When you’re talking about food, nobody is concerned what anybody else has to say, particularly if it’s foreign foods. I mean, hello, it’s simple not to be picky about what you put in your mouth, particularly if you’re comparing American food with foreign food, where the ingredients and spices can be so completely different. When you talk about how foreigners perceive American food, let’s just say the answers are. illuminating.
We recently stumbled upon a fascinating Reddit thread where non-Americans were asked to share the U.S. foods they thought were the “nastiest.” The responses were hilarious, sometimes humiliating, and often downright surprising. We’ve rounded up some of the most vocal opinions to offer a glimpse into how certain American staples are perceived globally. This is all about discovering cultural differences, not to be judgmental, so let’s start and see what American food has the world rotating in circles.
1. Twizzlers
Starting off our list are Twizzlers. The quintessential American licorice candy is met with a visceral reaction overseas. Chewy texture and fake flavor are a affront to those who prefer more natural, less intense varieties of licorice. Foreigners simply can’t stand it. Americans love the distinctive chewiness, but the rest of the world just can’t seem to get it through their heads (or mouths).
2. Canned Foods
American packaged foods are among the greatest causes of misunderstanding. From soups to meat, these foods tend to be found strange because of their preservatives and changed flavor from fresh foods. Picture a complete chicken or even pig brains in tin cans. To people accustomed to fresh, non-packaged food, even entire canned chickens or potatoes can be highly abhorrent.
3. Candy Corn
Ah, Candy Corn. A classic Halloween treat that even Americans can’t agree on, much less foreign nationals. Famous for its waxy flavor and cloyingly sweet taste (which doesn’t even resemble corn, by the way), it’s a candy puzzling to foreign visitors. To them, one of those “you had to be there” foods in which heritage prevails over taste.
4. Blooming Onion
And don’t forget the legendary Blooming Onion. This fried madness consists of a whole onion sliced into the shape of a flower, battered, and fried golden brown and crispy. It’s popular in the States, but for the unsuspecting international traveler, it’s greasy, overwhelming overkill. It’s too much for everyone but a handful, and one Aussie Redditor joked, “What does a ‘Bloomin’ Onion’ have to do with anything let alone Outback Steakhouse?”
5. Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole is a Thanksgiving tradition loved by Americans but baffling to foreigners. Brown sugar and marshmallows on top, it exists in a gray area between vegetable side dish and dessert. To others, sweet/savory mystery is unsettling. Redditor wrote, “Marshmallows on sweet potatoes is so gross and foreign to me.”
6. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
The traditional PB&J is a staple meal for every American, but it perplexes international travelers. The thick, gooey consistency of the peanut butter and sweet jelly placed between two slices of soft white bread is too overpowering for foreign palates. Some Japanese tourists even inquired, “You eat this every day?” The majority think the sweetness and saltiness are too much.
7. Root Beer
Root Beer is a popular US soft drink with a large cult following, but it’s a great enigma to most foreigners. With its medicinal taste, much like cough medicine, it’s difficult for outsiders to grasp why people love it. Root Beer is still an acquired taste that the rest of the world hasn’t yet acquired.
8. Chicken Fried Steak
Chicken Fried Steak is a Southern favorite that baffles foreigners. It is not related to chicken, although the name suggests it. It’s really a piece of beef that has been tenderized, breaded, fried, and smothered in rich country gravy. Frying beef like chicken and covering it in gravy can be ridiculously rich and greasy to international diners. It’s a dish that shows an exorbitance unique to America.
9. Spray Cheese
Spray cheese, aerosol-can-dispensed processed cheese, sends shivers down the spines of cheese traditionalists worldwide. To many from countries where cheese is a cherished tradition, simply the idea of cheese in a can sends the heebie-jeebies. Redditor nailed it: “Spray… cheese??”. The artificial taste and strange delivery system make it an all-American novelty.
10. Donuts
American donuts with their unlimited varieties, sugar glazes, and gourmet toppings are a hit in America. But they’re too rich for some. Based on less refined pastries elsewhere in the world, the sweetness level and portion sizes are overwhelming. Donuts are a breakfast staple here, but elsewhere in the world they’re an over-the-top sugar bomb.
11. Ambrosia Salad
Ambrosia Salad is a popular American potluck offering that completely baffles foreigners. A sweet, brightly colored mixture of canned fruit, marshmallows, shredded coconut, and occasionally sour cream or whipped cream, it’s an odd combination of textures and flavors. Even referring to the sweet, dessert-like mixture as a “salad” is only more confusing. One Japanese visitor described it as resembling “food which can be seen at a science museum.”
12. Grits
Grits are a southern traditional breakfast made of ground corn, usually eaten with butter, salt, or cheese. Grits’ mushy consistency and plain taste will be difficult for foreigners to tolerate. Foreign tourists hate them unless they put loads of seasoning on them, and the porridge-like texture doesn’t go with their idea of breakfast.
13. Twinkies
Twinkies, the golden sponge cakes packed with cream, are all-American, but they give pause elsewhere. The fact that Twinkies are shelf-stable is a gigantic question mark overseas, and the long list of preservatives and artificial ingredients is overwhelming. Although popular domestically, Twinkies are mysterious overseas.
14. Ranch Dressing
Ranch Dressing is the go-to condiment of Americans, who top their salads, pizza, fries, and even chicken wings with it. But foreigners just don’t get its rich, tangy, herbaceous taste. According to a story, an Italian was appalled to be served ranch as a pasta topping, deeming it “a crime against my culture.” For some foreign tongues, the richness of buttermilk, garlic, and herbs is too much, leaving them perplexed by its appeal.
