Culture shock: US customs that puzzle new arrivals

[Bored Of Education]

The Sahara all the way for me. People who love the Atacama are just plain weird

I made a crumble last night and didn't put enough butter in and the topping did, in fact, resemble sand. Very much a dessert desert/desert dessert. Vile, it was.

[Hot Pepsi]

Now I am freed from the compulsion to be annoyingly pedantic, I can see this actually. I think there is something in the idea that desserts get further away from ones comfort zone the further away they are from ones own culture. So, while I love Indian food (and Indian breakfast food for that matter), Indian desserts have no interest for me. The same is true of SE Asian cuisines and of Chinese too (I don't think I've ever known what Japanese desserts are, but I'm guessing I wouldn't be interested). Meanwhile, although much of what the US eats for breakfast I find unpleasant, US desserts are familiar to me and fit with my idea of what constitutes dessert. European desserts are usually fairly acceptable, though I'm not a big fan of things that are very milky and there is a tendency in some parts for that kind of thing. It's not a universal truth, as I'd rather a Turkish dessert (baklava and all the baklava-ish things that are available) than, say, a creme caramel, but in general I can see how it's a theory that i could work into a drunken conversation.

What is Indian breakfast food like?

[ursus arctos]

I would agree that both anchovies and garlic are frequently present in Provençal tapenade (where it originated), and even more common in Iberian and Italian versions.

[San Bernardhinault]

I agree with Ursus (and others) on anchovies in tapenade

And at first thought, I could basically go along with Ad Hoc's premise on dessert. I'm really only comfortable with dessert that comes from a north-west to south-east strip from UK to, maybe, Lebanon. Indian desserts usually seem weird and unappealing. All those flan-y, textureless Mexican desserts seem weird and unappealing. Chinese and south east Asian desserts often seem weird and unappealing.

[WOM]

Same here. Lack of specific familiarity has me picturing Indian desserts as variations on entrees, with more sugar added instead of ... you know ... cumin or curry. Which is stupid, of course.

I mean, what's with tamarind balls? Spicy dessert? I dunno...

[ChrisJ]

So, while I love Indian food (and Indian breakfast food for that matter), Indian desserts have no interest for me.

Many S. Asian meals don't have dessert. Most Indian sweet foods weren't designed to be eaten that way, more as snacks or treats, so they don't really work for me either.

That said, home-made mango kulfi or kheer (rice pudding) are among the most joyful culinary experiences on the planet and if you've missed out you've missed out big time.

[ChrisJ]

What is Indian breakfast food like?

Depends on the region. Thats a bit like asking what European breakfast food is like.

Often omelettes and rotis (chapattis) or parathas in the north. Could be buttered or spread with jam. Chai is universal. In cafes, sometimes toast which is always awful and best avoided. I believe idlis are more common in the south.

In middle class Indian homes, breakfast might look pretty western, or might lokk like a slightly lighter version of any meal.

[Hot Pepsi]

I see.
I guess I shouldn't assume every culture has breakfast.

[linus]

Ah, not for you then. Although you can make a perfectly reasonable kedgeree with non-smoked haddock, salmon, coley, pollock or cod. However, if you don't like boiled eggs, there's no point.

I guess kedgeree and koshari, what could qualify as the national dish of Egypt, are distant relatives, from wiki: "the dish originated from India and Italy, in 1914 when Indians attempted to make lentil and rice Khichdi, Italians added macaroni to the dish, over time the dish has progressed and evolved into the current dish through Egyptian soldiers, then Egyptian citizens".

There aren't many cuisines that both have a very elaborate breakfast culture and an extensive dessert culture, I guess American cuisine is one of them.

[Bored Of Education]

I guess kedgeree and koshari, what could qualify as the national dish of Egypt, are distant relatives, from wiki: "the dish originated from India and Italy, in 1914 when Indians attempted to make lentil and rice Khichdi, Italians added macaroni to the dish, over time the dish has progressed and evolved into the current dish through Egyptian soldiers, then Egyptian citizens".

I've had kedgeree with lentils before and I've had risotto made with lentils. Both worked pretty well actually.

[Lang Spoon]

Ham and eggs always seemed exotic, is it just sliced ham and fried eggs (and maybe sliced whitebread)?

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah, I guess. Probably grill-up the ham a bit in the pan and cook the eggs in that grease.

Not my thing.

[linus]

I found out recently that eggs and bacon for breakfast are not an endemic American breakfast fare, they only became a US breakfast staple after Edward Bernays (the father of modern propaganda) did his bit, hired by a leading bacon producer. Prior to this, the typical American breakfast consisted of a roll or biscuit with coffee along with a hot cereal meal (oatmeal, grits).

Bernays was also responsible for getting women to smoke by associating that activity with female emancipation (cigarettes becoming "torches of freedom"), and for pushing the notion that water fluoridation was healthy, for the benefit of his client ALCOA and the aluminum industry, which pushed water fluoridation as a means for eliminating their disposal cost of a very toxic fluoride waste product.

http://www.americantable.org/2012/07...can-breakfast/

https://youtu.be/KLudEZpMjKU

https://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/..._how_a_nuclear

One of the main specificiies of American culture is that it is particularly prone to this kind of manipulation, no other culture is as susceptible to the influence of mass media. A lot of the features that are unique to American culture derive from this exposure.

[Hot Pepsi]

I found out recently that eggs and bacon for breakfast are not an endemic American breakfast fare, they only became a US breakfast staple after Edward Bernays (the father of modern propaganda) did his bit, hired by a leading bacon producer. Prior to this, the typical American breakfast consisted of a roll or biscuit with coffee along with a hot cereal meal (oatmeal, grits).

Bernays was also responsible for getting women to smoke by associating that activity with female emancipation (cigarettes becoming "torches of freedom"), and for pushing the notion that water fluoridation was healthy, for the benefit of his client ALCOA and the aluminum industry, which pushed water fluoridation as a means for eliminating their disposal cost of a very toxic fluoride waste product.

http://www.americantable.org/2012/07...can-breakfast/

https://youtu.be/KLudEZpMjKU

https://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/..._how_a_nuclear

One of the main specificiies of American culture is that it is particularly prone to this kind of manipulation, no other culture is as susceptible to the influence of mass media. A lot of the features that are unique to American culture derive from this exposure.

I made that point further up, but without the links. Though I'm not going to click on something called "the flouride deception." C'mon.

Prosperity/prices has something to do with it. I suspect people in the 19th and 18th century would have had meat for breakfast if they could have afforded it.

I don't know if no other culture is as susceptible to the influence of mass media. You're going to have to show your work to back-up a statement like that.

But it may be true that no other culture has been shaped by mass media, because mass media was largely born here and Americans, overall, had more money to spend on it in those formative years of the 50s and 60s.

It's different now. Media consumption is so chopped up into little segments and there's a lot more cynicism about advertising than there was in the Mad Men era. It would be impossible - or at least, prohibitively expensive - to convince a huge segment of Americans to eat anything in particular now. Because there's no one media or even small list of media that everyone watches and trusts.

[Satchmo Distel]

Rasmalai is a wonderful South Indian dessert. Kulfi is a tasty alternative to ice cream

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-di...-and-ice-cream