Love It or Hate It: 24 Foods Americans and Brits Completely Disagree About
The United States and the United Kingdom are similar in many aspects, but when it comes to food culture, they are very different.
In this culinary clash, we explore 12 distinctly British and 12 entirely American foods that fall short across the pond. We know everyone has different tastes, but as a whole, these are some foods that Americans and Brits often have trouble enjoying when it comes to each other’s dishes.
1: Black Pudding
Good luck finding an American who loves black pudding. We’re sure they exist, but the idea of a blood-based sausage is enough to make many Americans sick.
2: Grits
Grits are a Southern staple in the US, but to the British, they’re just strange. The flavor is bland, and the texture is, well, gritty. The English would much rather have a bowl of porridge.
3: Pork Pies
If you offer pie to an American, they’ll assume you mean something sweet, perhaps fruit-filled, and always delicious when topped with ice cream. Yet, the British insist on using savory ingredients in pie form, with pork pies being the most stomach-churning variety, if you ask us.
4: Non-Fat Milk
Americans went hard on the no-fat craze, and many still enjoy non-fat milk with their cereal. But stop random Brits on the street, and they’ll likely tell you that drinking non-fat milk is disgusting. Non-fat milk may as well be water, they might say, for all it offers in terms of texture and flavor.
5: Jellied Eels
We’re fairly certain that most Americans would turn down eels in any form, let alone in gelatinous balls. This is an acquired British taste that they can keep on their side of the pond.
6: Peanut Butter And Jelly
Peanut butter and jelly is a childhood lunchbox staple in the USA, but that’s not the case in England. To the British, mixing nut butter with jelly is an odd practice.
7: Haggis
Many Americans respect the idea of nose-to-tail eating, but they draw the line at haggis. Offal, mixed with the animal’s fat and cooked in that same animal’s stomach, is entirely unappetizing.
8: Biscuits And Gravy
If you can get a British person to sit down and try biscuits and gravy, they might like it. However, in the UK, “biscuit” means cookie. So, this dish sounds like cookies in meat sauce, which is understandably disgusting.
9: Mushy Peas
Fish and chips started in the UK and are readily embraced by Americans. However, the Yanks didn’t adopt their traditional side dish, mushy peas. Rehydrated peas served in semi-mashed form might taste great, but they look like baby puree, which is enough to turn away many Americans.
10: Chicken Fried Steak
Americans love their deep fryers, and chicken fried steak is a diner classic in the States. The British have a tough time with this dish, though. In their eyes, it’s flabby grey meat covered in bread that Americans try to make edible via gravy.
11: Marmite
Marmite is a sticky paste made from yeast extract. Though many in the UK have an obsession with it (there was a full-blown Marmite crisis in 2016), its taste can be offputting to foreigners. Salty, yeasty, and sort of soy-sauce-y, Marmite is one topping that Americans refuse to embrace.
12: Cheez-Wiz
Americans are capable of making incredible cheese, but the canned versions terrify many Englanders. Cheez-Wiz may be a favorite for some US citizens, but few British will ever understand it.
13: Rice Pudding
Rice is a staple in many US households. We enjoy making pilafs, fried rice, and even rice casseroles. However, cooking rice until it’s a mushy pudding is something many Americans will leave to the British.
14: Root Beer
Many Americans enjoy a cold glass of root beer now and then, especially if it’s topped with a scoop of ice cream. In the UK, though, root beer isn’t a thing, and many Brits find they’re not too sure about its taste.
15: Stargazy Pie
Fish heads sticking out of a pie crust are the stuff of American fears. The British can keep this classic dish, which consists of baked anchovies “gazing at the stars.”
16: Twinkies
When Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, filed for bankruptcy in 2012, many Americans thought the end times had come. But the British weren’t sure why. After trying these marshmallow-filled treats, many Brits say they’re not impressed.
17: Chocolate Bourbons
Chocolate bourbons are sandwich biscuits (in American English, that means “cookies”) with chocolate filling. However, they’re not that sweet, which makes Americans wonder why anyone would eat them.
18: Hershey’s Chocolate
Brits love chocolate, but not the American variety. Many say Hershey’s bars are the worst of the worst, noting that they seem almost acidic rather than creamy and rich.
19: Liquorice Allsorts
The Brits can keep their Liquorice allsorts all to themselves, thank you very much. These assorted licorice candies look appealing with their brightly colored decorations and adorable shapes. However, they taste distinctly of aniseed, a flavor that many Americans hate.
20: White Bread
People from the UK prefer to stay far, far away from the bread aisle of American supermarkets. In their opinion, American breads are just too sweet. Some might even go so far as to say our white bread varieties taste closer to cake than bread. Such folks clearly have never tried white American cake.
21: Kool-Aid
In America, Kool-Aid reminds many of childhood summers. But the nostalgic fruity drink isn’t well-received in the UK, with some feeling that Kool-Aid tastes like pure chemicals.
22: Spotted Dog
Steamed pudding made with beef fat and dried fruit isn’t what Americans think of when they hear someone say “dessert.” It’s safe to say the British classic, spotted dog, isn’t making its way onto American menus anytime soon.
23: American Casseroles
From chicken to tuna to pineapple, Americans have found a way to put almost every ingredient in casserole form, much to the dismay of the British. Brits are all for putting strange things in pies, but once it’s in a casserole dish, they’re usually no longer interested.
24: White Pudding
White pudding is simply black pudding without the blood. While bloodless sausage may be an improvement in the eyes of many Americans, they’re not exactly lining up to try this British classic.
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