessing UK doesnt count as Europe anymore?
Shame, as the UK has the best cuisine. No nation can beat the power of the Pickled Onion flavoured Monster Munch crisp sandwich.
Shame, as the UK has the best cuisine. No nation can beat the power of the Pickled Onion flavoured Monster Munch crisp sandwich.
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Also, from my experience, this:
I think Americans just don't like bread as much as we do nor eat it the same way. American bread is usually seen as a vessel for meat, sauce and vegetables (ie: soft rolls for subs or white bread so bland it tastes like grown on vats instead of baked). European bread is eaten at the table. Higher quality bread, the kind you actually break and leaves everything covered in crumbs, is usually associated with slower meals that don't fit well with the current lifestyle and diet of the average American.
Sure, there's been a lot of cute bakeries popping all over the place, but that's probably not the kind of bread eaten each day by most families. At it's also somewhat expensive.
That said, America has *the best* kind of bread for hamburgers and hot dogs. Behold the unrivalled king of soft rolls:
Nothing in Europe compares to those. And I mean nothing.
Nah. On the low end, I've had cheese in America that was worse than anything available anywhere in Europe. I feel very confident in that generalization.
On the high end, I've had stuff that was just as good, but it was never available in regular suburban supermarkets. You had to go far out of your way to get it, and it was expensive. In Europe, cheese is cheap, easy to find, and has greater variety to boot.
Variety is pretty comparable in most developed parts of the world IME. However there Are distinct differences in mainstream food experience you are likely to have, and localized twist is quite apparent in those in every country I experienced living (As opposed to just travel) in, US included.elrechazado said:
And to foreigners the perceptions from that, are invariably those of lack of variety - hence country food stereotypes.
Correct. So stop buying fast rising bread.
Queen Vulpix
Member
I think I'm just bad at being American or too poor to eat out often because I dislikes almost all dairy products/rarely eats fried foods and have never seen half of these cheese smothered/sauce smothered dishes. Though deep fried snickers and Twinkies are apparently a thing with he latter for supermarket wholesale so I don't doubt what exists here if you look for it.
SillyEskimo
Member
You're going to have to specify the bread because my local grocery store stocks at least 50+ different varieties, not including the actual bakery made bread.
Tomatoes, specifically, are often grown in greenhouses or far away from the point of sale. (A lot of what we get in stores here (New England) in winter comes from Chile, and has to be shipped from there.) They tend to use a few varieties that don't blemish and look bright red because they last longer on a shelf and sell better because they look better. They are, as you said, bland. Same goes for other vegetables.
This is why we have farmers markets and farm stands, and gardens. My coworker has been dropping off piles of excess tomatoes right now.
Lightning_Roller
Banned
You have a problem with chicken and biscuits? It's a southern classic. And biscuits can be used for more than just jam and butter, dude. Open your horizons more.
D
Deleted member 1159
Unconfirmed Member
Damn man it's like none of you guys have gone to a proper American grocer and are basing your judgments on Walmart produce and cheese selection. High quality cheese is certainly widely available. Same with produce. Like everywhere, I'm assuming, there's a spectrum of quality that correlates to price and location. The generalizations that everything here is mcdonalds tier are absurd. We're the wealthiest country in the world but also have 350 million people, we can get the good shit and the cheap shit. Lots of poor people like bud light. I know like one person in my social circles that would go to that over a good craft beer.
I ate a lot of convenience store food when I was in Japan because I was tying to save money, but I certainly wouldn't make sweeping judgments on the Japanese culinary experience based on that.
I ate a lot of convenience store food when I was in Japan because I was tying to save money, but I certainly wouldn't make sweeping judgments on the Japanese culinary experience based on that.
DirtyLarry
Member
I have to wonder where you have been in in the US?. Where I live in NJ I can drive 1 mile in each direction and I know of at least 5 places that bake the breads on top fresh every morning, including in super markets as noted above.Also, from my experience, this:
The bottom pic is what is known is White Bread here in America (and it is a pretty awful generic picture of it I may add). The most popular brand being Wonder. It is a cheap bread that I believe was developed during the Great Depression here in the US so families had a cheap alternative and something to eat. So it's origins came about because people needed something cheap to live on. Do not quote me on the exact history there, but I do know it was first made so people could get a lot of bread that was not very expensive.
So yes, the bottom bread is not the best bread out there, but it also serves a utilitarian purpose. Many people rely on it to have something to eat.
In regards to the OP, yes, there is a ton of shit food in the US. No argument there. It is what is commonly referred to as American Fast Food. Many restaurants fall under that category as well.
However there is a ton of real, great food as well. We have everything at your disposal. A lot of Americans do go for the first option as they are just uneducated and or believe it is all they can afford. In some cases it is all they can afford as right now a very big business in America is charging a premium price for "healthier" food alternatives. Which is a bunch of bullshit. But if you know where to look, support local and go organic, etc., you can get the same high quality food here as anywhere else.
Barbeque and wonder bread is a staple in the south and basically what I get at any small joint or charity drive. I have no clue why so many people are so focused on claiming all US bread sucks. I can go to my local bakery get a good fresh loaf of bread it's not like they are unavailable to us. Will I occasionally get a bag of white bread yes because that is what I grew up with. Junk food is junk food everywhere.I paid a fortune in Whole Foods for somewhat decent bread that probably was good when it was fresh, but not anymore after it was wrapped in plastic for some time.
Quality is comparable to the one from the automated baking machines in Aldis in Germany, just that Aldi charges you a few cents for their bread while Whole Food charges you several dollars.
Still, you'll find better bread for 1/5th the price at every corner bakery in Europe.
Don't even try to find decent bread in places like HEB in the US.
My most shocking experience with bread in the US was when I had literally the best barbecue in my whole life and it was served with a gooey piece of "bread". They called it whole wheat but it was just some cheap slice of factory made toast that wasn't even toasted.
Like this:
Thats not bread if you ask me. Serving it together with that amazing brisket was almost comical, as if they've done it on purpose to fuck with people.
His Majesty
Banned
still looks awful
American cheese is fantastic. It has one of the lower melting points so it's easy to incorporate into other things. I won't fight you on our chocolate though, hershey's is hot garbage.
Skellig Gra
Member
I've traveled Europe extensively and have a European wife. We have everything you have. The only significant difference is the portion sizes. And it is significant.
Muffin1611
Banned
Is this the thread where Dutch people will tell me again that I can't put Jägersoße on my Schnitzel
I can and I will
Also what's this clapping thing about
I can and I will
Also what's this clapping thing about