20 American Foods That Make Complete Sense To Americans But Absolutely No Sense To Anyone Else
Marshmallows just do not belong on sweet potatoes. Sorry.
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us some things about American food that makes no sense to people in other countries, and they had a lot to say! Here are the best responses.
1. Having sweets for breakfast.
"I went to Orlando in 2013, and for the breakfast buffet, almost all they had were pastries. There was no bread, no oatmeal, no yogurt. There were, however, cinnamon rolls, brownies, banana bread, donuts, and all kinds of other sweet treats. The closest thing to what I’d consider normal breakfast food was these cereal bars, but they too are packed with more sugar than anything you can find here."
2. The food portions.
"The portions in America are massive, like what the hell lol."
3. Biscuits and gravy.
"WTF is up with that?"
4. Ethnic foods in America.
"It's Americanized. For instance, orange chicken. Original orange chicken is not the same as the American version, but I prefer the American version more. It’s savory and sweet."
5. Whipped cream.
"And having it from the can is just crazy!! It’s not that good! Especially the canned ones!"
6. The huge size of movie theater drink cups.
"They are literally the size of small barrels. Don’t understand it. Do movies make Americans thirsty????"
7. The ranch dressing obsession.
"What is it even?"
8. Chicken and waffles.
"Sorry, I don’t get it."
9. Meatloaf
"Is it just a load of random meats thrown together?!"
10. Marshmallow Fluff
"What even is that?"
11. Eating cranberry sauce with turkey.
12. Stuffing.
"I assumed you stuffed the turkey with it.. but apparently not? Then why call it stuffing?"
13. Sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.
"I'll never understand why people love it so much. Maybe it's just me, but melted candy on top of potatoes doesn't sit right with me."
14. Corn dogs.
15. Sloppy Joe sandwiches.
"What are they made from, and why do they sound revolting?"
16. The obsession with peanut butter.
"Not just the combination of PB&J (don’t get me started on jam vs. jelly either) but the sheer amount of peanut butter eaten. I had 10 American guests that ate 3kg between 9 pm and 9 am once!"
17. American bread and butter tasting super sweet.
"Why is American bread so sweet? And butter — why is it so white AND sweet?!"
18. American cheddar cheese.
"Don't call your cheddar cheddar! It's not! Proper cheddar is pale, strong tasting, and is one of the greatest foods ever. American 'cheddar' is bright orange and tastes like melted plastic!"
19. Adding milk to cream pasta sauce.
"That’s weird."
20. Finally, chocolate has more sugar than actual cacao in America.
"My dad is an immigrant, and he doesn’t understand why chocolate is so heavy with sugar. He loves the 68% cacao chocolates because it’s the closest chocolate to the one he had growing up."
Now it's your turn! In the comments below, tell us which American foods make absolutely no sense to you and why you think that way
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.