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Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers.
purkinje writes "Immigrants and their children may choose to eat American food as a way to fit in, a new study found, which may help explain why immigrants catch up to the country's obesity levels in 15 years. The researchers cast doubt on some subjects' Americanness, asking if they spoke English or saying they had to be American to participate; this provokes what psychologists call stereotype threat, the fear you'll confirm negative stereotypes about your group. White participants weren't affected by these comments, but Asian-American participants were more likely to list quintessentially American foods — burgers, BLTs, mac and cheese — as their favorites when the researchers called their status as American into question. They were also more likely to order and eat those dishes, consuming an average of 182 more calories than their non-threatened counterparts."
Most, if not all, cultures on this planet use food as a method of identity. If you went to China or Japan or France and still only sought out American-style food, you would likely be outcast. It's the same in America... especially for children! What recent immigrant children have to endure in the realm of food-mockery is genuine. /remembers bringing tamales to school in elementary school //remembers watching my Chinese friend bring dried fish and rice. ///kids are horrible and get away with it.
Research indicates that Asian-American SAT scores drop in the third generation and drop-out rates catch up with the rest of the population by the fifth. Following the lowering of ambitions from 'medical school' to 'minimum wage cashier at Walmart' in seventh-generation Asian-Americans, assimilation is deemed complete.
Anyone who doesn't want that burger isn't un-American. They're inhuman.
Salisbury steak was invented by an American physician, Dr. J. H. Salisbury (1823–1905), and the term "Salisbury steak" was in use in the USA from 1897.
The Ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. In Byzantine Greek the word was spelled or pita, meaning pie. The word has now spread to Turkish as pide, in Balkan languages: Serbo-Croatian pita, Albanian pite, Bulgarian pita, Modern Hebrew pitth via the Judaeo-Spanish pita.
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
I am afraid that "most" Americans do eat that kind of food. I will, sometimes, when I'm in a real rush. But, I'd rather take the time to sit down to a meat and potato meal, sometimes rice instead of 'taters, with a veggie or two. I'm not much of a salad eater, but I'll put one away, once in awhile. I LOVE desserts - but by the time I've filled my belly with real food, there isn't much room for desserts, so my weight stays pretty stable at a mere 15 pounds over my "optimum" weight".
What a great story. Please tell us more about what you like to eat, because this was so interesting my eyes are bleeding.
Nice try, but the only irony is that all of those are indeed aptly named:
French Fries
For also in the 1840s, pomme frites ("fried potatoes") first appeared in Paris. Sadly, we don't know the name of the ingenious chef who first sliced the potato into long slender pieces and fried them. But they were immediately popular, and were sold on the streets of Paris by push-cart vendors.
Frites spread to America where they were called French fried potatoes. You asked how they got their name--pretty obvious, I'd say: they came from France, and they were fried potatoes, so they were called "French fried potatoes." The name was shortened to "french fries" in the 1930s. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2033/whats-the-origin-of-french-fries
Salisbury Steak
Pizza
Pizza is a type of bread and dish that has existed since time immemorial in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza
And for good measure:
Belgian Waffles
Vermersch started making waffles from a recipe of his wife's when living in Belgium before the outbreak of World War II. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_history_behind_the_belgian_waffle
Even the name Hamburger has its origin in Hamburg, Germany:
Hamburgers
In the late 18th century, the largest ports in Europe were in Germany. Sailors who had visited the ports of Hamburg, Germany and New York, brought this food and term "Hamburg steak" into popular usage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger#18th_and_19th_centuries
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Jules: Mmm-mmmm. That is a tasty burger. Vincent, ever have a Big Kahuna Burger?
[Vincent shakes his head]
Jules: Wanna bite? They're real tasty.
Vincent: Ain't hungry.
Jules: Well, if you like burgers give 'em a try sometime. I can't usually get 'em myself because my girlfriend's a vegitarian which pretty much makes me a vegitarian. But I do love the taste of a good burger. Mm-mm-mm. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell 'em, Vincent.
Vincent: A Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese! You know why they call it that?
Brett: Because of the metric system?
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett! You're a smart motherf*cker.
I'm asian-american and if I filled out that form I'd be putting down hamburgers, mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, etc. down as well. Why? Because they're damn tasty that's why. I grew up eating both Chinese food and American food and in terms of which is my favorite well... My body likes calories. I don't like american culture more than anyone else, but how can you hate on ooey-gooey mac and cheese? It's pretty simple.
As an Englishman who's spent the last decade in the States...
It has nothing to do with my trying to fit in and everything to do with what I can get for a decent price at a decent quality.
If I'd like Shepherd's Pie, my options are very expensive faux Irish theme pubs or lousy quality from cheap theme pubs that have once seen a picture of what a Shepherd's Pie might look like. If I'd like a proper roast with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, I can go to a senior citizen trap and get decent beef, terrible fried potatoes and a look of bewilderment if I mention Yorkshire pudding. If I want a good curry (Partition and its immigrants have made it a staple in England), I can get something dire at the mall, something mediocre in my city (thank you H1Bs) but I have to (and do, regularly) drive 80 miles each way and pay about $50/person to get great baltis, kormas, etc.
Or, if I'd like pizza, I can choose from any of a dozen local pizza joints. If I'd like a burger, I can choose from any of twenty chains plus local specialty places. And Mexican offers me hundreds of hole in the wall places plus at least half a dozen major chains. I can eat at every one of those for well under $10 too.
So, yes, I eat like an American and my waist rapidly started to look like an American's too. It has nothing to do with trying to fit in and everything to do with what's available. Give me a Sainsbury's and a Tesco, a good chippy (no, those things Americans call English pub chips really aren't), a good kebab shop (gyros may start with the same ingredients but are nothing like a British kebab) and a lifetime's supply of Cadbury's, Ginsters, etc. and I'll stay the hell away from American assimilation.
I don't think it's even a national thing. Ask any Californian who'd visited what Mexican food is like in Minnesota (not unlike eating a photograph of a burrito: it looks like one but tastes like cardboard). Ask any Pennsylvanian what a cheesesteak is like in California (for the love of God, why would you put avocado and lettuce in it?). Those people will also assimilate to the good local foods rather than endure the terrible bastardizations of what they love back home. Nothing to do with fitting in, everything to do with availability.
If only there was some common saying about correllation not being equal to causation.
And now you may all proceed with the English food and dentistry jokes. You've been very patient.