DAILY DIRT: From deep frying just about everything to our love affair with mayonnaise, the U.S. and Europe are worlds apart

Daily Dirt for Monday, Dec. 16, 2024

The culinary cultures of U.S. and Europe can often collide … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,144 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Europeans find many of Americans’ food habits rather puzzling.

Here’s a handful of examples where we differ from our Euro friends when it comes to what we like to eat or drink:

Deep frying everything possible: Europeans feel no food is safe, it seems, from Americans’ culinary habit of wanting/enjoying nearly everything to be deep fried. The Iowa State Fair, for example, even features fried butter on sticks. Candy bars have even become a deep-fried delicacy in recent years. So have Oreo cookies. There appears to be no end to what we’ll submerge in a deep fryer — much to the chagrin of those across the pond.

A different kind of coffee culture: In Europe, coffee is almost always served as just that — coffee. That’s why Europeans find it hard to fathom that coffee in the states features such additions as vanilla, pumpkin spice and caramel. Europeans also find it alarming so many Americans drink their coffee while walking, driving, etc. Across the pond, coffee rarely leaves the kitchen or dining room table.

Giant portions of food: Individual American restaurant servings can often feed multiple people, and are regularly taken home in to-go boxes. Most other countries serve much smaller portions, and diners in those foreign lands are expected to clean their plates.

Sugary breakfasts: Millions of American down one sugar-coated cereal after another each morning. To Europeans, those familiar breakfasts of Frosted Flakes or Sugar Pops offer little more than extreme amounts of sugar. They feel American breakfasts are more like candy than a true breakfast food. Euro breakfasts aften highlight yogurt, eggs, croissants and/or a variety of other boring foods.

Drinking root beer: Most Europeans think root beer tastes like medicine, but we grow up loving not only drinking it but using it for root beer floats.

The love affair with mayonnaise: Americans’ relationship with mayo is incredibly confusing to foreigners. Europeans use it sparingly at best, considering it well down the ladder of condiments. Euros imagine Americans slathering mayo on just about everything, which is not that far off.

Our love affair with ice: Most Americans use ice year round, demanding it for daily soft drinks and other beverages. U.S. restaurants automatically include ice in all of their cold beverages, but Europeans find all of this puzzling, preferring their drinks to be room temperature the majority of the time.

The American buffet: Europeans often stare in disbelief at American buffets that offer all you can eat for one price. This kind of ties in with the “giant portions of food” the Europeans have a difficult time imagining.

2. Did you know (Part 217)

• That Strawberry Vanilla Chex is one of General Foods’ new releases, and should be a major hit this winter.
• That Cheerios is debuting some new “protein” flavors, led by Strawberry and Cinnamon. Both reportedly have 8 grams of protein per serving.
• That Cheerios is also providing us with an Oat Crunch Chocolate brand.
• That a giraffe’s tongue is up to 20 inches long and is black to better guard against sunburn.
• That Michael Jackson tried to buy Marvel Comics in the 1990s because he wanted to play Spider Man in a movie.
• That some species of turtles can breathe through their butts.

3. Years ago, the first person to ever mention to me that he felt McDonald’s Coca-Cola tasted better (or at least different) from what is available in stores was Quincy’s Don O’Brien.

Apparently, Mr. O’Brien was on to something.

From interestingfacts.com:

“No, it’s not your imagination, Coke actually does taste different — and many would say better — at McDonald’s restaurants. This is largely due to the way it’s packaged. While the actual flavoring is identical to other restaurants, McDonald’s gets its Coke syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks instead of the more common plastic bags, which in turn keeps the syrup fresher. McDonald’s also filters its water prior to adding it to the soda machines, and calibrates its syrup-to-water ratio to account for melting ice. In addition, McDonald’s utilizes wider straws than normal, allowing more Coke to ‘hit your taste buds,’ according to the company.”

Who knew?!

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He wants lots of ice in his Mountain Dew.