Let me say first of all that I'm by no means an expert on either America or American food. I've been to New York and to the Hamptons, and...well that's it, I'm afraid. Hardly in-depth research material to base any sort of claim on. Food as I remember it,was excellent, either the home-grown, often steak-based meals, or ethnic food we sampled. So why am I writing about it then?
Well, my impression of American food has changed somewhat since I look at Pinterest. And if their "Food & Drink" board is an ordinary cross-section of American food, then American food is extraordinary indeed. I'm not even querying the health credentials of "Cheerio snack", a simple after-school treat jammed with sugar, syrup and peanut butter which must contain about 5,000kcl and will do wonders for the national obesity graph.
Just looking at that Pinterest board say twice a day (and taking in the comments underneath the photos as well) makes you realise that a combinaton of starch-bacon-cheese is a recurring winner. (I knew there was Philly Steak, but I had not known about the vast appetite (judging from the pins) for "cheesy pasta with 3 types of bacon, sprinkled with parm to make it loook like it's been snowed on" - nice touch the latter! And "parm"?
But the really baflling stuff - and also the most frequent - is something like this- decorated food:
Do Americans really love food like this as much as Pinterest suggests? Do whole armies of American "moms" really spend their precious free time shaping bizarre food pictures out of cupboard staples? Do they really make little banana bunnies, strawberry faces, shape spinach into Harry Potter faces etc etc.? Call me ignorant - but I didn't even know such food existed. Let alone would I like to eat it. And what on earth do you say when you're face to face with such elaborate concoctions, and they give you a friendly twinkle from underneath their eggy hats?
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