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[andycapps]

It''s true. I've noticed this a lot on my trips there.

One time we went to a bbq joint and ordered a platter and literally everything on it was sweet. The meat, the coleslaw, the beans, the macaroni salad, the vegetables and the lemonade was the sweetest thing I've ever had.

If you go to fine dining joints though, they are usually fine. It's most just the cheap and mid-tier stuff that's sweet.

Well BBQ differs greatly depending on where you get it, and the quality of the restaurant. Kansas City BBQ is usually associated with a lot of sugar and sweetness. I hate it. Vinegar or mustard based sauces are generally associated with the southeast, but it breaks down differently depending on the states, and even within the states there are different tastes.

I'm more of a Memphis style BBQ fan, but most of it's great so long as it's not sweet. My BBQ has a good Memphis style rub, but the sauce I make is my own concoction and I have no clue what region it would be more like. Has ketchup, hot sauce, apple cider vinegar, mustard, little brown sugar, pepper, salt, and a little garlic.

 

[unholyrevenger72]

It''s true. I've noticed this a lot on my trips there.

One time we went to a bbq joint and ordered a platter and literally everything on it was sweet. The meat, the coleslaw, the beans, the macaroni salad, the vegetables and the lemonade was the sweetest thing I've ever had.

If you go to fine dining joints though, they are usually fine. It's most just the cheap and mid-tier stuff that's sweet.

the BBQ Sauce, Slaw, and baked beans all have sugar as a base ingredient for sure. But the slaw is suppose to have acidity to cut the savory of the BBQ and Beans. I have no idea why your vegetables would be sweet, unless it was just corn. Corn can be sweet naturally.

 

[Rest]

Ironically if ask for iced tea in the US, it's not sweetened like it is in Canada. Ice tea in Canada actually means sweetened lemon iced tea.

Really? They usually ask if you want it sweetened or unsweetened.

Spoiler

Or the godawful "sweet or unsweet" in the south.

It's always annoying though when you get cold tea that you have to stir the sugar into your self.

 

[DoktorEvil]

I recently was in the U.S. (Atlanta, Chicago and San Fran ) on business for 3 weeks and had no option for home cooking during the period.

Aside from the much discussed portion sizes, and relatively cheap cost (inc. tip ) I also noticed that the food all seemed to be extremely sweet compared to what I am used to (UK).

Is this a common experience? I ate from burger chains to $100 pp restaurants and it was an underlying theme to all the food.

Love the country but don't think I could keep my figure for too long in that environment haha

Edit : I should make clear I have eaten at restaurants all over the world, so not just comparing to UK.

The answer to this question depends on where you ate.

A lot of American restaurant food involves sugar and/or HFCS.

NY Pizza for example is notorious for being on the sweet side.

 

[entremet]

I don't know what you're talking about. The only food I've eaten here that's sweet is meant to be sweet, i.e. desserts, bbq sauce, candy, and chocolate.

It's hard to explain. But I do agree that most American food chains do err on the sweet side.

Even "ethnic" cuisines cater to American palates in that regard.

One exception is fine dining.

But the American palate has a preference for sweet. I guess the best way to notice this is travel overseas and eat there. It's pretty jarring.

 

[Chezzymann]

It's hard to explain. But I do agree that most American food chains do err on the sweet side.

Even "ethnic" cuisines cater to American palates in that regard.

One exception is fine dining.

But the American palate has a preference for sweet. I guess the best way to notice this is travel overseas and eat there. It's pretty jarring.

So if your theory is correct as an American if I travel to another country and eat their food after being used to everything being 'sweet' here I'll probably initially think it's bitter and bland

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

If you live in the US, you have to basically cook for yourself if you can't handle extreme levels of sugar or salt or fat.

This is the key, along with exercise. However neither of these are convenient, and most of the time tiring/time consuming/difficult. The average American lifestyle isn't really compatible with healthy living.

Running through the drive-thru on the way home and picking up a quick double bacon cheeseburger with fries is a lot easier to do than having to go home and prepare a fresh meal, especially when you are exhausted from work.

 

[Auron_Kale]

I just came back from a 3-week stay in Europe (Vienna, Paris & London) and didn't really notice much of a difference in the food taste actually. I did like how the fries were not overly salty, but usually when I get well-done In-N-Out fries, they too are not overly salted either.

Probably the biggest problem I had was that both orange Fanta and Orangina using real sugar as opposed to the HFCS here in the US made drinking them far too easy. It was like basically drinking fizzy orange juice, which definitely scared me.

Since coming back to the US, I've stuck to water (which I mostly drank over in Europe as well).

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

Sure, but not with a cup of sugar in it lol. Oil and vinegar are enough.

I have never seen a salad made with a cup of sugar (or any really(unless your counting sugar in the fruit/veggies/dressing)) in my entire life. Gotta love it when people pull a regional thing or something from fast food and say "SEE EVERYONE IN AMERICA DOES IT!". Gets old.

 

[EmSeta]

I've noticed this too from my time in the states. There's a lot of "hidden" sugar in the food - though if you're not used to it, it's not really that well hidden.

 

[AuthenticM]

Corporatism.

Sugar creates addiction and therefore makes more money.

.

 

[entremet]

So if your theory is correct as an American if I travel to another country and eat their food after being used to everything being 'sweet' here I'll probably initially think it's bitter and bland

Nope. Think in terms of a continuum, not a binary.

Taste is incredibly nuanced. It's why great chefs are never unemployed for too long.

 

[Liberty4all]

I notice US restaurant food is sweeter than Canadian too. It's the sugar. They add sugar or sauces with sugar to literally everything.

Even the average Canadian diet, sugar is in everything you buy. I've made it a point to cook at home most of the time and eliminate sugar laden sauces for example. Avoid stuff with ingredients you can't pronounce, glucose-fructose, boxed food, etc ...

As you ween yourself off sugar you'll start to notice you hate the sickly sweet taste in bought, and processes stuff. Mind you I still add sugar to my coffee, my one guilty pleasure.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

I never really noticed excessive sweetness in American food. It was a shock going to Japan and eating tamagoyaki and learning they put a fuckton of sugar in there.

 

[Faiz]

Different cultures have different tastes?

WHO KNEW?!?

 

[God Dayumm]

I have never seen a salad made with a cup of sugar (or any really(unless your counting sugar in the fruit/veggies/dressing)) in my entire life. Gotta love it when people pull a regional thing or something from fast food and say "SEE EVERYONE IN AMERICA DOES IT!". Gets old.

I didn't say everyone in america does it. I said this is a typical salad in America, just like brain tacos are typical of Mexico but nobody ain't eating that revolting shit there

 

[Sub_Level]

Ironically if ask for iced tea in the US, it's not sweetened like it is in Canada. Ice tea in Canada actually means sweetened lemon iced tea.

What? In the south iced tea is sweetened for sure.

 

[Melon Husk]

HFCS in everything, that's why.

 

[LyleLanley]

That's not the "main" salad in the US, but that's not an unusual recipe. You guys have never had broccoli salad?

I can honestly say I've never had a salad like that.

 

[BossLackey]

I don't doubt that.

Give us an example of what you would say is sweet compared to elsewhere. I'm curious.

 

[Faiz]

This is the typical salad recipe in America, in case you were wondering. Pay special attention at 1:10

What? Haha no man, just no.

Further more, Broccoli Salad isn't served like a plate of salad, generally speaking. It's a side dish, you spoon out a couple pieces of broccoli and move on. And while you can often find it at salad bars or deli sections in grocery stores, it's not really a common dish. The most common setting in which this is made is for potluck/pitch-in around a holiday.

I have a brocolli slaw recipe I make wherein the dressing also uses half a cup of sugar for a rather large bowl. Similar concept though, it's a side dish and one serving is quite small. I usually only make it at thanksgiving.

 

[Arkos]

Did you try our $30 Italian foooooood meal though?

 

[God Dayumm]

What? Haha no man, just no.

Further more, Broccoli Salad isn't served like a plate of salad, generally speaking. It's a side dish, you spoon out a couple pieces of broccoli and move on. And while you can often find it at salad bars or deli sections in grocery stores, it's not really a common dish. The most common setting in which this is made is for potluck/pitch-in around a holiday.

I have a brocolli slaw recipe I make wherein the dressing also uses half a cup of sugar for a rather large bowl. Similar concept though, it's a side dish and one serving is quite small. I usually only make it at thanksgiving.

Do you know how to make macaroni salad tho?

 

[Volimar]

People always say our bread tastes like cake, it's so soft and sweet.

 

[LyleLanley]

Do you know how to make macaroni salad tho?

Salad doesn't mean anything anymore.

 

[kvk1]

This is the typical salad recipe in America, in case you were wondering. Pay special attention at 1:10

https://youtu.be/ZvepivtcoZs

Yeah, no.

This is not the "typical" salad recipe in America.

 

[akira28]

travel the southern coast for the sour and acidic tastes. Mustard based sauces, lots if vinegar in the cuisine thanks to traditions of food preservatives and cooking. Most of the food has bite, fried green tomatoes, pork bbq. It really depends on where you go. If you're looking for a different flavor profile, don't go to mass market based restaurants for one. And get around, know what you're getting. Most barbeque dishes in mainstream places are covered in sweet/smokey tasting sauces because that's what the mainstream idea of bbq is. Hell, most sauces you'll find are full of sugar, especially if they come out of a plastic packet or bottle.

Other than that we'd really have to know what you were eating. One common idea is to take a food item and cover it in sugar to sell it. So jack daniels bourbon bbq oak slabs will have sugar as the selling point, even though it doesn't seem obvious. So you have to know what you're getting.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

I would say that the food at restaurants I generally eat at is no sweeter than what I have eaten anywhere else in the world, or when I cook at home (and I add no sweeteners and generally make all of my sauces on my own).

It really depends where you eat. I avoid chains like the plague.

 

[akira28]

Salad doesn't mean anything anymore.

salad always meant a mix of smaller foods. That's how you can have a meat salad. The romans loved that shit.

and then they would excuse themselves to purge.

 

[Faiz]

Do you know how to make macaroni salad tho?

Same deal. /shrug

One time at a Thanksgiving gathering at work I tucked into what I thought was a macaroni and cheese. It was macaroni salad. And I hate macaroni salad.

 

[megalowho]

I didn't say everyone in america does it. I said this is a typical salad in America, just like brain tacos are typical of Mexico but nobody ain't eating that revolting shit there

Believe us, it's not typical at all. I've never eaten anything like that or seen it on a menu.

 

[Divvy]

the BBQ Sauce, Slaw, and baked beans all have sugar as a base ingredient for sure. But the slaw is suppose to have acidity to cut the savory of the BBQ and Beans. I have no idea why your vegetables would be sweet, unless it was just corn. Corn can be sweet naturally.

Oh yeah, I forgot that the corn was sweet as well. The point was that everything on that plate was sweet. Which was pretty gross.

 

[Valnen]

This is the typical salad recipe in America, in case you were wondering. Pay special attention at 1:10

https://youtu.be/ZvepivtcoZs

America is a big place with extremely varied tastes. There is no real such thing as a "typical American recipe".

 

[entremet]

Oh yeah, I forgot that the corn was sweet as well. The point was that everything on that plate was sweet. Which was pretty gross.

Corn is naturally sweet. At least the yellow variety.

Unless you had creamed corn, which may have added sugars.

 

[Parch]

It's not just restaurants, American processed packaged foods are full of sugar, fat and sodium too. Whenever I'm reading the label, "made in the USA" usually means it's unhealthy crap that should be avoided.

 

[Divvy]

Corn is naturally sweet. At least the yellow variety.

Unless you had creamed corn, which may have added sugars.

Yeah there was definitely added sugar in everything. The corn and beans basically tasted like candy.

 

[riotous]

America is a big place with extremely varied tastes. There is no real such thing as a "typical American recipe".

Yeah you can maybe generalize subrural areas; but most major urban areas and nearby suburbs have a massive variety of restaurants, groceries, farmers markets, etc. to shop at.

I have no problem finding loads of food with no added sugars, no HFCS, etc.

The grocery I shop at's fresh fruit/vegetables/meat area is larger than it's packaged food area. And at least half of the packaged foods are of the no HFCS/natural ingredients variety.

 

[entremet]

Yeah there was definitely added sugar in everything. The corn and beans basically tasted like candy.

Baked beans are definitely sweet. Look up a recipe. Brown sugar usually.

Not a fan personally.

 

[God Dayumm]

Yeah there was definitely added sugar in everything. The corn and beans basically tasted like candy.

Corn is definitely sweetened in the US. Corn and BBQ are the first things that come to mind when someone says the food is sweet. Everything else can be debated and varies by location and restaurant, but not those 2

 

[unholyrevenger72]

Yeah there was definitely added sugar in everything. The corn and beans basically tasted like candy.

If it was corn on the Cobb, it wouldn't have added sugar it would just be naturally sweet

 

[Divvy]

Baked beans are definitely sweet. Look up a recipe. Brown sugar usually.

Not a fan personally.

I've had baked beans, but they're usually not candy sweet.

If it was corn on the Cobb, it wouldn't have added sugar.

It was not on the cobb. It was in a small bowl, and creamed I believe. Can't remember for sure, it was a while ago.

 

[Majanew]

Most fast food places and some restaurants are extremely salty to me. Makes me feel like shit after I eat it. Sodium coma.

 

[FStop7]

I haven't noticed any difference in sweetness of food between the USA and Europe. Portion sizes are a little smaller in Europe, but even that's not as big a difference as you might think.

This is the typical salad recipe in America, in case you were wondering. Pay special attention at 1:10

https://youtu.be/ZvepivtcoZs

FFS there's nothing "typical" about that.

Where do you guys get this crap from?

 

[rhandino]

This is the typical salad recipe in America, in case you were wondering. Pay special attention at 1:10

https://youtu.be/ZvepivtcoZs

This can't be right or typical... right?

 

[Yaboosh]

If it was corn on the Cobb, it wouldn't have added sugar it would just be naturally sweet

Some places do actually sprinkle sugar on corn on the cob.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

I encourage you all to watch the movie Fed Up. That shit will open your eyes and may change your life. Kevin Smith lost all his weight after watching it.

Jesus, just started watching this.

For as shitty as the practices are in the food industry it's almost equally as baffling watching these uneducated parents trying to feed their kids "healthy" foods. Lean hot pockets, special K chips, and cereal? All of this processed crap is their healthy option?

I feel terrible for the kids they're showing on here.

 

[temp]

Sure, but not with a cup of sugar in it lol. Oil and vinegar are enough.

Yeah I mean you don't want to go crazy with it, but most of the recipes I see for broccoli salad have some sugar in it. Like 1/8 cup to 1/2 cup.

I can honestly say I've never had a salad like that.

Try it out! Broccoli, raisins, walnuts, almonds, grapes, bacon, cheddar cheese, oily-vinegary-mayonnaisey dressing. Any combo of that stuff is super delicious.

FFS there's nothing "typical" about that.

Where do you guys get this crap from?

I don't know why I'm going to such lengths to defend broccoli salad, but on Google we're talking 890k hits for "broccoli salad" vs. 959k for "macaroni salad".

This can't be right or typical... right?

It's good!

 

[richiek]

That's high fructose corn syrup for you.

 

[eot]

This is the typical salad recipe in America, in case you were wondering. Pay special attention at 1:10

https://youtu.be/ZvepivtcoZs

You're probably joking. I hope you are anyway.

 

[AuthenticM]

I encourage you all to watch the movie Fed Up. That shit will open your eyes and may change your life. Kevin Smith lost all his weight after watching it.

Everyone needs to watch this film. It should be mandatory in elementary school.