British strange
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Obviously we have all the fast food places here in the U.K as well, with all the foul Frankenstein creations that come with them. Including the drive through window, the perfect aid for the dangerously obese people that make up the majority of your population 
So no battered fish isn't a replacement for the burger. Its just a more healthy alternative, the original fast food. You guys would be lucky to have some good old fish and chip shops over there. Rather then being restricted to fries and processed hoofs/eye balls. More choice is never a bad thing..
So no battered fish isn't a replacement for the burger. Its just a more healthy alternative, the original fast food. You guys would be lucky to have some good old fish and chip shops over there. Rather then being restricted to fries and processed hoofs/eye balls. More choice is never a bad thing..
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
The thing with us Brits is that we'll take anything. Chinese, Indian, Carribean, English, French, Italian etc and make it our own. I've spoken to Americans who've never even had Chinese or Indian food. Does America even have a national style of food beyond burgers and fries?
I know many people like me who will go on holiday all over Europe and make a point to eat in all the local resturants eating all the local food just to see what it all tastes like.
I know many people like me who will go on holiday all over Europe and make a point to eat in all the local resturants eating all the local food just to see what it all tastes like.
Hell yeah, we got all sorts of good crap to eat over here in the states.
Bar-B-Que is a good southern staple. And don't listen to anybody but us southern statesmen about barbecue, everyone else thinks you cook some meat and throw sauce on it, and call it barbecue, blashphemers. Nawp, real southern Barbecue takes at least a full 12 hours to cook.
Pork Roast on the smoker for about 10 hours with a side of collard greens, blackeyed peas, tater salad, and cornbread can't be beat.
Fish and chips can be had here at a shithole called Captian D's.
I swore off of them and Krystal *white castle* since both those places food tends to give me the shits for an entire weekend.
Chinese is available on any street corner these days, but don't expect to see any chinese people eating the sickly sweet crud they serve here, its been american-ized. Indian food is here as well but is nearly too expensive to afford it at the decent places. Carribean food could be had at one restaruant chain here in Atlanta at one time before they expanded too quick and almost all of them went out of business. I had frog-legs and gator tails in Louisiana once, and it weren't at no restaurant, it was all fresh, does that count as French ? Italian food, is an american staple.
Oh yeah, i wonder how many Mexican restaraunts do you guys have over there ?
Bar-B-Que is a good southern staple. And don't listen to anybody but us southern statesmen about barbecue, everyone else thinks you cook some meat and throw sauce on it, and call it barbecue, blashphemers. Nawp, real southern Barbecue takes at least a full 12 hours to cook.
Pork Roast on the smoker for about 10 hours with a side of collard greens, blackeyed peas, tater salad, and cornbread can't be beat.
Fish and chips can be had here at a shithole called Captian D's.
I swore off of them and Krystal *white castle* since both those places food tends to give me the shits for an entire weekend.
Chinese is available on any street corner these days, but don't expect to see any chinese people eating the sickly sweet crud they serve here, its been american-ized. Indian food is here as well but is nearly too expensive to afford it at the decent places. Carribean food could be had at one restaruant chain here in Atlanta at one time before they expanded too quick and almost all of them went out of business. I had frog-legs and gator tails in Louisiana once, and it weren't at no restaurant, it was all fresh, does that count as French ? Italian food, is an american staple.
Oh yeah, i wonder how many Mexican restaraunts do you guys have over there ?
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros. said:
There is no food culture in the US sadly...we some...crabs in B'more, cajun, creole, but very little real american cuisine.
No I take exception to one thing you've said. I doubt anyone has had real Chinese outside of those who've been to China. I've had Chinese in a few countries and it's nothing like what you'll get there...
Chris_T said:
Plenty. Thanks for asking.
To be fair, in general I've found restaurants (i.e. non-fast-food) in the US to be pretty good, and usually better value for in the UK. It's getting easier to eat well over here though as there's been a genuine renaissance in pubs that serve quality food rather than the rubbish they've served for the past 50 years.
Incidentally, how has Taco Bell made it so big in the US (something thankfully the UK has avoided so far)? Ate there once just for the experience and it was pretty revolting.
Well, I live in a small fishing port on the east coast of England and we have the best fish (always haddock, never cod) and chips in the UK here - everyone I know who has visited agrees! However, I probably eat fish and chips just a dozen times a year. Indian food, on the other hand - I have probably 50+ curries a year and it really is our new national dish!
You can get decent Chinese (almost exclusively Cantonese, actually) food around here although much of it is anglicised. I quite enjoy cooking Chinese food myself and have a few cook books containing recipes you'd never find in a Chinese restaurant where I live. Things may be different in cities.
In other terms my small town is limited in types of food available - there is a reasonable Thai restaurant, a good Cypriot restaurant (and takeaway for those late nights!) and one or two other more expensive haute cuisine style places but (to my knowledge) no Mexican restaurants around. For really high-end stuff, I think the nearest Michelin-starred restaurant is about 20-odd miles from where I live.
Personally, I started experimenting with cooking about 5 or 6 years ago and since then it has become very 'trendy' - Jamie Oliver and other celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay have pushed good food forward into the public consciousness. The range and quality of foods available in Supermarkets has improved immensely in recent years due to this popularity although there is still some way to go before there is the same kind of range as you'd find in some foreign supermarkets. However, Mexican, Thai, Indian and Italian ingredients are widely available these days. There also seems to be a certain renaissance in more traditional English foods - I live close to the countryside and can get some excellent foodstuffs from some local butchers (cured meats etc) which supermarkets don't sell.
Unfortunately, these improvements in diet haven't yet filtered their way down to the poorer families who still eat the trashy processed convenience foods and there is still a preponderence of McDonalds and low-end pizza places which, generally, serve crappy food.
Overall though, things have improved a great deal and hopefully the range and quality of food will continue to rise in the future.
You can get decent Chinese (almost exclusively Cantonese, actually) food around here although much of it is anglicised. I quite enjoy cooking Chinese food myself and have a few cook books containing recipes you'd never find in a Chinese restaurant where I live. Things may be different in cities.
In other terms my small town is limited in types of food available - there is a reasonable Thai restaurant, a good Cypriot restaurant (and takeaway for those late nights!) and one or two other more expensive haute cuisine style places but (to my knowledge) no Mexican restaurants around. For really high-end stuff, I think the nearest Michelin-starred restaurant is about 20-odd miles from where I live.
Personally, I started experimenting with cooking about 5 or 6 years ago and since then it has become very 'trendy' - Jamie Oliver and other celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay have pushed good food forward into the public consciousness. The range and quality of foods available in Supermarkets has improved immensely in recent years due to this popularity although there is still some way to go before there is the same kind of range as you'd find in some foreign supermarkets. However, Mexican, Thai, Indian and Italian ingredients are widely available these days. There also seems to be a certain renaissance in more traditional English foods - I live close to the countryside and can get some excellent foodstuffs from some local butchers (cured meats etc) which supermarkets don't sell.
Unfortunately, these improvements in diet haven't yet filtered their way down to the poorer families who still eat the trashy processed convenience foods and there is still a preponderence of McDonalds and low-end pizza places which, generally, serve crappy food.
Overall though, things have improved a great deal and hopefully the range and quality of food will continue to rise in the future.
The main difference I found is that real Chinese food (from outside the tourist traps) is on the whole far more bland than what we're used to in the west. Plus we don't see some of the stranger dishes at all - the desserts come to mind.
Most of the best "Chinese" food we get is of Hong Kong/Malaysian origin. Malaysian cuisine is exceptional IMHO as it combines the best from Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures. But then I'm biased.
Most of the best "Chinese" food we get is of Hong Kong/Malaysian origin. Malaysian cuisine is exceptional IMHO as it combines the best from Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures. But then I'm biased.
Well i'm italian and i love bangers and mash. Have it at least 3 times a week.
Mize said:_xxx_ said:
If you can't get camel hoof, duck tongue, pork uterus, pork tongue, pork stomache, hairy crab, eel, donkey, dog and bird's nest it isn't "real" Chinese IMHO.
Most Americans think PF Changs is Chinese LOL!
I've had all but dog.
That's not what I meant. The stuff they cook is as good and tastes the same as in China, not "globalized".
A lot of the stuff above is simply not allowed in Germany, so you'll never get that dog here...
MuFu said:
oh yes.BarbequeMize said:
Tex-mex
Soul food
Chili
Just because you live in a cuisinely desolate place, doesn't mean there is no food culture in the US.
Assuming you're in Europe, you don't have any mexican restaurants.Gerry said:
I tried one in Paris and it was bad. Bad bad bad.
RussSchultz said:
Not what I mean. Travel latin america, europe, asia and all have seasonal and regional traditional specialties with hitorical tie-ins, etc. People make things with historical connections, etc. We eat Turkey on tgiving and that's about it.
New Mexico's hatch green chili culture is great though. Man I miss that place!
digitalwanderer
Legend
American food heritage? What about pizza? :|
As for the brits being strange I got two words, "warm beer". :?
As for the brits being strange I got two words, "warm beer". :?
RussSchultz said:Assuming you're in Europe, you don't have any mexican restaurants.
I tried one in Paris and it was bad. Bad bad bad.
This is a thread about Britain, no need to paint us with the same brush as the Europeans!
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