Cliched ideas about food

I was looking up Sri Owen's website for the poster looking for a cooking school in southern England and apparently she's retired from cooking.

I found this short but interesting article about cliched ideas on food instead.

Before I moved to Hong Kong I thought Chinese food was little more than spring rolls, sweet and sour pork or snake. A lot of Hong Kongers think all 'western' food is meat and two veg (fnarr, fnarr). What cliched ideas have you held or heard?

People have that idea of Mediterranean cuisines that there are a lot of fresh vegetables, served as salads. In a typical restuarant in Italy or Spain, if you order a dish, there are hardly any vegetables on the plate. A steak is just a steak, sometimes even without potatoes or french fries.
There are a lot of dishes, or mostly side dishes, with vegetables, but usually they are marinated or cooked.

What Hong Kongers think about western good, in fact was true, not so long ago. The western, or European, food has changed considerably within the last 15-20 years.

The article is mainly about how westerners think that Indonesian food is mainly Rijsttafel. My guess is that if you stood on a street corner anywhere in the US and asked about perceptions of Indonesian food the answer would be "I haven't the foggiest." If you asked about Rijsttafel, the response would be "say what?"

My long time perception of Indian food was based on how it appeared in mainstream cookbooks. Some sort of meat dish seasoned with curry powder and served over rice. It was supposed to be accompanied by a bunch of little dishes of condiments--chutney (from a jar), peanut, coconut and I forger what all. Even today, most Merkins have never eaten in an Indian restaurant (something that always astonishes folks from the UK who are used to finding such a place on every block) and still think o Indian food as something seasoned with curry powder.

It's not food, but on my trip to China in 1983, the guide told me that the local guide commented that "you westerners all look alike--pink and spotted."

The Irish and potatoes.

People think British food is horrible. It isn't. Though we save the worst for whinging tourists.

Thumbs up for the writer of that article for getting "rijsttafel" right. (Unlike every English-language guidebook I've ever seen.)

Food myth: Americans eat hamburgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

1. The Japanese eat sushi all the time. Not true. 'Real' sushi (as opposed to fast-food conveyer-belt restaurants which are all over here) is very pricey.
   
   2. Sushi is fish on rice. Sushi si vinegared rice, with toppings, too! As in chirashi-zushi, which is a big bowl/vat of vinegared rice with vegetable and seafood toppings .
   
   3. Japanese go out to eat sukiyaki. This is a dish one prepares at home. Restaurants do not serve it.

shilgia, why are there two t's in rijsttafel? Is rice rijst? (I admit I would have spelled it wrong until now.)

Yes, rice is rijst, Vinny. The "t", however, is not the only problem. English texts usually call it rijstaffel.

Thanks, shilgia.

#4
British food isn't horrible at all, as long as it's curry :-)

To be honest, one of the best home cooked dinners I've had, was made by a friend in England. And it was all traditional English food.

I concur Field, English home-cooking is delicious have you seen this cooking website ?

I fail to see how anyone can call Briddish food anything but a horror-Look what they eat for breakfast!!!!

Egads! My arteries cinched up just looking at that picture!!!
(Actually, I've eaten some very good food during my travels there, but it certainly wasn't stuff like that!)

You can also have other food for breakfast in England, just as you don't have to eat bacon, eggs, and greasy fried potatoes for breakfast in the great white north or home of the devalued dollar. Home cooking is much better in England than what you might find in a café.

I get really sick of people thinking that "American food" (in this made-up category I place anything that is commonly eaten in the USA, even if it had its origins somewhere else) is burgers, fries, hot dogs, fried chicken and pizza and as an American, that's what I like.

Now, there are days when that sort of crap food tastes good (first day of Aunt Flo's visit). But...just no. If you go to a typical American house (if there is such a thing) for dinner, they are not going to say "We're having burgers, fries and fried chicken". At least probably not.

Americans who think that Indian food is all 'really spicy'. It all generally has a lot of spices, which is not the same as spicy. Something can be flavored spices and herbs without being hot. A few dishes are hot, but plenty aren't really.

Americans who think that Chinese food really tastes like what they get at China King or Peking Garden or Szechuan Palace in Bumhole, Minnesota. Now I like that food sometimes (see above: first day of the Ol' Bleedy) but it does not taste like food you actually get in China or Taiwan. On that note, people who think that real food in China tastes like China King Buffet, but is made with cats, dogs, raccoons, pandas, snakes, mice, rats, whatever. There is a tiny kernel of truth to this idiotic cultural stereotype - one can eat a lot of meat varieties in China that are considered off limits in the USA - but come on. Nobody is going to serve you Fluffy the Cat in Orange Sauce. And while dog is available, it's actually pretty expensive so no, you won't be served it accidentally.

Yeah, I know a lot of people who think Chinese food consits of one of these three;

A) Shark's fin soup, abalone and bird's nest soup

B) Peking duck

or

C) Bear paws and monkey brains.

Germans eat sausage and sauerkraut all the time .
Can't recall the last time I had sauerkraut . And as a vegetarien don't do sausages .Yes i know there are vegiones but they taste ... yuk

Thanks, Pumuckel. I was just about to say that. :-)

Last time I had sauerkraut was at a pro baseball game here in California. hehehehe

English breakfast is always very late, never before lunch.

At least once a day:

The Irish eat spuds, Mexicans eat tortillas, and the Americans eat out.

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At least once a day:

The Irish eat spuds, Mexicans eat tortillas, and the Americans eat out.

But it's true! (About the Mexicans. Most eat tortillas at nearly every meal, although some eat white, rolls (bolillos+ and +teleras.)
Myth: All Mexican food is "hot" (picante). The truth is that some is well-seasoned, but much is quite bland. Salsas and condiments are provided to add to your desired level of "heat".
Little known factoids: catsup is tremendously popular to put on many foods, including pizza. Low grade hot dog sausages are a treat on other foods, such as pizza and French Fried Potatoes.
Truth: It's hard to find a red ripe, flavorsome tomato, at least in the part of Mexico in which we live.