I'm going to use sausages as an example here because it's something we're all familiar with. Both the UK and the USA are familiar with hotdogs in a bun. But the famous American corn dog is virtually unheard of in the UK.
Similarly, deep-fried battered sausages are popular here but never really crossed the Atlantic. Both in theory should be popular in both countries but they're not.
As for toads in the hole, sausages cooked in a Yorkshire pudding, that again should appeal to Americans but it doesn't.
There are lots of other non-sausage examples, e. g. American grits never took off in the UK despite the British love of bland tasteless food.
Thoughts?
Why do some dishes cross over to other countries while others don't?
Haaaaaaaaaa, they look like dickenballs, I get it😂
Yeah, but for real, I’ve kind of wondered the same. I mean, most of our cuisine in the US is ultimately stolen from somewhere else, lmao. But I guess we have a few of our own things. You ever have some good “soul food” from the southern US? Good LAWD…. just outstanding. But be sure to only eat only lettuce the next day, it’s two days’ worth of calories.
Soul food is kind of a broad term, and tbh, I’ve seen better looking plates, but this was labeled, so here it is lmao
Kind of related is barbecue (BBQ), and there are different variations from different regions. But it mostly revolves around meat rubbed with spices and cooked “slow and low”, so it comes out super-tender. The sides are very much the same as soul food: macaroni & cheese, collard greens, yams, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, etc, and of course cornbread.
Those are the ones I feel like we should hang our hats on as Americans, and I guess Tex-Mex too, although that’s kind of a hybrid with Mexican food, so maybe not truly our own. But yeah, I don’t know if we inspired that stuff anywhere else abroad, I’ve never been out of the country. I hope so. It’s about time America does something nice for the world, we’ve been riding helping out with that Hitler thing for too long now😂
I love the picture of toads in the hole. So awesome.
Some of it has to commercialism. Like, companies not wanting to take the risk to try the new product or restaurants also not wanting to take the risk.
Some of it must be imprinting. Like, what you eat as a child and then you keep eating those things so there's never a desire to bring over that new food.
Still more must be that some things are so unique, that they stay regional.
But, in reality I don't have a complete and great answer for you.
@theplanet how GaG works. You ask questions. Some are off the wall. Some are crazy. Some (many) are trolls. Others are kooky but legit. @purplepoppy is a Master -- both her level on GaG and her smarts. Her question, while phrased to be humorous and having funny pictures, is actually a decent one. So, if you don't like the question, move on. Don't malign the asker, particularly not one like Poppy.
I will tell you something - I never follow recommended recipes by commercial websites cause I believe they are paid for by the government to promote regional foods that are locally planted so our farmers can earn more income. So if potatoes are common in the country, and carrots are common, they will combine the two in a dish. The food does not taste good and is not healthy, it is promoted as such in the recipe. So I would say dishes become popular if they use items commonly sold and harvested in that region. And also if they poise no known health hazards to people. Like nobody eats cinnamon in china cause people discovered decades ago that it causes cancer. Before the cancer crises, it was used in almost every Chinese dish since Chinese people did not know it was a health risk.
Interesting views but as a farmer I'd disagree. There's an old adage "what grows together, goes together" . Recipes may be put forward by organisations such as "the leek growers association" etc rather than government bodies and if truth be told the recipes are already well known for centuries.
Yeah, we love grits in the North Carolina, which was the first colony you people had. So, if you don't like it it's probably because you're jealous you lost your precious colonies.
You have no idea what you're missing. They are cornmeal, like polenta, so they absorb flavor and are great with butter or cheese. The starchiness and mild flavor cuts the proteins in the dish and leads to feelings of comfort and fullness. They are probably why we won the so-called "Civil War" and contribute 1/3 of America's GDP which means we basically own 1/3 of the world, so yeah everybody can suck it.
culture for one takes a big toll on cross overs and the second is how much influences a certain type of dish gain attraction in a certain country and become mainstream
