I just had the best time looking through old photos of Queen Elizabeth II interacting with the Obamas. The Obamas were just good with almost everybody. I personally believe that QEII had a great deal of affection for Michelle personally, and that they enjoyed a warm friendship which was probably unlike what QEII had with past (and present) FLOTUSes. The Obamas traveled to Great Britain soon after Barack Obama’s first inauguration, and the Queen welcomed the Obamas into her homes many times over the course of his eight years in office. One of those times, the Obamas had a “sleepover” at Buckingham Palace. For real! And when Michelle appeared at a Klick Health event this week in New York, she ended up talking about royalty and the sleepover and how the Queen likes to be treated.
Michelle Obama has opened up about her experience of a ‘sleepover’ at Buckingham Palace, after being hosted by the Queen on a state visit in 2011. Speaking at a MUSE event, hosted by Klick Health in New York, the former First Lady revealed that she wasn’t nervous as she’d already built up a rapport with the royals.
‘I think by the time we had the sleepover we had enough interacting with them,’ Michelle, 54, explained. ‘The surprising thing is folks wanted to be treated normally. Everybody is happy when all the people are gone. They want to be hugged. They want to be touched. They gossip.’
When asked if the cooking was better at the White House or Buckingham Palace, Michelle came out in support of her former home.
‘I don’t want to insult anybody, American food is just better,’ she said, adding that the Queen has ‘better china’. ‘Everything is gold. We had seen the gold room – there’s a room where they keep all the gold. It was Sasha’s birthday and the Queen opened the house and she let us see that room. During the state banquet, the plate that I thought was the charger, that was the plate. They put food on the gold charger.’
At first I thought “maybe Michelle doesn’t care for the royal-specific bland British food,” because the Queen allegedly doesn’t like a lot of spice, seasoning or salt in or on her food. But I really do think that Michelle probably just prefers the wide array of food you can get in America, spice or no spice, and she associated “British food” with what she was served at all of those British state dinners and such (reportedly, lamb is always on the menu at official British functions). As for the Queen’s gold room… my lord. Imagine being led to the Queen’s Gold Room and being told, “this is where we keep all the gold.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
She is too good for this world.
Ah but American food can’t compare to European food.
To her credit, American food, in an idealized sense, it meant to be global- a “best of” so to speak. I think there are many palatable and sensual foods around the world, but I could eat fresh homemade Mexican food everyday.
You can eat food from many different countries in Europe too.
American food cant compare to any continents food, period. Australia maybe. Sorry Aussies❤️
Australia doesn’t really have a food that is Australian, food is taken from other cultures. America is known for REALLY bad coffee and copious amounts of sugar, salt, canned cheese (I have never seen that anywhere else in the world) and deep fried anything. But just like anywhere else in the world it depends on where you choose to eat. You could eat at Panda Express or Acquerello, two entirely different experiences. In Australia you could decide to eat at the local RSL Club or any of the restaurants along Lygon Street, again different experiences. I guess it depends on whether you want to eat and go, or go out for a meal. I also think it is what your palate gets used to. I have never been comfortable with food in El Salvador because of the salt levels, but they love it. To each his own.
Aussies eat beet root on everything. And pumpkin too— don’t forget vegemite in ryvita. I love Aussie snack time!
Eh? Australia has a top class multicultural food and wine culture, so I’m not sure what you mean, or if you actually know what you’re talking about. As for Michelle believing American food is better is also a fairly large and not very accurate generalisation.
America can take some credit to loads of sugar, but other countries should win that catagory. We have the association, but it’s not as deserved. I’m looking at you UK and the 90%sugar 10% chocolate candy bars.
If she’s comparing traditional British food, ok. But… France, Italy and OMG Japan! Kyoto, with about a population of a million, has about 110 or so Michelin starred restaurants. Some of them are hole-in-the-wall noodle places. The downside of that is that Japanese food almost anywhere else afterwards is guaranteed to be a disappointment.
Thank you. And frankly old-fashioned, homemade British food is also extremely good. Just depends on who’s doing the cooking.
@daffodil No, it’s not.
@the better bella.
AMEN to that!
Or Indian – It is definitely the BEST food in the world!
Bless you girl, I’m Indian and even I don’t feel that way! LOL.
Dude, my faves are always Indian (Northern or Southern, both are divine), Thai, Tex Mex, and Greek… then Vietnamese and pizza, and any place that serves Turkish coffee. There are so may wonderful cuisines to try.
some american food is really great and worth mentioning in a global discussion – southern soul food cooking is AMAZING, and so is tex-mex, but any american food coming from, say, the midwest is probably going to be bland. (i say this as a life-long midwesterner, it’s boring and beige. we make tater tot hot dish FFS.)
now TRUE AMERICAN FOOD, made by the first americans, that is not mentioned nearly enough. there’s a local chef here who is native and serves very local, very seasonal food made with pre-colonial ingredients that were around from before europeans ever arrived. he is called the sioux chef, you can look him and some of his recipes up (he put a book out recently), very interesting stuff!
The Smithsonian Native American museum has an award winning cafe that serves examples of inspired food from the different regional tribes. It was good and an education.
The midwest thing is very true. There are entire websites devoted to the weird bland ass food of the midwest which is basically casseroles and mayonaise on everything.
As a french : LOL. major LOL to that quote
ps: and Italy is my second home (not italian but my parents livre there)… so add some extra LOL here
As a Canadian who has lived in Montreal and travelled extensively in France and Italy (and the US) – Hahahaha, she’s funny! As if!
She was asked to compare the White House food to buckingham palace. She’s not comparing American food to the whole world, or even US to U.K. Not sure why you’re bring French or Italian into this.
THANK YOU, Red!
It seems everyone is trying to twist what she actually was saying.
as a Brit, agreed
what does france or italy have to do with michelle comparing white house food/american to buckingham palace/british food??
@Olive:
because she did say “american food is better” and that implies on another level that american food is better just as “better”
@Truthful context matters. she was asked SPECIFICALLY about the food at buckingham palace, and she replied that american food is better. so all she said was that american better than the food at buckingham palace. she never mentioned any other country. don’t extrapolate a simple statement.
@olive: her generalisation implied to the extrapolation.. and I do what I want… a bit like you with my interpretation.
I felt upset when i read the title too, then I saw the queen photo. Ho well, fair enough
I don’t know. I’ll take French food any day.
Better than French and Italian food??
exactly! sight
there is nothing better than Italian pasta or French pastries. Americans can try but nothing will come close
What if you aren’t fond of pasta or pastries? Give me savories from all over the world ( but please keep your brain, eyeballs, testicles, veal and escargot to yourselves 😉)!!
Escargots = life. Mmmm!
If you read the article, you’ll see that is irrelevant. She was asked about food at the White House v. Buckingham Palace.
When she had dinner states in Italy she asked to take with her what was left. That is pretty common in restaurants I know, but in Italy we are not that used, and it made a lot of fuzz in the press, I thougt it was nice, and that she really had appreciated the food.
Lol at the assumption that the ‘wide array of food’ is limited to the US – We have a pretty fing ‘wide array’ of food in the UK, too. I’m actually struggling to think of food you can get in the US but can’t get here…the list so far starts and ends with ‘good mexican’, but feel free to add to it. Plus we are a stones throw from some of the yummiest Italian/French/Spanish produce…which as much as I crave Americana, you can’t really compare.
Although I will admit, the brits don’t know how to do BBQ or fried chicken (says the southern transplant to the UK #sadface). You can get it here but it’s either expensive or mediocre.
Now I want to know what Liz fed them!
I agree about the BBQ – it’s not great here, which is why I don’t really like it. Having someone cook it for me on an actual BBQ, US-style, has made a huge difference.
my friend moved to the UK more than a decade ago and she still misses american style shredded and fried breakfast hashbrowns. she can never find them in any restaurant.
one thing the UK does better is kebabs! those just aren’t a thing here. too bad.
I think you’re right, it’s the southern specialties that you can’t get here. I like New Orleans food in particular. Galatoires did a pop-up at the Colony Grill Room when the Saints came to play at Wembley and I would have eaten there every night if my husband had let me.
But of course, you can’t get a proper fried breakfast in the US. (The kind with black pudding, normal sausages, fried tomatoes and proper rashers of bacon).
I’m from LA and have been living in London for going on 10 years now. Other than small gourmet pop-ups and food trucks in trendy hipster neighborhoods, you will NOT find ethnic food like you do in Southern California: Vietnamese, Korean, Mexican, Ethiopian, Thai, Japanese (sushi specifically), the list goes on. My very British husband loves visiting the U.S. specifically for the food!
Deens, I live in LA and you speak the truth. I adore the variety that we have here. We are blessed to have so many immigrants who have come to our city from all over the world and share their food with us. When you come back to visit LA, you’ll need to try out all of the amazing authentic Japanese Ramen places that have sprung up in the past few years. Broth that has been simmered for 60 hours! 😀
There are also a lot of restaurants from second generation immigrants, who honor the traditional but then mix it with other styles to create something exciting and new. I have always felt that when you learn about a communities food, you also get an opportunity to learn about their culture. It is a beautiful thing.
Just in general in my opinion, The West Coast own Mexican and some of the Asian, Japanese and Korean in particular. Just because there are so many immigrants from there in that region. I love the noodle houses and from scratch authentic Mexican beyond the usual tacos. Vietnamese too. Chinese is better in New York because of Chinatown and Indian and Turkish.
New York has more all around, but I can never get Italian or French food anywhere else in the US that is as good. Or Greek and Caribbean though Miami is close. They don’t have any Carribean on the West Coast worth anything or Cuban or South American. Miami. Period. Chicago has a lot of Polish and Eastern European places that are great. NYC has Russian.
But forget Cajun/Creole outside of Southern Lousiana. New Orleans has so many good places to eat it is impossible to pack them all in. I learned a vegan collard green recipe there that everyone loves when I make it.
I made myself hungry. lol
@DEENS: I used to go for Thai about once a week when I lived in London. For Mexican street food, try Wahaca and in particular the Pork Pibil which is to die for and exactly what I remembered from the Mexican street food vendors. I never did find a decent Japanese that wasn’t ridiculously expensive (ie: Nobu), but there were plenty of those “conveyer belt” type places around. That said, if I was hunting an authentic Japanese, I’d be looking around the shopping districts where Vuitton and Hermes etc are. And near wherever the Japanese embassy is. Ditto for Korean.
There’s lots of good sushi in London (Araki etc). It just costs a fortune. I agree that you can’t get good east Asian food (beyond Chinese food) cheaply like you can in LA, but you can get much better Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi food cheaply in the UK than you can in most place in the US.
There are so many sushi spots in London. In fact, every cuisine you listed can be found here.
@Deens, If you think you can’t find many (and there are so many) different types of restaurants in London, you really need to get out more.
Exactly. Lots of restaurants in Europe with food from many different countries.
Love ya Michelle, but American food comes nowhere close to the sphere in which Malaysian food resides. In fact, no Western cuisine does!
Yum! Here in Australia, we have beautiful food from absolutely everywhere. Thanks to our wonderful multicultural society, and the enterprising migrants who rolled up their sleeves and got to it, we can enjoy delicious, authentic food from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. In my suburb, we have my absolute favourite take away – Malaysian. I say “take away” because it’s practically impossible to ever get a table in the small restaurant, so we have it at home. I’m lucky to be part of a big multi-cultural family, too. What started out as one Sardinian family migrating to Australia, has ended up with the family welcoming wives and husbands from Spain, Portugal, India, New Zealand, Laos, Hungary, Cambodia, Denmark…and a couple of Australians. I’ll leave you all to just imagine the array of delicious food at our get-togethers…
Wow Anna, you sound like the luckiest person in the world! To be able to be in such close proximity to all these different cultures, traditions and cuisines – that’s a dream come true for me!
I will agree with that… variety is the spice of life! Are you in Sydney??
yea they room that shows where all the booty they stole and pillaged to get. ….
The Us has dnever ne the same. Many cultures within countries have developed ne the same. No excuses, but it is a fact of history.
Those smiles seem really genuine, we’re having a good time together smiles instead of we must pose for a formal press release photo smiles.
I would love be to have seen Sasha’s little face when she saw the gold room.
She didn’t say best in the world. She said American food is better than British.
Meant as reply to those who think she said American food was “best”, not “better” than Buckingham. Also, I miss the Clintons and the Obamas in the WH. When will this National Nightmare be over?
When can we all debate the merits of an “i Donald” biopic about 5 years into the future.
I’m French and while I appreciate some American food I don’t think it’s better than what we have here and in many European countries. Some of my Asian friends cook delicious things too. I’m not patriotic about food anyway so to each their own.
Exactly! word to everything (other european food and asia… and north african)
a fellow french
Yep ! Another fellow French 😉
Oui, bien sur!!
One of the best things about traveling is getting a chance to taste food in their native countries. It is always different, and I like tasting local specialties that don’t get exported.
I can’t be as strict about vegan as I am at home because in some places it isn’t available. I try to stay at least as close to vegetarian as possible, but if someone invites me into their home in some countries, it would be rude to decline. Or to make demands when someone is being kind and trying to be welcoming. It makes a person sound like a spoiled haughty first world brat.
I love it all. I went to New Orleans and had food that was decidedly Southern with French, Spanish, Italian, influences and was in absolute raptures. I’ve lived in France, and traveled in Italy, and had wonderful, unforgettable repasts. I love Indian food and cook Indian at home, or try to approximate it, and for me it’s also in the top in terms of best. I dearly love Middle Eastern spreads and African tagines. I could never choose. There’s something to love in all parts of the world. When in the mood there’s nothing better than a perfect roast beef, Yorkshire pud, and my English grandfather’s mashed potatoes made my potatoes simmered in cream and milk. And then there’s New Mexican cuisine with its roasted green chiles and earthy red chile, and the mother sauces and almighty corn from Mexico, and there’s delicate and complex Cantonese, and Russian Borscht, and it goes on and on. The greatest thing about American food is it comes from everywhere in the world. Good food is love.
The very best meals of my life have been in Paris. Guy Savoy, l’Atelier du Parc, etc.
I mean, maybe she didn’t like the food at Bucks Palace – it always sounds way too stuffy for me. I’m not a fan of the “this country’s food is better than this country’s food” mentality.
Food is cultural expression, identity, love. Food is awesome. Let’s focus more on sharing food and less on putting others down.
Every culture has some delicious and not so delicious foods. I’m happy to be exposed to all! Seems a strange thing to be offended by.
Am I the only one who gets she’s comparing American and British food only? She didn’t say anything about French or Italian food. She’s talking about the White House vs. Buckingham Palace. I swear reading comprehension is dying.
I think so, that she was comparing British and American.
French and Italian are without a doubt better than American food. And way better than British. JMHO.
Agreed! Italian is my favorite out of those four!
You’re totally right. Jeez. And what if, as former FLOTUS, she had said that the food was better at BP than what she got at WH? She would never make that kind of faux pas.
You are 100% right. Nowhere did she say American food was the best in the world. She was asked if the food at the White House or Buck Palace was better. I think the French and Italians in the thread can stop inserting their cuisines now.
I read the menus of the food BP serves and it’s rather subpar. Sometimes the dessert is vanilla ice cream. How bland is that?
@cookiejar Seriously lol.
Yes, of course. The responses are very strange.
I think it’s because the quote is that when she was asked if the White House or Buckingham Palace had better cooking she said “American food is just better”. She didn’t say I prefer the White House, she said American. That’s why. And I suspect the responses are because non-Americans get pretty tired of the US’s need to tell everyone how they think they’re the best at everything. Americans may not realize it, but that’s the perception a lot of the time.
I think most read the title and not the actual write up.
She wasn’t even comparing British vs American as a whole, it was specifically The White House vs Buckingham Palace. Maybe the WH has better, more experienced chefs? Esp since HM seems to like a routine in her meals.
The Queen is NOT a foodie, and hasn’t bothered with getting good chefs for her household. Food at Buckingham Palace has had a reputation for being bland for decades.
She also has a list of things she will not eat. Potatoes being one, can’t remember the rest.
Michelle had no choice. If she had said anything that even remotely implied the inferiority of American food, she would have been roasted, tarred, and feathered by the MAGA deplorables ad infinitum.
Exactly. If she says anything else, people will talk about how she hates America.
This. She is a former First Lady, folks.
I can also imagine what would happen if Melania said the same thing. People would be offended and lose their damn minds. It’s just her opinion.
Every time she or Barack speak anywhere; it makes me miss them so much. And It really seems like the Royal family likes the Obamas a lot. That makes me smile for some reason. Especially when I think about the Queen and Michelle.
Portuguese food is one of the best, as a portuguese i am very proud and love our cuisine. And we eat real fish not only sushi or fried fish. Americans have so much fried stuf!
Not really.
Can I ask you what did you tried? What did you not like?
Word, brazilian food is 10x better. Actually most of north and south american food is better than their former colonizers’.
Well I’m American and I rarely have “fried stuff” and often eat “real fish”.
Good for your pride in your country’s cuisine! I have tried salted fish and Portuguese breads, as well as Portuguese wine, and well it has all been good, it hasn’t been great. Maybe I’m missing out on something fabulous?! What is a good Portuguese dish I should try?
Seafood rice and seafood soup.
Just avoid anything with salted cod. That thing is vile. Feels like dental floss. Other things to avoid (IMO): “feijoada” and “cozido a portuguesa”. They both utter garbage and as a kid, with my patents trying (and failing) to force to like those “dishes”, made my life hell.
(also Portuguese)
Oh yes!! Portuguese food is amazing… I think of pasteis de nata, and I can only drool 😉
I am from East Africa but i have a lot of cousins who were born and raised in the US so they identify as African Americans and that is how they are culturaly i guess. I have to say whenever i am able to go visit i cannot understand the SOUL FOOD to me its just confusion on a plate…mac and cheese, with greens cooked with bacon,waffles with chicken? I guess to each their own but i do think it is because through the years they lost their identity about their food through slavery so had to make up something to call their own.
Very true. I come from Mauritius, where we have a mix of so many cultures (indian, chinese, african, white) but those of us who are the descendants of the slaves, do not have our own cuisines. It was just one of the many things taken away from them and it’s very hard to get back.
East African here.
Let me tell you about the first time i ate pizza……😐🤐🙁😔😝
But decades in blighty and now i love it.
I’m still not there with anything American especially Soul food.
Haha.
I think you would like Louisiana cuisine since it is a mix of heavily French but also Haitian, African and Spanish influenced. Rich and spicy and savory. Lots of flavors.
When it is made well it is simply delicious.
As a European living in USA I can attest American food is horrible. And there’s zero eating culture.
This is so funny to me, because it is not at all what I have experienced, as an American of immigrant parents, living in a very food-oriented neck of the woods. But America is a huge country, with such a wide variety of cuisines…. it’s like saying, I don’t like European food. What does “European food” even mean? And it’s a running joke in my (fairly typically American) family that we spend all of our time eating, cooking, and/or talking about food.
I do think food preferences are so personal, and in many ways also so emotional, that it’s to be expected that many or most people will have nostalgic preferences for the kind of food they are most used to. (Yes, I’m saying you and Michelle Obama are equally parochial in your tastes, and probably for the same reasons, so the superior attitude is amusing :)).
“I don’t like European food. What does “European food” even mean? ‘”
no meaning indeed. Br-ecause Europe is not a country but a whole continent… while america is…
Its a nice way to praise the time she had in UK without letting home country down.
But on topic, Indian Food is the best and french desserts + Mexican food can come to second place. 😋😋
Whats “american food”? buffalo?
@QueenB
To me, American food means blend of many different cultures, influenced by countless immigrants from every corner of the world over a long period of time.
No need to trash each other’s food, like I see in the comments here, in every group of people, there is good and bad and a lot of “between”.
So, there is good and bad food in America and also a lot of between.
I had great food and bad food in Indonesia, also in France, Spain, Vietnam, Australia, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Canada and other places.
And a lot of between!
Lol
I have no idea either except regional food like Creole; New Orleans has great food everywhere. BBQ, Tex Mex, Pacific Rim out west, etc. There are so many ethnic restaurants opened by people from all over the world I wonder where some of the posters are eating. Not in a snarky way but I am genuinely curious what they think of as American.
It all depends on the ability of the chef and the quality of the ingredients.
You can get bad, bland food anywhere.
@ashby & @magnoliarose – good point
New Orleans has some of the best damn food I’ve ever eaten!
I have lived in many countries (brazil, us, canada and germany) and so far, for me, nothing compares to brazilian food, fresh and flavorful (US was the worst of the list, so processed and unhealthy). But it’s also something very ingrained in a person’s culture I believe.
Is she crazy?
When I’ve been to America the food options were absolute crud unless it was NYC. You can walk into a lot of places and get really good food, especially the pizza. But walk into any city or village and the UK and you can get the best handpies, puddings and roasts of your entire life. In fact you will have the best breakfast of your life at any generic hotel in the UK. Not only that but the Indian food in the UK is off the hook.
British pudding is a mystery to me.
It makes me so happy to read about their sleepover! It’s great when leaders of nations have a sincere, personal rapport with one another. Gives one hope!
I was thinking the same thing!
I assume by ‘American food’ she meant ‘food available/prepared at the White House’ since that was the specific context she was speaking in (WH food vs Buckingham Palace food) and also the WH was her home for eight years.
idk why we need to jump in with the ‘how dare you!’s here, she’s not implying food from non-American countries is inferior.
American regional dishes amaze me with their flavor and variety. Whatever the country I am fascinated by what people are able to do with local fare.
When I go to Louisiana, it is harder since I am a vegan now but back in the old days I would just love going for the food alone. My Mamere is a good cook, but my aunt takes it to another level. All sorts of Cajun and Creole and she makes up her dishes. Her bread pudding was heavenly.
🙁
Unfortunately, I am not sure when I will see any of them again. Except for Mamere. The election broke the family for good.
@magnoliarose – aw, sorry to hear about the rift in your family over politics. It reminds me of when Quebec was voting on whether to separate from Canada – families broke up and stopped speaking after that too. It’s tough when that happens.
@magnoliarose i was really sorry to hear that the election divided your family. Politics are just one facet of life and unless someone’s opinion is incredibly offensive and continuously pushed at you, surely there must be a way for your family to heal this rift
@Redgrl
I had no idea it got that heated! I sympathize with them. It is a painful thing to experience. When was that exactly? I feel like this has been an issue for Quebec for ages.
@MRSBump
I wish we could, but there were already strains. This just seemed to bring out the worst in some of my relatives, and some of them are openly bigots now. Others are not vocal and would get angry if you said they were racists but they won’t listen to anything anyone tells them if it is not on Fox. Then there are those who have woken up and are over it, but they don’t want to upset the others, so they just stay distant. I hope some of us can connect one day again, but I won’t count on it. One of my Uncles said some vile racist, hateful stuff that can’t be taken back, so I am fine with him being out of my life.
@magnoliarose – the first referendum was in 1980. The second was 1994/95. The Quiet Revolution that sparked the independence movement began in the 1960’s when Quebec became increasingly secular. Support for independence in Quebec is fairly low right now. Bilingualism has increased (unfortunately not everywhere in Canada) and I think a lot of inter marriages that have brought French, English and other cultures’ families together has helped foster understanding. There are still some unpleasant undercurrents on both sides but it’s much more open now imo.
I disagree wholeheartedly with Michelle Obama.
You disagree on her personal opinion that she found the White House food better than the food she was served at Buckingham Palace?
On the idea that American food is better, if taken to mean the best in the world. Better than Buckhimham Palace? Perhaps.
Asiyah- but that wasn’t what she said, never said it was the best in the world. She distinctly said White House vs. Buckingham Palace, so I wouldn’t take it to mean anything other than that. She then said how the dishes at B.P. were better.
I laughed, but as a half-Scot, she’s right. British food can be downright weird.
I gotta disagree with her on this one… American food is basically a watered down version of other cuisines…or just straight up junk food.
Without american food the rest of the world would never have tasted potatoes, tomatoes, beans, squash, peppers, vanilla, chocolate, corn, pineapples, peanuts, etc…
How rude..
“I don’t want to insult anybody…” que everyone here getting their panties in a twist! Food preference is a personal choice not the end all be all matter of fact. I prefer Asian food, my husband loves Mexican and we both think the other has it wrong. Geez
I agree w/ her wholeheartedly. I love food from other countries, but I’d take a plate of my grandmother’s collard greens, candied yams, cornbread, and fried chicken/meat loaf any day of the week.
Quite a bit of drama over a mild statement. I thought she was being more than a little tongue in cheek and nodding to the fact that people are generally happier with their familiar native cuisine.
Oy, these comments. I thought CB’s had better reading comprehension – she was asked between two specific things, and she answered with one of the two choices. Such smug and condescending responses from people who didn’t even understand the question.
What are folks getting their pants twisted in knots for? Michelle compared WH vs BP cooking, NOT worldwide quisines. Read the article in all its entirety before making rude comments.
I’m going to be boring for a moment and just say that food snobbery confuses the heck out of me.
Food is an experience. I’m sure you can debate and argue about which cuisine from which part of the world is “better” but if that’s what you’re limiting your opinion to, then I’m afraid you’re not actually all that much of a connoisseur as you think you are. You’re just in it for yet another pointless exercise of one-upmanship.
Ok, as a person from Europe living in the US, she has a point. Europeans have better food quality (America has looser regulations) and Europeans do their own regional food better, but Europeans are not very good at doing other cultures foods. Like obviously, I would rather have French food in France and Italian food in Italy. But say I am in either of those places and craving curry or love mein or sushi? It will be somewhere between mediocre to terrible. Big cities you might be able to find something, but only if that city has a large population of immigrants and only for the cuisine of those immigrants. The last time I lived in Europe I spent a year trying to find a decent Mexican restaurant. Never found it. And if I have never found Indian food that was actually spicy in Europe.
So I do see her point. IMO, America has a wider range of decent cuisines from different countries while other countries do their own cuisine much better, but seriously lack in other cultures cuisines. But that’s just from my experience.
@veros – interesting point – and looking back I had the best shawarma of my life at a hole-in-the-wall in Paris!
I had Turkish and Vietnamese in Paris that was insane how good it was. I tend to eat the food of the country more though.
Just wait until we have American chlorinated chicken. How wonderful is Brexit.
I’ve been to over 30 major European centres and even more smaller European centres, and all I do is explore the food. The food is multi-ethnic and delicious there, too. You might get, say, more good Turkish in Germany and more good Indian in England and more good Persian in Norway because of critical mass, but I’ve had shit Turkish and shit Indian and shit Persian in North America, too.
It’s restaurant-dependant, not country-dependant, ffs.
One of my college friends was from Portugal and she loathed American food. But the one thing she appreciated? Brownies. lol I thought that was kind of cute.
That is. My niece showed me a You Tube series where people from other countries try junk food and candy from other cultures and the reactions are hilarious. I think they do more serious dishes too though.
There was one where Indians had to eat American junk food. One man simply said I think I am going to die. lol
I hate junk food too so I could feel his pain.
I think the grocery stores in England are far better than those in the States, excluding places like Whole Foods, etc. Your general Walmart, Publix, Stop & Shop, Kroger, etc can’t hold a candle to even the dinkiest Sainsbury’s. This relates to the quality of the food, which in England is better too, although the selections are smaller. Almost everything is local from GB; Scotch Beef and Salmon, British chicken, lamb, duck, gammon. British cheeses and Irish butters. Far fewer processed foods, and only tiny amounts of space devoted to junk foods.
But the meals are bland and boring, she’s right about that. The spices, sauces and flavorings aren’t nearly as various as in the States. The vast amount of international options in stores and restaurants in the States just aren’t available in England. There’s only one Mexican restaurant in like a 40 mile radius where I live, and that sucks hard. And what Brits choose to make from their food isn’t the most appealing to me. But I’m sure they could say the same about Americans.
Hate to say it, but the most unappealing food I’ve ever eaten was in Greece. My grandfather emigrated from Greece and I grew up eating Med. food. But still, what they served in restaurants in the Greek Isles was barely edible for me. I just ended up eating salads mostly.
Its crazy how food is so subjective. I’m not Greek but I would jump on a plane and go back to Athens right now just for the food.
British food is super boring though. No debate there. 🙂
Waitrose will blow your mind.
I’ll check it out next time I’m there for sure!
She’s 100% right. Obviously food is very subjective and tastes vary from person to person.
BUT….British food ranges from bland, to boring, to ghastly. I’ve been all over the world and every country I go I seek out local food and restaurants and am never disappointed. There are places I would go again just for the food (Athens and Prague immediately come to mind) but British food? After day one you’re desperately searching for the next Indian or Thai restaurant to save you. I would never dream of wasting a meal in say, a Chinese restaurant, if I was in Beirut. I want that delicious Lebanese food. But in London? Hell I might even go to McDonald’s.
The only other country I have been too where the local food was as miserable as as England was in Russia and there its the same thing. You ask the locals to take you somewhere where you can have some delicious food and they take you out for American or German or Japanese food. They don’t offer the local cuisine because they know the score.
Really? I like Czech food but it is no different to the rest of Eastern Europe. Meat, yoghurt, cheese, beetroot. London food is as good as anywhere in the world. The difference betweeen London and New York is simple – money. You can get good food for cheap in New York, easily. You can in London too, if you know where to go. But for the most part, in both cities, you get what you pay for.
Fair enough. But keep in mind I didn’t say that you can’t find loads of delicious things to eat in London. I just think, for me personally, that those delicious things end up not being British food.
Next time you’re in London, try Kitty Fisher’s, St John, Restaurant Story, or Fera at Claridge’s. They’re all phenomenal modern British restaurants.
I’ve never been east of Arizona, so I can’t talk, except to say I love eating like a happy eater in my hometown, Sonoma, California and after 14 years, I’m still busy eating my way through famed American foodie city, Portland, Oregon.
But, I love to eat. Anywhere. With a Fox in Socks. OR some Green Eggs and Ham. We are eating funny foods today inspired by Seuss books in celebration of Dr. S’ bday.
The Obamas frequented. BBQ place where we used to live in NC. It was real, amazing food, and the place was always packed. They made Barack take a number lol
If American food were really better, neither Gordon Ramsay nor Robert Irvine would have careers.
lol! True words
Wow. That’s the stupidest thing that has ever come out of the mouth of one who normally says only insightful, intelligent and thoughtful things. I can’t even compute her logic–the woman has travelled, no?
I also hate cultural chauvinism (there’s amazing food from every culture!), and wish it wasn’t coming from her…