Stereotypically/typically "American" food you've never eaten, or tried only later in life

[MetsFan5]

I’ve never had baked beans in my life and I live in NJ. 

[lindag]

2 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

I’ve never had baked beans in my life and I live in NJ. 

Where is the 'shocked' emoji?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

Where is the 'shocked' emoji?

 

I live in NJ and I'm not sure I've ever had macaroni and cheese.  I know I've never cooked it.

 

[cteavin]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I live in NJ and I'm not sure I've ever had macaroni and cheese.  I know I've never cooked it.

 

 

I think of it as being more southern, but in uni boxes of Kraft Mac&Cheese were, side by side instant ramen, the cheapest/easiest things students could buy, so I imagine everyone would have eaten it at some point. 

 

Living in Japan, I often get asked what is something quintessentially American, I default to peanut butter and Mac & Cheese.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, cteavin said:

 

I think of it as being more southern, but in uni boxes of Kraft Mac&Cheese were, side by side instant ramen, the cheapest/easiest things students could buy, so I imagine everyone would have eaten it at some point. 

 

Living in Japan, I often get asked what is something quintessentially American, I default to peanut butter and Mac & Cheese.

 

When I was in college instant noodles were a new thing, not available in stores.  Most stores at least.  A Chinese friend introduced me to them.  He wrote out instructions for the shop in Chinatown that had them.  I took the train to the city and found the store.  I handed the instructions to the young woman at the counter but she said, "I'm sorry I don't read Chinese."  We eventually found the right product.

 

On the other hand, at the Italian market ground beef was 25 cents a pound so we students didn't starve.

 

[FeChef]

7 hours ago, lindag said:

Where is the 'shocked' emoji?

Where is the flabbergasted emoji.

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I live in NJ and I'm not sure I've ever had macaroni and cheese.  I know I've never cooked it.

 

 

You are missing nothing.

Its pretty pan-american, but for some reason has a southern association.

 

 

[cteavin]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

When I was in college instant noodles were a new thing, not available in stores.  Most stores at least.  A Chinese friend introduced me to them.  He wrote out instructions for the shop in Chinatown that had them.  I took the train to the city and found the store.  I handed the instructions to the young woman at the counter but she said, "I'm sorry I don't read Chinese."  We eventually found the right product.

 

On the other hand, at the Italian market ground beef was 25 cents a pound so we students didn't starve.

 

 

 

You have mastered the art of suggesting your age.  

[gfweb]

6 hours ago, cteavin said:

 

I think of it as being more southern, but in uni boxes of Kraft Mac&Cheese were, side by side instant ramen, the cheapest/easiest things students could buy, so I imagine everyone would have eaten it at some point. 

 

Living in Japan, I often get asked what is something quintessentially American, I default to peanut butter and Mac & Cheese.

 

I'd default to hot dogs. The kind you get at ballgames and eat three at a time.

Or chili.

[MetsFan5]

Sweet beans in some type of syrupy looking sauce just don’t appeal to me. I was eating raw clams at age 5. 
  
  I just don’t think you can generalize American cuisine as it is really specific to the region one lives in. I mean I’d say Taylor ham and disco fries but those are Jersey things. 
 
 

[weinoo]

9 hours ago, gfweb said:

I'd default to hot dogs.

 

Exactly why I mentioned them very early on in this thread; it wasn't meant to be funny or snarky either.

 

And the appropriation of hot dogs by many different cultures never ceases to amaze. I see lines of people outside this Korean rice dog joint in my neighborhood.  The Chinese pastry shops wrap them in buns. I imagine they're pretty popular in Japan.

[Kim Shook]

Game.  None of the men in my family (even the ones who lived in the country) hunted, so I didn't have venison or boar until a few years ago when one of Mr. Kim's co-workers gave us some.  My mother worked in an office in the 1960s where the men went on occasional hunting weekends and sometimes would bring her back a duck (cleaned), so I'd had that.  But none of the bigger things.

[chileheadmike]

Kentucky  Hot Brown for me. Never had it. 

[MokaPot]

Green bean casserole, the one people serve / eat on Thanksgiving. Never tried it and, frankly, I'm not interested in it. (No offense intended to all who have fond food memories of this classic dish. There are a lot of sketchy foods that I grew up with and still like.)

[acautrell]

I never had Kraft Mac and Cheese until I was an adult.  My mom made her own from scratch.

[TdeV]

2 hours ago, acautrell said:

I never had Kraft Mac and Cheese until I was an adult.

 

My sister fed me my first Kraft Mac and Cheese. I was about 18.
Not sure that I've had any since, either.

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by TdeV
Spelling (log)

[gfweb]

I don't recall this thread.  I'm getting dotty.

 

Hop n john...never had it

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

I don't recall this thread.  I'm getting dotty.

You’re OK. It was spun off another thread. 

[Tropicalsenior]

I've never had cornmeal grits. My grandmother used to make something that she called cornmeal mush that was pretty disgusting. We ate it with butter and syrup and only because we were forced to. The recipes that I have seen for grits seem very similar to this and I've just never been interested.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I've never had cornmeal grits. My grandmother used to make something that she called cornmeal mush that was pretty disgusting. We ate it with butter and syrup and only because we were forced to. The recipes that I have seen for grits seem very similar to this and I've just never been interested.

 

In home ec class we once made cornmeal mush.  My memory is that it was delicious.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

6 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

My memory is that it was delicious.

Trust me, nothing that my grandmother made was delicious! She used to feed us toast that was burnt black and claimed that it was good for us because we would never get worms.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

At my age, there aren’t many “popular” foods I haven’t tried.   None, that I can think of.   But an awful lot that I’ve tasted once and never again.

KFC and Popeye’s; peanut butter anything; maple syrup on most anything; sweet barbecue; sagey breakfast sausage; anchovy pizza...and for starters.

[Kerala]

2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

At my age, there aren’t many “popular” foods I haven’t tried.   None, that I can think of.   But an awful lot that I’ve tasted once and never again.

KFC and Popeye’s; peanut butter anything; maple syrup on most anything; sweet barbecue; sagey breakfast sausage; anchovy pizza...and for starters.

Half that list is on my favourites list!

[Tropicalsenior]

34 minutes ago, Kerala said:

Half that list is on my favourites list!

I agree with you. And pizza is not pizza without anchovies. But then, I am with @Margaret Pilgrim on the sweet barbecue.

[lemniscate]

Mentioned in another thread and it reminded me:

 

Pineapple Cheese casserole.  Had never heard of it until I spent Thanksgiving in SW Georgia with extended family.  I was skeptical but politely tried it and dang if it wasn't pretty delicious.   I tried making it myself, but it wasn't the same as being in The South with the lovely musical drawls telling stories, along that impossibly long table filled with happy eaters.   

 

Green Bean Casserole also something I never had until I went to other people's Thanksgivings, and that remains a big NOPE for me. 

 

Calf fries/Rocky Mtn Oysters I like.  Also, does fried rattlesnake count as Americana?