American food - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**bluepea** · 07-25-2005, 04:35 PM

Just curious who misses American food while overseas. I didn't think I would as Jake and I always got french bread loaves, European cheeses etc while we lived in the states. Then we got here, and that's all we ate! The worse was in Spain (which I love and miss so much) when we had no ac and couldn't eat anything non shelf food. So, we got in the major mojo for easy mac, ramen (okay, you can claim it's not American!), cheese curds etc. Fortunately, we have the in, with family being mlitary and having access to a commisary. But still!

Anyhow, we went to Ramstein AFB the other day and hit a Chili's. Yum. I love Mexican restaurants for their homeade salsa and never thought a chain one could compete but sehr gut. Though, the waitress did screw up my order (she gave me a real hamburger instead of a black bean one - I'm a vegetarian!)

So, what do you miss? What have you missed? Im glad we have that connection - sometimes, the crap you rarely let yourself eat in the States can be your saving grace.

**d_fresh** · 07-25-2005, 06:13 PM

only thing "canadian" I missed was Tim Hortons. wasn't really a whole lot we ate while in europe that we didn't eat at home anyway.

we did end up eating an awful lot of mcdonald's....more because we knew what we were getting and it was so cheap.

**ED Larry** · 07-25-2005, 08:45 PM

when i was working on ships that were ported out of the states i missed poutine... they looked at me when i asked for cheese and gravy on my fries

it was probably better that they didn't have it, cause it's so bad for you... but so good

ed

foofiter · 07-25-2005, 09:05 PM

Steaks. I always crave steak while overseas. I have yet to find a good steak outside the USA. My buddy also craved milk which you can find if you know the foreign word for it. He goofed and got half-nhalf once, chugged it, then his stomach was tore up for hours

That's about it for me.

Foo

**juliagulia** · 07-25-2005, 09:52 PM

the only other country that ive been to besides the USA was brazil, and the thing that I missed most was real milk.

actually thats wrong... watered-down milk? i dunno... thats what they call it over there. the milk there is all... non-tampered with... and i miss the good ol' not real milk we get here in the U.S. of A....

Aaaaaand... a restaurant. one of those chain ones... in Brazil.. the only restaurant they have there that i recognized from here was McDonalds... and that's just at big cities like Sao Paulo...

I remember having this HUGE craving for Don Pablos... and sushi!! my neighbors in brazil had never HEARD of sushi... let alone eaten it... my grandmother had never eaten seafood except for fish...

i was deprived and suffering withdrawal...

**worldwidemike** · 07-26-2005, 02:43 AM

Some of you who've read my travelogs may know of my little tradition overseas: I love to eat at foreign Pizza Huts. It started out as a thing on one of my last nights "in country," with local currency running low and the Huts taking credit card. Other times, I'd "miss" a taste of home and it usually supplied it.

Of course, after you've been to Pizza Huts in a couple dozen countries, the tradition takes on a momentum of its own. I usually don't force it on others, though. Although there was one only half a mile away, I didn't eat at a Pizza Hut in Jamaica this past April!

worldwidemike

**bluepea** · 07-26-2005, 02:57 AM

Sorry - I was a wee tipsy when I wrote that and forgot to add: "home" food, not just America. I realize there are other nationalities here!

The pizza hut thing is funny - last time we were here, it was only for two weeks and we ate a pizza hut 2x and yet we rarely ate there at home. Once was in Switzerland because... well we couldn't find anything we could read that looked at all appetizing and then in Iceland cuz our choices were pretty limited.

**MeTurk** · 07-26-2005, 03:23 AM

You can't beat a good strong cup o' tea the stuff they have everywhere else just isn't the same.

beck · 07-26-2005, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ED Larry@Jul 25 2005, 07:44 PM
they looked at me when i asked for cheese and gravy on my fries

Are you for real? Is that a normal thing in US? My god I feel sick just thinking about it!

**voyd** · 07-26-2005, 07:27 AM

I miss the endless hot water in showers and great roads here - but American food* is definitely not on that list! That's usually the thing I miss most about foreign countries!

* Except perhaps O-rings and Cajun...mmmm....

**GoKrazy** · 07-26-2005, 08:04 AM

Nope, I don't miss the stuff I eat at home. After all I know it's going to be there when I get back. While traveling I make it a point to try as much local food as possible... actually I try to avoid stuff that is too familar. A culinary themed trip through Europe (France and Italy come to mind immediately) would be wicked!

**LaurieL622** · 07-26-2005, 09:44 AM

I missed: hot showers. showering without flip flops. CLEAN bathrooms. a comfortable sleep (without the influence of alcohol). feeling clean...all over...not dirty or soapy.

I don't even know where to begin with food....I had many drunk nights where everyone just sat around talking about all the food we missed eating. ironically tho--food I don't really like when I'm at home:

meatloaf, mashed potatoes, cheese, kit kats, snickers, really rich ice cream, cookies, big greasy in-n-out burgers, greasy french fries, apple pie, mexican anything, fried chicken...the list goes on.

this was on my last trip to asia...so we were dairy and grease deprived the whole time. but....we ate enough thai chilis to give us the runs for a month.

**space virgin** · 07-26-2005, 09:56 AM

Golly. So far in my travels I've been HAPPY to leave behind the McAmerican food and dig in to the local cuisine.

**omisan** · 07-26-2005, 11:33 AM

Aye, I'm more than happy to wave buh-bye to American food as soon as I get on the plane.. hell, I'm more than happy not to eat it regularly while I'm at home, either - there's too much diverse stuff out there to be tried, ya know?

Granted, I partake in a tradition like WWM's, where I try McDonald's everywhere I go, just to see if it's any different. The verdict, btw: They're all the same disgusting-but-curiously-satisifying-crap, except in France, where it actually tastes good, and Holland, where they give you that yummy yellow mayo for the fries.

In regards to poutine: IT ROCKS. I can't ever find it anywhere, though, ever since Jerry's Deli in LA took it off their menu and most late-night diners around here refuse to make it.. WTF? They have fries, they have cheese, they have gravy - what's their problem?

The only place I had trouble with food was Ireland - not that there wasn't good food around, I found it difficult to track down good CHEAP food in Dublin. I guess in Spain, food became an issue, but only when wandering around drunk at 4am with everything closed.

**beergal** · 07-26-2005, 12:21 PM

oh my god you cant have cheese and gravy on "fries" unless they are proper chips! they have to be thick potato for it to work properly or the gravy makes the chips too soggy. Just my take on it..but i do get a bick sick when im travelling and can only find fries they are yuk! I always take a jar of vegemite with me (even though its australian) cos its my favourite spread on toast. I also miss salad cream... and who ever said about the cup of tea yeah your right! Cant beat a good old cuppa when its been pissin it down all day and your soakin wet

**omisan** · 07-26-2005, 12:29 PM

Quote:

they have to be thick potato for it to work properly or the gravy makes the chips too soggy.

While I love the thick chips, it's the sogginess (IMO) that makes a poutine soooo goood.. the melding of all those bad-for-you substances into one unrecognizable mush is what gives it its distinct character.

**elfmaiden** · 07-26-2005, 12:37 PM

Mmm...mushy poutine, my favourite!!! Although I haven't travelled yet...(That's on friday I leave in case you forgot, HA HA)...I am looking foward to trying everything new I can! I used to be kinda picky, but as I get older I'm enjoying things I never thought i would. I hope there are lots of tasty things out there, and I think I'm going to slurge on a fancy french meal while in paris. Nothing says Paris like money.

LOL. I supposed that's true of everywhere!

Again...Mushy poutine is great...I was sad that people laughed at me in the states when we talked about what it was. Even a place in NY that specialised in all sorts of wierd topping on french fries had never heard of it.

Jenn

**LaurieL622** · 07-26-2005, 12:41 PM

don't get me wrong, i grew up disliking american food. but when your body is deprived of something that it gets fairly regulary....it'll get antsy.

i loooooove all kinds of food (esp thai, and japanese) but after 5 weeks....it gets a little old. just like 5 weeks of McAmerican gets old too. (i'm back to eating at thai resturants here)

**IDDQD** · 07-26-2005, 12:48 PM

oh dear, i just love poutine.
Sometimes id ask for it in the states and just get a fucked up look.

And can someone tell me why in houston I can never find a restaurant that will give me white vinegar to put on my fries?

**bellelass** · 07-27-2005, 01:06 AM

Quote:

And can someone tell me why in houston I can never find a restaurant that will give me white vinegar to put on my fries?

Because in these parts people who put vinegar on anything are some sort of metrosexual pussies.

We dont take kindly to them there sorts.

I dont miss american food, but I do always always get home and miss things I could get all the time abroad.. In morocco we'd go and get midmorning mint tea and crepes slathered with nutella. I can do that. Sadly, I havent figured out tagines. sigh.

And cornish pasties. My kingdom for a cheese and onion pasty. Shit. And I like the ketchup in the UK, its kind of bitier or something.

Oh wait I totally pined for ranch while I was gone. I dunno, does it even exist outside us borders?