Bridging the Gap - The cultural exchange thread

[TonyAyers]

The problem with that though, is that when trying to come up with "exclusively American" foods to share in this topic, it's...hard. Because we borrow from so many other cultures lol
With that said, we've got our own cultures that we don't even understand, such as what Tony pointed out:

I'm going to Portland, Maine for my honeymoon though and apparently they call subs up there "Italians" which
?? ?? Why. Why do you have to just make this more complicated Maine. Why.

I'd say cornbread though is a pretty American food through-and-through, with its origins deep in Native American history. It's also really incredible but there is just not enough of it in New York and this is an absolute travesty

Actually, I can think of a few other ACTUAL American foods/snacks that are more expressly from us and not from our culture fusion (though I love it, personally XD). Iced Tea is something that we came up with in the 1860-70s. You can probably look up the details of its origins online, but I'm pretty sure we had the one of the first recipes. Gumbo is another dish that originated here in the US (it was in Louisiana, I believe). I've never had it myself, but my friend from the South eats it quite a lot. I'll post a picture of it below:


Basically, it's a stew that has veggies like green peppers, onions, celery, and okra as well as very strong meat/sea foods (shrimp, sausage, chicken, etc.) served with or over rice. Either way, it sounds mighty tasty to me! 


I'm not sure why they call them "Italians", but my guess is that it may originate from "Italian-American" foods like subs, etc. The whole Brooklyn thing. (I used to be a Brooklyner myself and I am Italian-Puerto Rican-American with hints of Polish and Indian in me, lol).

And there's not enough cornbread you say? I must throw some at your through time and space so you may enjoy this wonderful meal more!

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We call those sandwiches "sanduíche".

We are very straight forward when coming to names.

Oh wow, really? That's actually really cool! Yeah, alas due to our mixture of languages and cultures, we have many names to call even the simplest of commodities. But, that's okay! As long as we understand each other, I think we can do this. XD

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we actually don't have the concept of "sandwich" here, as you inted them,

we have those things called "panino", that are used in a similar fashion, and they look like that

as for the pies I have a fun fact, while we use "torta" or "crostata" for them, older people use in my dialect "pizza" to refer to baked foods, salty or not like cakes, pies and the actual pizza.

I've eaten paninos before! They're SO good! And that's very interesting to know. Pies here can either refer to the sweet "American pies" most people see or the actual pizza "pie" and it's easy to differentiate from with context. Savory and sweet, lol. XD

[PatientZero]

Compared to everyday Brazilian breakfast of bread, butter and a cup of coffee, it does sound more glamorous and even a tad too exaggerated. Cereals are very expensive, and so are jams and spreads. We also don't have peanut butters and honey is something very uncommon for a normal Brazilian household (though I do buy honey myself)

Huh, that's something I didn't know. Those kinds of food are generally really cheap here, though honey is getting more expensive with scarcity and all. (SAVE THE BEES!)

Though I honestly couldn't tell you what a regular breakfast even is in this country, I'd say probably just cereal or toast, but I usually don't even eat breakfast myself. I suppose there's always the "full English" breakfast though; bacon, eggs, beans, mushrooms, sausage, fried tomatoes and toast. And black pudding, but that's not so common these days.

[Goemar]

Specialist stores: Tesco

Yeah, I actually forgot about that, still seems weird to me. I know there were always small stores that only do imported products, but I guess something must have changed along the way when all those major stores suddenly started having specific imported food shelves and isles.

Have I mentioned yet that I'm not really an expert on this stuff?

Nerds vanished when e-numbers became a big thing and are now only an 'import' product. As for Lucky Charms, there's now UK ones, though not sold in too many places (taste very different as well). Mountain Dew is now commonly sold here though.

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A full English is still pretty damn popular. Probably depends on where you live. More of a cafe thing than something at home mind.

[Kosheh]

Though I honestly couldn't tell you what a regular breakfast even is in this country, I'd say probably just cereal or toast, but I usually don't even eat breakfast myself. I suppose there's always the "full English" breakfast though; bacon, eggs, beans, mushrooms, sausage, fried tomatoes and toast. And black pudding, but that's not so common these days.

BEANS. MUSHROOMS
WHY ARE THESE IN A BREAKFAST PLATE FDSKLJHJG

I remember as a kid growing up every kids' cereal commercial somewhere before the end of the jingle or whatever they'd always drop the phrase "Part of a complete breakfast" and then getting a sexy spread like this



I don't think this is like a THING here in the US, but that's how cereals are marketed to look healthier than they actually are (it's a supplement to your apple and toast!!)
And I was always like "Yeah okay this is bullshit who's going to eat that cereal, the toast, at least two pieces of fruit, and drink BOTH the milk and cereal?" I actually tried to do this once as a kid and the two beverages didn't mix and totally ruined my day.

That, and most Americans don't really have time to sit down and eat a breakfast like this (despite the fact that you can go out to a Denny's or something and eat a breakfast about as much as your daily caloric intake. Their "Grand Slamwich" is 1530 calories wtf)

[Gors]

An addendum to the whole sandwich ordeal,

on top of calling sandwiches "sanduíche", a lot of brazilians call them "sanduba" which is a shortening and removal of the "-wich" part, which is complicated to say in Portuguese

We also call hot dogs "cachorro quente" (literal translation of the words "hot" and "dog"), and the person who makes and sells hot dogs as "dogueiro" (dogger). Those who have a motorized hot dog cart are named "dogueiro motorizado" (motorized dogger).

[Kendotlibero]

what's your conception of italian cooking?
what are the dishes you think when Italy comes in mind besides pizza?
(if you say pasta say what kind of pasta is, like "risotto alla puttanesca")

[Kriven]

I actually think of pizzelles :p

[Kendotlibero]

I actually think of pizzelles :p

good choice

[Gors]

what's your conception of italian cooking?
what are the dishes you think when Italy comes in mind besides pizza?
(if you say pasta say what kind of pasta is, like "risotto alla puttanesca")

tiramisù
casu marzu
spaghetti alla puttanesca
sugo
panettone
lumaconi
mozzarella cheese
antipasto

[Kosheh]

I actually think of pizzelles :p

good choice

that's an actually good food though. like fried dough but turned into a mini fried pizza. "pizzelle fritte"
I've NEVER seen these in the states, even in Little Italy (though now I want one they sound awesome)

pizzelles here are like



thin lil waffle cookies you sprinkle powered sugar on that are low calorie (hence one of the few reasons to eat them)

why are all of our italian-name things named so incorrectly wtf

[Kendotlibero]

thin lil waffle cookies you sprinkle powered sugar on that are low calorie (hence one of the few reasons to eat them)

why are all of our italian-name things named so incorrectly wtf

i've never seen those, actually 
EDIT: actually those are typical food in a region different to mine, and they're called Ferratella, and sometimers they roll them and fill them with cream 

[Gors]

@Kosheh: that's completely not-italian and I'm not even italian

[Kendotlibero]

antipasto

What do you actually intend for "antipasto"?
Here with that term we intend a "zero course", something we eat in important occasions before the main dishes.
It's composed usually with ham slices, salame, cheese and othercured pork meats like those.

[Gors]

antipasto

What do you actually intend for "antipasto"?
Here with that term we intend a "zero course", something we eat in important occasions before the main dishes.
It's composed usually with ham slices, salame, cheese and othercured pork meats like those.

for us in Brazil antipasto (spelled "antepasto") is anything served before the main dish, that is to say, aperitives such as toasts with escabeche (baked eggplant, onion, olives, bell peppers with olive oil), for example. Cheese, salami and hams are also common. It's commonly served on special occasions only, such as banquet, but I'd say that I prefer eating small food like this instead of overly complicated banquet food

[Kendotlibero]

for us in Brazil antipasto (spelled "antepasto") is anything served before the main dish, that is to say, aperitives such as toasts with escabeche (baked eggplant, onion, olives, bell peppers with olive oil), for example. Cheese, salami and hams are also common. It's commonly served on special occasions only, such as banquet, but I'd say that I prefer eating small food like this instead of overly complicated banquet food

yeah, 
same concept, different food