American food used globally--

[sueatmo]

I roasted a cauliflower tonight with butter and sweet curry powder. I was wondering how an East Asian cook might feel about using curry powder for roasting a vegetable. Would she think it totally weird? And then I wondered about how people from other cultures might use American ingredients. Would they use them in a way I would think was totally weird? So, I thought I'd ask here. Do you know of ways American ingredients, such as chocolate chips, pecans, sweet corn, popcorn, pumpkin, cream cheese, chili powder, or any other American food is used elsewhere that is a surprise?

And now I will tell you that I saw one episode of Nigella Lawson's that featured chili! I was so surprised. But what really raised my eyebrows, was how she seasoned it--she used dried red chilies. No chili powder. I have to admit I thought that strange.

How about you?

[almond tree]

Here in Israel many cooks add large chunks of pumpkin to chicken soup. (I don't care for it myself - like the 2 flavors, but not together.) Sweet corn is a popular pizza topping.
Speaking of chili powder, it's not commonly used here. I hunt for bottles of McCormick's in specialty stores. I don't recall ever seeing curry powder in 20 years living in this country, although turmeric is extremely popular.
Almost forgot -- popcorn is sold pre-popped and pre-salted in large bags, at pitzuchiot (kiosks with a variety of nuts & seeds for snacking), and eaten cold.

[DougRisk]

"Speaking of chili powder, it's not commonly used here."

What about spicy food in general. I figured, with your climate, spicy food would be pretty popular.

[ferret]

While chili powder may not be common in Israel, you can find a lot of hot-pepper-based sauces and condiments (common throughout the Middle East) like schug, harissa and others.

[almond tree]

Yes, ferret is right. I think American chili powder may not be hot enough for Middle Eastern tastes!

[KaimukiMan]

spam musubi - of course it is hawaiian, not true japanese, but not something you expect to find in Minnesota where spam was invented.

[KaimukiMan]

picture of spam musubi

[luckyfatima]

Corn on pizza and french fries on hamburgers are two things I have seen in the Middle East and South Asia. Also in South Asia, putting ketchup on pizza and spaghetti as a condiment.

[Cachetes]

That's the one that came to mind for me - ketchup on pizza, in Mexico.

[pine time]

Yup, ketchup on pizza in India, too.

[sunshine842]

corn goes on salads and pizza in many parts of Europe, too -- never eaten as a vegetable unto itself.

[butzy]

sweet corn on the cob is eaten by itself...... Sometimes with a meal, sometimes on the bbq.
But I agree it's more common to buy sweetcorn canned and then mix in salads etc

[sunshine842]

not in France -- what little sweet corn you can find in the shops (and many markets) is dried out and old, because nobody eats it (and I won't buy it either, because it's old and starchy and gross)...I did find some excellent corn on the cob this summer at the local u-pick, and the guy was all excited because I was neither Asian nor African, his usual market for corn on the cob.

In France, corn is "for the pigs" and isn't eaten by itself.

[sandylc]

The thing is, corn is a grain, not a vegetable. People insist on considering it a vegetable in the US. This is a dietary mistake - it is a starchy grain. My mother still insists that corn is a vegetable, and when menu planning I will ask her what vegetables she is considering, and she will say "corn".

My family LOVES our meat, but we will frequently have several vegetable dishes as our meal. Being from the south, Mom still thinks, "meat and starch"!

It sounds like the French see corn as a starch, which would be correct.

[sunshine842]

No, the French see corn as animal feed. Period.

When it's used for human consumption, it's only as a garnish.

[sandylc]

You got me! I should have said that the French see corn as a grain - (and evidently a not-for-people grain!) I wonder what French foods Americans see as animal feed? There must be some?...

[sueatmo]

I just want to point out that some veggies are quite starchy, for instance winter squashes and potatoes.

[sandylc]

That's true, veggies have carbs and can be very starchy. Corn is still a grain, though.

[sunshine842]

and tomatoes are fruit.

But they're eaten as a vegetable.

[sandylc]

Aren't there others like that? Isn't a cucumber a fruit? You have me curious now...I found this interesting link:

http://oklahoma4h.okstate.edu/aitc/le...

[DougRisk]

SueAtmo, I did not realize that Chocolate chips were an American Ingredient. I am not doubting, I simply did not know.

[luckyfatima]

Yep I am wary of taking things as an American ingredient since I don't know the origins of every single item. Like American by brand or New World by origin???

I also thought of popcorn: When I lived in Oman I saw that flowing amounts of popcorn were necessary in a baby's first birthday celebration. I am not sure what the significance of this is. Also, I had a Nepalese friend who is from a Buddhist (Sino-Tibetan) Nepali ethnicity and her people drink salty butter tea. She put popcorn in her tea and drank it. She said that's how people enjoyed popcorn with their tea back home and they actually ate a lot of popcorn as a snack.

[sueatmo]

"Chocolate chips are a required ingredient in chocolate chip cookies, which were invented in 1937 when Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe. The cookies were a huge success, and Wakefield reached an agreement in 1939 with Nestlé to add her recipe to the chocolate bar's packaging in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars. In 1941 Nestlé and one or more of its competitors started selling the chocolate in chip (or "morsel") form.[1] The Nestlé brand Toll House cookies is named for the inn."---http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choco...

I guess it is possible that Nestle started making these in Europe too. Since the chips originated with Toll House cookies, I assume chocolate chips are an American invention. Maybe someone knows different?

[sunshine842]

don't know who invented them, but teeny little chocolate chips, called pepites, are available at most grocery stores in France (Tollhouse-sized chips or chunks exist, but are a little tougher to chase down).

[RUK]

About the any other American food - on a recent trip to Iceland we were amazed to see Hamburger and Fries. The hamburgers looked GREAT, they were a step up but no less hamburgers. We saw typical American-Mexican dishes and many versions of Pizza.
The modern Icelander seems to eat more than Sheep, Fish, Whale and Puffin dishes. :-)
( as an aside, the Seafood dishes were most memorable and the Puffin does not taste like Chicken )

[BobB]

What I remember most about Icelandic cuisine was the lamb - incredibly tender and flavorful, the best I've ever tasted anywhere.

[hannaone]

In Korea I once had a pizza that used canned tomato soup as the base for the sauce.
Spam is used in soups, kimbap, as a ban chan dish, etc
I have seen corn seasoned with chopped green onion and crushed chili peppers as a side dish.

[arashall]

In Thailand sweet corn is served as a yummy street-food snack/dessert, with a huge glob of butter on top, and sometimes sugar or chilies. At the movies, you choose between sweet or salty popcorn, or a mix. Tortilla chips (American junk food style), also come in "shrimpy" flavor. Not so yummy.

[ipsedixit]

American cheese (those pre sliced, individually wrapped ones) used in Chinese fried rice as a sheet of cover over a mound of rice. With some Heinz Ketchup, of course.

[Monica]

Corn...corn in ramen...sauteed corn on a hot stone is very popular in Korea and Japan.
and yes, spam is used for stew, kimbab and other side dishes in Korea...it's quite popular.

[sueatmo]

I meant to list peanut butter in the list of American foods. Does peanut butter get used outside the USA?

[Harters]

Commonly available in Europe. I use it as a base for satay sauce but I assume that's not a surprising use as it's frequently quoted as the main ingredient

[tokyo]

Peanut butter was coming into use in the early 2000's in Ecuador, but not as a sweetened spread as Americans eat it. Most Ecuadoreans that I knew weren't fond of it on it's own. I was served a breakfast porridge that incorporated peanut butter and fish. I didn't enjoy it, but I can hardly stomach fish at all, let alone one that has been puréed with salty peanut butter!

[butzy]

YES!!
Very popular for breakfast in the Netherlands were I grew up. I don't care much for it though. The only time I use it is for satay sauce.
I live in Southern African now and peanut butter is eaten here as well, also mainly for breakfast, but also in stews and soups

[BobB]

I'm guessing that's a fairly recent development. I lived in Germany for a while in the mid-1970s and at that time you could only find peanut butter in the gourmet import shops.

On the other hand, the Netherlands have long had a strong Indonesian cultural influence, so maybe that explains it.

[butzy]

Definitely not a recent development......
Even so that most people there consider peanut butter typically Dutch !
As Dutch as Hagelslag and cheese
I was a youngster in the late 60's and early seventies and that was what most of my friends would have in their lunch box: sandwiches with either peanut butter or hagelslag or cheese.
Mine were with pate or salami :)

[lynnlato]

My father was in the army in the 60's and was stationed in Germany for a time. He had peanut butter on pizza there. Not sure where or why but I remember him telling me that.

I know several Swedes who think peanut butter is disgusting. But I think their fish paste in a tube is truly vile, so we're even. ;-)

[linguafood]

Peanut butter on pizza? In Germany? I'd love to hear where and why.

Cuz that stuff was unheard of outside of army bases when I grew up (70s/80s).

[BobB]

Not totally unheard of - as I mentioned above, I did find it back then in the gourmet shops. But I didn't buy it, as I was poor and it was expensive, and I'm not THAT big a peanut butter fan anyway. Always did love the German name for it though - erdnussmus. Just saying it makes you sound like your mouth is full of it.

[linguafood]

That's funny! I know it only as Erdnussbutter. But I'm no child of the 60s '-)

[sueatmo]

I have made a JOC recipe years ago from West Africa that used peanut butter, beef and okra, among other things. It was very good. The recipe is not longer in the newer editions though.

[sueatmo]

I eat peanut butter for breakfast myself, from time to time. Is the breakfast use a Peanut Butter and Jelly? Or maybe a Peanut Butter and Banana?

[butzy]

Normally plain peanut butter, sometimes with hagelslag (chocolate sprinkle) on top.
I never heard of anyone in Holland eating peanutbutter-jelly sandwiches or peanut butter and banana.

[sueatmo]

Well, peanut butter, banana and bacon is a very good sandwich. But I believe that peanut butter with chocolate sprinkles would also be very good. If you had a growing boy to feed, perhaps you could make a peanut butter, banana, bacon and chocolate sprinkles?

[ipsedixit]

Very few things are not tasty with peanut butter.

[montrealeater]

As soon as I saw this thread I thought "I should mention that Dutch roommate from university who constantly ate chocolate sprinkle sandwiches (choc. sprinkles on white sliced bread) - I think choc, sprinkles are American?" But, they are Dutch, it turns out. He practically lived on those things and we were all fascinated. :)

[maxevan]

My wife once got in trouble at elementary school when her mother (Dutch) sent her in with a Hagelslag sandwich. The teacher wouldnt let her eat it and made her buy the school lunch.

[sunshine842]

I have a friend who was raised in France who sent her oldest off to school with a thick Nutella sandwich for lunch...the teacher puller her aside and indicated that she really shouldn't do that anymore.

[Bkeats]

What do you mean by American ingredients? Do you mean foods that originated in the Americas? That would include corn, cocoa, chilis, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts etc which have been taken up by many cultures and they’re pretty widely used. Or did you mean American created food products used elsewhere? That’s a harder thing to focus on because I can’t come up with a lot of American products that don’t have an analogue elsewhere (perhaps other than in the world of snack foods). Ok, Spam goes there, maybe modern ketchup, but Americans didn’t invent cream cheese or mayonnaise. Peanut butter isn’t a modern creation as I believe pre-colombian Americans were grinding peanuts. Much of the world does use ketchup. As noted, spam gets incorporated in a lot of dishes. But I’m drawing a blank on many other products. By the way, Nestle is a Swiss company and I believe chocolate products as well as cocoa powder were created in Europe. You should also check out the traditional southwest chili recipes. Pretty much always start with whole chilis and there are no tomatoes. I think this is an interesting challenge as most of American food is a mash-up of other cultures as discussed on many other threads so mixing up stuff is very common here, doesn’t seem to go as much the other way.

[gingershelley]

Potatoes are not US American; they are from S Central America :)

[sueatmo]

I understood that cream cheese was created by an American who was trying to imitate a European product. Perhaps I'm wrong. And yes, I was thinking of foods that Americans have invented or which are native and used throughout the country. Whether the 'mash-up' goes the other way or not is what is intriguing me. And for the story of chocolate chips as I understand it, see the link I left in this thread earlier.

I am not as interested in potatoes or tomatoes because they have been made over totally in different countries, and we are probably aware of this: tomato sauce in Italy and boiled potatoes in Ireland, for instance.

And I thought of one use of canned pork and beans that sounds just odd to me, but which isn't odd at all to our friends in UK. Pork and beans served on toast.

[kubasd23]

Sueatmo, you are correct on the cream cheese front. The chef or whoever was trying to mimic neufchâtel cheese and came up with philly cream cheese instead.

[sueatmo]

I read that but couldn't remember the source. If I had time I'd go check Jean Anderson's American Century Cookbook. Lots of good food history in that cookbook.

[betsydiver]

didn't peanuts originate in Africa? seema that i learned that in girl scouts or in about 5 th grade; we were all to bring in a dish from another country and i chose peanut soup which was from Africa....

[sueatmo]

Sounds right. I am assuming Americans invented peanut butter, though, since it is ubiquitous here. If anyone knows different, please share.

[sunshine842]

Often credited to George Washington Carver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W...) -- but there are records, according to the article, linking peanut butter to the Aztecs as early as the 15th century.

[johnb]

The true "inventor" is lost in the sands of time. George Washington Carver is often given credit, but apparently the Aztecs beat him to it by several hundred years. Some say it was the Incas, but this seems unlikely since peanuts are a semi-tropical plant, not native to Inca territory. The first patent for a peanut butter producing process apparently was issued to a Canadian, Marcellus Edson, in 1884. John Kellog and Ambrose Straub, (the latter whose machine was patented in 1903), have also been mentioned as inventors.

[drongo]

Peanuts are from the Americas. McGee (2nd ed., p 510) notes that peanuts were first domesticated in Brazil around 2000 BC. The Portuguese took peanuts to both Africa and Asia.

Incidentally, McGee indicates that what we now consider "peanut butter" was first developed around 1890 in the Missouri or Michigan.

[jill kibler]

I find Philadelphia Brand cream cheese available in many places around the world. Go figure.

[linguafood]

It's one of the most popular cream cheese brands in Germany.

[sandylc]

Check the ingredients on the Philly. Our store brands have better ingredients these days.

[sunshine842]

Philly just made a very highly-publicized re-entry into the French market -- but there are plenty of French-made equivalents that taste as good or better.

[Antilope]

On the show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, he was in the Philippines. They were serving scoops of ice cream on hamburger buns as a street food. That wasn't the really bizarre food. The bizarre food on the episode was Balut, a a fertilized duck egg, nearly at the hatched stage, boiled and eaten as a hard boiled egg.

[pdxgastro]

I think you meant to post that reply to this post: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/824911

[Antilope]

Not really, I was mainly bringing up using hamburger buns to serve scoops of ice cream.

[pdxgastro]

Oh. They do that in Sicily too: http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/bl...

[Antilope]

It would probably taste better on a King's Hawaiian Roll.

[sandylc]

I kind of like the brioche idea; after all, it's just a bit of sugar short of cake!

[sueatmo]

Ice cream on hamburger buns sounds strange to me, but my diet probably would sound strange to some one from the Philippines.

[Antilope]

To me it wouldn't taste good, but for the hot humid climate it probably makes sense. The melting ice cream drips are probably absorbed somewhat by the bread.

[sueatmo]

OK. And maybe their hamburger buns taste better than the average American hamburger bun, too.,

[sandylc]

VERY likely! When I followed one of the links, they showed gelato on a small brioche....

[tsl_saga]

In Malaysia, they have "Nasi Goreng USA" which literally means "USA (American) Fried Rice." It's a fried rice dish served with fried egg and fried hot dog franks.

Just like a lot of American just group some food as "Asian" without being specific to which country or origins; I've seen food categorized as "Western Food" when I was in Malaysia. It's just their interpretation of Western Food, be it American or European (French, Italian, British, etc). People everywhere are always fascinated of what other people are eating. Yummy...

[sandylc]

I have never heard the term "hot dog franks". It is indeed fascinating to hear about what otheres are eating, as well as what they call it!

[tsl_saga]

I actually have no idea where I picked that up.

But you should see how "Pizza" are interpreted too. In Malaysia, those that I know, cannot imagine eating plain cheese pizza. For them the more toppings the better. I don't even think their Pizza Hut & Domino even sell plain Pizza. Also, on top of delivery, Pizza Hut is also set-up as a sit down restaurant with real plates and silverwares. That's actually how a lot of Malaysian are exposed to Pizza. They even have pizza with Satay Sauce as the base.

Also, other American Fast-Food chains actually have delivery services, not just Pizza Hut & Dominos. Even KFC & McDonald delivers. Too bad, their local businesses don't pick-up on that.

[twyst]

"And now I will tell you that I saw one episode of Nigella Lawson's that featured chili! I was so surprised. But what really raised my eyebrows, was how she seasoned it--she used dried red chilies. No chili powder. I have to admit I thought that strange. "

Chili powder is just ground up dried chilis. Its actually pretty common to use dried chilis in chili, even in the US.

[sandylc]

True. The commonly used "chili powder" in the US is typically dried ground chilis with the addition of salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, etc. I share the school of thought for using pure dried chili powders (such as ancho) and adding my own salt and other seasonings.

[sueatmo]

This is my point. Chili pepper would be simply ground up cayenne or some other pepper. Chili powder is a mix of chili and other spices. I use chili powder in chili, and I choose which sort to used, based on flavor. Chili powder should be much more than ground up chili pepper. So Nigella was not getting the full potential of flavor for her chili. But I had no idea anyone in the UK was eating chili of any sort! So I was surprised twice.

[sandylc]

My point was that I DON'T use chili powder. I use pure ground chili and then ADD the other seasonings to my chili such as cumin, etc. I think this is the more common practice among competition chili makers, etc.

[sueatmo]

OK. I misunderstood. You need that chili pepper (however you use it) to get that "bowl of red."

I never competed in a chili cookoff. It would be fun to sample different chilis if I ever get the chance.

[johnb]

Many chili competitions, at least in the old days, forbade the use of any commercially prepared chili powder. The contestants were/are supposed to base their recipe on their own mix of spices (which is sort of the whole point of a competition in the first place after all).

[Harters]

"But I had no idea anyone in the UK was eating chili of any sort!"

Chilli has been a common dish in the UK for 30+ years

[sueatmo]

Interesting.This I would never have guessed.

[sunshine842]

chili con carne shows up at French restaurants, too...Old El Paso has a corner on the "Mexican food" market in France, which, based on the amount of shelf space it commands, is a pretty lucrative market for them.

[Billy33]

"But I had no idea anyone in the UK was eating chili of any sort! " - Indian food is one of the most popular food styles in the UK and what do you think is used to give heat to Indian dishes?
Also, I never thought of chilli powder as being a mixture of spices, to me it's just ground up dried chillies.

[sandylc]

"Also, I never thought of chilli powder as being a mixture of spices, to me it's just ground up dried chillies."

As it should be.

[drongo]

Nope... "chili" (as the word is used in US) is not Indian food. And since the entire Capsicum genus is endemic to the Americas, perhaps the American usage should prevail over the Asian.

Spices and other flavorings used in "chili" (US) include (in decreasing order) paprika, cumin, cayenne, oregano and optionally garlic, onion, turmeric, cocoa, coriander, cinnamon, allspice.

A lot of people (myself included) distinguish between "chili" (the American dish made with spice mixture summarized above) and "chile" or "chilli" (the hot Capsicum pepper).

[sandylc]

I have never heard of paprika in chili - ??? Other chiles, obviously, but never specifically paprika.

[sunshine842]

whose chili powder has paprika in it?

Looked up McCormick and Durkee -- they're both dried ground chiles, salt, garlic, onions, etc.,etc. -- no paprika.

I'm with Sandy - I've never made chili with paprika, nor have I ever knowingly eaten it.

[drongo]

Here are 6 recipes with paprika:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/seasoningrecipes/r/bl30420j.htm
http://www.food.com/recipe/chili-powder-16892
http://www.food.com/recipe/chili-powder-207014
http://www.food.com/recipe/my-special-chili-powder-250581
http://www.food.com/recipe/no-salt-chili-powder-38558
http://oldfashionedliving.com/chilipo...

Paprika itself is made from Capsicum peppers so it's not inconsistent. But it would have been better for me to say that chili powder has a mix of mild pepper (could be paprika and/or Ancho, New Mexico, etc) and hot pepper (could be cayenne and/or de Arbol, etc).

[Antilope]

Smoke Ring Chili Powder with paprika

http://www.recipesecrets.net/forums/r...

[sueatmo]

OK, I stand corrected. Paprika is found in chili powder. You learn something new every day. This recipe sounds wonderful.

[sueatmo]

Penzey's Medium Hot Chili Powder: Ancho chili pepper, red pepper, cumin, garlic and Mexican oregano. I really like this chili powder. Penzey's has other blends too. The key is whether the product is called powder or pepper. Chile pepper is probably ground cayenne. Chili powder is usually a proprietary blend of spices and pepper.

I do wonder what brand has paprika in its powder. That's a new one to me.

Some chili powders are quite mild. Gephardt's is mild, if memory serves. Perhaps the milder ones have the paprika?

Another chili powder I like is Williams original, which comes in a packet. I used this for years. No salt--just spices. But it is more economical to buy a jar of the good stuff, I think.

[drongo]

I found this article useful. It describes different chile peppers (with pictures!) as well as paprika and chili powder (which appears here under "California Chili Powder" and "New Mexico Chili Powder -- the latter actually from Texas, go figure).
http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/chi...

[Harters]

In the UK, ground up dried chillies will be called "dried chilli flakes"

The chilli powder I have at the minute is from the market leader, Schwartz. Contents are listed as cayenne, cumin, salt, oregano and garlic

[sueatmo]

I consider chili an all-American food. You can get a bowl everywhere in the U.S. I hadn't thought that this dish, delicious as it is to me, would be interesting to our friends in U.K. I thought I was admitting ignorance, not accusing a cuisine of anything. Apologies if that's the way my post sounded.

[sunshine842]

You can even buy frozen chili at the supermarket in France.

[sueatmo]

How is it? What is French chili, I wonder? Is it superb? Is it made from duck?

[sunshine842]

It's made with ground beef. I've never tried it.

It might be halfway decent, but I'd lay money that it's a long way from superb.

There are some good frozen alternatives, but just like everywhere else, frozen, pre-prepared food tends to have just slightly less flavor and appeal than the box in which it was packaged.

(there's a lot more duck available here than in the states, but there's a lot more beef and pork than duck, especially in mass-market stuff like frozen chili)

[Harters]

If it's anything like frozen meals in the UK, I'd lay money that it's a long way from even halfway decent :-0

[sunshine842]

I was trying to be kind...and frozen food from Picard can actually approach tasty from time to time, but they're the lone bright star in that universe.

[Antilope]

The BBC Food recipe website has its recipes broken down by cuisine. One is American:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/cuisines

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/cuisines/am...

[sunshine842]

some of those recipes make me weep.

[sueatmo]

Because--?

[sueatmo]

Well, this is interesting. So people do consider that Americans have a cuisine. It is fun to see what dishes are of interest to our friends in the U.K. Very few sides, I note. I don't object at all to the potato salad recipe.

[Antilope]

The BBC Food site only placed about 40 "American" recipes in categories. At the bottom of the categories is link that opens 164 "American" recipes. "See all American recipes recipes (164)"

[sueatmo]

OK, I will. I didn't have to time to really investigate that site. It is interesting.

I did note some sort of meat cooked in cola. I've run into this sort of recipe in community recipe books. I am surprised that BBC cooks consider it serious enough to publish on their site.

As I said, interesting.

[sueatmo]

Lots of pancake recipes. Interesting. A couple or three cornbreads. Of course Americans can't agree on proper cornbread. At least 2 pecan pies. Can you get pecans in Britain? I wonder if they are grown on other continents? Pecans are my favorite nut. I noticed that guacamole is also listed. Its an interesting selection of recipes. I noticed that chocolate chip cookies are mades with crumbled chocolate, not chocolate chips.

[sunshine842]

Sue, with air and sea transport being amazingly efficient, it is possible for people all over the world to obtain food from just about anywhere else in the world.

Add to that the fact that a lot of people travel (some extensively) and bring back ingredients and recipes, plus the media - internet, television, and just plain people talking to one another, and things travel pretty fast.

In much of Europe, particularly London, Paris, and other major cities with large international populations, we can buy darned near anything you can buy in your local supermarket, or an acceptable substitute for it.

London and Paris both have Tex-Mex, barbecue, and plenty of burger joints...the world's a pretty small place these days.

[Harters]

Yes, pecans are easily available in UK supermarkets.

[sueatmo]

Well, then a pecan pie made with golden syrup would be really, really good.

[sunshine842]

Treacle and cane syrup.

[sandylc]

You know, I haven't put corn syrup in pecan pie in many years. It contributes nothing but sweet to the pie - no flavor at all beyond that. Golden syrup, maple syrup, anything else is better than the traditional corn syrup.

[sunshine842]

try a real Southern cane syrup -- you get a gorgeous molasses-y flavor with a clean mouthfeel....then replace your vanilla with a spoonful of dark rum...makes the best pumpkin pie **evar**.

If I can't get cane syrup, a mix of mostly golden syrup, with a good spoonful of treacle or molasses, makes a good pie, too.

[Harters]

Indeed, it would - taking our traditional treacle tart a stage further (even though it's called treacle tart, it's made with goldern syrup)

[DCLindsey]

The BBC one is pretty funny. There are a number of mentions for cupcakes (based on the number of cupcake shops popping up every where these days, I guess I agree) and cheesecake. More perplexing are the "biscuit" recipies (it actually looks like they make more cupcakes) and banoffee pie! Never even heard of banoffee pie until I lived in London in college.

ETA: ...and there is carpetbagger steak. Not sure that would go over here in the US!

[Harters]

Banoffee pie is an English invention, dating to 1972 and accredited to the Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex. It is, IMO, one of those dishes that gets our cuisine a bad name.

[sunshine842]

It's not gourmet, but it's so very good.

[bearmi]

When I was growing up in Taiwan, I ate hamburgers made with pork. Five spice powder, soy sauce and sugar were added to the meat mixture and instead of sliced pickles, sliced cucumber were used. Kind of a strange combination now that I am more used to American style hamburgers.