A little humor - what do Americans mimic that’s definitely not European?

Not-cappucino cappuccinos are one of my intense pet peeves too. There's nothing tricky about it: espresso, spoon foam on top of it. It is literally right there in the name. Cap. Of foam.

80% of the time I order one in Seattle. I am given a small latte.

My best guess is that this happens because of the overwhelming magnetism of the big warm milkshake 600 calorie excuse for a coffee so many Americans enjoy. That pallet trickles down even to the basic traditional coffees like a cappuccino.

Also don't get me started on pumpkin spice and all of it's absurd cousins. I'm going to make a bumper sticker one day:

Coffee IS a Flavor!

So yeah, not-cappucino is on the list

Ha! The name Cappuccino of course comes from Capucine monks who came from Italy to Vienna ….or someone calling the drink after them and the color of their habits.

https://www.caffevergnano.com/blog/la-forse-vera-storia-del-cappuccino

My palate does enjoy an occasional lovely sweet treat of coffee.

Kim, thanks for the info on the origin of cappucino!

Jean, I think eating a burger with my hands is pretty American. I knife and fork it in Europe but I would never consider eating a burger (veggie of course) and fries that way here at home. Plus ketchup and other sauce endemic to North Idaho, hahaha!

And I can see a coffee bar person in Italy having a complete blank expression if you did as your DH suggests. Even in your Italian it would not translate to any comprehension! Funny!

o.k., I had to look up “dry” and “wet” cappuccino.

I made the mistake of ordering a “latte” in Italy back in the 90s. The barista looked at me strangely, confirmed I wanted a latte, and brought me a glass of milk. I was too embarrassed to admit my mistake.

Laura - same here! However, my barista discouraged me appropriately and I corrected the order adding "cafe" before "latte".

A reverse situation involving Italians in America. This is a true story. My sister spent a lot of time in Italy, and when she was back home, one of her Italian friends visited her in New York City. He spoke English, but not perfectly. Like many Europeans, he thought Americans greatly over-ice their drinks. They went to a deli and he ordered "a Coke, please, with no glace" (and yes, that's French not Italian, but he got his languages mixed up). The counter guy looked at him and said, "OK, buddy, hold out your hands."

I had to read Slate’s post a couple of times before I got it. Glace = glass, right? Leave it to a NYC waiter to have a snappy comeback.

I think eating a burger with my hands is pretty American. I knife and fork it in Europe but I would never consider eating a burger (veggie of course) and fries that way here at home. Plus ketchup and other sauce

Pam, don't worry about eating a burger with your hands! I think all Europeans understand that's how you're supposed to eat burgers ;-) Ketchup with your burger and fries is quite normal too. I don't know enough about Idaho to know which other sauces are endemic. Ranch is one that you'll struggle to find in the UK at least. I'm only aware of it from the internet.

scones are what come to mind. Here, they are pretty much a dense, sugary, 1000 calorie fruit bar.

Maybe I'm not understanding the topic of the post, but I think there are plenty of things in the US that aren't European. There are many Asian cuisines/culture maybe as well things to do with indigenous peoples I assume, Thanksgiving for one?

Carlos, the post is looking at foods or experiences in Europe that we try to emulate in the US. We might think we have replicated it in an authentic way, but it’s a big miss.

@Slate, your story is hilarious!

Ha! The name Cappuccino of course comes from Capucine monks who came
from Italy to Vienna.

Sure. Their "capes" etymologically come from the Latin root "cappa," which is something going over your head.

The foam is the hood on the coffee, the coffee's cap.

Anyway, that's the etymology with which I'm familiar. I suppose it could have been the brown, although generally, there's no way to know for sure, just backward guesses in a priori speculation

Ah okay now I understand thanks lol! Maybe pizza then? Between pineapple pizza, deep dish, and that Detroit pizza too I can see Italians getting a heart attack! I mean Chicago deep dish pizza is basically cheese and tomato soup haha.

But we are guilty of doing the same over here in Europe, just take a look at any Tex-Mex aisle in our local supermarket, they're very popular in Europe but I'm sure any true Texan will cringe.

Gerry, the local sauce for fries is called...ummm....."fry sauce", hahaha!! I see there is a Wikipedia entry for fry sauce but it's more than what they have listed which is 1 part Ketchup to 1 parts mayo. The local versions have some garlic and something to make it a little spicy. Recipes are a closely guarded secret, hahaha!!

Another thing regarding drinks...coffee, tea, sodas, etc....is that in Europe you rarely see people out and about and especially not on hiking trails with go-cups. I see people all the time on urban-ish hiking trails with a big coffee or something else. NOT a water bottle, but a drink in a paper cup with a lid and maybe straw. I was out hiking in the woods a couple of weeks ago and a couple of young women passed me with their large drinks.

I'm going to say Christmas.

And then duck under this table right here ....

What have you seen Americans do that is definitely not European?

The Olive Garden.

Detroit style pizza is simply a descendant of Sicilian-style pizza. It traces its roots to one man – Gus Guerra. In 1946, Gus owned what was then a neighborhood bar, Buddy's Rendezvous, when he decided he needed something new for the menu. It blossomed into today's independent Buddy's Pizza chain. It's not intended to mimic anything but we do have some Italian friends who in fact like it when they visit.

“Detroit’s pizza scene is one of the most exciting in the country,” says Food & Wine Magazine. USA Today called Buddy’s Pizza “Pilgrimage-worthy pizza” and The Daily Meal named it #6 of the 101 Best Pizzas in America. Buddy's has been called one of the five best pizzerias in the United States by the Food Network.

I doubt that it's triggered any heart attacks aside from those caused by the typically unhealthy ingredients in general. I've enjoyed it for 5 decades, long before it was "discovered". Of course I balance it with a healthier diet...and exercise.

Pam said:

1 part Ketchup to 1 parts mayo

Funny you should mention that, that's what I picked up the other day. It was "Heinz Saucy Sauce". It is a ketchup and mayo mix in a squeezy bottle. I had a bread roll with two nice little fillets of mackerel, some chopped garlic and the "Saucy Sauce" for lunch today. Not far from an Idaho condiment!

Some Americans believe they are making ricotta by adding lemon juice (or something else) to heated milk. Unfortunately, this is perpetuated by tv chefs telling people that's what they are doing. NO (insert Italian finger wag here)! It's right in the name “ricotta”, meaning re-cooked, using the whey left over from making cheese. It is not as simple, or as tasty, as Americans have been led to believe.

Canadian here. The pineapple pizza was invented here by a cook originally from Greece.

Pam, I eat my burger with a knife and fork here at home too as the sticky fingers are a pain. Plus my Dutch/ Belgian mum brought us all up with fries and mayo of course:)

Pineapple on pizza, one of my favourite Canadian contributions to the culinary world. I jokingly asked last year in Sorrento if it was available and the waiter gave me a blank stare, at the time I figured it was a communication issue, but maybe that was his "you're an idiot" stare.

Sheesh

Allan, we ate at a pizza restaurant in Betws-y-Coed in Wales last summer, and there was a sign at their ordering window. “Pineapple Corkage. We don’t serve pineapple on our pizzas. Feel free to bring your own, plus the corkage charge.”

My husband thinks pineapple should never be on a pizza, so he wanted a photo of their sign. ; )

I just wish we could teach Americans how to pronounce bruschetta.

Is it not Brew Shet (like Shetland pony) Ah?

Janet - LOL!

My daughter & I recently ate at the Italian restaurant in my city. Picture a restaurant with a little bit of Italian decor, plus some definite additions of rustic Idaho. ; ) I ordered the bruschetta & an entree. I pronounced it correctly, and when she wrote it down, she said the incorrect “bru-shet-ta”. I wasn’t going to correct her, but I almost did when she brought it, and emphasized our “bru-shet-ta” as she placed it on the table. My daughter at this lunch is the one who went to Italy with me last year, so we both smiled at each other over the “authentic bru-sket-ta” appetizer.

Sorry brew-sket-ah is correct? Ch=k? Thanks

I'm always interested in the topic of English pronunciations of foreign words. There's a cut off between sounding like a rube, and sounding pompous (like Jordan Schlansky of Conan fame ...).

Tah-ko not Tay-ko. But Can-yun not Cahn-yohn. Etc etc

The bruschetta story is very reminiscent of one of our restaurant experiences. Whenever she came to visit us in the Bay Area, my mil of blessed memory would want to take us out to a Sausalito restaurant that sits out on a spit of land in S.F. Bay. Okay food, view to die for. One time, probably 55 years ago, my huband ordered chocolate mousse for dessert. The waiter very snootily repeated our orders, nodding at my husband, “ and you, sir want the moosay.” After dessert my husband opined that maybe it was really a “moosay” after all.

Rosalyn - LOL! That pronunciation doubles the price of the dessert! ; )

Hank, I know I butcher a lot of pronunciations when I’m in Europe, but people really do appreciate the effort! I’ve been studying Italian on Duolingo (my husband told me to get the paid version) for 30-60 minutes a day to up my previous vocabulary & try to learn much more since I will be in southern Italy for a month next Spring. It’s amazing that even a month of work is 800 words.

My favorite was talking to a woman on the phone from somewhere in the US south about a banking situation. I know the woman meant the Deutsche Bank, but she pronounced it "the Doo-shay Bank". It was hard not to laugh.

I know this thread is not about pronunciation, but people really should learn how to say Croissant.

I'm not sure if this is what we're talking about, but I noticed Italian cuisine is very different to Italian American food. I guess Italian immigrants were trying to mimic the food or at least the aspect of their cuisine from back home with the ingredients in the US, with varying levels of success, and over the generations it kind of morphed into its own cuisine with its own taste and tradition.

Here's an interesting video where Italians react to eating Italian American food
https://youtu.be/pHJhB4pmPCg?feature=shared

Rosalyn, great story!
Spinnaker, right?

Love the bruschetta stories.

All we need to remember is that /sch/ is pronounced /sk/. Think "school" or "schedule" (American english).

Carlos, to be fair, thats some of the worst looking Italian/American food I have ever seen. Not that the better stuff would pass either. It is the single greatest thing I miss of my visits to Italy.

And to be honest, most of us know that American Pizza is sort of based on Italian Pizza, but its a totally different animal developed in the US. It should be called American Style Pizza like a lot of Chinese food here should be called American Style Chinese food. Both is good, both is different.

I see... so in that case, the food the Americans are mimicking becomes so different that it really doesn't make sense to compare it with the original European cuisine. Although like you I think I'll take the original Italian stuff any day lol!

If those Italians think Italian American food is an abomination, just wait till they get a load of Japanese Italian food, it makes Olive Garden look like Nonna's home cooking from the old country 😂

https://www.tastingtable.com/1150972/itameshi-the-meeting-point-between-italian-and-japanese-cuisines/

Too funny. I was waiting for a ride at a Starbucks. I decided to have an espresso. Not only did it come in a paper cup, but the cup was huge. It was like 2 fl oz in a Tall size cup. Wow. That was dumb!

Americans consume coffee like it’s a meal.

I heard someone at a supermarket bakery in the US ask for the "see-ahh-bay-tah" bread. Ciabatta, I assume.

Regarding American Italian food, My Italian American Jersey City ancestors were fantastic cooks. They made all the classic American Italian dishes, and the food was fantastic. Think everything that looks delicious on The Sopranos. Cuisine evolves, and ought not be represented by its worst iteration (Olive Garden).

Likewise, I grew up in San Diego and had travelled to Mexico at least 100 times by the time I finished college. Good Mexican food in both places, but overall better in SoCal than Mexico. IMO anyway - the evolution of Mexican food where I grew up was simply better than the home country. And of course we aren't taking about Taco Bell, but great restaurants and tacos shops owned for generations by Mexican American families.

One more. Pizza people seem to like to claim that the farther you get from the origin pizza, the worse. Argument goes "it's fine, but it's not X (New York, Naples, Hartford, etc)." I'll argue that the best pizzas I've ever had were in the San Francisco Bay Area. Plenty of Italians, close to great ingredients, and a region with incredible talent for breads. Nope, it's not Naples or New York, but nevertheless you can get GREAT pizza in San Francisco, better IMO.

Seattle, on the other hand, has horrid pizza. It's slightly improved with the certified wood fire movement, and then the importation of the SF style (Tom Douglas Serious Pie etc,) but by and large Seattle is still a lousy pizza town.

Here's one though that fits the theme of weak sauce USA versions of European stuff. My in laws are unapologetically waspy. They'll call as you drive up to the cabin - "bring more tonic water and mayonnaise." Great people, but in their Italian food cottage cheese is interchangeable with ricotta. I'm too respectful a son in law to tear my hair and rend my garments at the dinner table ;)

sorry for serial posting!

I just read the mousse story. Is "moose" wrong?

I just watch French man in a YouTube video repeatedly pronounce it "moose-suh" The "suh" mildly deemphasized. But definitely two syllables, even if uttered at different intensities.

Thanks, I'm a language mess I guess :)

American "charcuterie boards" confuse me since they extend waaaay beyond the cold cuts that you'd expect on its French namesakes. I must admit that I prefer the variety of the American version. French cold cuts aren't always the best unless you source them carefully... there's too much industrial production.

@Hank: the pronunciation of Mousse depends on the speaker's accent. Standard Parisian/Northern/Eastern french will be "moose", one syllable. Southern French might sound closer to "moose-uh", with a barely audible schwa at the end, which would disappear if followed by another word as in "mousse au chocolat".

Regarding American Italian food

And then you have Swedish American food which I am told is fairly indistinguishable from the original Swedish mother cuisine.

BTW the best Italian American food I had was in a small out of the way village called Julian in the mountains close to San Diego. Though I must admit Italian American food overdos garlic, cheese, and breading on everything, at least for my delicate European palette haha!

I have had some really horrible "German" food in "German" restaurants in the US. Not sure sometimes what they were trying to make, but it ain't Deutsch. Don't even get me started on the Americans who think that Schnitzel is a sausage, and there are a lot of them cause I get asked this all the time. Is there a chain there that sells sausages but calls them schnitzels? Why would they do that? They have nothing to do with each other except both are made of meat.

1) We lived in Germany for four years and learned that in Europe you get butter with you bread for breakfast, but not if you have bread for lunch. Many Americans are upset then they don't get butter with bread at lunch or dinner.
2) In some countries like the low countries french fries are eaten with mayo. Don't see that in the USA.
3) I was told in Italy that pizza there originated with the crust and sauce and leftovers. Those leftovers could be meat, eggs or veggies. Never see that in the USA.
4) We did a three week tour of China some years ago and ate that cuisine every day. We found that there was far more variety to the Chinese food in China than the USA. Some dishes were similar to those in the USA but others not so. In Northern China you get more noodles, not rice. Southern China rice. Chinese food in the USA largely came from Cantonese in Southern China. Eggplant was very common in China, but never seen that served in the USA.
5) Another thing that you need to learn in the local language is how to ask for the check. In most European restaurants they don't bring the check unless you ask. Also, many European restaurants charge a small fee for the seat in the restaurant, don't see that in the USA.

@Ms Jo, I think much of that can be attributed the once widespread fast food hotdog chain - Der Wienerschnitzel (which I know still exists in California, but not where I live). I have traveled with people who just could not shake the idea that a schnitzel was not a hotdog. It's that darn Wiener - wiener thing.

Pam--I had never heard of fry sauce until we moved to Yakima and went to Arctic Circle. I was a teen, so that was heaven, lol.

Hank--I agree, we cannot find decent pizza anywhere around here. When we go back to OR there is a really good place in Dundee and I always bring some home.

My grandmother moved to Paris for a couple of years to learn to cook. Think old school, very formal family. She moved there by herself though after she completed finishing school. So those manners continued on with mom and growing up we NEVER used our hands to eat, except for tacos. A knife and fork for fried chicken, pizza, you name it. I remember once as a teenager picking up a slice of pizza off my plate with my hands and my mom about had a heart attack. When my husband and I were dating, I remember the first time he came to my parents for dinner. His childhood was very different, but he managed to not offend my mom;)

“ We lived in Germany for four years and learned that in Europe you get butter with you bread for breakfast, but not if you have bread for lunch. Many Americans are upset then they don't get butter with bread at lunch or dinner.”

These Americans should come to The Netherlands! You’ll get butter with your bread any time of the day here!

“ Also, many European restaurants charge a small fee for the seat in the restaurant, don't see that in the USA.”

Again, feel free to come to the Netherlands. We are definitely in Europe, but in restaurants you won’t be charged for the privilege of sitting on a seat.

These Americans should come to The Netherlands! You’ll get butter with your bread any time of the day here!

met Hagelslag !!

Calling a main dish an entree is as weird as it gets. Entrée, as in entrance, entrance to a meal is a first course. Except in the US. No duh.

To avoid confusion in English, I simplify by using first course and main course. But entree, chardonnay a glass of cheap white wine and burgundy to mean jug red wine, sauternes meaning cheap heavily sweet white wine from the California Central Valley really need to go.

Calling a main dish an entree is as weird as it gets. Entrée, as in
entrance, entrance to a meal is a first course. Except in the US. No
duh.

100% with you! Weird and confusing.

I bristle and cringe when I see something like “ham and cheese panino” on a menu. We North Americans do not make a panino like any I’ve had in Italy and then we have the audacity to pluralize it. If I order something so-labeled I am snobbish and ask for the panino and am occasionally corrected by the server and told it is a “panini.”

With the exception of food, I can think of very little that Americans mimic well but I WISH there was a lot more that we’d adopt or at least mimic. That could be another whole thread and we’ve actually reminisced about thus sort of thing in the past though very little is adopted here.

Oh here is one for you, and let me tell you, it is dramatic:

With almost zero exception, Belgian style beers made in North America are not even close to how phenomenally good Belgian beers are.

There are dedicated Belgian style breweries in the US, and some of them make pretty good beers, but it's really hard to hit the mark when you're competing against 500 years of highly regionally specific perfection. Monkless in Bend, Oregon for instance, decent beers, but would be in the bottom 5-10% of Belgian breweries over there.

Unibroue in Canada probably does the best job overall on New World Belgians. But they are a big exception.

Now that I think about it, other beer styles too. I've never had a North American Kolsch that was remotely as good as Kolsch, nor a German style smoked beer, etc etc.

Hank, when it first came out, Fat Tire was a pretty decent, accurate Belgium-recipe ale made in Colorado. It was created by the founder of New Belgium Brewery, after he’d spent time cycling through Belgium, and was a standout at the beginning of the Craft Beer movement that’s become so big in America.

But to great fanfare, the recipe was changed this year, to accommodate today’s younger adults’ supposed beer style preferences. I guess that also goes with the current “hard seltzer” trend. Sad. Decidedly not European.

In a restaurant in Ohio, perusing the menu and under the drink section they had a listing "German Beer". What were they offering? Heineken.

In Whole Foods in Sacramento, they had a pile of large fruit with a sign that said "Exotic Fruit". Daughter and I both laughed, because they were just Pomelos. Pretty much available in any German grocery store.
Found the guy working in the produce section and I asked him what kind of fruit they were. He said they didn't know, but that they were delicious and wanted to cut one open for us. We told him what the name of the fruit was, so hopefully he changed the sign.

Fat Tire is pretty darned good, but not quite hitting the real Belgian style in most of their beers. Too much filtering for one. But good beer!

Ms. Jo how was the pomelo? They can grow citrus really well around Sacramento ....

Hank…

Great fruits and vegetables are grown in California’s Central Valley. It’s the agricultural heart of the state.

https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/

Claudia hi

Yes, It's amazing how much produce comes out of central California! My father in-law was the top non-elected official in Monterey County for 30 years. He'd come home once a week with a cornucopia of beautiful fruits and vegetables direct from all the farmers he worked with in the Salinas valley. Fantastic!

I grew up farther south, avocados and oranges everywhere. California has endless crops!

It's interesting citrus doesn't make the list - heck if a lot of it still ....

Fat Tire is pretty darned good, but not quite hitting the real Belgian style in most of their beers.

Right. New Belgium is pushing their popular Voodoo Ranger IPA’s … IPA = decidedly non-Belgian. But the employee-owned company continues to grow, selling what customers are buying. But the “Belgium” in New Belgium is less and less applicable.

Speaking of American beer, and some more potential mimicking that doesn’t match Europe, last month, pretty much every craft brewing company in the USA was offering their “Oktoberfest” brews … generally darker than the Wiesn that bier halls in Munich now pour in September.

Hank, Cyn.....I am wondering if you are aware of Ommegang Breweries?
They make some absolutely wonderful alternatives to the swill that is often served as Belgian style by other American breweries.
It is unlikely that you have experienced their limited release beers, but even so, even their standard offerings are better than many Belgian imports. There are sooo many beers in Belgium. They are not all great and like many American beers, some of them are pretty terrible.

Ommegang is pretty good Mack! For the price though, I will always grab a actual Belgian beer instead. So hard to compete w/ Bernardus et al.

Cyn you are so right about the American made Octoberfest beers. They're more like autumnal, ales and lagers, copper with a brown undertone, roasty, high malt and caramel character. Most of them are actually more like British beers than The beers most consumed at Octoberfests in Germany. It's weird, you're right.

Ms Jo,
I am surprised that the Whole Foods in Sacramento didn't know what a pomelo was. Here in SoCal I see them at just about every small grocery store and every supermarket. They are pretty common here. Perhaps it is our very diverse population that encourages the stores to stock all kinds of "exotic" produce. And yes, we are very lucky in California to have so many wonderful products grown in the nearby Central Valley, Imperial Valley and Salinas Valley, to name just some of our growing areas. I did not realize that a piomelo was common in Germany! Lucky them!

Infidelity. Americans can't do it discreetly.

Judy, this was a number of years ago. Maybe the guy in produce had no idea what they were and simply labeled them exotic fruits?

Ms Jo,
You are probably right!

These Americans should come to The Netherlands! You’ll get butter with
your bread any time of the day here!

I lived in the Netherlands in the 90ies, and one of my biggest annoyances was the Dutch habbit of calling things butter that weren't. I would ask for butter in a hotel, and get Becel. Which is horrible. If you wanted actual butter you had to ask for "echte boter" (real butter). Often they had to go and look for it in the kitchen for me.

It is unlikely that you have experienced their limited release beers,
but even so, even their standard offerings are better than many
Belgian imports. There are sooo many beers in Belgium. They are not
all great and like many American beers, some of them are pretty
terrible.

Belgians are smart. They keep the good stuff for themselves. My dad got the whole family (which is spread out all over the world) together last summer. In Westvleteren. He knows his offspring well :-)

Reading new replies as I eat a sliced pluot I got at the Sunday Hollywood farmers market. Will also be making guacamole tomorrow from the avocados bought there. Taking a bowl of it along with tortilla chips also obtained at the market to a Thanksgiving spread.

Gotta love California produce!

Look no further than the Washington Monument in DC. Its not an actual obelisk.

American "charcuterie boards" confuse me since they extend waaaay beyond the cold cuts that you'd expect on its French namesakes. I must admit that I prefer the variety of the American version. French cold cuts aren't always the best unless you source them carefully... there's too much industrial production.

I find American charcuterie boards rather disgusting, for the most part. In somewhat recent years, I've seen a number of such boards on YouTube videos in which the host, in order to decorate the board, would chase the spread all over the board creating swirly patterns or ribbon or ribbons. Ok, it may look nice if you don't eat the spread, but the spread is intended to be dipped and in these videos, they are! So when people start dipping the "chasing spread" all over the board, you'll end up with a mess of a board very soon. Disgusting! They do not think of putting the dip either in one pile on the board, or better yet into a container that you put on the board.

Don't tell me that the French do similar, do they?

5) Another thing that you need to learn in the local language is how to ask for the check. In most European restaurants they don't bring the check unless you ask. Also, many European restaurants charge a small fee for the seat in the restaurant, don't see that in the USA.

Is that so? How do they itemize that as? "Bum check"? LOL. Can one have a place at the table and just stand instead? :)

The original question was : "What do Americans mimic that is not European." I'd say we do almost nothing that isn't from a European Base.

What we mimic that isn't European, is a different question entirely.

Italian food, French food, Mexican food or any European food; these are mimics.

How ever what we do have is; Native, South American, Asian, and Afro- American influences.
And many others, too long to enumerate. It all doesn't matter, if you also order a Long Island Ice Tea.

In answer to Muriel S the so called charge for being seated is called the "cover charge".
It is a minimum amount on the bill, for service, before the cost of the food. Supposedly if there is a cover charge there shouldn't be tips as well. In practice places which impose a cover charge tend to try to "double dip" and ask for/expect tips as well.
The US equivalent is the table charge.
So no you can't avoid it by standing up!
But you can avoid it by just not patronising such places.