Alucard's Multi-Cultural Experience!

[TheCountAlucard]

Haldo, everybody! Tonight my college had an international cultural festival! We had people from so many different countries that I couldn't recall half of them. I had Greek lentil stew, Indian chicken curry, a Vietnamese rice dish... I got my name in Japanese on a piece of rice paper while I looked at a giant picture of Naruto, and had a bit of Mexican sweet bread. I read facts at the South African booth, and tried a bit of Irish colcannon. I don't remember the name or where it was from, but I sampled a dessert that was rather a lot like peanut brittle, only had coconut instead of peanuts. I had a Central American mango-yoghurt thingie that FLOORED MY TASTE BUDS WITH SWEET.

I also learned something very important...

European candy is superior in all but two respects to American candy:

1) It's somewhat harder to get in the U.S. :smallfrown:

2) American candy won't leave you lamenting the prospect of eating American candy. :smalltongue:

Long story short? My eyes were opened. Before, I just wanted to visit Japan. Now, I'll have to see the whole world before I'm satisfied. :smallsigh:

[Katrascythe]

I find that the food of other countries is superior to American food in almost every way. You should get some hands on some Swiss chocolate. Although you might need to get into the international section of the airport to get the good stuff (last place I could find it anyways!).

I second your vote for traveling the world and seeing (and tasting!) everything in it :D

[Don Julio Anejo]

Funny. When I saw the name of this thread, I kinda assumed you had sex with a non-American multi-cultural chick and wanted to share your experience :frown:

[Katrascythe]

Funny. When I saw the name of this thread, I kinda assumed you had sex with a non-American multi-cultural chick and wanted to share your experience :frown:

Well I guess that would be awesome, too! :D Were there any cute multi-cultural chicks that let you partake in their sexiness? ;)

[TheCountAlucard]

Well I guess that would be awesome, too! :D Were there any cute multi-cultural chicks that let you partake in their sexiness? ;)

There were cute chicks, but mostly they just stamped the "passport" that I was given at the start (if I got all the countries stamped, I was entitled to a free shirt! :smallbiggrin:), or talked to me about various stuff.

[Mauve Shirt]

Our multicultural fair was more expensive shopping and less delicious food. Also, less cultural. :smallbiggrin:
European candy > American candy, I don't think anyone can dispute that.

[Katrascythe]

Alucard - Well that's no fun. At least you're not my friend who is nice enough to hit on every single attractive female in existence (and picks up a ton of them, too....). Did you get the t-shirt???? :P

Our multicultural fair involved a lot of people from India and a few more people trying to sell you on foreign exchange. It was pretty fail. The food was terrible.

[InaVegt]

Salmiakki > all other candy and candy-like things.

[Felixaar]

If anyone ever gets a chance to try Nshima (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nshima), it has my full reccomendation.

[Jølly]

I've never had candy outside of the US. Well...there's mexican candy but I'm not fond of it. :smallannoyed:

I'll have to try to get my hands on foreign candy! :smallbiggrin:

[potatocubed]

Yeah, American candy is basically teh suck. You do, however, have the advantage in three snack areas I can think of:

1. Jelly beans.
2. Bagels.
3. Doughnuts. (Or 'donuts', if you must have it that way :smallsigh:)

The thing is, unlike jelly beans and doughnuts, which we import, you can't get proper bagels over here. If I want a cinnamon-sugar bagel I have to make my own. :smallfrown:

[banjo1985]

I don't know, the Krispy Kreme doughnuts we get over here are pretty good...they aren't English though are they? :smalleek:

I'll shut up now.

[Totally Guy]

The thing is, unlike jelly beans and doughnuts, which we import, you can't get proper bagels over here. If I want a cinnamon-sugar bagel I have to make my own. :smallfrown:

I did my work experience at the New York Bagel company offices, yeah everyone was jealous... Until I pointed out the factory is just on the outskirts of the little English City of Peterborough.

[arguskos]

Yeah, American candy is basically teh suck. You do, however, have the advantage in three snack areas I can think of:

1. Jelly beans.
2. Bagels.
3. Doughnuts. (Or 'donuts', if you must have it that way :smallsigh:)

The thing is, unlike jelly beans and doughnuts, which we import, you can't get proper bagels over here. If I want a cinnamon-sugar bagel I have to make my own. :smallfrown:
Hey, we Americans have some damn good snack foods, thank you very much. Of course... that's ALL we have. :smallannoyed: *sigh*

Also, our bagels and doughnuts are second to none, though, true English Muffins can't be had reliably over here, which is a pity, since they rock something fierce. :smallbiggrin:

On topic:

Funny. When I saw the name of this thread, I kinda assumed you had sex with a non-American multi-cultural chick and wanted to share your experience :frown:
Heh, I sorta went there too. You need to work on this idea Alucard. :smallwink:

As for cultural fairs, they're pretty neat. My high school had a large exchange student population, so our cultural fair was always interesting and fun. Lots of delicious new foods I can't remember, boatloads of strange, ethereal music I couldn't ever completely identify, and waaaaaaay more pamphlets than I could count.

[Quincunx]

Someone on this side of the pond used to know how to make donuts. There was a bakery with a window opening out to the street, and around the beginning of the year (leading up to Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/call it what you will) they installed a mini-donut fryer and sold them very fresh and very cheap, rolled in sugar. They were marvelous. Then someone noticed the area had great foot traffic, bricked up the window, and converted the bakery into Generic_Downtown_Restaurant_441. I was unhappy.

While we're going multicultural and exporting our foods, can someone start exporting the meat and training the bakers for buns for a real Philly cheesesteak? What I've had to smell in the name of that beloved food is abominable.

[EDIT: Had to dredge all the way back to middle school for memories of a multicultural fair. The Iron Curtain was coming down and Eastern Europe was in. I had trouble getting away from our school's booth, since people kept coming back for second helpings of the Easter coffeecake. Well, it was intended to feed many.]

[toasty]

Indian chicken curry

Surely you can be more specific than that? There are dozens (if not hundreds) of different kinds of chicken curries... Furthermore, what did it taste like? Sorry... I live next to india and eat very similar food to many Indians... I like my specifics. Also: did it have rice with it? Or rooti? (unleavened bread) or was it just the curry (something I find hard to imagine). If it was just the curry you are missing out... rooti (especially naan...)


Long story short? My eyes were opened. Before, I just wanted to visit Japan. Now, I'll have to see the whole world before I'm satisfied. :smallsigh:

Why does everyone want to go to Japan? I want to go to Singapore and London (though, technically I've been to each... I haven't seen enough of them).

[Anuan]

Churros. Chur-mother*expletivedeleted!*ros. CHURROS. *expletive deleted* yeah, Churros! I love Churros. For the uninformed; you know the ever-so-slightly crunchy little bit on the inner edge of a hot cinnamon donut? Imagine that, turned into a nine-inch-long stick. Dipped in melted chocolate.
For BREAKFAST.
Oh Spaaaii-iiiinnn, here I coooo-oooome...

[Katrascythe]

Hey, we Americans have some damn good snack foods, thank you very much. Of course... that's ALL we have. :smallannoyed: *sigh*

Also, our bagels and doughnuts are second to none, though, true English Muffins can't be had reliably over here, which is a pity, since they rock something fierce. :smallbiggrin:


No... no our snack foods kinda suck, too. Unless you feel like spending real money to buy something that's not actually American the food you get here blows. :P


As for cultural fairs, they're pretty neat. My high school had a large exchange student population, so our cultural fair was always interesting and fun. Lots of delicious new foods I can't remember, boatloads of strange, ethereal music I couldn't ever completely identify, and waaaaaaay more pamphlets than I could count.

Wait, this is high school? I thought it was a college multi-cultural fair. I'm special >_< Yeah my HS didn't have a fair because my high school was an embarrassment to society.

[Pepz]

Can I take a moment to plug old European candy? There's so much of it, and it's all good :smallbiggrin:. Only thing I really wish is other countries would for once apreciate liquorice :smallsigh:. We Dutchmen love it, and we want to share it with the world, but no-one wants it. Just avoid, oh my lords, avoid the liquorice shaped like cats. We (very originally) call it cat-liquorice and even we avoid it :smallbiggrin:.

Plugging being done, I love food from every continent and I'm very happy people took some time out of their lives to make my tummy happy :smallbiggrin:

[evisiron]

Heh, this thread reminds me of the international fair in Texas - I am from Northern Ireland, so had a booth giving away Cadbury's chocolate and telling people meaning of 'craic' and 'taking the piss'. :D

But oh, so many people didn't know that the Titanic was built in Belfast!

[TheCountAlucard]

I thought it was a college multi-cultural fair.
Mine was.

Oh, one other advantage of American candy over European candy: I can usually deduce what kind of candy I'm eating by reading the label. I came across this one chocolate-covered treat, only to be disappointed when I bit into it, because the interior was cranberry jelly. :smallannoyed:

[Katrascythe]

Mine was.

Oh, one other advantage of American candy over European candy: I can usually deduce what kind of candy I'm eating by reading the label. I came across this one chocolate-covered treat, only to be disappointed when I bit into it, because the interior was cranberry jelly. :smallannoyed:

Hmm yeah I've had that fun experience. It's like having a box of Russell Stover's without the lid that tells you what everything is. It doesn't help that everything over there is named "treat."

[Rutskarn]

I find that the food of other countries is superior to American food in almost every way.

This statement bears all the hallmarks of a source who has never tried Puerto Rican candy.

Okay. I know...that taste is subjective, that it's cultural, that I'm probably just a philistine. But every damn piece of candy I've ever had from Puerto Rico has been a horrifying experience.

Imagine, first, a smell that oozes even from behind the sealed wrapper, permeating your senses. A smell that can only be described, imperfectly, by postulating a bastard spawn of soiled kitty litter, the refuse of a brewery, and the lingering stench of death. A smell that does not, in any possible usage of the phrase, whet the appetite.

Then, of course, you actually put some of it in your mouth--fool that you are. The noxious bouquet of this vile confection becomes tenfold stronger before you even take a single, tiny bite/lick/taste. It seizes and throttles every taste cell, screaming dire warnings to hurl the candy away before it's too late.

Should you persist, you will be treated to a singular taste experience, as the culinary experience promised by the appetizing aroma is delivered in spades. It is uncertain whether it is actually possible to prevent oneself from gagging it up immediately, because it is impossible to find someone who'd attempt such a feat. No, you're lucky if you have the presence of mind to go to a sink before hacking out every last molecule of the vile substance.

But you have not escaped the candy--oh no. It lives on. It lives on, in the roof of your mouth and the depths of your nostrils, haunting you with specters of this ghastly experience for the rest of the day. Brush your teeth, light incense, eat another meal--nothing but time will cleanse your system.

Sometimes, at night...I can still taste it.

Alright, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I just needed to grow up in Puerto Rico to "get" it. Maybe I've got a bad sampling of their confectionary arts (although I refer to three separate experiences, each one born of disbelief in the last). Maybe Puerto Rican candy is just the best thing ever.

All I know is, I'm never trying it again.

Also: While European chocolate (which, unlike its stateside equivalent, is unlikely to contain brick dust) is undoubtedly superior, Jelly Belly Gourmet Assortments are the finest candy-like products known to civilization. So, I'm gonna have to say that we win.

[puppyavenger]

Yeah, American candy is basically teh suck. You do, however, have the advantage in three snack areas I can think of:

1. Jelly beans.
2. Bagels.
3. Doughnuts. (Or 'donuts', if you must have it that way :smallsigh:)

The thing is, unlike jelly beans and doughnuts, which we import, you can't get proper bagels over here. If I want a cinnamon-sugar bagel I have to make my own. :smallfrown:

Eh, I prefer Montreal Bagels myself.


also, Rutskarn Puerto Rico is a territory of the US....

[Rutskarn]

Well, okay, technically.

It's unincorporated, though, so it doesn't count.

[Katrascythe]

This statement bears all the hallmarks of a source who has never tried Puerto Rican candy.

Yeaaaaaaaah I've never had that. And from your description I think I'm better off for it. I've had Mexican chile pepper candy. I honestly liked it... but I'm weird like that.