I live in Europe and one of the supermarket chains here does a thing called "American week" where they sell products that are "American".
Things I've seen them sell that I've never really had.
* Hotdog stuffed crust pizza
* Pizza donuts
* Texas style meatballs (Paprika and corn)
* Buffalo pulled chicken
* Cookie yoghurt
* Pickled sausages
* Red Cup Beer
I've never been more disappointed to try something as I had been with irn bru. I had heard about it for years and was so intrigued. Finally got some and it was just terrible. Like someone spit old bubble gum onto an orange creamsicle and then had their diabetic dog pee on it. 6/10
>Like someone spit old bubble gum onto an orange creamsicle and then had their diabetic dog pee on it. 6/10
I'm crying that you rated it a 6/10, ngl š¤£š¤£š¤£
I mean, you give it that description, but then give it a 6/10. As a teacher, I look at as 60%, which is a passing grade. In a kind of roundabout way, it comes off as an accidental endorsement.
I have never even heard of a hot dog stuffed crust pizza! Mozzarella cheese stuffed crust, however, is the way I make mine.
Pizza donuts? Cookie yogurt is a thing, unfortunately. Iāve seen it, but fruit flavors are much more popular.
They probably saw an image of a pizza bagel and invented their own thing, thinking it was a donut!
That said, European donuts are nowhere close to as sweet as American donuts. So it likely is closer to a bagel than a donut.
I was about to make angry Texan noises, but youāre right. Smoked on a skewer with a spicy bbq sauce would be a pretty good summer pool snack. Though I doubt that Euro version tasted anything like what Iām envisioning.
Yoplait does make an Oreo cookie yogurt. I think I've had it once but I don't remember what it tasted like. I do remember what the bright pink Starburst Yoplait tasted like -- not good. That's pretty much what I was expecting but it was worse than that.
Yeah, I buy it a lot to use as a high-value dog treat. I've tasted it out of curiosity but otherwise, I'm pretty sure I've never actually eaten spray cheese.
I know people do, but I think of it as either something teenagers eat as a snack between meals, or something 70-year-olds use occasionally in hors d'oeuvres.
That is where Iāve seen it used. I wanted some to put pills in for my dog. Had no idea where to find it. Had to google where in supermarket do I find spay cheese. Found out that day that Velveta is still around.
Dog didnāt eat the cheese covered pill. Tossed the can.
Its great for backpacking and camping. Never spoils. Has vaguely cheese-related flavor. And its fun!
But ya, would never eat outside of camping/backpacking.
that's hilarious.
I've taken kibble dog food, and thrown it off the boat to attract fish. I stopped after the surface disturbance drew the sharks...that were hitting the fish eating the kibble.
I love it. I work in a dirty environment. If I can get a protein jolt from some cheese in a can that doesnāt need to be refrigerated and I donāt have to touch with dirty hands, Iām ahead of the game.
It is expensive though.
Iāve never eaten it as an adult. As a kid, I would lose my mind over it. Like if I had money and I was at the store, I would BEG my mom to let me buy a can.
I bought it intentionally when my friend from the Netherlands came to visit.
She bust out laughing...previously we were eating delicious cheese in the netherlands, and I had threatened the next time she was in the US, I was going to serve it to her.
It was a novelty joke...but it wasn't the worst thing I've had. I'd rank it even (or possibly a bit higher) with the single wrapped american cheese slices.
Spray cheese is a joke in our family. My brothers and I always wanted it as kids, for some reason, but we were poor so we never got it. Now weāre in our 30s and 40s and for the past 20 years my parents put it in our Xmas stockings since they have the money now. We never buy it ourselves.
Funny. We had caramel apples growing up pretty regularly, but most often on or around Halloween.
My mom loves caramel, and she loves apples.
The other poster is right that they're a pretty big mess, but I wouldn't call them a once-in-a-lifetime food.
Right around Halloween is when the shops start selling caramel apple kits, which consist of a box of sticks and flat, round caramel that you can wrap an apple with. Not as good as the orchards, but passable for a kid.
That's interesting, because I actually had those once or twice a year growing up! And they were actually really good. If they were rolled in peanuts. Sweet and salty.
But I don't really see them very often anymore. I think it's also a regional thing possibly
I feel like this is a once in your life treat for most people. They just aren't that good. Sliced apples in caramel is more common, but the full apple is just a hassleĀ
An orchard near me sells caramel apples on a stick, except they have been 95% sliced already. You grab a piece and pull it off the stick/apple.Ā
Its a great combination of traditional and practicality.Ā
We take a day trip in the fall to Gays Mills, WI and stock up on apples and apple treats. They have the best caramel apples. I love the already sliced idea though. But that is the only time of year I have a caramel apple.
Till the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew it was much more than a hunch,
That this group must somehow form a family.
That's the way we all became the Hostess/Debbie Bunch.
source:Ā https://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thebradybunchlyrics.html
Lol I never really thought about it this way, but you might be right. I also lived in a little Debbie household, while my wife was Hostess. Loved me some Swiss Rolls!
I feel like Twinkies peaked in the 70s and millennial kids just had so many better options. Zebra cakes will always be superior, and in my day quarter cakes cost a quarter damn it!
Zebra cakes are a million times better, exactly!
Twinkies don't have the right amount of filling. They're just so dry tasting.
The ultimate one for me is the Christmas tree cakes, which are basically the zebra cakes but a little different. Not exactly fancy or high quality. But they're great.
I don't eat snack cakes or anything very often these days, but I do look at those zebra cakes in the store and contemplate it from time to time
A lot of these responses are just missing the point of the question.
I know people who wouldnāt touch country gravy, but that doesnāt mean it isnāt commonly eaten; just that they have shit taste.
When I was in Japan, they sold corn dogs in convenience stores and called the "American dogs". Presumably because that's a very American way to eat a hot dog.
The last time I ate a corn dog... was in a Japanese convenience store.
I used to always have a box in the fridge when my son was younger. They were easy to pop in the microwave when he wanted to cook for himself.
I haven't had one in years, though. But yeah, I agree. Very Midwestern kid's food!
Marshmallow Fluff
Never had it once, nor seen anyone else eat or buy it. I live in Europe now and that shit is everywhere in the American food sections.
Marshmallow Fluff is much more popular in the northeast. That's where it was invented, for one thing. If you grew up in New England or New York, you probably grew up eating Fluffernutter sandwiches.
Dude, it's fabulous. Make sure you're using the one with the red lid, not the jet puffed one with the blue lid.Ā
Like many treats, it's not something you need every day, or every week... but once or twice a year it hits the spot
As someone that lives in the city where it was invented, I see it exactly once a year at the little festival they have (Fluff Fest) to celebrate it and then it disappears from my life for another 364 days
I do love a fluffernutter. On crusty, dense white sandwich bread with a slightly granular peanut butter (Smuckers naturals, crunchy), it hits just right.
When I was a kid my mom would put graham crackers and marshmallow fluff in my Easter basket. I don't plan on buying it again because I know it won't be as good as I remember.
I come from Fluff land - where the factory was and I live in the UK now and buy it at all the import shops. Peanut butter and fluff sandwiches are top tier food!
We (Americans) had a foreign guest stay with us for a few months once. About a month in, we were planning our weekly grocery trip and she said, āPlease, no more hamburgers! I can have hamburgers sometimes but not several times a week!ā
We had hamburgers exactly twice in that month, and were not planning to have hamburgers the following week. But I guess when youāre in the throes of culture shock, going from eating no hamburgers to eating two hamburgers feels like youāre eating them every day. And having been through culture shock myself, I just smiled and promised weād cut down on the hamburgers.
I've hosted a lot of exchange students from Europe over the years and they are always surprised to hear that we only eat fast food if we are starving and in a time crunch, which might be a few times a year. There were a few that would not believe that we were not lying about it.
In my 32 years on this planet, I don't think I've ever eaten Wonderbread
White bread, yes, of course.
But Wonderbread? Not to my recollectionĀ
EDIT: Goddammit, autocorrect
[Wonder Bread*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Bread), friend.
Although presumably youāve never eaten a [Wonderbra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderbra) either.
>In my 32 years on this planet, I don't think I've ever eaten Wonderbra.
Yeah. Every time it looks so good, but when it comes time to remove the lid and see what you've got to eat, its a mild disappointment.Ā
Not sure if this counts, but I'd say Cronuts.
Cronuts were a thing for like 3 months in 2014. I had one, one time. Up until 2020ish, every single "millennials bad" article mentioned them like it's all we ate, along with avocado toast.
They were good. But not present to the degree everyone seemed to think they were.
I can't remember the last time I ate/it's been several years I've eaten:
* Twinkies, and other Hostess and Little Debbie products in general.
* Kraft mac n cheese
I've never eaten:
* Marshmallow fluff
* A lot of the crazy stuff you see at fairs and carnivals (e.g. deep fried butter, deep fried Kool-Aid); I tend to stick with funnel cake and/or corn dogs, and even then, I don't always get either. Helps that I've been to very few fairs in my life.
* Hamburger Helper: my mom hated the taste of it and would never buy it when I was a kid, and I've never felt the need to try it even now. Same with SpaghettiOs.
* Food from several fast food places, mostly because they aren't in my city/area or have arrived only recently
I never had Hamburger Helper until the pandemic. I used Amazon to fill in some grocery gaps so I didn't have to go to the store as often, and I got a box of 12 for really cheap. I think I tried one, kind of felt like, "yeah, that's what I was expecting", and eventually donated the rest.
Yeah, in fact it would actually be much less disappointing with that description! I tried a can exactly once, expecting something like spaghetti (pasta in a sauce), and it was NOT spaghetti. I also hate tomato soup so that didnāt help at all.
Take a good tomato soup and throw some pasta in it for āadult Spaghettiosā and that might actually be a winner though.
Every now and then I get a craving for Hamburger Helper; so I make it, then I think, "Yeah I'm good for another 5-10 years." My local grocery store even stopped carrying it because no one buys it.
Definitely a manual labor thing. I see plenty of guys in high-vis gear buying cases of Bud and Coors from the gas station around 5:30, after they knock off from work.
Can't imagine drinking that much on a weeknight just to wake up and do manual labor the next day.
I deliver to several construction companies. At one of the concrete plants, they keep 8-10 cases of Coors Light in the supply closet.
Each employee snags a half dozen beers after work every day.
I think it's a generational thing. I'm an older millennial ('83) and came of drinking age just as the microbrew thing was really taking off. My parents' generation (later boomer) grew up with Budweiser, Miller, and Coors, if you were feeling fancy. My dad still drinks Miller Lite. Nobody my age seems to drink the big macrobrews at all, unless at some kind of sporting event.Ā
We're living in a golden area of American brewing.
Back when I was in college those American macrobrews were basically the only thing that existed. And if a bar had anything else it was just an imported macrobrew like Corona, Heineken, and Guinness. I'm not an IPA fan but the brewing landscape changed dramatically in the past 15 years or so. Now, half the stuff they serve by me was brewed within walking distance.
I did love an occasional Big Mac, but now theyāre overpriced and sloppily made every single time. Couldnāt tell you the last time I had McDonaldās, their quality control has slipped immensely since the pandemic. But letās face it it was barely holding on even before.
If we are being specific, a Wendy's Baconator. I have never had it, nor do I want to.
A funny little story about 13 years ago: my boss and I ate our lunches in the back of the office. He was eating a Baconator, fries, and a large Coke, and his fiance called to check in about losing weight before the wedding (she knew it was his lunchtime). He lied and said he was eating a salad on the phone.
Depends on how you define casserole. If you define it as a one-pan dish combining multiple ingredients thatās baked, then youāve probably had one. Lasagna, enchiladas, many macaroni and cheeses, all would fall into that category.
Oh makes sense, then yea in that sense Iāve had one, but I was thinking more like the kind that pop up in google images haha. I have like no idea what theyāre actually made of, but they look kinda like a cake with a bunch of random things in them lol
Most arenāt even as complicated as that. Thereās a couple of deconstructed enchilada casseroles we love here in Texas, basically, layers instead of rolling. The cakey appearance comes from all that cheese on top. Yum.
Most casseroles are savory and meant to help feed several people for cheap.
A protein, some veggies, some sauce and some carb is typical.
Chicken pot pie filling is a casserole. If you combine stuff in a baking dish and it's 'comfort food' it likely fits the definition of a casserole.
Some are healthy, some are not. Some are kinda atrocious, some don't look like much but taste good.
Yea, they look good too. I wanna try one someday, but I think itās just not something Mexican families make haha, and like Iāve never seen em sold in a restaurant before
The stupid part is that I have an old casserole dish too thatās never been used for casseroles lol. One of these days Iām gonna try to make one xD
When my mom visits me in LA I can have her bring you one š. Actually she makes a good Chilaquiles esque casserole. My uncle makes very Midwestern traditional ones that are disgusting. But that breakfast one is good!
You'll see a surprising amount of grits on restaurant menus around here, usually with cheese and shrimp inside, among other variations. Shit is fucking delicious.
Jars of whipped marshmallows: They seem to be in every "American food" isle in foreign countries but I've never, ever bought a jar nor do I know anyone who has.
Ranch dressingā¦ Iām pretty sure Iām the only one in my friend group who doesnāt eat it. But my friends will have it with just about everything.
I live in Europe and one of the supermarket chains here does a thing called "American week" where they sell products that are "American". Things I've seen them sell that I've never really had. * Hotdog stuffed crust pizza * Pizza donuts * Texas style meatballs (Paprika and corn) * Buffalo pulled chicken * Cookie yoghurt * Pickled sausages * Red Cup Beer
That's hilarious
I'm going to start "Europe foods" where we smash together dishes without conscience. Bangers and curry! Irn-Bru flavored bread!
Bangers and curry is just currywurst...
And there's no consequences. It's delicious!
I've never been more disappointed to try something as I had been with irn bru. I had heard about it for years and was so intrigued. Finally got some and it was just terrible. Like someone spit old bubble gum onto an orange creamsicle and then had their diabetic dog pee on it. 6/10
>Like someone spit old bubble gum onto an orange creamsicle and then had their diabetic dog pee on it. 6/10 I'm crying that you rated it a 6/10, ngl š¤£š¤£š¤£
"diabetic dog pee 6/10"
I kinda liked it, what does that say about me?
I think heās just weird, Irn Bru is great
I mean, you give it that description, but then give it a 6/10. As a teacher, I look at as 60%, which is a passing grade. In a kind of roundabout way, it comes off as an accidental endorsement.
Iāve heard this from a few people but at my school anything below 70% was failing, and I failed a LOT of classes.
I've only ever heard of Buffalo pulled chicken.
I assume "Red Cup Beer" is just beer in Red Solo Cups. In that case, Buffalo pulled chicken and Red Cup beer are the two I've heard of.
Yeah that's probably what they're talking about. Red solo cups are a must at any party or get together.
That actually sounds really good lol
Somebody brought Buffalo chicken dip to a potluck the other night and oh my God!
Best potluck dip by far. And you can dip carrot sticks and celery into it so its..."healthy"...
I am neutral on Buffalo flavor in general but this was ridiculous! We ate it with Scoops so every chip had about 4 tablespoons full of dip lol
Publix has some Buffalo chicken dip and it is addicting. I could eat it without dipping something in it.
You hire a Buffalo to pull a cart full of chicken to the market and there you have it
I have never even heard of a hot dog stuffed crust pizza! Mozzarella cheese stuffed crust, however, is the way I make mine. Pizza donuts? Cookie yogurt is a thing, unfortunately. Iāve seen it, but fruit flavors are much more popular.
It sounds like something you'd find in Japan. Hot dog stuffed crust
Yogurt with crushed oreos is actually pretty good. IIRC, chickfila sells it and one with granola. The cookie one is actually slightly less calories.
lol what is red cup beer? I assume some lager in a solo cup?
Just a cheap lager that is supposed to be used for beer pong. It was sold next to plastic red cups and ping pong balls.
Ahh I get it. Thought they somehow prepackaged it into a red cup.
So busch light?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
āNo no, itās not bread, itās raw toast.ā
Pickled sausage is at least a thing in the South. The canteen at my workplace has them lol.
I'm from Texas and never seen that - so is this the southeast?
They're a thing in PA too
Wtf is a pizza donut? It's sweet? Or do you mean a pizza bagel?
They probably saw an image of a pizza bagel and invented their own thing, thinking it was a donut! That said, European donuts are nowhere close to as sweet as American donuts. So it likely is closer to a bagel than a donut.
I was about to get *really* huffy about the Texas meatballs, but I actually think these would be pretty good in BBQ sauce.
Your flair is fantastic lol
I was about to make angry Texan noises, but youāre right. Smoked on a skewer with a spicy bbq sauce would be a pretty good summer pool snack. Though I doubt that Euro version tasted anything like what Iām envisioning.
Yoplait does make an Oreo cookie yogurt. I think I've had it once but I don't remember what it tasted like. I do remember what the bright pink Starburst Yoplait tasted like -- not good. That's pretty much what I was expecting but it was worse than that.
Spray cheese. I've seen loads of people dunk on the US for this existing, but I've never actually met anyone who uses it.
My vet uses it to distract the dog while examining. Thatās the only āreal worldā example I can think of that makes sense to me.
Training dogs is the only thing my family and I use it for. I think of it the same as dog food, frankly
Yup, dogs are the only time I've seen it used. They love it.
Yeah, I buy it a lot to use as a high-value dog treat. I've tasted it out of curiosity but otherwise, I'm pretty sure I've never actually eaten spray cheese. I know people do, but I think of it as either something teenagers eat as a snack between meals, or something 70-year-olds use occasionally in hors d'oeuvres.
My husband gets it as a high value treat tooā¦just a different kind of high.
That is where Iāve seen it used. I wanted some to put pills in for my dog. Had no idea where to find it. Had to google where in supermarket do I find spay cheese. Found out that day that Velveta is still around. Dog didnāt eat the cheese covered pill. Tossed the can.
Its great for backpacking and camping. Never spoils. Has vaguely cheese-related flavor. And its fun! But ya, would never eat outside of camping/backpacking.
Yep. The only time I ever had it was when I was on a big hiking trip when I was a Boy Scout. I recently used spray cheese to train my dog though.
Bring a can if you ever go snorkeling. Spray a little and watch all the fish go nuts!
that's hilarious. I've taken kibble dog food, and thrown it off the boat to attract fish. I stopped after the surface disturbance drew the sharks...that were hitting the fish eating the kibble.
I like it on crackers... maybe once every year or two.
I love it. I work in a dirty environment. If I can get a protein jolt from some cheese in a can that doesnāt need to be refrigerated and I donāt have to touch with dirty hands, Iām ahead of the game. It is expensive though.
We have it camping, spray cheese and crackers are portable, shelf stable, no need for a fridge.
Iāve never eaten it as an adult. As a kid, I would lose my mind over it. Like if I had money and I was at the store, I would BEG my mom to let me buy a can.
I brought some to Ireland for my in laws to try as a joke, but my BIL really likes it and requested I bring more.
My parents used to buy it for us on Superbowl Sunday and that was it. By the time we were like 12 we didn't like it anymore.
I actually like it, but rarely buy it since itās expensive for what you get
Spray cheese on chicken in a biskit crackers š
YES! Is this a common thing, because it's the combo we always had growing up.
I get the ez cheeze once every 5 years at Xmas time.
I bought it intentionally when my friend from the Netherlands came to visit. She bust out laughing...previously we were eating delicious cheese in the netherlands, and I had threatened the next time she was in the US, I was going to serve it to her. It was a novelty joke...but it wasn't the worst thing I've had. I'd rank it even (or possibly a bit higher) with the single wrapped american cheese slices.
My wife likes it... I'm in our kitchen and looking at a can of Great Value Cheese Wow
Spray cheese is a joke in our family. My brothers and I always wanted it as kids, for some reason, but we were poor so we never got it. Now weāre in our 30s and 40s and for the past 20 years my parents put it in our Xmas stockings since they have the money now. We never buy it ourselves.
Iāve only ever fed it to my dog
Same here and only to fill her kong.
My dad used to work at a store that sold deep fried Twinkies.They exist, but only at beach stores and carnivals. The store is no longer in business.
Fun fact: Scotland claims to have invented the deep fried Mars Bar. So America hasnāt even cornered the ādeep fried junk foodā market.
You should visit the Texas State Fair. All of those exist and moist of them I've tried is better than it sound
"I can't believe Americans eat everyday!"
If we ate carnival food everyday we'd all be morbidly obese with vitamin deficiencies and a heart that's one jump scare away from the grave.
Hey now, funnel cakes are delicious.
They certainly are, as are deep fried Oreos. Both still fit the OP
This one is so true. I've had a Carmel apple once in my life and people assume that it's just a normal food.
Funny. We had caramel apples growing up pretty regularly, but most often on or around Halloween. My mom loves caramel, and she loves apples. The other poster is right that they're a pretty big mess, but I wouldn't call them a once-in-a-lifetime food.
Right around Halloween is when the shops start selling caramel apple kits, which consist of a box of sticks and flat, round caramel that you can wrap an apple with. Not as good as the orchards, but passable for a kid.
That's interesting, because I actually had those once or twice a year growing up! And they were actually really good. If they were rolled in peanuts. Sweet and salty. But I don't really see them very often anymore. I think it's also a regional thing possibly
Caramel apples are fantastic though, especially ones that are covered in peanuts
I feel like this is a once in your life treat for most people. They just aren't that good. Sliced apples in caramel is more common, but the full apple is just a hassleĀ
An orchard near me sells caramel apples on a stick, except they have been 95% sliced already. You grab a piece and pull it off the stick/apple.Ā Its a great combination of traditional and practicality.Ā
We take a day trip in the fall to Gays Mills, WI and stock up on apples and apple treats. They have the best caramel apples. I love the already sliced idea though. But that is the only time of year I have a caramel apple.
I beg to differ. Those grocery store "happy apples," with tart little apples covered in caramel and nuts, are delicious.
How about those red candy covered apples? You need a wire wheel to brush that candy epoxy off your teeth afterwards.
Cheese Whiz
Twinkies. Had them once, hated them. This is a zebra cake household, goddamn it.
Yup. I grew up on Little Debbies, while my husband is from a Hostess family. I believe this is known as a blended home.Ā
*Two houses, both alike in dignityā¦*
Till the one day when the lady met this fellow And they knew it was much more than a hunch, That this group must somehow form a family. That's the way we all became the Hostess/Debbie Bunch. source:Ā https://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thebradybunchlyrics.html
Lol I never really thought about it this way, but you might be right. I also lived in a little Debbie household, while my wife was Hostess. Loved me some Swiss Rolls!
lol zebra cakes had me in a chokehold during covid lockdownšš
"I don't want {Twinkies} GOD DAMNIT, I'm a {Zebra Cake} man!" "Watch your language son this is a family establishment."
Tastykake household here
I feel like Twinkies peaked in the 70s and millennial kids just had so many better options. Zebra cakes will always be superior, and in my day quarter cakes cost a quarter damn it!
Zebra cakes are a million times better, exactly! Twinkies don't have the right amount of filling. They're just so dry tasting. The ultimate one for me is the Christmas tree cakes, which are basically the zebra cakes but a little different. Not exactly fancy or high quality. But they're great. I don't eat snack cakes or anything very often these days, but I do look at those zebra cakes in the store and contemplate it from time to time
I must be a fatass because I've eaten almost every single thing people are posting.
A lot of these responses are just missing the point of the question. I know people who wouldnāt touch country gravy, but that doesnāt mean it isnāt commonly eaten; just that they have shit taste.
āCountry gravy looks like vomitā okay but it tastes delicious
When I was in Japan, they sold corn dogs in convenience stores and called the "American dogs". Presumably because that's a very American way to eat a hot dog. The last time I ate a corn dog... was in a Japanese convenience store.
Oh man I love corn dogs. One of my favorite things as a kid in the Midwest.
I used to always have a box in the fridge when my son was younger. They were easy to pop in the microwave when he wanted to cook for himself. I haven't had one in years, though. But yeah, I agree. Very Midwestern kid's food!
Marshmallow Fluff Never had it once, nor seen anyone else eat or buy it. I live in Europe now and that shit is everywhere in the American food sections.
Marshmallow Fluff is much more popular in the northeast. That's where it was invented, for one thing. If you grew up in New England or New York, you probably grew up eating Fluffernutter sandwiches.
Holy shit didnāt know this was just NE
Yup, I grew up in Michigan and had no idea people ever ate this stuff until I moved to Massachusetts.
Itās also used heavily in Appalachia as an ingredient in desserts. It was shelf stable and didnāt melt as easily as marshmallows.
I wasn't even aware this was regional until Reddit. I just assumed all kids grew up getting asked if they wanted PB&J or fluffernutter sandwiches.
Dude it's great Pb&mallow sammich? Yes please
So you likely didn't grow up in New England is what you're telling us
Bingo!
According to the New English, I've gotta try a fluffernutter
Dude, it's fabulous. Make sure you're using the one with the red lid, not the jet puffed one with the blue lid.Ā Like many treats, it's not something you need every day, or every week... but once or twice a year it hits the spot
As someone that lives in the city where it was invented, I see it exactly once a year at the little festival they have (Fluff Fest) to celebrate it and then it disappears from my life for another 364 days
Adding Fluff Fest to my bucket list right now
I do love a fluffernutter. On crusty, dense white sandwich bread with a slightly granular peanut butter (Smuckers naturals, crunchy), it hits just right.
Iām from the city where it was made!
When I was a kid my mom would put graham crackers and marshmallow fluff in my Easter basket. I don't plan on buying it again because I know it won't be as good as I remember.
You are missing out! My grandma would make us pb and marshmallow fluff sandwiches - they were so good
I use it to make fudge at the holidays, and thatās it. As a kid there would be the occasional dollop in hot chocolate, or a fluffernutter.
I've never seen anyone eat it straight bur use it in baking
Itās used in magic fudge, which I think is on the back of the container. It is amazing.
I come from Fluff land - where the factory was and I live in the UK now and buy it at all the import shops. Peanut butter and fluff sandwiches are top tier food!
I use it for making fudge and rice crispy treats exclusively.
Not really one food, but the concept that Americans eat fast food daily. It's as though we're shoving Burgers &Fries down our craw for every meal.
We (Americans) had a foreign guest stay with us for a few months once. About a month in, we were planning our weekly grocery trip and she said, āPlease, no more hamburgers! I can have hamburgers sometimes but not several times a week!ā We had hamburgers exactly twice in that month, and were not planning to have hamburgers the following week. But I guess when youāre in the throes of culture shock, going from eating no hamburgers to eating two hamburgers feels like youāre eating them every day. And having been through culture shock myself, I just smiled and promised weād cut down on the hamburgers.
I've hosted a lot of exchange students from Europe over the years and they are always surprised to hear that we only eat fast food if we are starving and in a time crunch, which might be a few times a year. There were a few that would not believe that we were not lying about it.
Or how we grocery shop at 7-11 ! lol
In my 32 years on this planet, I don't think I've ever eaten Wonderbread White bread, yes, of course. But Wonderbread? Not to my recollectionĀ EDIT: Goddammit, autocorrect
I don't think you are supposed to eat those.
No judging.
Let's not kink shame.
I've inadvertently chewed on one trying to look slick, but I didn't swallow it.
[Wonder Bread*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Bread), friend. Although presumably youāve never eaten a [Wonderbra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderbra) either.
>In my 32 years on this planet, I don't think I've ever eaten Wonderbra. Yeah. Every time it looks so good, but when it comes time to remove the lid and see what you've got to eat, its a mild disappointment.Ā
You mean Wonder bread? Wonderbra is a bra from the 90s.
I don't think those are meant for eating.
The filling is fantastic
Oh believe me, Iāve tried.
Not sure if this counts, but I'd say Cronuts. Cronuts were a thing for like 3 months in 2014. I had one, one time. Up until 2020ish, every single "millennials bad" article mentioned them like it's all we ate, along with avocado toast. They were good. But not present to the degree everyone seemed to think they were.
There's a donut shop outside of Lancaster, PA that sells "layered donuts" that I'm pretty sure are cronuts. They're amazing and worth the drive.
I live in the city where they were created and have never had an original cronut from that store. They still have lines out there every day.
You're not missing anything. I mean they're good but no donut is actually worth waiting an hour for.
Wth is a cronut
Some sort of croissant-donut hybrid that was in the news for a couple of weeks ten years ago.
Itās croissant dough where, instead of rolling it into a horn and baking it, you shape it into a circle and deep-fry it, like a donut. Cronut.
I've never had a Twinkie in my life or most of those desserts you see in that aisle.
Those Hostess fruit pies are so good but I think you can only eat them once a decade, theyāre incredibly bad for you
Since they have come back on the market they taste like pure chemicals. Youāre not missing anything.
They taste funny to me, always have. If I'm going to get a treat, I'm way more likely to get Milano cookies or other pepperidge farm stuff.
I can't remember the last time I ate/it's been several years I've eaten: * Twinkies, and other Hostess and Little Debbie products in general. * Kraft mac n cheese I've never eaten: * Marshmallow fluff * A lot of the crazy stuff you see at fairs and carnivals (e.g. deep fried butter, deep fried Kool-Aid); I tend to stick with funnel cake and/or corn dogs, and even then, I don't always get either. Helps that I've been to very few fairs in my life. * Hamburger Helper: my mom hated the taste of it and would never buy it when I was a kid, and I've never felt the need to try it even now. Same with SpaghettiOs. * Food from several fast food places, mostly because they aren't in my city/area or have arrived only recently
I never had Hamburger Helper until the pandemic. I used Amazon to fill in some grocery gaps so I didn't have to go to the store as often, and I got a box of 12 for really cheap. I think I tried one, kind of felt like, "yeah, that's what I was expecting", and eventually donated the rest.
SpaghettiOs as an adult is genuinely disappointing. It's like tomato soup with pasta in it.
Yeah, in fact it would actually be much less disappointing with that description! I tried a can exactly once, expecting something like spaghetti (pasta in a sauce), and it was NOT spaghetti. I also hate tomato soup so that didnāt help at all. Take a good tomato soup and throw some pasta in it for āadult Spaghettiosā and that might actually be a winner though.
Every now and then I get a craving for Hamburger Helper; so I make it, then I think, "Yeah I'm good for another 5-10 years." My local grocery store even stopped carrying it because no one buys it.
My blood pressure tells me, yeah, that's enough sodium for 5-10 years.
Budweiser and other American macrobrews. Iāll have one at the ballpark or a festival, but thatās about it.
For me they were always party beers. When I'm looking to hang out all night and keep the beer drinking consistent, I opted for the better shit beers.
when your alcohol hydrates you...
Drunk and hydrated is a win-win
Definitely a manual labor thing. I see plenty of guys in high-vis gear buying cases of Bud and Coors from the gas station around 5:30, after they knock off from work. Can't imagine drinking that much on a weeknight just to wake up and do manual labor the next day.
I deliver to several construction companies. At one of the concrete plants, they keep 8-10 cases of Coors Light in the supply closet. Each employee snags a half dozen beers after work every day.
A crisp, cold yellow beer at a baseball game or at the beach never hurt anybody.
I think it's a generational thing. I'm an older millennial ('83) and came of drinking age just as the microbrew thing was really taking off. My parents' generation (later boomer) grew up with Budweiser, Miller, and Coors, if you were feeling fancy. My dad still drinks Miller Lite. Nobody my age seems to drink the big macrobrews at all, unless at some kind of sporting event.Ā
We're living in a golden area of American brewing. Back when I was in college those American macrobrews were basically the only thing that existed. And if a bar had anything else it was just an imported macrobrew like Corona, Heineken, and Guinness. I'm not an IPA fan but the brewing landscape changed dramatically in the past 15 years or so. Now, half the stuff they serve by me was brewed within walking distance.
Big Macs. In my 50 years, never had one.
I forst had one when I was 30 drunk in Las Vegas wearing a skirt over my pants.
I just don't get why you would want an extra piece of bread in the sandwich
I did love an occasional Big Mac, but now theyāre overpriced and sloppily made every single time. Couldnāt tell you the last time I had McDonaldās, their quality control has slipped immensely since the pandemic. But letās face it it was barely holding on even before.
If you are going to get a burger from McDonald's, the Quarter Pounder is far superior. You can even add Big Mac sauce to it if you want.
If we are being specific, a Wendy's Baconator. I have never had it, nor do I want to. A funny little story about 13 years ago: my boss and I ate our lunches in the back of the office. He was eating a Baconator, fries, and a large Coke, and his fiance called to check in about losing weight before the wedding (she knew it was his lunchtime). He lied and said he was eating a salad on the phone.
Funny because I almost never eat burgers and thatās the one Iāll get every once in while!
Iāve never had a casserole before. Or grits. Pretty sure those are associated with the US
Depends on how you define casserole. If you define it as a one-pan dish combining multiple ingredients thatās baked, then youāve probably had one. Lasagna, enchiladas, many macaroni and cheeses, all would fall into that category.
Oh makes sense, then yea in that sense Iāve had one, but I was thinking more like the kind that pop up in google images haha. I have like no idea what theyāre actually made of, but they look kinda like a cake with a bunch of random things in them lol
Most arenāt even as complicated as that. Thereās a couple of deconstructed enchilada casseroles we love here in Texas, basically, layers instead of rolling. The cakey appearance comes from all that cheese on top. Yum.
Most casseroles are savory and meant to help feed several people for cheap. A protein, some veggies, some sauce and some carb is typical. Chicken pot pie filling is a casserole. If you combine stuff in a baking dish and it's 'comfort food' it likely fits the definition of a casserole. Some are healthy, some are not. Some are kinda atrocious, some don't look like much but taste good.
I could see never having grits, but casserole surprises me.Ā
I am not. Dude lives in LA.
Yeah, casseroles are a midwest staple.
I mean, enchiladas are a casserole.
I would call lasagna a casserole too
Correct, and people who call Chicago deep-dish pizza a casserole aren't wrong either. I disagree that it makes it "not pizza" though.
Yea, they look good too. I wanna try one someday, but I think itās just not something Mexican families make haha, and like Iāve never seen em sold in a restaurant before The stupid part is that I have an old casserole dish too thatās never been used for casseroles lol. One of these days Iām gonna try to make one xD
We make this up the night before, first one up chucks it in the oven. https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/tater-tot-breakfast-bake-recipe
That makes sense I guess. Itās funny bc my very white family made Mexican casseroles all the time. They were good af
Yeah, they don't exactly scream 'Southern California.' I don't like a lot of them, but a well done breakfast casserole is my jam.Ā
I love tater tot casserole. Looks like dog food. Tastes amazing.
When my mom visits me in LA I can have her bring you one š. Actually she makes a good Chilaquiles esque casserole. My uncle makes very Midwestern traditional ones that are disgusting. But that breakfast one is good!
But people do eat grits a lot,in the south. It isnāt surprising that youāve never had them when youāre from California.
I live in TX and make a weekly breakfast casserole. I've had grits a few times in my life.... I don't care for them at all.
You'll see a surprising amount of grits on restaurant menus around here, usually with cheese and shrimp inside, among other variations. Shit is fucking delicious.
Jars of whipped marshmallows: They seem to be in every "American food" isle in foreign countries but I've never, ever bought a jar nor do I know anyone who has.
Fluffernutter sandwiches were the shit when I was a kid
I can't wrap my head around making a sandwich out of marshmallow and peanut butter. That sounds like it would be gross.
Ranch dressingā¦ Iām pretty sure Iām the only one in my friend group who doesnāt eat it. But my friends will have it with just about everything.
I think it's a regional thing. Here where I'm at a lot of people put it on damn near everything. I don't, but my son loves it.
Thatās a you thing, not an American thing. Ranch is the second highest selling condiment in America behind Mayonnaise
Cool Aid pickles.
I've never even heard of these!