Taste is subjective, there’s no doubt about that. Controversial foods exist, that’s a fact too. Now combine them together, and you see some weird food combos landing in people’s stomachs.
This time, we will narrow down our investigation into American cuisine only (despite the fact all countries have their culinary quirks!) to find out what common eating habits and foods confuse non-Americans. Turns out there are many of them!
From super-size meaty breakfasts to cheese spread, these are the most eyebrow-raising American delicacies people in other countries just can’t fathom.
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Cookie Dough in a tube, which you guys apparently eat raw, according to the movies. Obviously I have no idea what this stuff tastes like (I can only assume it's awesome), but the concept just seems strange to my Scottish mind.
Having said that, we consume assorted animal innards, oats and spices in a tube allegedly made from a sheeps bladder (aka haggis), so I admit that we're on pretty shaky ground to be criticising anyone else's eating habits.
Sweet potato and marshmallow casserole. What the actual f**k?
A friend visited me from Italy and wanted to try Krispy Kreme donuts. He took one bite and said, 'Now I understand why Americans are fat!' He made me take him back twice for more.
Aerosol Cheese. Seriously America, what the f**k?
Hersheys chocolate. Honestly tastes like the smell of vomit.
Well, it does. it has Butyric acid in it (it was added to make the milk last longer in the olden days), and vomit also has butyric acid. Dairy farms in Europe were closer to the chocolate factories, so there it was not needed. And now they just keep it in as Americans are used to the taste.
Processed cheese. There are so many lovely actual cheese, why eat s***ty fake stuff?
perfect for giving a dog a pill though, just wrap the pill in it and BOOM
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I love this stuff. Especially in a cheap grilled cheese sandwich. So good.
Just to check, I went to my local supermarket (UK) yesterday and noted that one sixth of the shelving was processed cheese, slightly less than that was dairy made, the rest was factory made. So it's clearly popular in many places.
Like American cheese! that stuff is disgusting. Me and my family (both sides) call it plastic cheese
Good grief, no. That would require effort and thought! Picking a different, less well known country would make a change!
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From the perspective of a foreigner, Americans only seem to have American cheese, Monterey Jack, Swiss cheese (which seems to be a generic cheese with holes in), and sharp cheddar. Oh, and bleu cheese which only comes in the form of a cold sauce
So sorry you haven't bothered to go to the actual cheese counter in a grocery store. My local has cheeses from all the cheese producing states in the US, dozens of excellent cheeses, as well as imports from England, Italy, France, and other cheese producing countries. Our cheddars and blue cheeses have won international awards and are nothing to sneer at.
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It may not be great but it may be the only 'cheese' some of us can afford!
Because it's the best for melting on burgers. And macaroni wouldn't be the same with real cheese.
US citizen, never trust a cheese product that needs full coverage plastic to protect itself from the other cheese. Eat real cheese, there are so many yummy real cheeses to choose from. One of my favourite is extra sharp white cheddar. I also like Harvarti, smoked Gouda and a few others.
If you're going to make a boloney sandwich you HAVE to have some squishy white bread (like Wonder) Oscar Meyer bologna & Kraft American singles. It's a rule. Oh - and French's yellow mustard.
American who 100% agrees! The chalky consistency alone, not to mention the artificial taste!
I was very amused in the US when, say, frozen pizza packages said "Made with real cheese!"
Processed cheese is like a trans woman. There are women and there are trans women. There is cheese, and there is processed cheese. If you quit conflating the two kinds of cheeses, you won’t worry about people eating the processed kind.
If you want to be more grossed out, it's not even cheese. They're labeled as a "pasteurized prepared cheese product" because they don't fit the FDA requirements to be cheese. American bread has so much sugar that it's technically cake elsewhere....can you imagine how messed up those slices have to be that they don't even fit the American standard to be called cheese?
But is this purely American? You can buy it here as well (Germany).
I get it. But it melts so well for grilled cheese sandwiches and cheeseburgers. We still eat real cheese out here.
You can buy that in Europe too. My Mom bought it when we were little. I‘m not sure why but I guess it is/ was cheaper than normal cheese.
It's definitely a price-point thing. But people also like that it melts easily, and the convenience of being preslicd and individually wrapped appeals to some people.
Some of it is fine, if you get the more expensive brands. You have to look out for the cheapest ones. You can tell because they won't have the word "cheese" anywhere on the packaging. And, stranger still, this non-cheese cheese doesn't melt... i think it's made outv of plastic.
It's okay when you can't afford those actual lovely cheeses and just want something to complete your sandwich or something lol
It's cheaper, lol. I rarely eat it. Only when my craving for dairy (lactose intolerant) is high enough. Then I'll cook up a cheeseburger. Course I regret it afterwards, but it's either that or get a small pizza and the. I'll really suffer.
Our antiquated agriculture laws prevent a whole host of those wonderful other cheeses from being made/sold in the US. All US cheeses have to be made with pasteurized milk.
The other cheeses, while better, do not melt like this cheese which makes a great grilled cheese.
There should be some kind of law against calling this garbage cheese. It's abhorrent.
Hands down the best on a Cheeseburger! I believe even Anthony Bourdain agreed!
Food snobs! Lol, ain't nothing like 2 pieces of white bread with kraft sliced cheese grilled in a puddle of butter. This was the first thing I learned to "cook" I still make them as a snack with a glass of milk.
It's good for melting on your tuna bun. Only reason it's in my fridge, one use cheese.
I keep American cheese in the fridge -- it's perfect for disguising my dog's medication.
If you read the box, it's called processed sandwich slices. The word 'cheese' is never on the label.
Because of bologna sandwiches. Bologna, white bread, Kraft singles, ketchup and mayo, and plain Old Dutch chips smashed on there for crunch. Can't beat it.
It melts so beautifully though. Hot ham and cheese anyone?
I live in belgium and have acces to the most wonderfull Belgian and French cheese, wich i buy to enjoy on their own. For a quick sandwich i throw a fake cheese like this on my bread (we have them too)
Processed cheese in the US is no more fake than processed cheese in Europe (I give you the French Rambol). American cheese is basically cheddar and colby cheeses melted with other ingredients to yield a slice that is reasonably priced for those on a budget and that melts beautifully.
American bread. I lived in the states for six months. At one point shortly after moving, I bought a loaf of bread and made a sandwich. To my surprise, the bread was so sweet. I told my housemates that I accidentally bought dessert bread, but nope — it was just regular bread in America.
The fact that I ordered one pound of corned beef hash, three eight-inch pancakes with butter and maple syrup, four scrambled eggs with ketchup, six strips of bacon, four sausage links, three pieces of toast, and endless coffee for $12 at a diner. That was my breakfast while visiting the states. I love America.
Lobster is not odd in itself, but seeing “lobster mac’n’cheese” was wierd. Where I’m from, lobster is expensive, exclusive, and considered fine dining, and mac’n’cheese does not exist as a dish you can order anywhere. I love pasta, I love cheese, so pasta with cheese is common in my own kitchen, but that is far away from that “fine dining” lobster.
My first time in the states was a trip to NYC. I was pregnant at the time, and that’s probably why I allowed myself to order lobster mac’n’cheese for lunch at a restaurant, against my husbands comments on how it was a shame for the lobster to be served like that ... it was bloody delicious. I still dream about it.
Lobster is a bit less fancy in north America than in Europe. Until last century, it was deemed a poor man's meal, because it was abundant along the east coast and not very healthy (due to poor understanding on how to preserve and cook it). That's why it has been kept in informal recipes like lobster sandwich or the above.
The way they eat apple sauce.
Over here in the UK you would have a very small portion of it with some pork. It's just a condiment.
In the US they would pretty much have an entire bowl of the stuff and would just put spoonful after spoonful of it into their mouthes. It's like a snack or a meal itself.
Boxed macaroni and cheese. My partner is Swiss, and he is appalled by Kraft Mac & Cheese. He could not believe I was looking forward to ingesting orange powder mixed with noodles.
Mac & Cheese is so easy to make from scratch, I could never understand why to buy it as a premade meal made with dubious powder that you need to cook the same amount of time as the original dish.
Not the food but the sheer size of the soft drinks is off putting and I'm from Canada.
The felt obsession with anything deep-fried is unnerving to me. There's a good few things that are excellent deep-fried, don't get me wrong, but putting literally anything in batter and frying it seems...wrong.
Grits. What the f**k even is grits? It sounds like the most unappetising thing ever. "I had grits for breakfast" WHY ARE YOU EATING TINY ROCKS?
It's like porridge but made with cornmeal. Very cheap and was a staple food fed to African slaves.
Taco Bell.
They tried to open one over here and it lasted about a week. Don't try to sell Taco Bell to Mexicans. Just don't.
Ranch dressing. Why don't you people want to taste the actual salad you're eating?
Mayonnaise on everything but French fries — use butter you savages.
Not exactly *a* food, but breakfasts in general.
When I was there they looked at me like I was a starving child from the woods with my coffee and toast. MY BODY CAN'T DIGEST CHILI CON CARNE IN THE MORNING, I'M SORRY I'M NOT THAT MAGICAL.
For me, it's not so much a particular 'American' food that I find bizarre, but rather the portion sizes. I'm Australian, and I was raised to eat everything on my plate. I brought that mentality to the US, and I put on 5 kg in over a month. The portion sizes are obscene. I could hardly finish a meal there without feeling ill from eating to much.
Many foreign visitors aren't aware of the doggy bag. It is completely common place to not finish your meal and ask the restaurant to box the leftovers for you to take home. When I visit family in the states one restaurant meal is really 2-3 meals.
I had a friend who would get physically sick at any mention of Hamburger Helper.
As an American, I think he's nuts.
This stuff looks exactly the same going in as coming out! Pure grossness
A friend of mine brought back loads of American sweets from holiday. The Hershey's chocolate kisses were one of the worst things I've ever eaten. I thought I was going to be sick.
Yeah, American chocolate has an acid added to it that is also found in vomit. Not even joking.
Chicago style deep-dish pizza. Great for the first two bites, but any more than that and I start to feel like my arteries are about to detonate.
Pop tarts, or God forbid microwaving your water when you have a cup of tea
Anything sandwiched between donuts or assembled and then fried to finish.
Luckily, Fair/Boardwalk Food isn’t a staple of anyone’s diet. It’s just a treat you have when you go to the State Fair or the beach.
My German brother-in-law lost his mind at the concept of American 'all you can eat' buffets. He was like, 'All of this...all one price? ALL of it?' He was amazed by it.
I don't know a country that doesn't have all you can eat buffets. Including Germany
Casseroles made with "cream of" anything soup. Green bean casserole, tuna casserole, mushroom casserole. I know what those Campbells soups are like, we get them over here, and the idea of using them as a constituent ingredient in a main meal makes me shudder just from the idea of the sodium bomb. Especially those casseroles that are suggested to be topped with crushed chips.
Peanut butter and jam (jelly) sandwiches I can get behind. Pumpkin pie was a revelation of awesomeness for a new dimension on what to me is normally a savoury veg. Chicken-fried steak and sausage gravy? Genius.
But the idea of those casseroles make my stomach turn every time.
Try the green bean casserole. You will change your mind. The others can be iffy
American desserts. I lived in the states for three years, and the amount of sugar Americans dump into their desserts is mind-blowing. They were beautiful to look at, but they were sweet as hell.
I have an American friend who complains that Australian's don't add sugar to whipped cream.
Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was just like REALLY sweet coffee, I didn't get the craze.
Granola as a "healthy" breakfast option. It's basically a dessert.
Those coated hot dogs on sticks. I've seen them in movies, they look really weird.
Corn dog. A hot dog covered in batter made with cornmeal, but thick so it's almost like corn bread. The UK batters sausages in greasy chip shop batter, the US batters hot dogs in a savoury/sweet corn batter and puts it on a stick.
Multiple Europeans I've met have been baffled by the popularity of root beer in America. As they say, it tastes like medicine.
They've clearly never tried the British Dandelion and Burdock soda. Tastes like some poisonous potion concocted in the 1800's by a group of hedge witches. Vile.
I have a British friend who nearly vomited at the smell of Smartfood White Cheddar popcorn.... you know, the kind that comes in the black bag? He said it smells like baby s**t.
Cheddar or parmesan on popcorn - smells like baby-sh1t and dirty feet - but tastes absolutely won-der-ful!!!
My japanese roommate screamed when she saw me eating carrots & celery dipped in peanut butter
The ancient Incas and Aztecs ground peanuts into a paste. Peanut butter as we now know it was created as a source of protein for people who couldn’t chew meat. That was around 1895. The rest is just peanut butter becoming more popular, and used in more innovative ways. TBH, giving your kids peanut butter and jelly (jam, not Jell-O) sandwiches can be a way to give them some protein (yes, sugar too, depending on the quality of the other ingredients). I’m 62 now, and grew up eating PB&J sandwiches. I turned out alright, normal weight, normal physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual development, so I can say with authority that it’s not detrimental to health and development in children.
Note: this post originally had 69 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
Here we go again. There are a lot of ridiculous foods in the US. There are a lot of amazing foods in the US. If you feed yourself here only by going to gas stations, fast food joints, country fairs, Walmart and Aunt Millie's for dinner, this is what you'll see FFS. The generalizations are just dumb.
Ah yes. The BP "how to bash Americans today" post. Can we at least get something NEW?
Agree. Not an American but I am a bit fed up of all the "Look, Americans are weird and awful" lists on BP.
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American here and I hate nearly all of the foods listed. Too much sugar. Too much grease. Too many artificial colors and so forth. The three things I am guilty about are the applesauce, mint flavored things, and rootbeer.
I miss real root beer. Can't stand the stuff they make today
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I'm so tired of these anti American lists. Most fellow Americans I know don't indulge in most of this c**p. It's just a bunch of snobbish people trying to make themselves look better than us. You just sound stupid. And way to buy into stereotypes. I'm sure ever country has it's fair share of s****y food. I would just never think to post a list of everything I hate about another country. Get over yourselves and find something else to talk about. And I bet the people on this list are the shittiest tourists ever.
And Brits are evil colonising slavers with appalling cuisine and terrible teeth. Welcome to the "this country sucks" club.☹️
Load More Replies... What a bummer. At first I thought it was something about Non USA for a change
A friend of mine went to the US for business reasons like two years ago, and she said the servings you'd get in a restaurant were so big that she could split one plate with her assistant and they'd both be full.
The original idea was to get your money's worth and have enough for a meal there and then one to take home to eat later. However, in this day and age people just eat it all. Part of the reason why most americans (me included) are all shaped like spheres.
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Cute, but that’s not meant to cover and justify junk food.
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I can definitely appreciate that some American foods seem strange to visitors from other countries.... but that definitely goes both ways... I have traveled abroad quite a bit and can say with earnest people are eating some weird and nasty sh** in other regions of the globe! I guess it's all just what your used to. Italy is the best though. Can never go wrong with Italian food :-)
But never forget that tomatoes are indigenous to the Americas
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This topic is SOOOOOOOOO old and been done ad nauseum. Can we make fun of English and Irish food now?
There are ridiculous foods everywhere. Also gross ones. Humans, y'know? So how about "ridiculous foods of the world"? I'll start: Kinder Surprise/Eggs. Plsatic inside chocolate.... And I can't recall where, but in one country you can get a sheep head (or is it a goat?) as a take-out food. Soooo.... what's ridiculous to one is normal to another.
I love root beer. My sister wants to puke at the smell of it. Hard root beer was a disappointment, as it really did taste like NiteQuil.
I like just about everything on this post , except maybe granola. If you don't like it don't eat it. And shut the f**k up.
Please stop picking on the US. I have only been on bored panda for about a month. And in that time, I have seen at 5-7 post about us that are far from flattering. And I've never seen any other country besides US! Wtf?
Ha - welcome to BP. It's frustrating and we try to ignore it, but it def seems they don't care. But the other posts are nice enough that we come back anyway. I wish there was another site that had nice posts without all the bashing.
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The one that I never understand is Cool Whip, which seems to be in a lot of US recipes that I come across. What even is that? The main ingredients seem to be water, oil and corn syrup. Doesn't sound tasty.
Oh, it's good. On ice cream, pies, cake even cookies.
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The thing with this "food" is that's not even food for me. But I'd like to belive it's just things you may get in shops and when you hungry, you simply cooking/buying healthy meal. Deep fried food is good, but maybe once a month? Same with pizza/hamburger. Or anything that contains unhealthy amounts of salt, sugar or fat. But... I live in the middle of Europe and my national cuisine is also gross. I barely ever eat anything of that. It's full of fat and carbs. Also chocolate in my country is bad, too. I buy german chocolate, waaaay better.
Here we go again. There are a lot of ridiculous foods in the US. There are a lot of amazing foods in the US. If you feed yourself here only by going to gas stations, fast food joints, country fairs, Walmart and Aunt Millie's for dinner, this is what you'll see FFS. The generalizations are just dumb.
Ah yes. The BP "how to bash Americans today" post. Can we at least get something NEW?
Agree. Not an American but I am a bit fed up of all the "Look, Americans are weird and awful" lists on BP.
Load More Replies... American here and I hate nearly all of the foods listed. Too much sugar. Too much grease. Too many artificial colors and so forth. The three things I am guilty about are the applesauce, mint flavored things, and rootbeer.
I miss real root beer. Can't stand the stuff they make today
Load More Replies... I'm so tired of these anti American lists. Most fellow Americans I know don't indulge in most of this c**p. It's just a bunch of snobbish people trying to make themselves look better than us. You just sound stupid. And way to buy into stereotypes. I'm sure ever country has it's fair share of s****y food. I would just never think to post a list of everything I hate about another country. Get over yourselves and find something else to talk about. And I bet the people on this list are the shittiest tourists ever.
And Brits are evil colonising slavers with appalling cuisine and terrible teeth. Welcome to the "this country sucks" club.☹️
Load More Replies... What a bummer. At first I thought it was something about Non USA for a change
A friend of mine went to the US for business reasons like two years ago, and she said the servings you'd get in a restaurant were so big that she could split one plate with her assistant and they'd both be full.
The original idea was to get your money's worth and have enough for a meal there and then one to take home to eat later. However, in this day and age people just eat it all. Part of the reason why most americans (me included) are all shaped like spheres.
Load More Replies... Cute, but that’s not meant to cover and justify junk food.
Load More Replies... I can definitely appreciate that some American foods seem strange to visitors from other countries.... but that definitely goes both ways... I have traveled abroad quite a bit and can say with earnest people are eating some weird and nasty sh** in other regions of the globe! I guess it's all just what your used to. Italy is the best though. Can never go wrong with Italian food :-)
But never forget that tomatoes are indigenous to the Americas
Load More Replies... This topic is SOOOOOOOOO old and been done ad nauseum. Can we make fun of English and Irish food now?
There are ridiculous foods everywhere. Also gross ones. Humans, y'know? So how about "ridiculous foods of the world"? I'll start: Kinder Surprise/Eggs. Plsatic inside chocolate.... And I can't recall where, but in one country you can get a sheep head (or is it a goat?) as a take-out food. Soooo.... what's ridiculous to one is normal to another.
I love root beer. My sister wants to puke at the smell of it. Hard root beer was a disappointment, as it really did taste like NiteQuil.
I like just about everything on this post , except maybe granola. If you don't like it don't eat it. And shut the f**k up.
Please stop picking on the US. I have only been on bored panda for about a month. And in that time, I have seen at 5-7 post about us that are far from flattering. And I've never seen any other country besides US! Wtf?
Ha - welcome to BP. It's frustrating and we try to ignore it, but it def seems they don't care. But the other posts are nice enough that we come back anyway. I wish there was another site that had nice posts without all the bashing.
Load More Replies... The one that I never understand is Cool Whip, which seems to be in a lot of US recipes that I come across. What even is that? The main ingredients seem to be water, oil and corn syrup. Doesn't sound tasty.
Oh, it's good. On ice cream, pies, cake even cookies.
Load More Replies... The thing with this "food" is that's not even food for me. But I'd like to belive it's just things you may get in shops and when you hungry, you simply cooking/buying healthy meal. Deep fried food is good, but maybe once a month? Same with pizza/hamburger. Or anything that contains unhealthy amounts of salt, sugar or fat. But... I live in the middle of Europe and my national cuisine is also gross. I barely ever eat anything of that. It's full of fat and carbs. Also chocolate in my country is bad, too. I buy german chocolate, waaaay better.
