Your Country's Defining Staples

[Debater Slayer]

What are some foods or drinks that are staples in your country but may be seen as optional or unnecessary by foreigners?

Tea is almost a universal staple in my country. It doesn't matter whether your background is rich, poor, urban, or rural. Tea is one of few products that you could see with equal frequency in extravagant coffee shops or restaurants and the most accessible street stands. There are many other drinks for which most people may not share a taste, but not tea. Never tea!

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Coca-cola.
Light beer.
French Fries.
Potato Chips.

 

[JustGeorge]

I speak for my region(Midwest), because the US is awfully large and diverse...

The amount of meat eaten by your average person is over the top. Nothing fancy most of the time, beef heavy. We drink a lot of 'pop', too(soda, but we call it pop here).

My husband came from the Southern region, and was flabbergasted that there were no boiled peanut stands(and none of us had ever had them). He was also frustrated that you couldn't get sweet tea or grits anywhere.

 

[InChrist]

Probably coffee and bread.

 

[Rival]

Crumpets.

Butter on sandwiches.

 

[JustGeorge]

Crumpets.

Butter on sandwiches.

I adore crumpets, but most people here don't realize that they're a real food.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Coca-cola.
Light beer.
French Fries.
Potato Chips.

Potato chips and french fries are quite common here too. So are Coca-Cola and Pepsi (and other soft drinks, really).

 

[Debater Slayer]

Crumpets.

Butter on sandwiches.

I'm kinda surprised tea isn't your answer!

 

[Debater Slayer]

Probably coffee and bread.

Bread and rice are staples where I live as well. Coffee is very common, and I love it myself, but tea seems to be a tad more popular.

 

[Rival]

I'm kinda surprised tea isn't your answer!

It's definitely not seen as optional or unnecessary by foreigners per your own op

 

[Soandso]

Craft beer, espresso, and the need to incorporate or fuse Asian foods and ingredients with American foods and ingredients

Banh mi burgers w/ kimchi fries comes to mind. A little bit of Vietnam and S. Korea mixed with traditional American fare. Pretty damn tasty!

 

[Debater Slayer]

I speak for my region(Midwest), because the US is awfully large and diverse...

The amount of meat eaten by your average person is over the top. Nothing fancy most of the time, beef heavy. We drink a lot of 'pop', too(soda, but we call it pop here).

My husband came from the Southern region, and was flabbergasted that there were no boiled peanut stands(and none of us had ever had them). He was also frustrated that you couldn't get sweet tea or grits anywhere.

What's your favorite type of soda (or pop )?

 

[Debater Slayer]

It's definitely not seen as optional or unnecessary by foreigners per your own op

True. Cultured foreigners know its worth.

 

[JustGeorge]

What's your favorite type of soda (or pop )?

I'm a big weirdo because I love it all... provided its the sugar free variety. I genuinely don't like the taste/texture of fully sweetened pop.

Though over the summer, I seem to have developed a mild intolerance to brown colored soda(regardless of caffeine content). It makes me weak and jittery. So I've been stuck with the various colored Mountain Dew flavors.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Craft beer, espresso, and the need to incorporate or fuse Asian foods and ingredients with American foods and ingredients

Bahn mi burgers w/ kimchi fries comes to mind. A little bit of Vietnam and S. Korea mixed with traditional American fare. Pretty damn tasty!

I love spicy Thai, Indian, and Chinese food. I can see why an American might want to mix Asian food with its American counterpart.

 

[Debater Slayer]

I'm a big weirdo because I love it all... provided its the sugar free variety. I genuinely don't like the taste/texture of fully sweetened pop.

Though over the summer, I seem to have developed a mild intolerance to brown colored soda(regardless of caffeine content). It makes me weak and jittery. So I've been stuck with the various colored Mountain Dew flavors.

I see. Pepsi occasionally causes me to have a burst of energy and then crash, so I tend to avoid it nowadays. I really like fizzy drinks despite being cautious with my intake thereof, though.

 

[ChristineM]

Escargot (snails)

Cuisses de grenouilles (frogs legs)

I jest of course but on occasion i like to set @Revoltingest going.

Sure they are available but not really a staple

The area i live it tends to be duck as the firm favourite. Magret (duck breast), confit (leg), foie gras (liver pate), gésiers (gizzards)

Over the country a multitude of various types of wine are drunk.

Coissant, baguette, oysters, cheese, charcuterie (cold meats), jambon (ham), saucisson sec (smoked sausage), crepes (thin sweet pancakes), wild mushrooms.

And more

 

[Soandso]

I love spicy Thai, Indian, and Chinese food. I can see why an American might want to mix Asian food with its American counterpart.

I think that's more of a Pacific Northwestern and Californian thing. But yah, American food and Asian food goes together well!

That said, Americanized Chinese and Japanese food is a thing, too. Most folks from those countries would probably do a double take while seeing what we serve vs. what they would be used to from back home

 

[Brickjectivity]

foods or drinks that are staples in your country

A true staple food for this region is the catfish. The catfish can be hatched in ponds and is popular here and in other nearby states. The fish has a mild flavor that is competitive with chicken. Here in Mississippi we have muscadine grapes, and these are available in much of the southern part of the country. We have many wild mulberi trees, blueberry and blackberry bushes. Pine trees are everywhere. Pine needles also are edible and can be used to make a tea, however no one eats them or drinks the tea. We prefer imported teas and other foods. We have wild dandelions which are edible but which are considered a bitter tasting weed. They plague people who are trying to grow flat grassy lawns, as they spread quickly with their airborne seeds. This region also has a tree called the sassafras tree, and its leaves can be boiled to make a nice tea. This is not readily available in stores, but it is well known to inhabitants of the region. I have tasted sassafras tea.

Most people do not live on the regional staple foods, because most food is centrally collected, purchased, sorted and distributed to grocery stores across the states. Many of us, however, have small farms in the spring and summertime and enjoy growing tomatoes, cucumbers etc.

 

[Quagmire]

I speak for my region(Midwest), because the US is awfully large and diverse...

The amount of meat eaten by your average person is over the top. Nothing fancy most of the time, beef heavy. We drink a lot of 'pop', too(soda, but we call it pop here).

My husband came from the Southern region, and was flabbergasted that there were no boiled peanut stands(and none of us had ever had them). He was also frustrated that you couldn't get sweet tea or grits anywhere.

Or (probably) biscuits and gravy, and red beans and rice.

I spent a lot of time in the south and there's no denying they have the best truck stop food anywhere. I was always amazed how the cooks down south could take such simple ingredients and turn them into something memorable.