American food

[Laura Corin]

Personally I do not view Trader Joe's as traditional American food.  But that's just me....

 

I didn't know we were talking about traditional American food -  I think the display was just 'American Food'.  

 

L

[whitestavern]

the only thing I use in that picture are m&m's (at holidays), oreo's (the cookie part only for chocolate cheesecake crust), hershey bars (for s'mores. If I want to eat straight chocolate, there's better chocolate I'd rather eat), and pumpkin. we do get reese's peanut butter cups, but I prefer the minis. they have more chocolate in proportion to the peanut butter. ;p

 

 

eta: while I do use peanut butter - no way on this green earth would I EVER use "jif". it's loaded with sugar and other garbage to "stablize" it. the only stuff I use is peanuts and salt. nothing else.

Off topic but we visited my inlaws last week and had their Skippy peanut butter. It was really gross and didn't taste like peanuts. Had an odd texture too. We buy Smuckers Natural or Teddy's.

[gardenmom5]

Interesting to see what they think of as American food. I wonder how they choose. I'll have to take a picture of our British section next time I'm at the store.

I'm amazed at all the people saying their store has a british section.  I've never been in a grocery store here that does.  it's all "mexican", asian, and now, indian.  some will call it international so they can include a few others.

costco in Vancouver BC was interesting as it had lots of prepared indian food items as well as asian (trivia: the biggest chinese population outside asia is richmond BC.  and our preferred destination for a good chinese restaurant.).

 

I have a vague recollection of seeing a "british" food store, somewhere, but they've almost always been about tea.  they also seemed to be pushing novelty as opposed to serious.

we also have freestanding mexican groceries, asian groceries (that I do go to), indian groceries, eastern european groceries, etc.  they all sell a full range of products.  from their native junk, or their own staples. 

 

We found "American Pizza" in Germany - it had tuna and corn on it. I can't think of much that Americans would be less likely to eat on pizza.

 

The British section at the store near where I used to live had Marmite, mint jelly, salad cream, spotted dick, mushy peas, and candy. So basically, sweets and everything that's a college student is likely to pick up for the novelty value.

 egg.  I don't remember where the person went - but they ordered pizza and it had an undercooked egg in the middle.

 

mint jelly is very good on lamb.  it's in the regular condiment aisle here.

 

You have led a very deprived life then. This needs to be rectified.

to think she's married to a texan and hasn't had texas bbq.  her dh must not love her very much. he needs to rectify that immediately! 

I've had many kinds of bbq - and texas bbq all the way!

 

I remember when my Indian friend first came and asked if I frequented "KENNt'gy fry-chicken."  After I figured out she was trying to say "Kentucky" she then argued that I was misinformed about how to pronounce the state's name.  LOL.  Oh, and no, we didn't have a KFC anywhere nearby.  I have not eaten KFC since I was a kid.

twice when I was a kid - I got food poisoning eating KFC.  even if I wanted to eat it - I'm too scared to eat it.

[Laura Corin]

 

 

to think she's married to a texan and hasn't had texas bbq.  her dh must not love her very much. he needs to rectify that immediately! 

 

 

No, no!  I've had lots of BBQ.  My favourite pregnancy T shirt was from the Salt Lick.  

 

It's Cajun that I haven't eaten.

 

L

[chocolatechip]

Most of that is gross! We might buy somewhat regularly the A1, pretzels, and, (around Thanksgiving) the canned pumpkin, if we didn't freeze enough pumpkin ourselves. And occasionally the Reese's or something similar. But NONE of that is anything I really eat on a day to day basis. 

 

And what's with non-refrigerated eggnog? I've never seen that. We will get the refrigerated variety. 

[SKL]

Cajun is an acquired taste IMO.  I'm not a particular fan.  But yeah, it's something to try just so you know what it is.

 

It's so funny what they will do with pizzas.  My kids ate little besides pizza throughout Europe, but the only kind they would eat was "margherita" pizza, i.e. what we call "cheese pizza."  Nice and safe.

[gardenmom5]

I was able to enlarge the photo so I could see everything.

 

the thought of shelf stable egg-nog is beyond scary.

I wouldn't even feed my kids kraft macaroni and cheese.  just, gross.

I did grow up eating cream-of-wheat (by far one of the most tame non-junky items on the shelf), but I didn't like it either.

just, yech.

and a1 steak sauce?  not on a good piece of meat.  dh told me about one restaurant he went to on business.  the people who asked for the a1 steak sauce got lessor quality meat because with that sauce, they wouldn't know the difference anyway.  a good steak shouldn't need anything but salt and pepper.

 

things they should have - cranberries.  you can get them dried and they're quite good straight or added to salad.  (or even sweet breads instead of banans.)  I don't eat canned cranberries.  ever.  I buy them fresh, freeze them, and make my own cranberry sauce throughout the year.

 

[SKL]

I do love Kraft mac'n'cheese.  But I wouldn't want the whole world to think that is the extent of American cuisine.  LOL.

[gardenmom5]

No, no!  I've had lots of BBQ.  My favourite pregnancy T shirt was from the Salt Lick.  

 

It's Cajun that I haven't eaten.

 

L

 

Okay - good, glad to hear it was just a misunderstanding.

 

cajun is yummy.  dh dragged me down to a local cajun joint for jambalaya.  it was good - but not a cuisine I could live on.  I've had other cajun things as well. the blackened fish I liked better.  I'm not a spicy kinda gal.

 

give me greek.  I could live on greek.

[Amira]

Laura, I'm curious to know if you think this new section is geared toward Americans living in the UK, UK citizens who've lived in the US, or some other group.

[gardenmom5]

Cajun is an acquired taste IMO.  I'm not a particular fan.  But yeah, it's something to try just so you know what it is.

 

It's so funny what they will do with pizzas.  My kids ate little besides pizza throughout Europe, but the only kind they would eat was "margherita" pizza, i.e. what we call "cheese pizza."  Nice and safe.

 

I've seen "margherita" pizza here, in addition to the regualr sauce and shredded mozzarella, it has slices of tomato, basil leaves, and new/unaged mozzarella (which is yummy on it's own.) 

 

when dd was in school in NY, she was introduced to bbq chicken pizza. . . .

[gardenmom5]

Aldi sometimes has some unusual imported products.  Some weeks ago they had these assemble your own pizza kits in the dairy section.  I looked at the country of origin and they were from Austria.  I mean, of all things!

 

remember the commerical with the cowboys sitting around a campfire complaining about their salsa?  then they looked at where it was made?  NYC?!?!  "get a rope".

[umsami]

I think they carry this stuff to cater to Americans living abroad who miss 'comfort' foods.

 

Our British food section is due to the large number of Brits who come here on vacation (or so they say).  We also have a pretty good section of German items, along with the typical Mexican and Asian stuff.

 

When I was a student in France in the 80s, there was a shop that sold imported American goods for expats.  My roommate worked for PanAm, and she used to make money on the side bringing them peanut butter, Oreos, chocolate chips, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Hellman's mayo, and the like.  At the time, you couldn't find that stuff very easily, and it was popular with ex-pats.  Certain brands you grew up with are comforting…even if there might be better stuff where you're living now.

[gardenmom5]

Off topic but we visited my inlaws last week and had their Skippy peanut butter. It was really gross and didn't taste like peanuts. Had an odd texture too. We buy Smuckers Natural or Teddy's.

 

I always used to buy adams.  then costco stopped carrying it, but came out with their own "kirkland" brand.  they use valencia peanuts, which are sweet.  really weird.  nothing but peanuts and salt and a better texture than adams.

[redsquirrel]

We have a fantastic selection of UK foods. All the sweets you can imagine, and many cold cereals (my kids are huge fans of Wheetabix), PG Tips and all the various and sundry teas, Bird's instant custards, baked beans and mushy peas and different sauces, different granola and jams, salad dressings, marmite, Oxo, many, many biscuits that my children adore, etc etc.  Oh, and at least one aisle of beers. My particular fave is Boddingtons. There is a whole lot more, but I can't remember it. It takes up at least half an aisle in the store.

 

What I buy there on a regular basis is:

Wheetabix

Bewley's tea ( I like the Dublin Morning tea)

Jammy Dodgers (my younger boy is allowed one a day)

Marmite (the boys and I adore it)

Various wholemeal biscuits

 

If I am a very good mood I might get chocolate biscuits or jaffa cakes, but those tend to disappear very quickly.

 

 

So, I am sorry that is what they think of as US food, lol. I've never had most of that.

 

[Laura Corin]

Laura, I'm curious to know if you think this new section is geared toward Americans living in the UK, UK citizens who've lived in the US, or some other group.

 

That's an interesting one.  The supermarket is a national chain, but I don't know if they have it in every store.  That town, I would guess, has a tiny American population, but there's a university town about ten miles away with a big American student population - they mostly don't have cars though and I can't see them bothering to take a bus over....  

 

But some of the products look very much like things for expats: pumpkin pie isn't a thing here, so why would Brits buy canned pumpkin?  And we already have M&Ms, so the only reason I can see for selling imported ones is if the recipe is different in the US, which sounds like the expat market again.  

 

I don't really know, but I wouldn't be surprised if the section disappeared in a few months.

 

L

[mirth]

I have never seen shelfstable eggnog in the US. Have other Americans really seen this in their supermarket?

[chocolatechip]

I always used to buy adams.  then costco stopped carrying it, but came out with their own "kirkland" brand.  they use valencia peanuts, which are sweet.  really weird.  nothing but peanuts and salt and a better texture than adams.

Really? I find the Costco PB kind of gross. And not salty enough. Thankfully my Costco started carrying Adams again a couple months ago. 

[redsquirrel]

I have never seen shelfstable eggnog in the US. Have other Americans really seen this in their supermarket?

 

I have never seen that in my life. But my town has an a small ice cream factory and it makes eggnog for the holidays. I've never thought to look for any other kind, because melted ice cream called eggnog 

[Laura Corin]

I have never seen shelfstable eggnog in the US. Have other Americans really seen this in their supermarket?

 

And why sell it when we have eggnog in the fridges at Christmas anyway?  Odd.

 

L

[SKL]

I never heard of shelf stable eggnog either.  Not that it is anything I'd go looking for....

[Elfknitter.#]

I've seen Marshmallow Matey's here (SoCal). It's generic Lucky Charms.

 

I dunno, if I were abroad and saw that on the aisle I figure it was pretty representative of foods you find in American supermarkets- all over sugared, predominantly HFCS and preservative based.

[Livelovelearn]

Many American foods have become a standard in UK stores, so 'American' aisles usually just consist of novelty brands. Things like cranberries and natural peanut butter would just be in a regular aisle. Afterall, the British and American diet is not drastically different, especially when talking about 'proper' food, aka. fresh meat or fruit.

[BarbecueMom]

That picture looks like my 22yo brother's kitchen pantry. Except tidier, and half the boxes probably aren't empty.

[HS Mom in NC]

 

 

But some of the products look very much like things for expats: pumpkin pie isn't a thing here, so why would Brits buy canned pumpkin? 

 

L

 

If they ever tasted pumpkin chocolate chip cookies they would.

[DragonFaerie]

??????

 

Every supermarket I've ever been in has one side of the aisle loaded with Coke products and the other side loaded with Pepsi products.  Every convenience store I've ever been in does too. 

 

I'm a Coke drinker myself.  When I'm at a restaurant and order one and the waitress asks, "Is Pepsi OK?" I'm tempted to reply, "Can I pay with Monopoly money?"  instead of my polite, "Yes, thank you."

 

Oh, see, now MY polite answer is "EW!  No!  I'll just have water. " :D

 

That's an interesting one.  The supermarket is a national chain, but I don't know if they have it in every store.  That town, I would guess, has a tiny American population, but there's a university town about ten miles away with a big American student population - they mostly don't have cars though and I can't see them bothering to take a bus over....  

 

But some of the products look very much like things for expats: pumpkin pie isn't a thing here, so why would Brits buy canned pumpkin?  And we already have M&Ms, so the only reason I can see for selling imported ones is if the recipe is different in the US, which sounds like the expat market again.  

 

I don't really know, but I wouldn't be surprised if the section disappeared in a few months.

 

L

 

SO says the chocolate is made differently, though he wasn't sure how or why.

[TrixieB]

Oh, gotta add cranberries and blueberries!

 

Can we get canned prairie oysters?;-)

 

Uhhhhh..... no.

 

[MrsMommy]

I have never seen shelfstable eggnog in the US. Have other Americans really seen this in their supermarket?

 

Sadly, I have. I've never tried it...just seeing it makes my skin crawl. I'd rather just make my own.

[LisaKinVA]

Haha!  I can't get a lot of that stuff in our commissary!  Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of junk in the commissary...just a lot of what is pictured isn't there.  I'm more frustrated about the lack of spices here.  Right now, we are experiencing a shortage of bacon and quite a few types of meat and dairy.  I do miss American donuts...and fresh sweet corn.  But to be honest, the meat (red meat, pork, lamb) is a lot better locally than what passes for meat in the commissary.  

[katilac]

Am I the only true America reading this thread? Or the only one brave enough to admit that my kids ate plenty of Kraft macaroni and cheese, Jif peanut butter, Hershey's syrup, and Jello pudding growing up. 

 

And candy. Lots and lots of candy.  :laugh:

 

I've seen the "American" food they sell at Aldi in Germany.  Some of the selections are kinda weird.  Like hot dogs in a jar.  I've never seen hot dogs in a jar.  Granted, we have hot dogs, but in a jar?  No...

 

Eww! 

 

Our grocery stores have quite a few Mexican products - and yes, most of them are processed food, because if you are cooking actual food/authentic dishes, then the bits that make it up are just food for the most part. Not American or Mexican or British. Some Asian stuff, again processed. There is a big Asian supermarket and several small Asian and Mexican style markets. 

 

When we want European and other world foods, by which I mean candy, we go to World Market. 

[ocelotmom]

I imagine you can buy most of the ingredients for those things in the regular aisles of the store though. They did have A1 steak sauce and taco seasoning in your American section.

 

We don't have many British foods in our international aisle, and there are a lot of digestive biscuits in the small selection. But you can buy mint jelly in the sauce aisle and lots of curry ingredients in the Asian section. I've never seen marmite, you might have to use Amazon for that.

 

I don't know how I forgot digestive biscuits from my list, since they were about the only thing I ever bought. I had a bit of an addiction to them for a while.

 

For the person who asked - they're similar to graham crackers, but not quite the same flavor or texture. And some are chocolate coated.

[City Mouse]

Am I the only true America reading this thread? Or the only one brave enough to admit that my kids ate plenty of Kraft macaroni and cheese, Jif peanut butter, Hershey's syrup, and Jello pudding growing up.

 

And candy. Lots and lots of candy. :laugh:

 

 

Eww!

 

 

 

Our grocery stores have quite a few Mexican products - and yes, most of them are processed food, because if you are cooking actual food/authentic dishes, then the bits that make it up are just food for the most part. Not American or Mexican or British. Some Asian stuff, again processed. There is a big Asian supermarket and several small Asian and Mexican style markets.

 

When we want European and other world foods, by which I mean candy, we go to World Market.

Raises hand

 

I will admit that I have eaten almost all of the things in that picture including the Marshmallow Mateys, and I do not like natural peanut butter. I think the oily texture is gross. The Oreos should be Double Stuffed though.

 

I did have a fun time going to the World Market store in Santa Fe last Spring. It had two isles devoted to mardi gras and all the "imported" items were from Louisiana.

[catz]

Ewww!  I don't touch any of that garbage with a 10 foot pole! 

 

[bensonduck]

The pumpkin seems like an odd item to carry along with all those junky snacks. Here in the eastern US there has been a pumpkin shortage due to some weather issues and canned pumpkin can be hard to find or expensive. I'm surprised the store opted to carry it as it doesn't seem to match the other snack items and probably cost a premium.

 

I LOVE cream of wheat. Total comfort food for me. I think the store should carry sweetened dried cranberries like someone else mentioned too!

[Arcadia]

I did have a fun time going to the World Market store in Santa Fe last Spring. It had two isles devoted to mardi gras and all the "imported" items were from Louisiana.

My local World Market has European chocolates, Marmite, Bovil, imported jam, candies, tea and coffee. It's a really fun place to window shop.

Cadbury UK and Cadbury AU taste different to Cadbury US and I love chocolate.

[gardenmom5]

If they ever tasted pumpkin chocolate chip cookies they would.

 

or even just "plain" pumpkin cookies.  I make pumpkin stuff year round.

[Maus]

Maybe they surveyed some travelers/expats and asked them what they liked in the US that they could never find in the UK.?

I think that's likely.  

 

I imagine you can buy most of the ingredients for those things in the regular aisles of the store though. They did have A1 steak sauce and taco seasoning in your American section.

 

We don't have many British foods in our international aisle, and there are a lot of digestive biscuits in the small selection. But you can buy mint jelly in the sauce aisle and lots of curry ingredients in the Asian section. I've never seen marmite, you might have to use Amazon for that.

I had folder of my favorite American recipes (and a set of American measuring cups/spoons) when I lived in Austria.  I could make almost everything I craved with local ingredients.  The things I couldn't make were things like Tacos (I had a recipe for homemade tortillas, and I could get hamburger,lettuce, cheese, etc. but no Taco seasoning -- just not the same without it); peanut butter cookies (no peanut butter); pumpkin pie (when we did a Thanksgiving dinner, it was the one thing lacking.  We made an apple pie instead, as we could get all the ingredients for that.)

 

Laura's photo contains many of those "one missing ingredient" items.

 

I think they carry this stuff to cater to Americans living abroad who miss 'comfort' foods.

 

Our British food section is due to the large number of Brits who come here on vacation (or so they say).  We also have a pretty good section of German items, along with the typical Mexican and Asian stuff.

 

When I was a student in France in the 80s, there was a shop that sold imported American goods for expats.  My roommate worked for PanAm, and she used to make money on the side bringing them peanut butter, Oreos, chocolate chips, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Hellman's mayo, and the like.  At the time, you couldn't find that stuff very easily, and it was popular with ex-pats.  Certain brands you grew up with are comforting…even if there might be better stuff where you're living now.

I once got a couple of my fellow Americans to carry a very heavy suitcase down five flights of steps for a half dozen Kool-Aid packets!  :lol:

 

And I craved Oreos like I never thought I would.  I begged my parents to send them every time they sent a package, but they kept sending Kool-Aid packets, because they could afford the postage.  (Which would be why I had extra when I needed help with my luggage!)

 

Am I the only true America reading this thread? Or the only one brave enough to admit that my kids ate plenty of Kraft macaroni and cheese, Jif peanut butter, Hershey's syrup, and Jello pudding growing up. 

 

And candy. Lots and lots of candy.  :laugh:

 

I grew up with all of those as staples.  My kids are no strangers to them, though we eat them far less often than I did growing up.

[chocolatechip]

I had a recipe for homemade tortillas, and I could get hamburger,lettuce, cheese, etc. but no Taco seasoning -- just not the same without it. . .

We make our own seasoning for taco meat. I'm not able to look it up exactly right now, but I think it is chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt & pepper? 

 

Tastes better than the packet, IMHO. No preservatives or yucky chemicals! 

[lailasmum]

I know that here (UK) Waitrose has canned pumpkin as a regular thing but they carry lot more variety than most stores. 

[Laura Corin]

I know that here (UK) Waitrose has canned pumpkin as a regular thing but they carry lot more variety than most stores. 

 

You have Waitrose.  I dream of Waitrose.  Our nearest one is over an hour away in Edinburgh.

 

L

[TeacherZee]

I just came back from the US, the shelf stable stuff I brought with me were proper yellow box Cheerios and chocolate chips. I should have gotten chicken noodle soup as well but... :) when I lived in the UK I would go to IKEA when I got homesick for food (not to eat the meatballs cause commercially made meatballs are grosse).

 

 

Like Laura I mostly miss things that aren't shelf stable.

[Cammie]

Ok - I FEEL your pain!!  However, I would KILL for the canned pumpkin....have never, ever seen it in Bangalore, and we get a lot of imported foods.

 

I didn't read the whole thread...but how much are the Lucky Charms?  I looked at a box of imported cereal the other day (Froot Loops) and it was about $12.00!!  Who would pay that for a box of cereal?

[Heather in Neverland]

These two videos are funny... Showing Americans eating British snacks and British people eating American snacks. I love their reactions!! :)

 

 

 

[Ann.without.an.e]

You can get it in most stores around here if you buy the 12 pack of cans and they often have it in a 20 oz. bottle. It's the only soda we drink anymore since it doesn't have HFCS.

 

I don't think there was much on that shelf that we ever purchase - except the candy.

 

 

??????

 

Every supermarket I've ever been in has one side of the aisle loaded with Coke products and the other side loaded with Pepsi products.  Every convenience store I've ever been in does too. 

 

I'm a Coke drinker myself.  When I'm at a restaurant and order one and the waitress asks, "Is Pepsi OK?" I'm tempted to reply, "Can I pay with Monopoly money?"  instead of my polite, "Yes, thank you."

 

 

I have no idea.  I don't drink sodas.  A few years ago a friend of mine was addicted to it but she had a difficult time finding it (not Pepsi, but the Throwback version made with sugar rather than HFCS).   Maybe that was when it first came out?  Again, I don't buy it so I don't know.  ;)

[kewb]

I am not horrified. It looks like a mish mosh of several shelf stable item from around the supermarket. Many Americans do eat these products.

If I was putting together the junk food portion doritos would be in that section. I will admit, I love chocolate pop tarts although it has been a decade since I have had one and I do use jello instant pudding occasionally.

[trulycrabby]

I would eat the oreos and the pumpkin; the rest is just :ack2:

[1GirlTwinBoys]

I'm an American and don't buy one thing shown in that picture.  That is all processed garbage.

[Melissa in Australia]

My local World Market has European chocolates, Marmite, Bovil, imported jam, candies, tea and coffee. It's a really fun place to window shop.

Cadbury UK and Cadbury AU taste different to Cadbury US and I love chocolate.

 

No joke about chocolate tasting different form other parts of the world. DH once bought me a box of chocolates when he was passing through Japan on his way back form Canada once. they were the weirdest chocolates I have ever had, they were over 50% some sort of rice cracker with not sweet chocolate over the top :confused1:.

 

This time he went to Canada he brought me home a box of Canadian chocolate. I have never had chocolate covered in salt before - I thought it a weird combination (salt over chocolate :huh:)

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Actually, I do buy the A1 Sauce and will also buy the canned pumpkin at Thanksgiving time.  

[Cammie]

No joke about chocolate tasting different form other parts of the world. DH once bought me a box of chocolates when he was passing through Japan on his way back form Canada once. they were the weirdest chocolates I have ever had, they were over 50% some sort of rice cracker with not sweet chocolate over the top :confused1:.

 

This time he went to Canada he brought me home a box of Canadian chocolate. I have never had chocolate covered in salt before - I thought it a weird combination (salt over chocolate :huh:)

 

One reason chocolates taste different is that different things have to be done to make chocolate shelf stable and not melt in different climates.  Given the weather in India chocolate needs to be a completely different recipe to not melt sitting on the shelf of a shop.  I don't like the taste at all, but for people who don't know any different it is fine!