>A lot of the "European mystification" about US eating habits boil down to the fact that we have a lot of really cheap food available. Given a choice, most peop

>A lot of the "European mystification" about US eating habits boil down to the fact that we have a lot of really cheap food available. Given a choice, most people choose cheap over good for daily usage. I think there is - as always - some truth behind what you call "European mystification", or at least the US people coming here (Italy) wouldn't be going "Wow" (like they almost invariably do) when entering a good (but common enough) bakery shop or at the restaurant (or even when eating a "real" pizza). Or maybe they are only very kind, in order to compliment us, but anyway they generally give the impression they never ate some "good" food.