Americans invented apple pie, and also saved it from being bad British food

[u/TeacupUmbrella]

Context: a post about how the earliest apple pie recipe we have from England had no sugar in it (since it's from the 1300s) and so they sweetened it with other fruits and such.

Yep, America invented apple pie like 400 years before America even existed, and also save it from being bad British food.

[u/BastCity]

Americans are so weirdly protective of anything they perceive to be part of their national identity, without being able to recognise the heritage of nearly all of those things resides in Europe.

[u/ChestResponsible7518 → u/BastCity]

Amerucan national identity is fully tied up in erroneously thinking that America is great. They literally have nothing else.

[u/SilverellaUK → u/ChestResponsible7518]

They are the number one nation for imprisoning their citizens.

[u/Viking18 → u/SilverellaUK]

Quantity of people who think angels are real and defense spending as well. Aside from that, bugger all.

[u/neilm1000 → u/Viking18]

Quantity of people who think angels are real

As an aside, over half of Icelanders believe in elves.

[u/letsgetawayfromhere → u/neilm1000]

That’s different, because elves aren’t angels (and vice versa).

[u/Available_Cod_6735 → u/letsgetawayfromhere]

And Elves are real. I saw a documentary with battles and everything

[u/kamizushi → u/Available_Cod_6735]

Yeah I think I saw that documentary. Something about a boxing ring. Or maybe some other kind of ring idk I wasn’t paying attention.

[u/auntie_eggma → u/kamizushi]

It was a fairy ring. They all really wanted to trip balls on mushrooms.

[u/DonChaote → u/auntie_eggma]

Understandable

[u/Worried-Ad-6593 → u/kamizushi]

It was king of the ring, where the elves anointed their ruler: Eoghan Härt

[u/Alittleholiercow → u/letsgetawayfromhere]

Plus you don't mess with the Icelandic elves.

[u/IrishViking22 → u/Alittleholiercow]

Same with Irish faeries, you never pull down a faerie tree.

[u/clusterjim → u/Alittleholiercow]

Especially with all the Trolls there too. Elves are the least to worry about.

[u/TheCubanBaron → u/Viking18]

Privately owned guns, gun crime, knife crime, violent crime, mass shootings, school shootings

[u/ChronicBuzz187 → u/Viking18]

Come on guys, that Newsroom monologue had a few more good points about the US, lets hear it :D

[u/Caddy666 → u/SilverellaUK]

yeah, but literal slavery is absolutely fine.

"The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

-source https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/13th-amendment

[u/StellaNavigante → u/SilverellaUK]

*El Salvador Entered the Chat*

[u/TopAngle7630 → u/SilverellaUK]

National Debt,

[u/moonlit_fores7 → u/SilverellaUK]

They hate the idea of the welfare state, but not too smart that their taxes are paying for the prison state, and subsidies given to all the private prison operators. Basic welfare support is so much cheaper than prisons and would reduce crime caused by poverty significantly

[u/Traelia → u/ChestResponsible7518]

And going on about their irish/german/italian ancestry all the while belittling the country of Europe. 🤣

[u/Aeroxic → u/ChestResponsible7518]

They have to convince themselves and others that they are great because it's obviously not the case, but ignorance is bliss I suppose.

[u/TheDaemonette → u/Aeroxic]

It occurs to me that in the same way that Trump is always accusing other people of doing the stuff that he is guilty of, the jingoistic American is incredibly defensive of other people 'stealing American culture' that they themselves stole off Europeans.

[u/tigerstein → u/ChestResponsible7518]

They think that Las Vegas and Disney World are the best places for a vacation.

[u/Amakenings → u/tigerstein]

Until quite recently, something like 85% of US citizens didn’t have a passport. They build facsimiles of better and more interesting places, and pretend like everything original comes from within their borders.

[u/kamizushi → u/ChestResponsible7518]

Narcissistic culture.

[u/Sad-Pop6649 → u/ChestResponsible7518]

And that's what confuses me the most about it. I like calling stuff from the US bad as much as the next person, but there really are a bunch of good things about them. They have a lot of modern day culture in music and movies and games, they're very focused on innovation, they've taken care of their natural wonders pretty well, they're often among the first to start calling out, protesting and finding solutions for societal problems (although it does of course highly depend on which problem we're talking about). It's really not like they have a shitty country. And yes, I even believe they have a kind of reasonable case for thinking they're the "best" country. I'm not saying they're the only country with such a kind of reasonable case, there are a lot of countries with decent arguments, but the US is among them.

But even more than other people a lot of Americans seem to have their heads stuck so far up their own bestness that they are convinced they are clearly the best at everything and thus America has nothing to learn from any other country and never had. They just fell out of thew sky as the perfect country on their independence day and quickly proceeded to invent apple pie, fireworks and the wheel, you're welcome world. It's like a Turkish person who insists that Hittites were clearly the direct ancestors of modern day Turks all along because they did cool stuff in Turkey* so they can't be anything else, but an entire culture of that.

Why such insecurity? Why not just let your brain admit that, okay, maybe these fire trucks are a bit on the large side?

*As a person from the Netherlands I choose to respect the age old tradition of calling countries by different names in different languages.

[u/San4311 → u/ChestResponsible7518]

I mean, they have literally been brainwashed to think like that. Their entire existence has been a struggle for independence, first from the European colonizing nation(s), then from ''the rest of the world'' through military dominance. Thats not exactly a healthy breeding ground for a rich culture.

[u/CodeFoodPixels → u/BastCity]

Unless it's the people themselves. They'll jump to call themselves Irish if their Great Grandmother's neighbour's dog once humped a leprechaun statue.

[u/Informal-Tour-8201 → u/CodeFoodPixels]

Or they ate the marshmallow bits from Lucky Charms

[u/SewBadAss → u/Informal-Tour-8201]

but they're magically delicious??

[u/Diligent-Suspect2930 → u/CodeFoodPixels]

And yet, they unironically shout about getting all migrants out of America...

[u/Terry-Shark → u/BastCity]

And also weirdly into the heritage when they are 1/2000th Irish and are visiting Dublin

[u/BastCity → u/Terry-Shark]

"I'm an Italian who has never been to Italy, but let me tell you about growing up in Alabama and how to cook pasta..."

[u/sjw_7 → u/BastCity]

I was on a cruise round the Med recently which stopped in Italy and an American started talking to me at a bar. He told me he was Italian and looking forward to going 'home'. I asked him which part of Italy he was from and he said he had never been to the country but his great grandmother was born there.

For me this was one of those 'pick your battles' moments so I didn't disagree with him and instead started talking about football and how good Italy were, at which point he realised he needed to go and bother someone else so left me alone

[u/SHIELD_Agent_47 → u/sjw_7]

He wasn't into football? lol

[u/EzeDelpo → u/BastCity]

That's from the same people that rhyme "bologna" and "pony"

[u/pixie_pie → u/EzeDelpo]

That post from the other day still makes my head hurt.

[u/SilverellaUK → u/BastCity]

I believe they call pasta "noodles" in the US.

[u/cynical-mage → u/SilverellaUK]

The first time I saw someone write 'lasagne noodles', my brain had a brief short circuit. Noodles. Noooooodles. The long wiggly stuff? Why would you put those in a lasagne?

I love all these differences 😊

[u/Burlington-bloke → u/SilverellaUK]

Pawwwwwwsta

[u/Amakenings → u/SilverellaUK]

Apparently it’s either noodles or spaghetti with a shape description. Linguine is frequently sold as thick spaghetti.

[u/Taucher1979 → u/BastCity]

Yeah they are weirdly protective of things they think of as ‘American’ while claiming to be literally Italian or Irish at the same time

[u/YogurtclosetFair5742 → u/Taucher1979]

I got into with some "American" over what is and isn't an immigrant. Their family weren't immigrant, that's now how it worked is what I was told after saying. Unless you can trace both sides of your family to the tribes of North America, you are from a family of immigrants.

They were very adamant that it didn't work that way. I'm surprised my eyes returned to normal after rolling them hard.

[u/No_Phone_6675 → u/BastCity]

With the beginning of the colonisation of the Americas the Colombian Exchange started. So the transfer and use of animals and plants happened both ways.

Apples and pears were transfered to the Americas, so their use in pies was obviously also invented in Europe. Another good example are horses, that did not exist in the Americas. Today the picture of the US cowboy is something assosiated with typical America in the whole world.

But it can also be the other way round: Potatoes are considered typical central european, and tomatoes typical mediteranean. But the first tomateos and potatoes arrived with the Colombian Exchange here in Europe, so for example the typical Roman/Italian cuisine used to be without tomatoes at all.

[u/centzon400 → u/No_Phone_6675]

horses, that did not exist in the Americas.

Oh, yes they did... they just went extinct there after the Bering Land Bridge closed, only being brought back on Spanish ships a few hundred years ago.

[u/Drezes → u/BastCity]

All the while proudly claiming Irish heritage through their great-grandfather’s cousin’s sister’s son’s neighbor’s dog-walker’s barber’s aunt, whose son once lived in Ireland for two months.

[u/FeuerLohe → u/BastCity]

Except from when they claim they are more Irish/Swedish/Italian/Younameit than people who are actually from these countries and not just their ancestors eight times removed.

[u/herefromthere → u/BastCity]

Super proud of their diversity and that they are a melting pot, without considering what they are melting and that good things can exist elsewhere.

[u/Embarrassed_Deer7686 → u/BastCity]

Tbf, that’s a lot of countries. I’ve seen Turkish and Greek people almost come to blows over who ‘created’ taramasalata. And don’t even THINK about mentioning Hummus around Gulf countries. Or spaghetti/noodles to Chinese and Italian people.

[u/Hamsternoir → u/BastCity]

Even the language that they speak.

Despite there being a clue in the name

[u/Pizzagoessplat → u/BastCity]

I'm from York and its common for me to explain that its not New York

[u/Shadowholme → u/BastCity]

The weid thing is that they insist that they 'invented' everything, denying that the food has European heritage and history - while at the same time insisting that *they themselves* are 'European' because they scored 0.1% on some dna test...

[u/Reasonable-Affect139 → u/BastCity]

see: the cracker barrel kerfuffle (minus the euro influence)

[u/LazyTissue → u/BastCity]

When exceptionalism is part of your national identity, any one who views themselves as part of that nation have to pretend that they're better otherwise their own identity gets thrown in question.

[u/bighadjoe → u/BastCity]

Without all of the bashing that sometimes happens in this sub....

They do not have a lot of original culture or national identity that they don't have to share with other countries (mostly Europe). They are a pretty young country,full of immigrants that stem from families that mostly have been there for 1 to 5 generations. There is a clear discontinuation of the culture and identity of the natives, which did not really make it into the modern US identity other than as set dressing. So yeah, they feel they have to be over protective of anything that is more or less clearly american.

[u/Jocelyn-1973]

Also, the American apple pie was based on the Dutch apple pie (15th C) which was based on the English apple pie (14th C). Also: Europeans brought apples to America.

[u/jasegro → u/Jocelyn-1973]

I’m sure those Americans would be upset by reading your comment if they weren’t functionally illiterate…

[u/Medium_Trade8371 → u/jasegro]

Hey, I'll have you know they are illiterate without actually functioning.

[u/DanTheLegoMan → u/jasegro]

[u/flopjul → u/DanTheLegoMan]

This should be the sub image

[u/SteO153 → u/Jocelyn-1973]

Europeans brought apples to America

Americans are probably taught that Johnny Appleseed invented the apple.

[u/Objective_Passion611 → u/SteO153]

I thought Apples where invented by Isaac newton??

[u/Somethingbutonreddit → u/Objective_Passion611]

No, they were invented by his school bully to have something to throw at him.

[u/Billy_Ektorp → u/Jocelyn-1973]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_pie

«The 14th century recipe collection the Forme of Cury gives a recipe including good apples, good spices, figs, raisins and pears in a cofyn, a casing of pastry. Saffron colours the filling.»

This is the earliest known written description of apple pie. But the manuscript/book (book printing was not invented yet), the Forme of Cury, has recipes from dishes with backgrounds from many countries:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forme_of_Cury

«The book has notable influences from the cuisine of several different countries. The book's relatively few vegetable and salad recipes indicate influence from the era's Spanish cuisine and Portuguese cuisine. The book's pasta recipes are clearly influenced from the era's Italian cuisine. [6] A number of the book's recipes and the syrup cooking techniques are based on the era's Arabic cuisine. They were probably derived from Sicily, where the culture still had Arabic influences. [6]»

Also, «The Forme of Cury contains a cheese and pasta casserole known as makerouns, the earliest recipe for what is now known as macaroni and cheese.[13] It was made with fresh, hand-cut pasta which was sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and cheese.»

So macaroni and cheese was known in England before Colombus went to America.

This manuscript shows that a recipe for apple pie (and a rather expensive one for the time, with imported ingredients like saffron, «good spices» and figs) was known at least by some in England in the 1300s, but it still leaves open the question where the original recipe came from - if there even was one single place of origin.

It’s possible that wherever apples were available, somebody at some point tried to use them in some kind of baked goods.

[u/marcelsmudda → u/Billy_Ektorp]

I mean, putting local fruit mixed with sugar into a dough casing (you wouldn't eat the coffin of medieval pies) and baking it shouldn't be so complex that it required a genius to do that. So, I guess that all countries with lots of apples would have had a variation of apple pie.

[u/Viseria → u/Jocelyn-1973]

Fun detail about apples, they're wide-spread because the Roman armies planted them everywhere they could. Apples originally come from the Himalayas, but they're a hardy plant and importantly you can make cider from them, so the Roman armies spread them to ensure you could always have a 'safe' drink.

[u/cloudceiling → u/Viseria]

Not quite the Himalayas, though close: the wild ancestor of all domesticated apples, a species known as Malus sieversii, came from and still grows in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan.

[u/Viseria → u/cloudceiling]

TIL! I knew they came from around Kazakhstan, but I do not know Asian mountain ranges that well and since I know China and India also laid claim to Apple origins, I (wrongly) assumed the Himalayas went that far north.

[u/Dangerous_Jacket_129 → u/Jocelyn-1973]

As a Dutchie: Most Americans aren't even aware that we founded the city now-known as New York.

[u/pepskicola → u/Jocelyn-1973]

Dutch apple pie is great!

[u/Morlakar]

I also think people boiled meat before there were people who called themselfs "english".

[u/Amblyopius → u/Morlakar]

Safe bet given meat was boiled before Britain was an island 😁

[u/yesiamclutz → u/Amblyopius]

This is one of those observations that initially looks like it can't be right, but then you think about for a moment and realise it is.

Boiled meat is older than Britian, who knew.

Wonder if beer is?

[u/LupercalLupercal → u/yesiamclutz]

The Mesopotamians invented beer, so yes, it's significantly older than Britain

[u/imightlikeyou → u/LupercalLupercal]

A quick search puts Britain becoming an island at 6100 bc, so it checks out.

[u/Miraak-Cultist → u/imightlikeyou]

Which came with the loss of doggerland, the stone age atlantis.

[u/sjw_7 → u/yesiamclutz]

The earliest evidence for fermentation is from 13,000 years ago and Britain didn't become an island until 8,000 years ago so beer is much older.

[u/Stravven → u/yesiamclutz]

Beer is one of the reasons we started agriculture.

[u/skipperseven → u/Morlakar]

But the really funny thing is as a Brit, I had never heard of a boiling a roast, which apparently is something that Americans do:
https://youtu.be/06MM1g1uOCs
Maybe it was a joke - do Americans really do this?

[u/Creepy_Tension_6164 → u/Morlakar]

Don't be crazy. No other country on the face of the planet has any form of stew.

[u/Ok-Mouse-1835 → u/Creepy_Tension_6164]

Is that what they mean by boiled meat? A stew? What's wrong with stews? Granted it's Mexican but chilli is basically a stew.

The only time I've ever boiled plain meat was chicken breast to give to the dog.

[u/elwiiing]

The English invented cooking their meat? What a win for food safety!! Am*rica could never

[u/froodydoody]

Always been such a weird phrase to me, ‘as American as apple pie’. If they had said pumpkin pie then sure, I get that. Pretty much one of the most American things I can imagine.

[u/fabulousteaparty → u/froodydoody]

Tbh, pumpkins/squash and blueberries are some of the only true "american" foods as far as I know.

The saying should be "american as pumpkin pie" or "as american as blueberry pie" !!

[u/Gorlough → u/fabulousteaparty]

as american as blueberry pie

The nordics have entered the chat.

[u/fabulousteaparty → u/Gorlough]

But the specific blueberries used in most of the world now are the american style ones.

I am aware there are other similar berries (in the UK I call them bilberries), that are blueberry-like/cousins of american bluberries but they're not what I have in my head as blueberries.

[u/Gorlough → u/fabulousteaparty]

Erm, there is an american variant of the blueberries I've been talking about, but there are genuine native blueberries all over the nordics (as well as in central europe).
The european version is Vaccinium myrtillus, whereas the north american one is Vaccinium corymbosum.

[u/ViolettaHunter → u/fabulousteaparty]

What are "American style" blueberries...? Those tasteless things with white insides that stores these days are trying to convince me are blueberries? 

[u/fabulousteaparty → u/ViolettaHunter]

Yes!!

[u/TeacupUmbrella → u/fabulousteaparty]

Well as a Canadian I'd take issue with both those things being described as American, lol. We eat them all the time 😅

[u/fabulousteaparty → u/TeacupUmbrella]

I also eat them all the time, but at least they're native to the continent, vs apples that aren't 😂

[u/cloudceiling → u/fabulousteaparty]

Plus pecans, I think, so pecan pie too.

[u/CatMillennium → u/froodydoody]

I genuinely thought the 'as American as apple pie' line was an ironic phrase used to describe something that's not actually American. Like if a tourist wears a cowboy hat to fit in an American would say they're 'as American as apple pie'.

Turns out it was serious.

[u/Over-Stop8694 → u/froodydoody]

It is very American because most so-called American things were brought over from Europe by immigrants.

[u/Tomgar]

British food getting dunked on by Americans is hilarious given how many classic "American" dishes were invented here. Enjoy your English mac and cheese!

[u/Project_Rees → u/Tomgar]

I can't think of a single 'american food' that they invented.

A symbol of american food is hamburger and fries. Neither are from america.

[u/GloomySoul69 → u/Project_Rees]

Belgians and French were laughing when Americans renamed french fries to freedom fries. 😁

[u/Project_Rees → u/GloomySoul69]

They forgot the argument of where they came from just to laugh at the americans

[u/pixie_pie → u/GloomySoul69]

2003 was weird. The rest of Europe was laughing as well.

[u/Girl-Maligned-WIP → u/GloomySoul69]

I've never in my life heard someone call them that

[u/dead_jester → u/Girl-Maligned-WIP]

It’s from about 30 years ago when the French refused to help the Americans bomb innocent people

[u/Girl-Maligned-WIP → u/dead_jester]

ah, I see. It seems similar vibeologically to the way more conservative Americans now call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America

[u/dead_jester → u/Girl-Maligned-WIP]

Yeah, US exceptionalism and arrogance

[u/pixie_pie → u/Girl-Maligned-WIP]

Were you born before or after 1996?

[u/Pricee → u/Project_Rees]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snickers_salad

Checkmate

[u/Project_Rees → u/Pricee]

Wow.... just wow.

That sounds awful.

[u/Medium_Trade8371 → u/Project_Rees]

Toxic waste cheese.

[u/Fred776 → u/Tomgar]

Macaroni cheese. When did we start with this "mac and cheese" nonsense?

[u/DoctorTarsus]

US food is just food from a round the world with added sugar.

[u/flippertyflip → u/DoctorTarsus]

And corn syrup

[u/Affectionate_Oven610 → u/DoctorTarsus]

And trans fats

[u/Greup → u/Affectionate_Oven610]

just fats, trans are banned there !

[u/WokemasterUltimate → u/Greup]

Cis fats?

[u/Ohforgawdamnfucksake → u/DoctorTarsus]

And salt.

[u/Purplemonkey78 → u/DoctorTarsus]

And preservatives

[u/YayaTheobroma]

Apple pie existed long before the USA, but never mind. That whole country is a full blown madhouse, and the worst nutjob of them all is President…

[u/Amehvafan]

Apple pie is an american symbol. Which is fitting because it's perfect symbol to represent the country that does nothing but stealing ideas and inventions from other countries, make up historical facts and then lie about history so much that they themselves start to believe it's true.

[u/MadmanDan_13]

Some Americans have a fascination with seasoning. Like they can't even consider eating anything that hasn't been caked in seasoning. Sometimes is nice to just taste the thing you are eating.

[u/Front-Anteater3776 → u/MadmanDan_13]

Powdered seasoning. Always powdered herbs.

[u/Leicsbob → u/Front-Anteater3776]

You mean 'erbs

[u/Tomgar → u/MadmanDan_13]

It's like when they all go to Italy and complain about the food being "bland" because it doesn't taste of canned tomatoes and sugar. What they're actually tasting is this thing called "ingredients."

[u/MarsupialGrand1009 → u/Tomgar]

Lots of seasoning is usually a sign for poor quality ingredients. That's why it's so funny to me when cultures that use a lot of seasoning make fun of cultures that do not. You don't need to douse it in seasoning if it is high quality ingredients.

[u/Tomgar → u/MarsupialGrand1009]

Nothing beats a meal made with simple ingredients, prepared well. My favourite foods are Japanese and Italian and both just rely on the beautiful flavours of basic ingredients and condiments.

[u/SuspiciouslyCamel → u/MadmanDan_13]

Seasoning is fine, a lot is also fine.

Problem on the US is a huge amount of seasonings are like 30-50% sugar. Those barbeque rubs etc are always full of sugar, which is why the edge of the meat always has that shiny look.

[u/Fred776 → u/SuspiciouslyCamel]

Some cuisines are based around a lot of seasoning, which is fine and I enjoy them. My issue is when they issue a blanket proclamation that food is bad unless it's been heavily seasoned. If you have good ingredients, less can be more.

[u/SuspiciouslyCamel → u/Fred776]

Oh for sure, my favourite potatoes are english roasted with salt and a bit of rosemary in the fat if I'm feeling extravagant.

Steaks are still pretty much universally seasoned just with salt for the same reason you stated.

I honestly think a lot of Americans confuse seasoning with salt/sugar levels. I was once watching one of those youtube food review channels, this guy but into an actual orange bit of chicken and complained it had no seasoning.... It had at bare minimum a truckload of cumin and paprika to get the colour it had, and I think the guy was just complaining it didn't have enough salt/sugar but didn't know how to express it, because he isn't aware of how much of those two spices he eats on a daily basis.

[u/No-Significance5659 → u/MadmanDan_13]

It never fails, if you go to any cooking video on youtube that the cook doesn't add 700 spices to the dish, one of the top comments always is "needs more seasoning". In most European cuisines, we don't use a lot of seasoning (but a lot more fresh herbs than Americans for example), we let the ingredients speak. There are great dishes with a los of seasoning but there are also plenty that are delicious with a couple of simple spices and salt.

[u/[deleted] → u/No-Significance5659]

I saw people crying about a chicken and leek pie recipe for not containing enough seasoning when it had leek (strong flavour), several herbs and salt and pepper...

The point is that the pie, y'know, tastes like the things that are in it...

[u/DoinIt989 → u/[deleted]]

I bet they didn't even wash the chicken before they put in the pie. Europeans are nasty 🤢

[u/rothcoltd → u/MadmanDan_13]

It’s because their taste buds have been destroyed by all of the rubbish they eat.

[u/lokfuhrer_ → u/MadmanDan_13]

Because it’s been washed in chemicals so tastes of nothing without seasoning. Whereas here, chicken tastes of chicken

[u/Contra1 → u/lokfuhrer_]

When I used to eat chicken I always wondered about this statement (after the matrix films), chicken always tasted like chicken to me. It never taste like nothing, but thats probably it… us chicken tastes like nothing due to all the chlorinated shit and other chemicals used to ‘wash’ it.

[u/Open-Difference5534 → u/MadmanDan_13]

The tradition reason for seasoning was to hide the taste of the poorly preserved meat.

[u/TalkingKnittedSock → u/Open-Difference5534]

Wasnt it to preserve meat in the first place? I dont think a persons stomach would handle a poorly preserved/slightly spoiled meat very well at any point of history

[u/collinsl02 → u/TalkingKnittedSock]

The main preservation methods for meat in history that I'm aware of are salt and smoking.

[u/AnnoyedOwlbear → u/collinsl02]

Salt, smoking, and drying. With low tech, your goal is to reduce H20 to make an inhospitable environment for bacteria. Many spices were originally medicinal additives that were slowly adopted. Black pepper was in England since Roman times, chilli peppers come from other areas.

Spices were too expensive to use for preserving meats - they were luxuries and frequently medicines. Herbs were in heavy use in England and Europe - herbs make beer, heal wounds, some set cheese etc. Herbs were in heavy use everywhere!

The thing a lot of US food has in my experience is sugar. A LOT of sugar, fat, and salt.

[u/WoderwickSpillsPaint → u/AnnoyedOwlbear]

Pickling is the other traditional preservation method.

I really don't understand where the yanks get the idea that we don't use spices and seasonings in England. I go through loads of the stuff, and spices are much cheaper here than in the US as well.

[u/xzanfr → u/MadmanDan_13]

I think that has a lot to do with freshness and quality. We grow a lot of our own vegetables and the taste of something as simple as a cucumber or tomato is head and sholders above supermarket food, let alone the over processed syrup that is American food.

It's sad as the USA has some fantastic growing conditions for many vegetables.

[u/Barrel_Titor]

Where does the boiled meat thing even come from? I'm british and the only time i've heard of anyone boiling meat is to cook the middle of a thick joint before roasting it. If it was a thing it must have been like WW2 era.

[u/EitherChannel4874 → u/Barrel_Titor]

Yep. WW2.

Goes to show how unoriginal and out of date these criticisms are. Typically American.

[u/ViolettaHunter → u/Barrel_Titor]

It would have been extremely common everywhere in the past before refrigeration was widespread. 

Meat was preserved in salty brine and you can't eat that straight from the barrel because it's extremely salty, so it would be boiled first to get rid of the excess salt.

[u/Kind_Ad5566]

America has just had a meltdown about Cracker Barrel, their food makes British dinners look colourful.

[u/Ok-Mouse-1835 → u/Kind_Ad5566]

Oh god. I've been there before and had something called grits. It was essentially wallpaper paste.

[u/evolveandprosper]

Yes, the first known recipe for apple pie dates back to 1381 in England. This medieval dessert was recorded in a cookbook titled The Forme of Cury.

[u/Old_Bird4748]

The first apple pie recipe was recorded in England in 1381 in the cookbook The Forme of Cury.

Last I checked, the US didn't exist then.

Pie itself? The Ancient Egyptians had that... Along with beer.

The lattice crust? Thank the dutch, who started doing that to apple pie in the 1500s.

Also, apples aren't native to the Americas, they come from Central Asia.

What did America invent? McDonald's apple pie, which is an abomination.

There are fruits and vegetables that originate from the Americas, but most of the cuisine that came from it was from either Canada, Mexico or Central or South America.

Americans themselves have invented no useful cuisine.

[u/Front-Anteater3776]

McDonalds Apple pie

[u/Gallusbizzim]

I once got into an reddit argument on The Great British Bake Off sub. They had been asked to make an American dessert, and this woman wonders why they didn't make apple pie. I told her it was a British show and Brits would say apple pie was British. She spouted American as apple pie, and I said she could use any saying she wanted Brits would be marked down on a British show for not baking what they were asked. We went back and forth until she asked if we could just both pretend we were right. I said why ask a question and not listen to the answer.

[u/Project_Rees]

Would you like some food with your seasoning?

They're so used to only tasting what is being added to their food and drinks that they're convinced its a good thing.

Fanta is a famous one, the american fanta is fluorescent orange, almost red. Have they ever seen orange juice?

[u/Weekly-Remote-3990 → u/Project_Rees]

TIL that American Fanta doesn’t even contain orange juice… just corn sirup 🤯

[u/Project_Rees → u/Weekly-Remote-3990]

I have a bottle of fanta right here. (The UK). The complete ingredients is this...

Carbonated Water, Orange Juice from Concentrate (4%), Acids (Citric Acid, Malic Acid), Sweeteners (Cyclamates, Acesulfame-K, Sucralose, Steviol Glycosides from Stevia, Neohesperidine DC), Natural Orange Flavouring with other Natural Flavourings, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Stabiliser (Guar Gum), Colour (Carotenes).

American fanta, pulled from the coca-cola website...

CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN 2% OF: CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM BENZOATE (TO PROTECT TASTE), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, GLYCEROL ESTER OF ROSIN, YELLOW 6, RED 40.

American fanta is just sugar and colours.

For an added point, although Red 40 is not outright banned in the UK or the EU, it does require a warning label saying "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children"

My preferred Orange soft drink is Orangina. These are their ingredients...

Carbonated Water, Orange Juice and other Citrus Juices from Concentrate 12% (Orange 10%, Lemon, Mandarin, Grapefruit), Pulp 2% (Orange 1%, Mandarin), Natural Orange Flavourings with other Natural Flavourings, Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose), Orange Peel Extract

[u/NotACyclopsHonest]

Any society that allows monstrosities like canned chicken into their supermarket shelves has no business criticising anyone else’s food.

[u/SSgtReaPer]

Omg I never knew apples have only been around for 250 years, learn somthing new from these americants every day

[u/JasterBobaMereel]

As American as Apple Pie - It was brought over by the British, all it's ingredients are non-native to the USA

[u/walkingmelways]

Apples. Apples?
Kazakhstan is amused by the chat.

[u/Leo_Fie]

Apples aren't even native to the americas, settlers brought them over.

[u/TheNothingAtoll]

The mindset that "something exists in my country, it gotta be from here" is so strange.

[u/Jet2work]

Americans invented very little of any consequence

[u/GreenWoodDragon]

(Some) Americans seem to have invented being ignorant about pretty much everything.

[u/CatalunyaNoEsEspanya]

The British are known for roasting everything and pouring gravy on it

[u/rheasilva]

Ah yes, apples, notably a plant that's native to the US.

[u/Richard2468]

I have to admit, they’re really good at unintentional humour. Have to give that to them.

[u/Philsie136]

Actually back to school son, there are recipes in English cook books that date back to the 14th century, now that’s older than your Cuntry, oh sorry, Country.

[u/Emile_Largo]

Chaucer wrote down an apple pie recipe in the 14th century, at a time when America was still populated by real Americans.

[u/ArmouredWankball]

The British literally had wars with the Netherlands over spices in the 18th century. The UK, as far as I know, make most of their sugar from locally grown beets.

[u/elektero]

boiled meat is my favorite meat dish and if you boil the right parts and the right animals you get a lot of taste. Sure, perhaps is not the taste that the average American like

[u/VentiKombucha]

frowns in deutscher Apfelkuchen

[u/Quicker_Fixer]

Weird to call chemical waste "Seasoning".

[u/PJozi]

Before I even read the text, I was ready to comment that they 'saved' it by adding 3x the amount of sugar than apples and pastry.

[u/X2seraphim]

The thing I noticed most when I lived there was that the equate money to intelligence Then another observation was that every other country in the world wouldn’t survive without its existence the level is f delusion and lack of basic understanding staggered me at times even with people that had masters degrees.

[u/Somethingbutonreddit]

I have never heard of boiled meat before.

[u/Minute_Classic7852]

Despite Apple Pie tracing back to late 1380 England and America being discovered 100 years after...

[u/AstroBearGaming]

Neither of those things are true, but ok Sheriff Yeehaw, you do you.

[u/DresdenMurphy]

Apple trees weren't even native to american continents. They were brought over by the ones who had used apples in many different ways, and one of those was a pie.

[u/superspur007]

Apple pie dates back to the 14th century and is English and magnificently tasty.

Unlike America which is only 250 years old and has neither magnificence nor taste.

[u/Famous_Mirror_413]

As an American, I cringe more and more every time I see the stoopid comments my fellow countrymen make... We're a nation of ignoramuses. Ugh!

[u/magg13378]

We have to agree that this is not worse than saying tacos are better in the US than in Mexico.

[u/Crivens999]

They really think we didn’t put apples in some pastry before? I mean we are famous for apples, pastry, and more importantly pies

[u/cantsingfortoffee]

I once watched Goodfellas, so I’m 100% Italian … also America invented pizza, spaghetti bolognese, and cannoli.

/s

[u/Annita79]

An apple pie woth no sugar and extra fruits for sweetness? So... a healthier version of the American (or any really) apple pie?

[u/newforestwalker]

I would expect that we were eating apple pie in europe before the indigenous races of America knew they were being invaded...

[u/Bursickle]

They didn't even have native apple trees in the USA until the settlers brought them over ... so ...

https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/horne-creek-farm/southern-heritage-apple-orchard/apple-history/origins-apples-america

[u/SlimeTempest42]

They can’t eat fruit unless it’s covered in sugar

[u/ChilliChris1]

Deep fried butter & morbid obesity are the ones that spring to mind lol!

[u/Judy__McJudgerson]

England invented America though, so......

[u/Delicious_Aside_9310]

Im so confused by the suggestion meat pies are not seasoned

[u/No-Wonder1139]

The term American as apple pie is hilarious because it's not American. I feel like it's a joke that got lost to time and people take literally.

[u/ruffianrevolution]

The English also invented amerika..

[u/WhyAnotherUserName11]

Apple pie is just apple strudel's poor cousin

[u/EquivalentMap8477]

A good example of doublethink

[u/notjordansime]

“cheerio, old chap. A pint for myself, and a bushel of unseasoned boilmeat for the misses”

[u/dwellerinthedark]

So they can keep their sweet pies. Savory pies are king. There is no planet where an apple pie (which we also have because we have lots of apples) beats a steak and ale pie. I am always shocked at how pies in the US just seem to be desserts. But then sometimes we also make pies without pastry (Sheppard's pie anyone?), so maybe the Brits shouldn't be asked for opinions on pies.

[u/hendy85]

Americans invented obesity lmao.

[u/Yorkshire_rose_84]

Omg I just had this exact conversation a few days ago. With it coming up to Labor day I was asked if I wanted to go to a gathering and I said sure, do you want me to bring something. They said American apple pie but please don’t make it yourself because British people can’t season food!! He was joking but I must get this comment weekly. “Do you only season with flour because your food is so bland?” “Can’t you afford herbs and spices in England?” (Obviously other countries in the UK don’t exist). “Why so bland?!”

I bloody love spicy food. My favourite spice is cinnamon. I make all my own sauces for food as I find jarred versions to be too sweet, yet I get the bland ass food jokes. They’ll happily sit there and yam my cookies and brownies, with my trays always being cleared before the people who apparently “invented” these things.

[u/Eastern-Ad-1667]

Not only did they not invent it the trees baring the apples where brought over in seed form.

[u/jugglegeese]

"boiled meat" this judgement coming from people that deep-fry anything? Why is sweetening naturally a bad thing? Adding tons of sugar doesn't save it. Whenever I tried a recipe from an American blog I had to cut down on so much sugar, I don't really like the taste of diabetes.

And they can't even save themselves from a fascist rotting cheeto

[u/DopazOnYouTubeDotCom]

American things:

• Fireworks (Mongolian)
  
• Hamburgers (Debatably German)
  
• Hot dogs (German)
  
• Apple pie (Dutch)
• Capitalism (Scottish)

[u/Hairy_Addendum7789]

Plastic American cheese. Now I will give them that. No one else on Earth does it like them! Congrats.

[u/Honest-School5616]

England has the oldest handwritten recipe. In the Netherlands, the first printed cookbook dates back to 1514. And it even includes an apple pie recipe. The best part is, it's being republished next month. And we can make the 16th-century recipes ourselves at home. The first appletrees arrived on the america contenent (not usa) at 1606 in Nova Scotia, Canada by the French.

[u/PresentationUpset319]

Cobblers!