I’m a white boy but in highschool my best friend was 1st-generation Chinese-American.
His parents owned a Chinese restaurant that I worked at…Americanized Chinese, like everyone in America is used to.
While I worked there his parents also opened up an authentic Chinese restaurant.
Most of the stuff on the menu, Americans would ball at. There were dead ducks and pigs hanging in the window.
But I tried cow tongue there for the first time. It was amazing. And something else with white sauce I don’t remember what it was but it was so damn good.
I had a falling out with him, and the parents lost their restaurants in COVID.
Fuck all of you. Go to New Orleans in a week when crawfish season starts and eat some mud bugs, some blackened redfish, jambalaya, gumbo, cajun crawfish etouffee, etc. Best food in the world.
Also, king cakes.
What else is there to do there?
When I think of New Orleans I think of Mardi Gras where I can flash my tiddies and earn colorful shiny strings of beads. But imagine my surprise when I realized I could buy colorful shiny beads at the Dollar Tree and not even have to travel to Louisiana and expose myself.
Jazz!
They told you all the best stuff honestly. If you’re into alcohol you’ll have no trouble finding it. Amazing city though. The food culture there is incredible.
Every culture takes/mixes foods from other cultures and makes it their own. I think the difference with the US is that there isn’t an ancient history to form a basis.
way to brush off thousands of year of native american dishes :/
Stop it, you know what I mean. I’m talking European colonials which formed the basis for the modern US, even if it shouldn’t be that way. They stole Native American food too. The combination of these things formed the basis of “American” cuisine, but it wasn’t long ago in a historical sense.
In significant swathes of the US the natives were more or less successfully exterminated so there’s no clear cultural line from ancient natives to the people living there today.
Every culture takes/mixes foods from other cultures and makes it their own.
Perhaps more importantly, every generation remixes their parents’ and grandparents’ food.
French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Mexican food aren’t the same as they were 50 years ago. Lots of new dishes were invented and remixed, sometimes from imported influence. It’s not like chefs sit around and refuse to do anything different from how they learned. They do invent and innovate and tweak recipes. That’s, like, the job.
Ketchup as close as we know it comes from the Philippines right? So there goes that whole thing.
And the word “ketchup” is Chinese.
Maybe its Chinese altogether since Chinese and other Asian people would travel to the Philippines to catch a ride to the US and Mexico to then go to Europe. They would leave a trial of kids and culture back and forth. Similarly Mexicans in the Philippines, Europe and even Japan and China do exist.
Yes. I view Chinese American food as American food. Sweet General Tso’s Chicken, orange chicken, fortune cookies, crab rangoons, etc. Basically anything they overly sweetened.
Most of what constitutes “traditional” American cuisine is broadly based on European traditions, with British, French, Italian, and German influences being the most dominant. Though many of the recipes have changed and evolved over time, you can still see the influences pretty clearly.
Take the classic Thanksgiving dinner, for instance: although many of the ingredients (such as sweet potatoes and turkey) were unknown in Europe, the way they are prepared is still very similar to how Europeans prepare traditional holiday roasts.
Also, a “proper” meal generally consists of a chunk of meat, veggies, and carbs, usually all prepared separately, or sometimes as a casserole or a stew. Stir-frying is not that common, for instance, but frying, roasting and baking is. If you look into the history of any particular American dish, its roots can often be traced back to the exact wave of immigration that went on to popularize it.
Depending on the region, however, you may also find Native American influences, such as Creole, Cajun, Tex-Mex, etc.
I’m glad someone brought up Native American influence. It’s more widespread in American food than people realize.
I mean, technically, even the use of tomatoes or potatoes is Native American influence. Except those have become so ubiquitous in European cuisine that no one would even consider for a moment that they were completely unknown there just 500 years ago. Imagine Italian food without tomatoes, or German food without potatoes…
Corn as well, though that didn’t catch on quite as much on the continent, where it’s still mostly a boring vegetable, while Americans use it to bake as well (not to mention putting it into literally everything ever since they figured out HFCS).
Im particularly fond of hominy and other alkaline treated corn products.
Which I see as a positive
My wife is Australian, but we live in Germany now. Last year, she was craving “Honey Chicken” which is ubiquitous at Chinese takeaway places in Australia. None of the Chinese places in Germany knew what I was talking about. Turns out Honey Chicken is a purely Australian invention.
Sounds good! Is it close to orange chicken or General Tso’s chicken in the USA?
We have honey chicken commonly in the US too. It is essentially orange chicken without the orange flavor/color.
So, chicken? /s
Yeah our “Chinese” places usually just do chicken in a bunch of ways that may or may not be from Asia.
Chicken with Broccoli, Chicken and snow peas or mixed vegetables, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Curry Chicken, Szechuan Chicken, Mongolian Chicken, Kung Pao, Chicken with Cashews, Hunan with black bean sauce, hot and spicy, black pepper w/ onion, Coconut, sweet and sour, lemon, honey, sesame, Bourbon, Orange, General Tsos.
Is it all Chinese influence, no. The people making it know, the people eating it know, but if they called it “Chicken Many ways” then you wouldn’t know they sold dumplings, pork and what not, lol.
@fell
> Turns out Honey Chicken is a purely Australian inventionLike butter chicken from Indian restaurants … in the anglophone world only, apparently. What is with us anglophones and our propensity for consuming jungle fowl in yellowish fluids?
If I’m not mistaken, butter chicken is indigenous but tikka masala is the BIR style dish.
And both are fucking delicious (and honestly pretty similar, mostly with the tomato being less “in your face” with the murgh makhani).
Sounds delicious though.
Fusion kitchens are the best and maybe the only good thing to come out of colonialism. Indonesian-Dutch food slaps. Vietnamiese-French cuisine kicks my ass. Must I bring up Italian coffee or Swiss chocolate? Turkish-German Döner is so popular it is sold basically everywhere now.
Fusion kitchens are the best and maybe the only good thing to come out of colonialism
Well, there’s also a pretty good music that jazz doesn’t happen the way it did without putting European instruments in the hands of formerly enslaved Africans. Would be a lot cooler world if we could figure out how to evolve our art and culture without crimes against humanity, tho.
I had tex-mex / Indian fusion once and it was surprisingly good.
Well, colonialism did bring tomatoes and potatoes to Europe.
said cultural exchange happens without colonialism. look at sweet potatoes.
that’s like saying well, without rape, there wouldn’t be rape babies, and implying that we should thank rapist for their lives.
Things like cane sugar could never grow anywhere near a Northern climate. If you want that to influence an entire continent’s food you can only do that through an incredibly unfair deal (like cash crop colonialism).
You certainly don’t get a ton of culinary creativity when you’re paying a fair (read: expensive) price for goods grown halfway around the world. They’re too precious to be anything but a novelty for the rich.
you still can get trade. and why do we need everywhere in the world to have the same foods?
Turkish-German Döner is so popular it is sold basically everywhere now.
I fucking wish. I lived in France 20+ years ago and loved the stuff. Came back to the US and have been waiting to see a good Döner kebab for over 2 decades now.
I want to protest the Döner one. Other countries sell something they call Döner, but the similarity is superficial at best to a real one. It’s a fun little thing I do on vacation in other European countries: try to find a “Döner” and see what travesty they give me
I miss German döner so much. It’s just not right elsewhere, and I can’t understand why.
… One time I asked for a doner in Stuttgart. And they ask me “Spicy or no Spicy?” I am curious so I say Spicy. It’s fucking curry. They added some sort of Indian curry to a kebab.
So yeah, I don’t know if it’s a normal thing in Germany, but I am judging you as an entire nation over this. It wasn’t even bad, it was pretty good actually. Just… Why?
That’s not normal, and they should be ashamed. The normal hot sauce is more like a chili crisp.
Or Sambal Ölek, which works great with haloumi and falafel too.
Most often the changes I saw till now is the missing (red) cabbage and the bread is different.
But yeah, I’m with you: I haven’t yet found one that is better or even equal to the real one
I also don’t find many places near me that have the mystery meat on the spindle. That’s a prerequisite. I also don’t know what’s in the “scharf” sauce but it seems hard to find too.
Edit
I have to assume that in Germany, there is one or a couple food distributors who sell all the ingredients, since they’re pretty consistent through all the independent shops. Why don’t they just export everywhere?!
Yeah I feel you. The Belgian dürüm variety is actually quite good, if very different. Fries in there and a crazy sauce selection absolutely slaps.
And every brit is legally required to bring up chicken tikka masala when talking about fusion food.
Babi pangang up in this motherfucker
You telling me a Foe Yong’d this Hai?
America has, by a long shot, the most diverse and some of the best food on the plant. Go to one of the big three and you can have 3 star Michellin from every continent or some of the best street meat shit you’ll have on the same day.
America certainly has the most diverse kitchen because it’s a whole fucking continent. It has grasslands, mountains, coasts, lakes, everything and each microclimate you could imagine. I doubt, OTOH, that you’ve ever seen a Michelin rated restaurant from the inside.
I’ve been to one and two star places, never three stars (some day…). America has incredible food if you know what to look for. Some of the best Korean, Chinese, and Indian I’ve had in particular. It’s also a giant country with many immigrants, so it’s kinda obvious that it has good food. And southern food is great too.
I have not doubted that. It has, however., nothimg to do with the kind of cuisine you’d attract Michelin’s attention with. I also know a bit of the more sophisticated American (regional and international) kitchen and it is, IMIO, much better than most people believe. (Piece of cake, because you can get next to everything there.) However, most people also have no idea what the French kitchen or to some extent the more regional parts of the Italian kitchen (or Basque, or Catalan) might be about. I honestly don’t think the US really are playing in that league.
👌
meanwhile everyone in the world, who traveled to the US, will tell you that even the produce has no flavor.
US food is objectively terrible compared to other nations.
This depends. In my experience anything processed tastes horrible because of chemical and sugar overload. But you can get great ingredients! Much better than here in Germany anyway.
And there are many more diverse great restaurants than in most places in Germany, ngl. In the US, you can go to any small town and find a great homemade style Korean place, or something like that. No such luck in Germany, they’ll serve you 14€ frozen pizza.
(In my experience anyway. These are large countries, so none of this is rule, just personal experience)
The winner is no questions Italy, though. Best pizza I ever had was in 8€ in an Italian town with ~5000 inhabitants. Unbelievable. Only good restaurant there, though, but I’ll never forget the experience.
USA is big. Like, really, really big.
The food you get in New York City and Waco, Texas don’t have a lot in common.
except they are both grown in the US using such intensive agricultural methods that the produce itself tastes different. US meat is banned in many countries because it’s considered not suitable for human consumption.
on top of that, US fast food franchise culture has destroyed whatever food culture there was.
food is something you eat multiple times a day, if a good American meal is something you have once in a while, it doesn’t count, if Americans eat fast food garbage every day, that’s American food.
there are many large systemic issues that make the American diet garbage. not just “America bad”. Blame corporations and capitalism and all the politicians that were bribed to allow this to happen.
except they are both grown in the US using such intensive agricultural methods that the produce itself tastes different
Not if you go to farmer’s markets
And it’s frankly absurd to suggest that the existence of fast food means all American food is bad. That makes no fucking sense.
This is the type of guy who grabs strawberries from the supermarket in February, doesn’t wonder how they got there, and compares them to farm fresh in season strawberry. The ability to have a planets worth of diverse food year round is lost on them because they had a shitty supermarket fruit out of season once
yhea, had the same thing in Spain and the produce tasted like produce.
way to agree with me that US food sucks.
/r/IamveryCulinary
it is so amazing how you prove my point and pat your back.
there is good food only if you are rich, because nearly all American food is garbage.
yhea, good produce should be the bare fucking minimum, not the maximum.
I am not judging food culture based on what the rich can afford, or for one special meal. but for what everyone eats.
I am not judging food culture based on what the rich can afford, or for one special meal. but for what everyone eats
I’ve got bad news then: 90% of everyone’s food fucking sucks. Hope you enjoy the fine cuisine of flatbreads, rice, and an occasional dish that stretches an animal protein so thin you forget it’s there. If you’re lucky there might be some months old fermented junk to season it.
Or maybe you’re just racist and assume that every noble savage has access to fresh fish, fruit and veggies year-round?
i lived in Spain for 18 years, 3 in Palestine, and currently in the US.
90% of the food over there is amazing, even if plant based, and the way you dismiss good regular food is sad and telling.
good food belongs to everyone, it shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s the bare minimum. if you disagree you’ve been brainwashed by American corporations.
You still are clearly not accounting for how large in area the country is. There are farms that meet whatever standards you are deeming superior. Just because there’s a lot of fast food doesn’t mean there are no high class restaurants.
Europeans love to talk mad shit about how Americans know so little about other countries then drop comments like this, it’s frankly incredible
👌👍 /r/IamveryCulinary
[off topic?]
Great classic mystery novel, “Too Many Cooks” by Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe is a 300 pound private detective who hates leaving his Manhattan brownstone. He investigates from his armchair, sending his assistant Archie Goodwin to round up clues and bring him folks to interrogate.
Wolfe is a famous gourmand and is invited to give a speech on American food to a group of European chefs.
Interesting novel on many levels.
That wasn’t the Too Many Cooks I was aware of.
Since the novel was written circa 1935 the estate could sue the producers.
Big doubt considering it has been part of the common lexicon since before he wrote the book.
Wooooosh!
Umm… it’s not mexican, chinese or italian but also american food doesn’t exist?
I can’t tell if this was the joke or the meme just wants to shit on americans for stealing and mangling everyone’s food…
Also, jalapeño poppers.
I think the joke is that Americans like to adopt foods or cooking techniques from other cultures, then change them to fit local tastes. This is how a lot of “traditional American” foods came to be. There is also a stereotype that American cultural practices (gastronomy included) are “not real” or that American culture as a concept doesn’t exist because it comes as a fusion of cultural practices from other countries. The meme is poking fun at people who may hold that belief.
People also have a habit of describing the American versions of things to be “not real”, even if it never really claims to be. For example, fettuccine Alfredo in the US is an adaptation of fettuccini al burro (a real Italian dish), but is described as “not real Italian food” because it isn’t actually eaten in Italy. Or that orange chicken is “not real Chinese food” because it isn’t eaten in China. Which, to be fair, is true, but most American diners are aware that Panda Express, Olive Garden, and Taco Bell aren’t accurate representations of food eaten in China, Italy, or Mexico. They’re Americanised versions of food inspired by Chinese, Italian, and Mexican cuisine.
Notably, Americans are not the only culture that does this.
There’s a Thai dish called ‘American Fried Rice’ for instance.
American fried rice is a Thai fried rice dish with “American” side ingredients like fried chicken, ham, sausages, raisins, and ketchup.[1] Other ingredients like pineapples and croutons are optional.
At least in any part of America I’ve been to, this is certainly not something you can get here.
I’m pretty sure all cultures adapt and learn from other cultures. That’s just how human culture develops. Vietnamese takes on French favourites resulted in bahn mi and Vietnamese coffee, both of which are very good. Poor Hongkongers wanting to eat like Brits resulted in Hong Kong’s famously weird “Cha chaan teng” food and Hong Kong-style milk tea. And, of course, Europeans went crazy over Mesoamerican chocolate and created a cornucopia of confectionery products made from the cacao bean.
You’re right, this is normal. Off the top of my head:
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tempura originated because of the trade between the portuguese and japanese
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portuguese monopoly on cinnamon trade with Sri Lanka and India, allowed Europe to get it for cheap and it became a main ingredient in a lot of desserts and confections
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the UKs tea culture came from a portugese noblewoman, who learned it from China
Cultures are constantly taking ideas from each orher
Pasta and noodles
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That actually sounds disgusting, also something you mind find in 4th grade lunch dare
We’re the ones who get shit over it though.
Raisins???
I learned about it from a story I heard of someone who traveled from the US to Thailand, saw it on the menu at a restaurant and ordered it, expecting it to be the sort of fried rice you’d get in the US at an Asian restaurant. They were unpleasantly surprised.
raisins, and ketchup
Umm, wtf lol
I felt the same way, and I’m sure its the same feeling when “they” come over “here” and see how we do “their” food
If Olive Garden isn’t real, then why are their breadsticks pure joy? :)
Haven’t been to an Olive Garden in decades, but aren’t they just like long, thin, crackers? They’re barely bread.
They are definitely bread, not cracker like at all.
Na man, the salad is where it’s at! Tell em light on the dressing, and I go heavy on the pepper.
Haven’t been to an Olive Garden in decades, but aren’t they just like long, thin, crackers? They’re barely bread.
Americans like to adopt foods or cooking techniques from other cultures
It’s not “americans” (as in people whose families have lived there for a few generations), it’s immigrants who brought their culture and then adapted it to the locals. You can find this in almost every country.
The definitionition of “American” is pretty flexible. If you move here, live here, and want to consider yourself an American, then you are an American. Some loud zealots may say otherwise (typical in any country) but most Americans literally do not think about this at all.
it’s immigrants who brought their culture and then adapted it
Yep, those are American’s.
I mean Chinese and Mexican people have been in America for almost two centuries. I’m usually the first one to shit on Americans, but at this point Chinese-American stuff and Tex-Mex are theirs.
All these dishes are Americanized versions of dishes that came from the other countries.
I feel like if you know what typical American breakfast foods are, “breakfast taco” is pretty self-explanatory.
How do you get the energy drink and nutrition supplements to stay in the taco
Also, the Taco Bell Breakfast Crunchwrap, steak, with extra creamy jalapeño sauce, is perhaps the greatest fast food breakfast item of all time.
First they say ‘that is not our food’.
Then the say ‘all you do is eat our food’.
Make up your minds.if I plagirise your novel and change things so it is terrible, I still both copied your novel AND said novel isn’t a representation of your work.
But if I take you novel as inspiration and created a new novel then I’m not eating your novel
“Exit To Eden” has entered the chat.
The novel, “Exit To Eden” by Anne Rice [aka Ann Rampling] was a pornographic romance that was turned into a very bad movie that added a lot of nonsense for no reason.
Tbf the kind of cultural fusion cuisine you get when another culture successfully imports another culture’s cuisine, is super interesting to me. I’d say this stands separately from intentional fusion restaurants, this is more something that happens organically as a cuisine is adapted to the ingredients and tastes somewhere away from where it is invented.
The classic examples are Tex-mex and British curries, but every country has a few things like this. Japanese Italian is a pretty cool experience, not least of all because now I think about it there’s some places that are straight up Japanese/Italian cultural fusion, but others are more Japanese/Italian-American, so this thing can go deeper. And don’t get me started on the godlike German/Turkish magic happening on the streets of Berlin
Always been a fan of trying local cuisine when I’ve travelled, but I’ve more recently been trying to add places like the above into the mix, as it’s genuinely always been interesting to me
Why are all nationalities chads except the Italian is a wojak?
For obvious reasons
I think it should be pretty obvious.
What about burge… oh. What about pizz… oh. What about past… oh.
American food? cheetohs and cheezits. Yum. /s
Barbecue
