Just curious if I'm the only one who thinks so. I do realize people from other countries frequent this board, so try not to be too offended!
Example: I swear I feel that anyone who longs for "authentic" Mexican food hasn't been to Mexico. The average hole-in-the-wall Mexican place in the U.S. is miles better to me than anything I know of there. Fresher food, better quality meat and veggies, more flavorful dishes.
How about Italian food? I will be hanged in effigy and laughed off the stage by many for this, but everything on this list was better to me than almost anything I had in Italy, in this order (again, just my opinion):
- Mom-and-Pop Italian
- Carrabba's
- Olive Garden
- Fazoli's $3.99 spaghetti with meat sauce (try finding something edible for that price in Rome)
- a box of Mueller's and a jar of Prego
Corner pizza places in New York City, Chicago pizzerias, hell, even Papa John's & Pizza Hut were more pleasing to my palate than any I've had in Italy. And believe me I've tried plenty both here and there.
How about Mediterranean food? In the U.S. restaurants focus on things like hummus, falafel, gyros, shawarma, grape leaves, kibbeh, rice, olives and olive oil, salads with crumbles of feta -- the best part of the cuisine. We're spared the fried liver, cabbage rolls, rancid cheese, etc. in U.S. restaurants.
We like to think American food is watered down and other food "exotic". I was expecting this when I traveled new places. But repeatedly, I found myself thinking the Americanized stuff was better.
I suppose I like to think that when it comes to food, we adopt the best the world brings to us, and try to make it a little bit better. I think it's because we're free to mess with tradition a bit to make something actually taste a little better than the original.
Or maybe it's just because I'm used to American food!
(BTW, very thankful here that I've had the opportunity to travel to other places to try foreign cuisine in the first place.)