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American food all round is weirdly sweet to European palates. PB&J as a sandwich is pretty out there from a UK perspective. The sweetest sandwich ingredient we

American food all round is weirdly sweet to European palates. PB&J as a sandwich is pretty out there from a UK perspective. The sweetest sandwich ingredient we typically use is honey bacon, and that's the exception to the rule.

Auracle 5y ago
There’s a reason PB&J is mostly a kid’s food in the US. As an adult, it can indeed be too sweet. I had some awesome homemade jam for a while that was way more tart that sweet and I was able to use that to make some pretty good ones. I wish I could find similar stuff in grocery stores. I don’t think a culture that has things such as the cheese and pickle sandwich should really judge though. Or even a regular cheese sandwich. You’re so close! Just grill it.
willcipriano 5y ago
The British should be careful to not throw stones from their glass kitchen.
- beaconstudios 5y ago
  Hey, I'm well aware that British food is very bland and beige for mainland European standards! It's a good thing we've developed a strong culture of culinary fusion to compensate for that - it's not all chips and mushy peas any more, we have our own remixes of many culinary transitions, especially Indian, Chinese, and Italian.
  - willcipriano 5y ago
    If you can use "we have food from elsewhere" as an argument, the nation of immigrants has you beat again.
    - beaconstudios 5y ago
      beat? I didn't realise it was a competition. American food is just very sweet compared to European food. You Americans are always so competitive about inane stuff. Also, there's a distinct difference between "we have food from elsewhere" and fusion food. There are specifically British-Indian and British-Italian dishes. I know that's the case with Italian-American and Chinese-American fusion food too - it's also sweeter, because yet again, American food is sweeter than European food.
      - kaishiro 5y ago
        America is a big, diverse place. I'm not even sure what food you're talking about when you say "American food".
        beaconstudios 5y ago
        Well yeah, but just as "British food" means universals like fish & chips or a Sunday roast, with subcategories like Welsh or Scottish or Yorkshire-specific foods, there's a broader "American food" category with other subcategories that don't necessarily fit the bill. Creole food is one of my favourite cuisines and isn't over-sweet, for example. But so much American food just tastes over-sweetened to me when I was just eating random things from the supermarket or takeaways or restaurants on my various trips over. Pizzas, drinks, anything involving bread, breakfasts, that sort of thing. Obviously there are exceptions but it's something that really stood out to me. Even mass-market food with direct equivalences (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Mountain Dew) that we have over here, were much sweeter in the US.
        dagw 5y ago
        I imagine most people use it mean things like hamburgers, ribs, BBQ, NY Style Pizza etc. Basically the stuff you would get if you went to an 'American' restaurant in a European country.
        khazhoux 5y ago
        "American food": burgers with fries and coke, onion rings, pepperoni or cheese pizza, anything on the McDonald's/Burger King/Wendy's menu, ribs, bbq, Taco Bell (yup, American food), cheesesteaks, milkshakes, donuts... all the stuff you can get at literally any city and town in America, which will taste exactly the same regardless of what state you're in. Po boys? Nope, that's New Orleans cuisine. ("but... New Orleans is part of America!"). Ditto for other regional specialties. Inventive culinary creation from top American restaurants? Good for them, but still not what people mean by "American food."
dagw 5y ago
The sweetest sandwich ingredient we typically use is honey bacon It's been almost 15 years since I last actually lived in UK, but marmalade was certainly quite popular both for breakfast and tea.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  Marmalade (and jam) is generally spread on toast for breakfast, rather than used in sandwiches.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- beaconstudios 5y ago
  Oh yeah, marmalade is great - but breakfast is often sweet in the UK with things like marmalade or jam on toast, porridge with honey, or continental breakfast (pain au chocolat, croissants). Sandwiches, on the other hand, are a lunch food and rarely if ever sweet.

Auracle 5y ago

There’s a reason PB&J is mostly a kid’s food in the US. As an adult, it can indeed be too sweet. I had some awesome homemade jam for a while that was way more tart that sweet and I was able to use that to make some pretty good ones. I wish I could find similar stuff in grocery stores. I don’t think a culture that has things such as the cheese and pickle sandwich should really judge though. Or even a regular cheese sandwich. You’re so close! Just grill it.

willcipriano 5y ago

The British should be careful to not throw stones from their glass kitchen.

beaconstudios 5y ago
Hey, I'm well aware that British food is very bland and beige for mainland European standards! It's a good thing we've developed a strong culture of culinary fusion to compensate for that - it's not all chips and mushy peas any more, we have our own remixes of many culinary transitions, especially Indian, Chinese, and Italian.
- willcipriano 5y ago
  If you can use "we have food from elsewhere" as an argument, the nation of immigrants has you beat again.
  - beaconstudios 5y ago
    beat? I didn't realise it was a competition. American food is just very sweet compared to European food. You Americans are always so competitive about inane stuff. Also, there's a distinct difference between "we have food from elsewhere" and fusion food. There are specifically British-Indian and British-Italian dishes. I know that's the case with Italian-American and Chinese-American fusion food too - it's also sweeter, because yet again, American food is sweeter than European food.
    - kaishiro 5y ago
      America is a big, diverse place. I'm not even sure what food you're talking about when you say "American food".
      - beaconstudios 5y ago
        Well yeah, but just as "British food" means universals like fish & chips or a Sunday roast, with subcategories like Welsh or Scottish or Yorkshire-specific foods, there's a broader "American food" category with other subcategories that don't necessarily fit the bill. Creole food is one of my favourite cuisines and isn't over-sweet, for example. But so much American food just tastes over-sweetened to me when I was just eating random things from the supermarket or takeaways or restaurants on my various trips over. Pizzas, drinks, anything involving bread, breakfasts, that sort of thing. Obviously there are exceptions but it's something that really stood out to me. Even mass-market food with direct equivalences (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Mountain Dew) that we have over here, were much sweeter in the US.
      - dagw 5y ago
        I imagine most people use it mean things like hamburgers, ribs, BBQ, NY Style Pizza etc. Basically the stuff you would get if you went to an 'American' restaurant in a European country.
      - khazhoux 5y ago
        "American food": burgers with fries and coke, onion rings, pepperoni or cheese pizza, anything on the McDonald's/Burger King/Wendy's menu, ribs, bbq, Taco Bell (yup, American food), cheesesteaks, milkshakes, donuts... all the stuff you can get at literally any city and town in America, which will taste exactly the same regardless of what state you're in. Po boys? Nope, that's New Orleans cuisine. ("but... New Orleans is part of America!"). Ditto for other regional specialties. Inventive culinary creation from top American restaurants? Good for them, but still not what people mean by "American food."

dagw 5y ago

The sweetest sandwich ingredient we typically use is honey bacon It's been almost 15 years since I last actually lived in UK, but marmalade was certainly quite popular both for breakfast and tea.

Symbiote 5y ago
Marmalade (and jam) is generally spread on toast for breakfast, rather than used in sandwiches.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
beaconstudios 5y ago
Oh yeah, marmalade is great - but breakfast is often sweet in the UK with things like marmalade or jam on toast, porridge with honey, or continental breakfast (pain au chocolat, croissants). Sandwiches, on the other hand, are a lunch food and rarely if ever sweet.