Americans Eating Abroad

[Orchid64]

In multiple threads, I've read folks saying that Americans who travel are reluctant to eat local cuisine and tend to patronize fast food chains or demand that American-style cuisine be served. This is a myth I'd like to dispel.

There was a survey by Expedia that polled hoteliers worldwide and the habits of various tourists. The survey found that Americans are the most likely among a great many nationalities to sample local cuisine and have an interest in other cultures. They are also the most likely to try and learn phrases in the native language. Chinese, Indians and Japanese are the least likely to sample local cuisine. Though some Americans may be unadventurous when it comes to food, they are the most adventurous on the whole.

The survey is discussed here: http://www.divinecaroline.com/article...

So, let's try to lay to rest all these notions that Americans are disinterested in other cultures and cuisines when they eat abroad.

[Sooeygun]

I worked as a chef at a resort in Banff, Alberta...yes, I know, not very different culturally. However, working out on the buffets, I noticed that the Americans tended to be the most reluctant to try anything 'different'. The people most open to trying everything were Japanese. They would try anything that I was serving. Not a scientific survey, just my observation.

[hannaone]

I had the same experience in my former restaurant. The Japanese students would order anything and everything on the menu.

[applehome]

Sure, why not? The countries are only separated by about 150 miles of water...

Seriously, though, my mother had stories of treatment of Koreans and other Asians in Japan pre-wwII - pretty bad - 2nd class doesn't begin to describe it. There was a lot of food prejudice - Japanese just wouldn't eat Korean food, even Kimchee was considered a poor man's food.

That has most certainly changed. Yokohama - the original Tokyo bay foreigner's city was considered a ghetto pre-war, but became a hot spot for good food - Chinese, Korean and otherwise. Maybe as a backlash to the bad treatment, especially in country, the post wwII generations have accepted and even integrated Korean and other foods. Maybe its just the conquered, conquering the conquerers - Japanese soldiers getting a taste for kimchee and bringing their acceptance of it back home.

[moh]

Kimchi is taking over the world. You heard it here first.

[Silverjay]

With Japanese, there is a major generational demarcation. Older Japanese (the majority of the population at this point) are very conservative in their dining preferences. And the older they get, the more conservative they become as Japanese basically consider all non-Japanese cuisine to be unhealthy. Planning a trip to the U.S. for my Japanese in-laws, who are in their 50s-60s, was a culinary-logistical pain in the arse. One night, I had no choice, and had to take them to a Mexican restaurant. We actually snuck a jug of shochu into the place with us! And believe me, I needed a belt or two to muster the Japanese language abilities to explain what the hell a burrito and guacamole are. They still talk about that night as if they are referring to some kind of major life threatening accident they suffered from.

The younger lot though, are much more open to foreign cuisines. Friends our age who were along that night loved it.

[hannaone]

I saw some of that when the parents would come in from Japan for their children's graduation. The elders would eat the more "Japanese like" dishes - Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Miso), Oodong (Udon) etc.
It was funny watching the younger gen urging their elders to try different things.

[thenurse]

Ha. I just spent two weeks in Italy and will never forget the group of 60-something Americans sitting next to us in Florence. One of them quite loudly stated her distaste for 'weird' pastas and asked the server if they had any 'plain penny' (penne) with tomato sauce. Most of the rest of the table followed her order and also got the 'penny'. It was a proud Canadian moment. Too bad they missed out on some great food.

[Kagey]

Because we "first world" people have more opportunity to travel, particularly for leisure, than people in the developing world, it stands to reason that we'd be more open to new foods. Plus, the variety of "ethnic" cuisines in America is so pervasive that Japanese or Indian or Greek food (regardless of how "authentic" it is) doesn't seem weird to most of us. Most Americans I know are happy to try new things. But that's just the people I know, so I can't say it's a representative sample! Meanwhile, I know Italians who wouldn't touch Indian food, Arabs who wouldn't go near sushi, and Brits who will only eat a fry-up for breakfast in Spain!

[applehome]

The article wasn't exactly comparing us to Haitians or Central Africans - it was all first world, even as the Indian and Chinese people who travel would certainly live in the style and places that would present them with great variety.

But there is a fundamental problem with the basic definition of ethnic foods here, and your dismissal of authentic (as a factor) is a big part of it. You can eat as much of what most Americans think of as Mexican, Italian, Sushi, certainly Chinese and even Indian and Greek food here, and still be very surprised with what you are presented in the respective countries of origin of these foods. If you're not open minded enough to eat tripe or tongue or other offal here, what do you do when given these things in Mexico, Italy or China? Go find a Taco Bell or McD's?

Anecdotally, I've worked with many Brits and found very few food xenophobes. We've gone out to eat in all kinds of strange places, from Korean to Romanian (brains and sweetbreads) and have never lost one. They, in turn, are very surprised that I, an American, am as interested in everything from blood sausage to some really funky meat pies, because nearly every American they know won't touch the stuff.

In fact, the entire premise of surveying hoteliers is suspect. What are we looking at, room service orders? How would you even begin to gather data regarding the people who would go to open air markets or eat off street carts or shacks or hole-in-the walls?

I think that adventurous eating is done by a minority wherever you go and wherever you are from. Americans, as a whole, are neither especially good at it nor particularly deficient. Most tourists do not travel to eat, but to see. Those that travel to eat (often called chowhounds) do so at home as well as when they are abroad.

[Kagey]

Hi. I didn't actually read the article, was just commenting on the OP's point about American so-called disinterest in other cultures and cuisines.

I know you and I disagree about authenticity, and I don't intend to resurrect that here. It just seems to me that exposure to a variety of cuisines can increase a person's level of comfort about trying new things. Yes, an American who's only eaten at Taco Bell will be surprised, and possibly disappointed, by the food in Oaxaca (don't know if you ever saw the hilarious scene in The Sopranos where they go to Italy and Paulie demands "gravy"). But feeling like he has some familiarity with Mexican food may have helped embolden that person to try real Mexican food in the first place. Even where the American versions are not the real thing, they can provide a gateway, maybe a step closer, so that trying the real thing doesn't seem like such a huge leap.

You're right that people who wouldn't try offal at home probably wouldn't try it abroad. But is willingness to eat offal the only indicator of adventurousness, or the only way to know authenticity? I'd say no, and add that my vegetarian friends are some of the most open-minded eaters I know.

Having lived in England for five years, I've certainly seen the whole spectrum of adventurousness among Brits. But it seems like a very large proportion of the Brits I know are shockingly unadventurous, as in, won't eat anything with garlic in it, or would just rather eat white fried food every night. Again, it's anecdotal and not really representative of anything.

And I also agree with you about surveying hoteliers. Perhaps not the best way to get a representative sample! And yes, chowhounds like me would do well to remember that not everyone travels to eat.

[kat_dew]

Back in '82 as a 15 year old exchange student I went to South Africa and spent 3 months there. I loved trying all the different foods but near the end I did go to their local McDonald's and I just remember the hamburger tasting weird.

Now days I travel quite a bit and strive to find local food. But like Hillfood said it was fun and kooky to eat Chinese food in Seoul. Most of my friends are the same way.. you have to try the local joints that is part of the adventure of traveling.

[TampaAurora]

On my trip to Israel in college, we loved eating at the local places but we had to try Kosher McD's and had to have Chinese on Christmas Day! As much as we loved the local foods (really a mix of Middle Eastern cuisines, there are maybe 5 foods that are Israeli), we also wanted to see what fast food would be like overseas. Then again, there was the one girl in our group who would not try anything new and only wanted "American food". She lost a lot of weight on that trip.

[polish_girl]

A fresh report from my teenage daughter (visiting Mexico City as we speak with her choir group)- "Mom, the food is fabulous. Everybody loves it ! Do you know they don't eat burritos here? " She went on and on for quite a while. I know she will try just about anything, but didn't expect 30 other California teenagers to do the same. Quite a good feeling. There is hope!

[hill food]

personally I dive into the local, but after a while crave a diversion. I don't eat the same cuisine everyday at home, why should I abroad if there's a choice?

plus the idea of sushi in Rome is sort of perverse and thrilling.

[relativeways1]

Nice interesting article!

I think it should also be noted though, that tourists (anywhere, not just America), may visit another country for its sites and not its food. Especially in Asian countries, where spicier food may be more of a norm, I don't think you should expect someone with a lighter palate to have to go to the extreme and endure spicy food when it doesn't make them happy.

Another thing is, when comparing Americans to other tourists, is that I think, especially with Asians - they are more open to "weirder" food and perhaps have a more diverse option at home of waht they can eat. Whereas an American who may be from suburban usa may not have been opened to as many diverse options.

Also i think the age thing does come into an account, especially with peer pressure. If you were an adventurous teenager traveling in a big group, you wouldn't want to be made fun of for liking something out of the ordinary and or eat alone in a foreign country, thus I think a lot of kids probably just go with the flow.

[hannaone]

It's a mixed bag. The "adventurous Americans" are very adventurous, and willing to try almost anything, though in my experience they are out numbered by the "familiar only" crowd.
In my military days stationed in Korea, a small group of us would consistently seek out and try Korean meals from street vendors, market stalls, noodle bars, and restaurants that did not cater to tourists. Some of us often ate in the Korean military dining hall rather than our own (Many strange concoctions there by the way).
The larger group were content to eat in the American dining hall or various enlisted and officers clubs, or the "tourist" restaurants in Seoul and Pusan, where they could get familiar offerings or "dumbed down" Korean dishes.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Did you see that Bourdain episode in Korea? He took to dinner two GIs who had been stationed there for a couple of years. First time either (a male and a female) tried kim chee. Very sad!

[hannaone]

No, I didn't see that, but I'm not surprised.

[coney with everything]

Me either. My dad was career Air Force and we were stationed in Germany. It amazed me how many airmen bitched about not being in the States and never left the base. My God, you could go to Paris on a bus for $10.

[roxlet]

I spent a month in Egypt last summer, two weeks of which were with a group of American teens. All they wanted to do was to eat at Chillis, MacDonald's and Pizza Hut. When they were in a local joint that served pasta, they ordered it without sauce. Some Americans (like my son and I) want to try everything local, but my observation is that many younger people (and these were affluent kids from very good schools) are rarely willing to try unfamiliar foods.

[queencru]

As much as I can see where you're coming from, having recently gotten fairly ill in Egypt along with everyone else in my travel party and many other people I saw and talked to on the plane, I can see trying to stick to "safe" foods. I am sure the kids had probably been warned extensively about dangerous foods and figured that fast food was the way to go to avoid it.

[roxlet]

My son and I were there for a month and never got sick. We didn't participate in the American restaurant scene with everyone else, either. Sorry it happened to you, but for them it was more about being reluctant to try new things rather than being afraid that they might get ill from eating the wrong thing.

[lgphil]

I don't think the article meant to say that americans were good at trying new things, just better than some others.

I' also not sure age really plays a part in it at all. Some people like to try new foods, and others don't. If you disagree, try serving my 90 year old grand-mother-in-law anything she hasn't eaten for at least 50 years. I promise I will help reattach your head after she hands it to you:)

[lisa13]

yeah, but it is entirely possible (likely?) that these kids want to eat nothing but Chilis, McD's, and pizza hut at home too. Some people just dig eating junk - especially at that age.

[Jeanne]

Teens are notoriously picky about what they eat - especially teenage males. I think most are referring to adults here.

[iluvtennis]

Hey...very interesting. Thanks for the post!