Americans who live abroad, what American dishes do your friends ask you to cook for them?

35 comments

  1. I wasn’t living abroad, but in college, two of my suitemates were international students and they LOVED pigs in a blanket. I made them once just out of habit during football season and they liked them so much that they had me make them basically every weekend the entire time we lived together. 

    George, Simon, if you’re out there, you owe me for about 200 dollars worth of tiny hot dogs.

  3. Not asked by a friend, but I was once in a grocery store talking to my daughter. This woman heard us talking, asked if I was American and wanted to know if I could tell her how to make really good macaroni and cheese. She specifically wanted to know what kind of cheeses she needed to buy.

    I thought that was interesting.

  4. I had a cousin who ran a “American” restaurant in Paris in the 80s and 90s. One of the things that they would do was make a somewhat traditional Thanksgiving dinner that was available in November. While some of the stuff was unusual to them most of the French were okay with it but apparently the pecan pie was just a step too far.

  6. I spent 6 months in Norway and no less than 3 separate individuals asked me if I could make cheesecake for them. This was almost 15 years ago so I’m not sure what it would be now but I had never given thought to cheesecake being special until my time over there.

  7. Visited London last year to visit family on my fiances side. We took her younger cousin with us grocery shopping at Costco, and she asked if I could make fajitas (I’m Mexican/Texan). Being not one to back down from a challenge, we gathered everything we needed and that night I cooked my ass off. The fajitas came out good, I couldn’t make beans because well I couldn’t find what I needed. None the less I made a salsa, the fajitas on their bbq pit, made some Spanish rice, guacamole etc etc. So when they call they always ask when we’re going back or when they visit they want me to make fajitas or “Texas Style” food.

  8. My friends in Bermuda love my Italian meatballs. They also like my Mexican food.

  11. This isn’t something I run into here in Canada.

    Though we did have a street taco bar for a “baby shower” after our daughter was born (she was born via surrogate so it was not a traditional shower).

    Some family came up but it was mostly neighbors and coworkers. It got rave reviews from the Canadians. Tex-Mex is a bit harder to come by here compared to in the States, and it isn’t on the home menu rotation for most Canadian families. Not even white people Tex-Mex. Indian/South Asian restaurants are much more common and fills the spicy niche.

  12. Only time I’ve been in that situation was a German language immersion class in Germany with international students, and we each had to bring a dish from our country for dinner one night. Me and the other Americans were living in a hotel for the month and didn’t have access to a kitchen so we bought Quesadillas from a Mexican restaurant down the street. Contrary to popular belief, Russians, Turks, and Koreans do not usually eat quesadillas, and they loved them 😂

  13. Not me, but my sister was visiting a friend in Slovenia who was in the peace corps. They ended up making 7-layer bean dip for the 4th of July for some Slovenian friends who insisted on it after previously loving it in the US. It was apparently a big hit the second time around as well.

  14. Man, no one is going ask me to cook for them. Just the thought would make the locals’ skin crawl at what an imposition it would be.

  16. I lived in London for a bit for an extended work project and some my coworkers were obsessed with the concept of the classic American Thanksgiving – cooking a shit ton of food, overeating, and watching football. So I hosted them for Thanksgiving, roasted a few chickens (turkeys weren’t really a thing there), cooked all the fixins, and sat around watching football after dinner. One of my favorite memories of living there.

  18. Spent a month living with a family in the UK. They loved me making simple drop biscuits with jam and butter. It was hard to make biscuits and gravy because they didn’t have the right sausage. I did it once with cut up British sausage and that was a hit.

  19. When I worked at a summer camp 8 years ago, the English boys would sneak into the dining hall at midnight and demolish the leftover pulled pork. They would beg the camp cook to make it weekly, and literally jump for joy when they saw the slowcookers being brought out.

  20. I make my foreign family american food all the time. Here are some favorites:

    Deviled eggs
    Coleslaw
    Pancakes
    Fried chicken
    Pulled pork sandwiches
    Smoked baby back ribs (any smoked meat really)

    Edit: i forgot chicken wings. Where we live they are very cheap, and nobody thinks to cook them like we do in the states.

  21. Not exactly American, but in Australia I got asked if I know how to make Mexican food. And I had to admit that I probably don’t because I live 2000 miles from Mexico and have never been there. And they were like that’s a lot fucking closer than Australia, can you try? So I made beef enchiladas and they loved them!

  22. I don’t live abroad, but when I went to Brazil, the family I stayed with asked me to bring at least two bottles of ranch dressing.

  23. not cooking but…

    in college i lived next to a Russian exchange student, so i met several Russian college students through him.

    those kids *loved* Miller High Life and The American Vodka.

    im sure everyone is familiar with Miller High Life, but The American Vodka was the most bottom shelf garbage at the store and i couldnt believe they drank it. if *Russians* thought *that* vodka was good, then Russia must have the shittiest vodka an American has ever tasted.

    now, for a cooking example:

    Ribs. Those Russians loved them some ribs lol

  25. A decent burger with American cheese and bacon and can we get some ranch dressing for these french fries?

  26. PBJ, Mac and cheese, loaded baked potatoes, BBQ. They were wild for the BBQ.

  27. Tacos are Mexican but we really really like them too and I would call them an American food too. Especially in Texas. I do not like Texas as a state but they have damn good food.

  29. Fried porkchops with mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots and brussel sprouts, and cinnamon applesauce.

    The applesauce was a huge hit one she got over the “looks like baby food.”

    Coworker was Russian and living alone at the time, so we invited her over for dinner occasionally. This was her favorite meal.

  32. When my mom visits our family abroad they always ask her to make…meat loaf…with the egg in it. You’d be surprised how fascinated people are with classic American food.

  33. Mac n Cheese, like from the box
    Roasted turkey and stuffing when we can get turkey

  34. Tacos. But not the good kind. The Old El Paso hard shell type. And also Jell-O shots. These were requests from college students in France 15 years ago 😂

  35. Made deviled eggs for a pot luck party once and it was “odd but good”. Honestly was the only time I got asked to make something so maybe it was not that good and everyone was being polite. 

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