American food

[cherrypiepie]

I've a few questions about America food or cuisine. What is they day to day reality of food for those in the US?

I've just been on a cruise on an American orientated ship.

I read Michelle Obama's autobiography.

I've seen a few things in the internet.

What I noticed is that compared to the uk the food seemed ultra processed, even the same foods eg American Fanta, McDonald's fries (uk is potatoes salt and oil US is much more and lots of chemical additives), sliced bread. Fresh whole foods are not as prevalent in supermarkets so a whole shoe called Whole Foods has this market. I watched a person (wholesome family type) do a few recipes in you tube and they were "cooking from scratch" but they used cake mix for a cake recipe and jarred sauces for everything. Michelle Obama's description of the lack of ability to change the unhealthy school lunches as they are controlled by big business is a contrast to the uk where attempts have been made to address this issue. School lunches are hot dogs and pizza and fruit cup things.

The food on the cruise was nice but lacked the finesse of uk or continental food. And it wasn't as adventurous as a UK based cruise line. So the key lime pie would be similar to what I'd expect from a Pizza Hut type place not a £75 a head restaurant. (Appreciate this might just be this cruise line) The blue cheese salad was just called blue cheese not Roquefort or Stilton etc as it would I the uk. DH Fanta was bright orange (and he loved it!) I've read about people going nuts for American sprite too.

I wonder if any one can add any understanding to this?

I do love American food and we cook many seriously good American BBQ recipes and appreciate that there are some amazing food cultures in the US but wondered what the day to day reality is?

DM lives in the US and everyone thinks she's an incredible cook because she colls from scratch. Most people she knows (Florida) 'fix things' out of other pre made bits rather than cook. She's says the way she does it makes everything v expensive

The only places I've ate well consistently have been New York and california . Whole foods is great but not remotely cheap. A big difference is a lot of Americans eat out a lot! And hence there is a lot of cheapish fast food about- as my h described it- 'massive amounts of mediocre shit'

There are some excellent places too but it's pricey and European style cheese and stuff is an expensive import and so a lot of home produced stuff is not necessarily to European taste- a lot seems quite bland . I don't like Mexican or burgers , so that cuts quite a lot out too

Nobody has mentioned Trader Joe. I really like Trader Joe.

I love them too. A Trader Joe's just opened up in my town. Previously the nearest one was 40 minutes away. People were talking about it on social media for months.

My very fussy-eater Dsis used to go a lot to Trader Joe. Not sure she has one near now though, living in Cape Cod.

I do remember her being 😱! at my bill in my local Asda once, though. I said, ‘What - d’you think that’s expensive?’

She said, ‘No! CHEAP!

Yes. When I see talk about 37c bread etc it's mind boggling.

Staying in villas on holiday we did big food shops. I expected the fruit and veg to be amazing but honestly I wasn’t too impressed. Couldn’t find any apples that had a good flavour. I liked the convenience platters of carrot sticks etc and the lunch box packs with dips. A great range of products if you have the time to look through everything and cook. We also found it quite expensive compared to a food shop in the uk.

Friend went to USA mid west 30 years ago. Made friends so decided to give them an authentic Welsh Sunday lunch. Managed to source a leg of lamb. $50 she was stunned at that price

There is a great Trader Joe’s in Hyannis on Cape Cod. I know the US can vary but we ate far better in the 7 states we’ve stayed in in New England a couple of years ago than the U.K. Shopped for some in Trader Joe’s and the rest in local supermarkets.It was much easier to buy healthier food and organic, often cheaper too. We have so much pointless,overpackaged 20 varieties of the same crappy thing in the U.K.We don’t need so many options. Maine had a great locally sourced section for fruit/ veg in one supermarket we loved.God I miss Trader Joe’s- why oh why haven’t we got it in the U.K.?Pacific North West and California was great for food too.

Understandably. But the farms here are feeding 329.5 million people.

And it’s very difficult for small businesses to operate at a profit here. Cannot imagine trying to operate a small organic farm.

So people that can afford it spend to have high quality food. I buy local and organic, and not the store brand organic meat, because I don’t actually trust it.

I think it’s been explained here on any thread about the US, it’s not a place to be poor or unemployed.

On the topic of meat, I find the beef in the US to be superior. And in UK to be really not good. I’d never order a steak or a hamburger there. It’s ok in a shepherds pie or mixed with other things, but not alone. Found France to be the same unless you are paying for Kobe or similar.

In my experience it depends where I’m the US you are. The supermarkets do sell fresh fruit and veg but we always find they come in big packs that we wouldn’t get through and it’s more costly than back home.

The one thing that I really didn’t like was when ordering a baked sweet potato in a restaurant they always bring it with butter and brown sugar on. The servers gave me funny looks when I asked for it without sugar. The same goes for salads which almost always come covered in cheese or a creamy dressing.

I agree that eating out is generally cheap but when you’re there on holiday you don’t tend to want leftovers in a box from the huge portions as you’re either in a hotel or you’re probably out and about the following day. I always think it’s a waste and end up eating a lot more than I usually would.

Someone upthread mentioned Ina Garten. I always watch in horror at the amount of butter and cream she uses in her recipes. It looks delicious but certainly not healthy.

In my experience it depends where I’m the US you are. The supermarkets do sell fresh fruit and veg but we always find they come in big packs that we wouldn’t get through and it’s more costly than back home.

This is true of the warehouse clubs like Costco and BJ's because of efficiency in checkout and because they sell large sizes. But I've never been to a regular supermarket that didn't see fruit and veg by weight or count so that you could buy as much or as little as you want.

@ComtesseDeSpair , of course I’m familiar with the likes of Philadelphia - always have been. I don’t know why you’re assuming that cream-type cheese was meant. It wasn’t. As was clear from the recipe, it was a much harder type of cheese. Probably not unlike the block processed cheese that was a staple of dh’s and my diet when stony broke in Cyprus years ago and any ‘proper’ cheese was unaffordable. That was called ‘Penguin’ cheese, and IIRC was Australian.

It sounds like you are shopping in big box stores and eating in chain steak houses.

Ina Garten recipes are amazing. I make them only for holidays. Try the gruyere potatoes with fennel.

I cannot imagine where it would be cheaper to eat out than cook at home. A fast food meal is easily $9 now. My local pizza shop charges $15 for a pasta dish.

It's similar where I am in New York. We started making pizza at home during the pandemic and have kept on doing so, partly because it's less than half the cost of a take-out pie.

The same goes for salads which almost always come covered in cheese or a creamy dressing.

Just ask for dressing on the side. This is just a cultural thing, most people want dressing on the side.

I cannot remember the last time I had a salad served to me with the dressing already on it. Unless it was a super light vinaigrette. They always put them on the side.