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This redefines what it means to be “American.”
Do people in other countries have “US finger traps” and “Little America”? Residents of other nations are blowing United States residents’ minds after revealing what gets labeled “American” back home, much of which isn’t even popular in the Home Of The Brave.
The discussion was sparked after a curious poster on Reddit posed the query, “Are there any things that are called “American ______” in other countries?”
“In the U.S., we have French fries, Belgian waffles, Russian roulette, Greek yogurt, Chinese finger trap, etc,” they pointed out in the culturally relativistic post.
Foreigners were eager to bite, with many revealing the peculiar items that have been slapped with the moniker.
“In Hungary, an American kitchen means it’s not walled off from the living room,” declared one Hungarian poster, to which a US Redditor replied, “That checks out, we do love our open floor plans.”
Another revealed that Norway labels bags of frozen diced carrots, peas and other veggies “amerikansk blanding” or “American mix.”
This sparked a debate in the comments with some red-white-and-blooded Redditors claiming that this mix was not that “American,” while one claimed they “have three bags of that exact veggie mix in my freezer at all times.”
Meanwhile, one Dutch poster chimed in, “In the Netherlands, we have a popular bread topping called Filet Americain. It is basically steak tartare (raw beef) mixed with a mayo-based sauce with spices and condiments. It is very delicious and as far as I know has absolutely no connection to America.”
“In the Czech Republic, potato wedges are called ‘Americké Brambory,’ which translates to American potatoes,” said another.
One poster observed that ranch dressing is labeled “American dressing” in many countries. ‘”Cool Ranch’” Doritos are marketed as “Cool American” internationally,” they said, seemingly invoking the chip version of the immortal “French McDonald’s” debate in Quentin Tarantino’s classic flick “Pulp Fiction.”
Coincidentally, ranch dressing was invented by Nebraskan plumber Steve Henson while he was cooking for workers at his Alaska ranch.
Later, in California, he and his spouse Gayle established the Hidden Valley Ranch and ranch eclipsed Italian dressing as the number one salad garnish by 1992.
However, as the sauce isn’t popular in Europe, they swapped out the name for “American,” per the Daily Dot.
Another uniquely American nosh abroad, according to the thread? Hot dogs in all forms.
“Once in Thailand, I found a Full English breakfast on a menu listed as eggs, bacon, beans, tomatoes, hash browns, and American food,” said one. “Obviously, I ordered it to find out what American food was.
Hot dogs, cut up a little fancy! It was hilarious.”
“Wtf…Sincerely, Every American,” replied one US citizen.
“In Italy, I had an ‘American Pizza,’” said another Redditor. “It was a pizza with sliced hot dogs and French fries on top. Without a doubt, this was the worst pizza I had in Italy.”
Meanwhile, another one of our Hungarian brethren claimed they celebrated Independence Day with hot dogs and drinks in red solo cups, dubbed “American party cups.”
In many instances, “American” was shorthand for supersized, such as double-wide refrigerators and thick-cut pancakes.
A few got more conceptual with the label, with some pointing out that many countries dub our pigskin pastime as “American football” to distinguish it from “football,” which is what we call soccer.
“The Vietnamese consider the Vietnam War as the American war,” said another.
Coincidentally, owing to the relative newness of our nation — and the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, who bring their culinary traditions with them — most so-called “American” items don’t even hail from the US.
Meatloaf has origins in medieval Europe, while bacon — cured pork belly — actually comes from China.
Even the phrase “as American as apple pie” is misleading, as the first recorded instance of an apple pie recipe has been traced to the late 14th century in England.
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