The quintessential American food is hard to pinpoint. We are, after all, a melting-pot of cultures, and the food we love to eat reflects that. Hot dogs are just crappy sausages, and sausage was originally imported from Europe. Pizza, while addictive, is far from being an American original. Even apple pie, the benchmark of Americanness, was actually brought over from England in the 1600s.
If anyone can tell us what’s stereotypically American, then, it would be an observer from an outside culture. Think about it: for those of us unacquainted with the intricacies of French cuisine, we’d say French food consists of baguettes, croissants, and stinky cheese, right? What better way is there to boil our vast food culture down then to look to foreigners whose impression of us is formed through the media we put out?
As it happens, Reddit user thecoolestguyonearth recently asked the question: “Non-Americans, what would you consider ‘American Food’?” 8,293 comments later, and the answers are…actually sort of surprising. Root Beer, sloppy joes, and sewer pizza?
Read on for some of the best the thread had to offer:
Buffalo Wings (when they’re made correctly). Fried, then sauced.
Corn Dogs that start revolutions. This guy might be hyperbolic, but those things are delicious.
Or just fair food in general. A funnel cakes wrapped around a corn dog and DEEP FRIED.
Anything from Man Vs. Food. It does make a good excuse to eat too much when you’re traveling.
Meatloaf, but only if it’s made by a grandmother. We’ll need to develop some sort of rent-a-granny system to make this dish easy for travelers to get their hands on.
Pepperoni, preferably when used to bridge language barriers. IN AMERICA IT HAS PEPPERONI!
Root beer with CUSTARD. This is weird. We need to vet this.
Sewer pizza. We all know about pizza rat. Sewer pizza is real.
Sloppy Joes. Definitely under-appreciated in the U.S. food landscape.
Pop Tarts from the local American supermarket. Pop Tarts should be global. Who could possibly hate a pop tart?
What do you think? What did they leave out? Or are we really a nation defined by our cheap meat and deep-fried confections? Let us know in the comments!
