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"This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."
-- Capt. Copeland
Well, I'm Italian and my assertion is simply that most of what passes for pizza in the U.S. is not very good. Certainly poor ingredients is high on the list of faults. Most cities I've lived in I find that there are maybe 1-2 places that serve anything like an edible Italian styled pizza. By definition, catsup on a slice of wonder bread with American cheese might be called pizza.
My point was that all of these things are very interpretive. Different types of cuisine are brought to the U.S. and reimagined with ingredient available here. Usually the results are poor, but I still view the changes in say Tex-Mex as substantial enough to think of it as a uniquely American style of food. And FWIW, Mexican styled food seems hard to come by in many places, like a regular hamburger, it can be hard to find that elusive taste of home abroad. I've been to Pumper Nic, and it ain't no Burger King, of course Burger itself actually sucks.
Of General Tso's Chicken, Peng who invented it would later comment, "This is all crazy nonsense." Which strikes me as a less than ringing endorsement. Peng would later even admit that he altered his original recipe to suit American tastes better.
The quality of sausages around the world is extraordinarily high compared to America. It's a real shame we can't produce sausages like the Germans, Italians and Spaniards.
Also, ham. American ham is terrible compared to the mediocre stuff in Europe. I had a supermarket deli bought ham in a sandwich with a smear of mustard while in Portugal once and it wa the best fucking ham I ever ate in my life. I have spent $19.00/lb for ham here in the US that was not as good.
America's cured meat game is weak as fuck.
I don't think so, there was a certain style of burrito invented in San Francisco
The Mission burrito. These things are huge and could feed a whole village by themselves.
I think burritos are a Mexican thing.
"burrito" means little donkey, meaning the the white part of a the burro's face. I mean the idea is so simple that I would really really be amazed if some Mexican wife back in 1820 didn't make an over sized tortilla one day and stuffed it with beans and rice.
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"This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."
-- Capt. Copeland
Interesting opinion, as chocolate originated in the Americas. But you're right, the Swiss mastered the art, and the Dutch invented a cocoa process.
However, as with most things that will arise in this thread: this is a nation of over 300 million people. For every example of one bad product (say, Hershey's Kisses), I can find a hundred great products that will never get attention across the pond.
We can go the other direction too. If I wasn't a savvy beer person, I might think Newcastle is all you have over there.
I know Americans like Cranberries.
When I first tried Cranberry juice I went eww very bitter.
But now I really like Cranberry juice and snack on dried Cranberries.
Cranberries are very healthy.
Picky eaters. bleh. One of my better friends will only eat mac and cheese, grilled cheese, chicken strips, and fries.
I can take go boxes when I leave work. If I'm going to hang out with people, I'll make whatever the fuck they want. Anything. On the phone with him? Nope, mac and cheese again, which he knows is only on my kids' menu, and it's just a frozen pouch of Kraft stuff.
Never argue with picky eaters. Not worth it.
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Yeah, it's an acquired taste, I'm glad you came around!
I don't know, I've lived in NYC, but I know a pizza place in Michigan that does NYC style better.
I've also lived in Italy.
Anyway, the argument is moot. There are plenty of places now doing Italian style pizza, 1000 degree brick oven and all. As long as we're not ordering from Domino's or Papa John's, there's good pizza to be had.
Last edited by belfpala; 2017-11-19 at 01:18 AM.
Also, I really doubt this origin point. Wiki says only the "Mission burrito" style dates to the 60s and 70s. It also states the precise origins are not known.
@ Fencers:
I think Volpi or some of the New jersey makers of proscuitto aren't too bad, taste versus cost wise.
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Belgium for chocolate in my opinion.