Cross cultural eating habits

If I have kids, I just hope they won't like natto.  Or sato-imo.  Or both together with okra on rice.  Sure, healthy... but totally sick-making.  My husband wants to eat these things sometimes, but Denny's in Japan makes them.. he can go there.  No natto in my fridge!

On the other hand, a lot of Japanese people hate cheese.  All cheese.  They say the smell makes them ill.  A lot claim allergies to cilantro... I'd have to sell the kids if they couldn't eat Mexican food.

I love natto, it's so wrong yet so right.  Kinda like Marmite.

PB I hate though, it's the one thing my husband always rabbits on about missing.  The texture makes me feel sick.

Being raised by a British mom in the US made my eating habits quite varied. We ate lots of English foods at holidays (trifle, sausage rolls, roast dinners, etc.), but I'm still the only one in my family who loves peanut butter (had a pbj sandwich for breakfast and it was so good). We just ate a good varied diet otherwise, and made some of our own food traditions like nachos for Christmas Eve. I think when I have kids here they'll get raised on a variety of food like me. They'll have to like Mexican food, but I'd hope they'd try a bit of everything and not automatically think any one type of food was gross.

My (British) fiance likes peanut butter but thinks of it as a savory food--NOT to be eaten with anything sweet.  He thinks PB&J is positively *wrong*.  He'll put it on bread or crackers with a little butter or margerine first and then spread the PB over that.  I don't get that at all and feel the butter / margerine is a waste of calories and fat grams when you can just spread on more peanut butter!

I like PB on bananas and definitely like it with chocolate!  I am missing Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Reese's Pieces at the moment!

I love natto, it's so wrong yet so right.

Ewwwww natto!!  I *do* love the taste of miso paste (dark, light--any kind) and have been know to eat little spoonfuls of it all by itself--undiluted.

I've probably already mentioned on UKY before, I've had off-peanut butter enough times to cause me to not ever want it near my mouth ever again.

Rancid peanut butter = 

A lot claim allergies to cilantro... I'd have to sell the kids if they couldn't eat Mexican food.

I hate cilantro but love Mexican food! Actually, they don't seem to use it much in southern NM--I only "discovered" cilantro when I went to university in San Diego and couldn't figure out why all the salsa tasted like soap.

I'm not much of a peanut butter fan, but very occasionally get cravings for ants on a log. PB&J I can live without, especially the kind my mom made me in junior high: about half an inch of thick, pasty natural peanut butter (freshly ground from the peanut store!) and the thinnest possible coating of jam. Talk about sticking to the roof of your mouth! 

I love Mexican food too, but I can definitely live without the cilantro. Seems like it's been added more and more to things over the past few years. I don't remember ever eating Mexican food when I first moved to AZ that had cilantro in it. If I had, it probably would have put me off Mexican food forever!

I'm not much of a peanut butter fan, but very occasionally get cravings for ants on a log. PB&J I can live without, especially the kind my mom made me in junior high: about half an inch of thick, pasty natural peanut butter (freshly ground from the peanut store!) and the thinnest possible coating of jam. Talk about sticking to the roof of your mouth! 

I really like the "natural" peanut butter.  Maybe I am weird?

Nope--you're not weird.  I like it too.  But I like the processed stuff, too.

Anybody remember (maybe it still exists) something called Goober Grape (I think)?  It was a jar of peanut butter swirled with nasty grape or orange jelly.  It looked cool because you could see the swirl from the outside of the glass jar.

Hey, does this count as cross-cultural--Philadelphia Cream Cheese.  I see it in all the UK grocery stores.  I never knew it was that famous (I'm from Philadelphia).  But I don't like cream cheese at all and find that a waste of calories and fat. It doesn't even taste like anything, really--just sticky and thick nothingness.   My mom used to make me horrid cream cheese and jelly sandwiches on white bread for lunch as a kid.  Yuck.

Nope--you're not weird.  I like it too.  But I like the processed stuff, too.

Anybody remember (maybe it still exists) something called Goober Grape (I think)?  It was a jar of peanut butter swirled with nasty grape or orange jelly.  It looked cool because you could see the swirl from the outside of the glass jar.

Looked cool... but tasted awful!

 

None of my friends liked it either!

I really like the "natural" peanut butter.  Maybe I am weird?

Not weird at all! The natural stuff is always the best! I think there was a loooooong thread about natural vs processed somewhere on UKY from a year or so ago. Y'know, if you're really bored. 

Thing is about the Americans (and I'm one)...

They love peanut butter, and some of these 'older' countries that say America doesn't have a culture should take note of that and then take a hike.

In 2001 when the Americans went in to Afganistan to punish the Taliban, there was a blitz that knocked everything out.

And then they dropped food packs.  And aside from mineral water, toilet paper, soap, and what-not, what do you think they included?

Yup.  Each food pack had a big plastic container of peanut butter. 

Murkins.  You have to love them.  It's a cultural thing...

Anybody remember (maybe it still exists) something called Goober Grape (I think)?  It was a jar of peanut butter swirled with nasty grape or orange jelly.  It looked cool because you could see the swirl from the outside of the glass jar.

I remember that and what a waste of a good glass jar.

But who remembers PB&J from school? You know the ones -  the book pressure-cooked ones.

Recipe for School-Style Peanutbutter and Jelly Sandwhiches

Ingredients
1 or 2 white bread peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches
1 brown paper bag, small size
saran wrap or equivalent
1 apple
1 moon pie
3-5 medium hard back text books
1 prison-made vented, grey metal school locker

Preparation
1. Wrap sandwiches with saran wrap
2. Insert wrapped sandwiches into brown paper bag
3. Drop apple onto sandwich cushions in bag
4. Throw moon pie into bag
5. Fold bag over tightly

Pre-cooking (at home)
1. Throw paper bag into bottom of school bag
2. Throw last night's unopened homework books into schoolbag
3. Hang bag on radiator or place in direct sunlight till time to go to school

Cooking (at school)
1. Open bag, remove moon pie for immediate consumption
2. Remove apple. Put aside for teacher. (Yea well ya wanna make something of it, pal?)
3. Open locker, remove several books
4. Carefully place paper bag containing pre-apple dented sandwiches into locker
5. Throw one of the books from step 3 into locker
6. Close locker
7 Cook for 1 hour
8. Return to locker, open and toss remainder of books from step 3 onto pile
9. Carefully remove text book from bottom of locker
10. repeat steps 6 - 9 three times
11. At lunch break, open locker and carefully remove paper bag.
12. Carefully open bag and smell
13. Remove sandwiches, observe jelly side of bread for signs of infusion
14. Sandwiches are ready when jelly is oozing through the bread and sticking to saran wrap

regional cooking time variations in deep south repeat step 10 3-times
in cooler or higher altitude, repeat step 10 minimum 4 times

note: sandwich thickness will decrease with cooking time