Vanderdeath posted:Ubiquitous? Maybe. Pricey as gently caress in some regions? You bet your rear end. Food deserts are a very real and very saddening thing and I've personally seen the mark-up on fresh foods in the inner city and impoverished areas of Kansas City and Atlanta. It's silly to think that there's some sort of uniformity in quality in the produce and meats that are provided in supermarkets across the country. You're much more likely to get shittier, more expensive items in the poorer areas of the United States and it's a terrible lot for many people. I've lived on both coasts of Florida, in the Midwest, Los Angeles, the deep South, and Las Vegas. I've lived in both urban and rural(ish) areas. I spent most of my life in significantly poor areas. I once stayed in a homeless shelter that they knocked down to build one of those inner-city grocery stores, which I then shopped in once I was off the streets. In none of those places have I ever seen a situation where I could not get quality produce for a reasonable price as long as I bought what was in season and/or on sale. When strawberries were expensive, I ate apples. When apples were expensive (or lovely), I bought whatever melon was cheap. Lettuce was cheap as gently caress all the time, as were carrots, cucumbers, and other healthful produce. I stated that fresh produce is ubiquitous in American grocery stores, which is true. I said availability varies by season and store, which is true. I was responding to one person who apparently thinks the United States has no fresh produce, and another who said (twice) that grocery store produce is universally poo poo, but, for some reason, you decided I was the person you needed to argue with for making blanket statements.
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Jan 16, 2015 10:49
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Detroit is really the only place I've been that I would describe as a food desert. The state of produce and food availability in most of that city is loving dire. Although my friend does live near a group of five or so families that all connected their yards to start a crazy urban farm and urban farming in general has just been blowing up in that city so it's not all bad. Supposedly some community group is trying to turn all the old abandoned city parks into community gardens as well but IDK how that is going.
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Jan 16, 2015 11:13
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Rapman the Cook posted:I used to see things on TV about Americans never having fresh fruit, knot knowing was certin vegetables were,never having eaten a real orange. And then Obama got made fun of for asking for Dijon mustard on something. My mother in law believed this stuff and that American supermarkets had no fresh produce at all, only boxes of cookies/cereal and frozen pizza. That Americans don't actually ever cook at home they always eat from McDonalds. I just laughed because all the supermarkets I was in in any trip to the US staying with friends (so NC, GA, TN) were like 100x nicer for fresh produce than the shrink wrapped poo poo that you find in supermarkets here in Holland. And cheaper. Euro programming likes to try to make us feel superior by just showing us junk like Man Vs Food as our entire idea of what the USA is like.
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Jan 16, 2015 11:14
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Centripetal Horse posted:I've lived on both coasts of Florida, in the Midwest, Los Angeles, the deep South, and Las Vegas. I've lived in both urban and rural(ish) areas. I spent most of my life in significantly poor areas. I once stayed in a homeless shelter that they knocked down to build one of those inner-city grocery stores, which I then shopped in once I was off the streets. In none of those places have I ever seen a situation where I could not get quality produce for a reasonable price as long as I bought what was in season and/or on sale. When strawberries were expensive, I ate apples. When apples were expensive (or lovely), I bought whatever melon was cheap. Lettuce was cheap as gently caress all the time, as were carrots, cucumbers, and other healthful produce. I apologize for coming off as terse and more argumentative than I meant to (I'm phone posting) but having grown up under similar circumstances, I understand where you're coming from. I've just ran into a fair amount of people who adamantly deny one of obesity's contribution factors being the lack of fresh food in the diet due to poorer families not being able to afford fruits and veg in bulk. Sorry for coming off like that.
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Jan 16, 2015 11:46
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Rapman the Cook posted:I used to see things on TV about Americans never having fresh fruit, knot knowing was certin vegetables were,never having eaten a real orange. And then Obama got made fun of for asking for Dijon mustard on something. I think the root cause of misunderstanding about "American food culture" is that there is no such thing. There is a lot of mature food culture in America, and there has been for a very long time, but it's regional and incredibly varied. So people look at the only food that's uniform across the country and call that "America's food." Which means restaurant chains and peanut butter. Spend two days in New Orleans and you'll have your mind blown by some of the finest cuisine on Earth. Then go to Santa Fe. Then San Diego. Then Chicago. All completely different, and all very sophisticated and high quality. Never ate an orange? I don't know one single person of any age that can say anything remotely like that. But we do eat a lot of meat, that part's true.
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Jan 16, 2015 15:28
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The United States is a very massive, very diverse country with certain kinds of food being much more easily found in one place than another. It's pretty funny that foreign perceptions of the USA are that we all just eat cheap rear end food and have an epidemic of never ever eating healthy food (well, there is an obesity epidemic but it doesn't apply to everyone obviously) when Britain is probably just as bad about that kind of stuff as the United States. edit: Texas is obviously known for its BBQ, Chicago you can find deep dish pizza all over the place, Michigan just loving loves pasties and fudge. There's a lot of specialties in different regions of the States too.
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Jan 16, 2015 15:59
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Lincoln posted:I think the root cause of misunderstanding about "American food culture" is that there is no such thing. There is a lot of mature food culture in America, and there has been for a very long time, but it's regional and incredibly varied. So people look at the only food that's uniform across the country and call that "America's food." Which means restaurant chains and peanut butter. Pretty much, the US is basically the same size as the entirety of Europe and our food culture is a giant melting pot (heh) of tons of cultures. Its how we get cool things like French/African hybrid cuisines in Louisiana, and weird Greek/Italian/Polish mixes in Chicago. Also we gave the world pecan pie so, you know, you're welcome.
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Jan 16, 2015 16:09
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How Rude posted:edit: Texas is obviously known for its BBQ, Chicago you can find deep dish pizza all over the place, Michigan just loving loves pasties and fudge. There's a lot of specialties in different regions of the States too. Enjoy this map of the most disproportionately popular cuisines in each state.
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Jan 16, 2015 16:25
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Shut up and post gross food. Mountain oysters. Better known as bull testicles. People in the midwest go crazy for them, almost every small town in Kansas has a bull ball festival at some point. Usually eaten fried. 
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Jan 16, 2015 16:42
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Nostradingus posted:Shut up and post gross food. Always wanted to try those.
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Jan 16, 2015 16:51
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This is from Gumby's around Texas A&M probably, it's not great because it's super dry but they're open till 3:30 AM so it's a good source of post-bar drunk food
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Jan 16, 2015 17:14
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Jerry Cotton posted:It was probably by Bill Bryson, he lies a lot and never checks any facts; hope this helps. (As a rule, any and all interesting stories about the origins of No, it was a more serious book that talked about the decline of American tastes. The author also mentioned the fact the metallic taste of pineapple-grapefruit juice due to the canning has become de rigeur and it has hard to find anyone who knew it without that taste.
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Jan 16, 2015 17:20
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Nostradingus posted:Shut up and post gross food. I first ate those in California. Pretty much straight off the ex-bull.
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Jan 16, 2015 17:27
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But why. Why testicles. Why do you want to eat them.
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Jan 16, 2015 18:07
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Boris Yeltsin famously had his mind blown after visiting a supermarket in Houston (not even a high end chain, just a Kroger I think) and seeing it's variety of fresh, cheap produce. So that's a weird myth that's cropped up. Edit: some people even say it helped contribute to the final collapse of the USSR. Edit 2: Found the article, it was a Randall's (Safeway/Tom Thumb in other areas of the country) - http://blog.chron.com/thetexican/2014/04/when-boris-yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-clear-lake/#22200101=2 Yngwie Mangosteen has a new favorite as of 18:43 on Jan 16, 2015 |
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Jan 16, 2015 18:39
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Toriori posted:But why. Why testicles. Why do you want to eat them. Eat the balls, gain its strength
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Jan 16, 2015 18:44
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Samizdata posted:Funny story about A1. It was originally marketed in cans as a ketchup alternative. Then they switched to bottles and people started complaining it didn't taste right. So A1 had to reformulate their recipe to add the metallic tang left from the can days. Ketchup probably comes from kecap, Indonesian soy sauce. Kecap inngris is worcester sauce. This is why the bottle in your fridge probably says "Tomato Ketchup" to indicate that it isn't fermented fish sauce. 
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Jan 16, 2015 19:01
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It's also so you don't accidentally buy the banana ketchup
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Jan 16, 2015 19:04
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Waterslide Industry Lobbyist posted:Ketchup probably comes from kecap, Indonesian soy sauce. Kecap inngris is worcester sauce. This is why the bottle in your fridge probably says "Tomato Ketchup" to indicate that it isn't fermented fish sauce. This stuff is delicious, fyi. Put it on some fried eggs over rice and that's a solid comfort food meal. Don't eat it if you're diabetic though because it is sweet as hell.
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Jan 16, 2015 19:04
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GrandpaPants posted:This stuff is delicious, fyi. Put it on some fried eggs over rice and that's a solid comfort food meal. Don't eat it if you're diabetic though because it is sweet as hell. Yeah it absolutely doesn't belong in this thread but someone was wrong on the internet.
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Jan 16, 2015 19:16
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theironjef posted:It's also so you don't accidentally buy the banana ketchup
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Jan 16, 2015 19:55
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Hirayuki posted:Even different regions of each state! Pasties and fudge are really only big in northern Michigan. Down here it's all about Coneys and "Mediterranean" cuisine (read: Middle Eastern). oh wow really? Half my family all live in the Saginaw/Bay City area and we never go down to the southern border or Detroit that often so that may be it. Though you do see a lot of coney places as well as pasties in Bay City. edit: for content one of the coney places we tried had the soggiest, greasiest onion rings. there was absolutely no crisp or texture to them at all. how can you be so cheap and not replace the oil? it's obvious they didn't even try to fully cook the fries either, and the coney dogs were cold. How Rude has a new favorite as of 20:04 on Jan 16, 2015 |
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Jan 16, 2015 20:00
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Yuriy posted:This is from Gumby's around Texas A&M probably, it's not great because it's super dry but they're open till 3:30 AM so it's a good source of post-bar drunk food We have a Gumby's here by the University of Florida. I saw the "stoner pie" and immediately assumed the picture was from there. I had no idea Gumby's was a chain. Although, attached to our Gumby's, we have a "Court of Heroes" which is a bar that's open 365 days a year, from 11am-2am. Cheap and amazing. Perfect locale too. Get wasted and then walk across the room and get stupid-good drunk food.
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Jan 16, 2015 20:37
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Vanderdeath posted:I apologize for coming off as terse and more argumentative than I meant to (I'm phone posting) but having grown up under similar circumstances, I understand where you're coming from. I've just ran into a fair amount of people who adamantly deny one of obesity's contribution factors being the lack of fresh food in the diet due to poorer families not being able to afford fruits and veg in bulk. Sorry for coming off like that. It's cool. I grew up poor as poo poo, and I know what it's like to shop purely by dollars instead of by what you want or need. I just wanted to rebut the idea that there's no fruit to be had, or that it's all terrible if you don't get it directly from the dirt where it's grown. I do think other factors, such as the fact that working 72 hours per week eats into your "cooking from scratch" time, contribute as much as price and availability. Are you aware of any resources that actually cover this topic? I'd love to have actual facts on hand when some idiot starts yammering about poors getting fat on his tax dollars, but I never seem to find authoritative sources. Edit: nucleicmaxid posted:Boris Yeltsin famously had his mind blown after visiting a supermarket in Houston (not even a high end chain, just a Kroger I think) and seeing it's variety of fresh, cheap produce. So that's a weird myth that's cropped up. When Viktor Belenko defected from the USSR and ended up in the United States of America, he was convinced that grocery stores were a western plot to manipulate him, and to discredit the Soviet Union. This is a funny, but poignant, quote on the matter: Lieutenant Viktor Belenko posted:"But later, when I discovered supermarket was real one, I had real fun exploring new products. I would buy, everyday, a new thing and try to figure out its function. In Russia at that time (and even today) it's hard to find canned food, good one. But everyday I would buy new cans with different food. Once I bought a can which said "dinner." I cooked it with potatoes, onions, and garlic-it was delicious. Next morning my friends ask me, "Viktor, did you buy a cat?" It was a can of chicken-based cat food. But it was delicious! It was better than canned food for people in Russia today." Centripetal Horse has a new favorite as of 20:48 on Jan 16, 2015 |
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Jan 16, 2015 20:40
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EZipperelli posted:We have a Gumby's here by the University of Florida. I saw the "stoner pie" and immediately assumed the picture was from there. I had no idea Gumby's was a chain. Yea, it took me a long time to realize it was a chain cuz I could have sworn we had one in Chapel Hill/UNC back in the day, then I went like 15 years without seeing one again till moving to Texas. The pepperoni roll deal on wednesdays is hella good too
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Jan 16, 2015 22:05
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Gumby's is a chain in college towns, so you won't see them outside of places like Gainesville, Chapel Hill, etc. There was one in Athens back in the day that was open until like 4am and we would eat the motherfucking poo poo out of pokey sticks after getting home from downtown after bar close.
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Jan 16, 2015 23:42
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Skinny King Pimp posted:Gumby's is a chain in college towns, so you won't see them outside of places like Gainesville, Chapel Hill, etc. There was one in Athens back in the day that was open until like 4am and we would eat the motherfucking poo poo out of pokey sticks after getting home from downtown after bar close. For those of us without one, what in the blistering green gently caress is a pokey stick? (So I know whether to mock it or not.)
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Jan 16, 2015 23:55
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Samizdata posted:For those of us without one, what in the blistering green gently caress is a pokey stick? (So I know whether to mock it or not.) It's just Gumby's version of cheese sticks/cheesy bread. (Pokey is Gumby's sidekick)
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Jan 17, 2015 00:10
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Is that an actual licensed use of the characters? Their site sure doesn't make a big deal of it if it is. E: "COUPONS MAY EXPIRE AT ANY MOMENT"
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Jan 17, 2015 00:12
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Samizdata posted:For those of us without one, what in the blistering green gently caress is a pokey stick? (So I know whether to mock it or not.) http://bit.ly/17R9VQM
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Jan 17, 2015 00:12
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Samizdata posted:For those of us without one, what in the blistering green gently caress is a pokey stick? (So I know whether to mock it or not.) http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pokey+sticks E: nucleicmaxid  Indolent Bastard
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Jan 17, 2015 00:14
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Waterslide Industry Lobbyist posted:Ketchup probably comes from kecap, Indonesian soy sauce. Kecap inngris is worcester sauce. This is why the bottle in your fridge probably says "Tomato Ketchup" to indicate that it isn't fermented fish sauce. That might be where the word comes form, but 'catsup' was a general term for sauces in 18th century USA. At the time, the most popular alternatives to tomato ketchup were either mushroom or walnut ketchup. It's not like fermented fish sauce was a new idea from China, either, the ancient Romans famously loved their garum, and it was also in the 18th century that Lee and Perrin's began selling their brand of fermented anchovy sauce, but the general idea of anchovy sauce was around in 17th century England..
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Jan 17, 2015 00:25
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Waterslide Industry Lobbyist posted:Ketchup probably comes from kecap, Indonesian soy sauce. Kecap inngris is worcester sauce. This is why the bottle in your fridge probably says "Tomato Ketchup" to indicate that it isn't fermented fish sauce. Using kecap as the etymological origin of the word ketchup is generally accepted but mostly circumstantial. At any rate ketchup didn't really enter the English lexicon until it had already bounced around the Commonwealth and come to refer to particularly British preserved (rather than fermented, as in Indonesia) fish products. Sauces like Worcestershire developed at this time, and kecap Inngris is the Indonesian term for the later, British, variation of the native sauces (the name literally means something like `English sauce'). That is, the Indonesians got kecap Inngris from the British, not the other way around. By the late 1800's when Heinz started pushing tomato ketchup, ketchup generically referred to preserved purée condiment sauces. Without qualification most people would have assumed ketchup to be mushroom ketchup, or perhaps walnut. Tomato ketchup was considered a faintly rustic variation that was exclusively made in the home. Tomatoes in general were just, in the Nineteenth Century, becoming commonly used in cuisine, having been considered by most cultures as poisonous before. So: kecap is the probable etymological basis for the word ketchup, but ketchup (in English) never really referred to the same condiment sauces as kecap, and present-day ketchups have little in common with the first sauces called ketchup in English except the name.
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Jan 17, 2015 00:35
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Indolent Bastard posted:E: nucleicmaxid 2007 solidarity. Kecap ikan is the most delicious stuff in the loving world when used properly.
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Jan 17, 2015 00:39
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As far as the actual product goes, in the few years before the market was dominated by Heinz, ketchup was a puree made from vegetables that were going bad and needed a use before they would be thrown away. Adding a bunch of salt and vinegar made it keep a bit longer but as a sauce in America, it had a very very broad definition. The only reason Heinz was able to succeed the way it did was they had a massive infrastructure in place from their pickle production and were able to standardize the process and flavor. Also salsa is a billion times better than ketchup. *so basically what SubG said except you've gotta take my word on it because I don't provide dates or anything
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Jan 17, 2015 00:45
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curry ketchup is good though
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Jan 17, 2015 01:06
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Code Jockey posted:curry ketchup is good though Currywurst is Germany's best cultural export.
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Jan 17, 2015 01:08
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Indolent Bastard posted:http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pokey+sticks Just sayin' there, chaps/chapettes, if we are talking about (bad) food, it's not unreasonable to expect someone to tell you what a regional dish is, ya smug bastiches!
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Jan 17, 2015 10:23
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I ate a mayonnaise sandwich last week. Best description would be like marmite on toast except mayonnaise spread thin on white bread. I didn't have any meat, so sue me.
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Jan 17, 2015 11:12
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Banana sauce is so good. It's this stuff I buy from Superstore and it's red and vaguely ketchupey but good god is it tasty. In terms of food porn, a colleague was telling me yesterday about eating moose nose, and how it the texture is probably just like you'd imagine it is (slimy). A lot of older people from the aboriginal communities eat just about everything from the animal. She also mentioned her granny cooking and eating rabbit guts, eyes, etc.
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Jan 17, 2015 14:24
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