Foodie Differences

I teach college freshmen who have only been in this country a few weeks. They are straight form China and still are feeling their way around American ways . This also applies to their eating habits as well. I found out today via a discussion that they are not used to American cooking. We may have some yummy dishes but they're still hard to swallow.


The one thing that impressed them was that our food is too soft. I heard this also from an Italian cousin who visited me int he early 1980's. The food , especially the bread was too gooey and gummy, not like the crusty loves she was used to . My students have a similar complaint about chicken. It's too mushy for them although this could be that they're eating cafeteria food. That can skew your idea of it (again this was the same cafeteria that made me gain the "Freshman Fifteen" back in the late Seventies obviously my alma mater went downhill food wise). Other foods are too bland or too salty. Again I'm sensing a matter of mass produced service style food. They didn't have too many growls when we ate at New York's hard Rock Cafe a few weeks back.

Chinese food here is not going to be the same as it is back home for them either. I know from a Chinese colleague , that about a cup of sugar is dumped into some Chinese American dishes to make it more appealing to our palates. (this doesn't say much about us). The kids want food that doesn't have the weird colored sauces or overly flavored recipes. They want fresh as I can see when I teach their morning class. They are always noshing on fresh cut pineapple or apples ,. I don't see any American students with that.

There is a world of differences right now between us. One of them is food. In a few years, I know, that gap will be somewhat closed. They'll experience pizza and cupcakes, sloppy joes and chocolate shakes. For now though they may be here but their palates are back in their homeland.