For this post I wanted to stray away from the history of China and it’s government, and focus on something more lighthearted and interesting. Turns out I completely strayed away from China altogether and found myself looking from the viewpoint of foreigners in general. I was originally going to do some research on the basic food staples of China. Most things were obvious such as rice, noodles, vegetables, eggs, and fish. Then I was thinking about what the staples of American cuisine are. Probably pizza, hamburgers, fries, etc, right? That’s what came up first in my mind at least. My thoughts lead to “foreigners must think we eat the strangest things…” And, well, they do. I read an article about a man that interviewed many of his foreign-born friends. He asked them which American/Western foods they thought were the weirdest. The answers were hilarious.
Biscuits and Gravy
I mean, I guess I understand. Baked bread dipped in a thick sauce made out of meat? Sounds gross to me too. A lot of them think that a “biscuit” is the little cookie that they’re used to eating, which definitely sounds unappetizing mixed with gravy.
Peanut Butter
“Peanut Butter, it’s still weird to me” one woman says. I tried looking this up, apparently it’s the consistency that people don’t like. Too sticky!
Bacon & Eggs
Most people in other countries have a cup of coffee for breakfast. Maybe a baguette or croissant, and some fruit. They find it strange that American’s want this full hearty meal at 7:30 in the morning.
Soft Bread
Apparently foreigners don’t appreciate a good old-fashioned sandwich.
Hot Dogs!
This is the most obvious and I completely understand why. Even I find these things repulsive. To top it all of, we had ketchup (which is sweeter here than in any other country), mustard, an even relish. Ick.
Pumpkin Pie
This one has to be my favorite. It’s an American tradition during the fall to eat pumpkin pie. I never really thought about why it was so weird until now. Think about it, a huge orange vegetable mashed up and put into a pie? Bizarre!
I hope you all enjoyed this post and I ask you to think more about the things you’re eating! And if you ever go abroad I strongly encourage you to try all of the food possible, no matter how weird it may seem!
These are really funny to read about. I never thought about the pumpkin pie one either! And peanut butter as well. Our food is definitely different from their native cuisine though, especially when it comes to dim sum and the strange sorts of different animals they eat.
This is a really cool way to mix up your passion blog. It certainly entertained me. I have always been curious about this topic as well, because a few years ago my friend returned from China from vacation and brought me goose neck, which I thought was disgusting. However, I found myself being fairly ignorant as I discovered that in China, goose neck is similar to what we would consider an Oreo….it’s a TREAT. On the peanut butter note, I would say it’s interesting because whenever my dad and I go to Italy to visit our relatives, they demand that we bring loads of peanut butter with us because they love it and can’t access it in Italy!