U.K. Mexican food?

Where were you shopping in San Diego? I was just back there (it's where I'm from) a month ago, and I didn't notice, particularly, outrageous produce prices. Although I do shop at Trader Joe's for everything but produce/most fruit and Major Market for the rest, so I might have missed out on what regular chains are doing.

And I really, really miss the fruit I could get in California. White peaches and nectarines, fuyu persimmons, cheap avocados.  That said, when I go back to California, I miss our monthly curry nights, so as NoseOverTail said, I think it's both regional variations and personal preference, not hard facts.

I'm glad to see that some big companies are now producing authentic fruit juice. I hope the trend continues.

It's not a trend.  I used to drink Juicy Juice as a kid.  A lot of the major juice companies have always offered 100% juice.  "Juice cocktail" on the other hand, is usually a little bit of juice, a lot of sugar (or HFCS) and water.

Personally, I think eating a piece of fruit is much more healthy than drinking the essence, but to each his or her own I guess.  No sugar juice, however, isn't a novelty or rarity in the US.


ETA: Juicy Juice advert 1983:
Juicy Juice classic commercial 1983
Dole Juice advert from the 80s (with Kenny Rogers!)
Dole Juice Commercial with Kenny Rogers
Modern Tropacana ad:
Tropicana Orange Juice Ad - "Child's Play"

Really, with juice in the States, unless you're drinking some concoction like SunnyD or it says "cocktail" on it, the biggest thing you have to worry about is whether it's from concentrate or not...

You can't find curry as easily because we didn't (although the numbers are growing) have the immigrants who brought it with them.  We have more immigrants from Mexico so we have more Mexican food and more Italian immigrants.   The Italian food I got in Providence is way better than here.

As for not finding juice without added sugar, you weren't looking.  End of.  I am in my 30s and I was never allowed to drink juice with added sugar and I had plenty of options.  Juicy Juice, Apple and Eve, orange juice, apple cider the list goes on. 

It is impossible to find cranberry juice here without added sugar (although Whole Foods might have it in London) but easy to find in the US in large containers (I realise made for large US fridges) that work out much cheaper. 

Also, I am sick of eveyone banging on about the cheese.  Wegmans has way more cheese than any of the stores I regularly go to in the UK, which if I want 90 different types of cheddar I guess I am set.  If I want a speciality cheese in each country I go to a cheese shop.  They aren't hard to find in either place.

Also, I am sick of eveyone banging on about the cheese.  Wegmans has way more cheese than any of the stores I regularly go to in the UK, which if I want 90 different types of cheddar I guess I am set.  If I want a speciality cheese in each country I go to a cheese shop.  They aren't hard to find in either place.

I miss the health food shop INSIDE of Wegman's.  Also, their olive bar.  Wegman's always had two cheese places, the cheese near the milk which was your everyday cheeses (and probably rivalled most British supermarkets I've been to) and the premium dairy counter.  Wegman's produce section was almost as big as the entire size of our old Sainsbury's (not exagerating).

I can tell you one thing, I've learned to live without Target.  If I could convince one company to open here it would be Wegman's.  Of course it's a pipe dream.  Little regional chain from Rochester in the UK...but imagine what they could do here.

No kidding and yes, Wegmans own brand stuff is amazing. 

Whole Foods is a national chain and it is a supermarket.  I lived in 8 states and have never been without a WF nearby.  I would consider it on par with Waitrose.  You can't get to one of you live in the sticks. 

The US doesn't have things like M&S ready meals because, as Tesco is learning the hard way, ready meals don't have a market in the US.  It is, I beleive partly due to area and freshness, it is easy to get an ready meal in the UK out quickly to consumers in a wide area because the UK is so small.  You only need a few places to make/package and you are good to go.  Whereas you would need a much larger chain of stores to get the meals out to US consumers and who will invest unless the market is already there?

If we want to talk about sweet things, why does almost all UK soda (except for Coke/Sprite/Pepsi) have sugar and artifical sweeteners?  If you want the sweeteners you don't want the sugar, if you prefer sugar you probably don't want the sweeteners.  It makes no sense other than it makes it cheaper for the company.

Likewise, there are plenty of US cereals with no or little sugar.  Shredded wheat for one and they sell that in every single place I have ever been to.  Also, oatmeal.  I think what you mean is they didn't have anything that you liked.  That is different than not having it.
Some museli might not have added sugar, but most have added dried fruits which have tons of natural sugars and are particularly bad for your teeth since the fruit tends to get stuck.

I like the variety and quality better in the UK, but I think that's down to living in the country here. I was always in a city in the US - on the plus side, that meant big shops with lots of variety of packaged goods; however, there wasn't as much in the way of fresh produce, cheeses, etc. beyond the basics. We did have Whole Foods which was fine but overpriced, and there were a couple of farm stands which would be open in the summer - but those weren't anywhere near where I lived. Here, I have access to farm shops, farmers' markets, etc. all the time, year-round with fabulous in-season fruit/veg, fresh locally caught fish, and cheeses from all over the world (not just Cheddar!).

I think a lot of this has to do with where you lived in the US and where you now live in the UK. And the rest of it has to do with personal preference. It's not really an argument anyone's going to win.

(As for the fruit juice debate, I've never in my life had any problem finding real juice ANYWHERE, so I'm a little baffled about DavidO's inability to source it!)

As someone so rightly pointed out, of course these are just my opinions. I'm not claiming this is hard science. Another opinion I have is that even the food in Spain is better than in America (but there are always exceptions).

Food and eating is a very personal and subjective thing and so it's no surprise that many of you disagree with me.

The odd thing is that every time I've introduced an American friend or relative to the food over here they've agreed with me wholeheartedly.

The US may not have deep fried haggis, but we have tater tot casserole (for the love of god what is tater tot casserole? One of you yankees have to explain that one):

Looks like tatertots floating in Cheezwiz.  Pretty gross, but there was a time when I'd eat it and probably like it.

Of course you're entitled to your opinion, just like everyone else, David.  I didn't mean to imply your opinions were being challenged.  Just the scope and accuracy of the information you were using to form them.

I do agree there are some things that British shops do better.  Most bread for example. There are things that largely are based on background (British lasagne vs American lasagne for one).  I just think that people are overly dismissive of the US and its food culture.  It's not all Mountain Dew and Cheetos.  I am generally more than satisfied with most British products and produce, but that doesn't mean I forget the rather excellent food I had all those years in the States.

ETA: I had to Google that tatertot casserole, and at the risk of bringing them into this argument, it appears to be a Dugger thing:

DUGGAR's TATER TOT CASSEROLE
2 lb ground turkey cooked, seasoned, drained
3 2lb bags tater tots
2 cans cream of mushroom
2 cans evaporated milk
2 cans cream of chicken
Brown meat & place in large cass. dish.
Cover with tater tots. Mix soup & milk together.
Pour over top. Bake at 350 for 1 Hour.
(One of Daddy’s Favorites!) Makes 2- 9”X13” pans

http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html

IT'S HEALTHY COS IT USES GROUND TURKEY!!! (*side effects may include increased reproductive output)

Although honestly, it looks like your picture is a different recipe, SoS.

You mean there's more than Mountain Dew and Cheetos??? I need to get back more often!

BTW, your analysis is fair enough by me, Legs!

Hmmm.

I spent 8 years in the UK and became a real foodie over there. I loved the farmers' markets, locally sourced options, Waitrose, and veg boxes.

But after returning to the US 8 years ago, I have to respectfully disagree with DavidO on a number of points.

The Whole Foods nearest me IS a supermarket. It's huge. There are also several similar smaller stores like it.

There are AMAZING international supermarkets. Yes SUPERmarkets with asian and latin american offerings that would blow your mind. You need a translator for most of it! My local bog-standard supermarkets carry a good selection of world cheeses. Better than they used to, that's for sure. I can get even more impressive selections at Whole Foods and smaller delis and such.

The farmers' markets are increasing rapidly and there are probably 20+ within a half hour drive of me.

Granted, I do live in a metro area (Baltimore/DC) so I'd not expect to find this all somewhere in the mid-west. But I have to say, things are much better than I expected. There's room for improvement on both side of the Atlantic but both are making impressive strides (I can recall hardly finding any Mexican food at all when I first moved to the UK).

Not having access to a lot of things like big grocery stores, with lots of choices and organic food, is one of the trade offs for living in a low density, usually cheap, rural area.  You pays your money and all that. 

Even here, if you live in nowheresville Scotland, like my uni friend did, you don't get much.  They got groceries delivered from Tesco once a week.  If you forgot something on your order it was a 2 hour (windy roads, blarghhh) drive.  Also, the kids all went away to high school because there weren't enough kids for a local school.  The boarded during the week and went home at the weekends.  But they loved the area, so they dealt.

Not having access to a lot of things like big grocery stores, with lots of choices and organic food, is one of the trade offs for living in a low density, usually cheap, rural area.  You pays your money and all that. 

Even here, if you live in nowheresville Scotland, like my uni friend did, you don't get much.  They got groceries delivered from Tesco once a week.  If you forgot something on your order it was a 2 hour (windy roads, blarghhh) drive.  Also, the kids all went away to high school because there weren't enough kids for a local school.  The boarded during the week and went home at the weekends.  But they loved the area, so they dealt.

True enough. Even for folks like them, though (and in rural America) you can order from online sources for 'specialty' items. Of course, you have to pay postage, but sometimes it's worth it.

I am not sure what markets in the UK you have been to, but last time I looked (about 3 months ago) I could not find a sugar-free one in Waitrose or Sainsburys.

I understand your pain   My issue is not being able to find items that have no salt added. 

Though I know my experience isn't typical, it was easier and more affordable for me to find organic produce in the US. ... I'm not saying that you can't find the same quality in the UK but it is so ridiculously expensive.

That was a great set up in the US!  Not for us though, it was cheaper to eat the bad stuff because just eating healthier automatically quadrupled the bill.  My experience here has been the opposite (could just be where I live).  My grocery bills get smaller when I stick to a good bulk of fruit and vegetables and I really love that point, as well as the local farmers in my market.  Yes, some things they sell come from elsewhere - but I come home with a roller cart totally full for 10-12 quid.

For some things this is true, though I did look at 3 grocery stores for creamed coconut before resorting to finding a Thai grocery store in London! ... And I do miss having a whole Goya aisle!  

I miss my Coco Lopez and shredded coconut in a can.  And I agree.  I really, really miss Goya products.  Been lucky enough to find a Caribbean store that carries certain staples like plantain and several condiments (and Malta!) but I've just had to adapt my mom's recipes.

Also, I am sick of eveyone banging on about the cheese.  Wegmans has way more cheese than any of the stores I regularly go to in the UK, which if I want 90 different types of cheddar I guess I am set.  If I want a speciality cheese in each country I go to a cheese shop.  They aren't hard to find in either place.

Agreed.  However I'm still looking for a cheese shop that doesn't look like its just been pulled out of the cheese aisle at the supermarket.  Oh how I miss Murray's cheese shop in NYC and Prima Donna, New Amsterdam and Monte Negro goat cheeses ::sigh::  I get excited to try artisan cheeses but they somehow just taste the same so far.

One thing I'm finding (and happily so) is some really great chorizo.  I've introduced it to my family and they have fallen in love with it.  We even use it instead of pepperoni on pizza.  And I break it up and mix it with minced beef for beef and chorizo burgers.