GROWING UP, YOU probably became accustomed to hearing a lot of American foods referenced in TV/movies that had you scratching your head and generally thinking, “What is that?”
Fear not, because we’re here to help.
1. Meatloaf
Aside from being the go-to dinner on American TV, meat loaf is basically ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, onion and whatever else you have lying around that’s formed into a loaf shape and served up. Bon appetit.
2. Twinkies
A golden sponge cake filled with vanilla cream. (Fun fact: they were originally filled with banana cream until rationing during WW2 meant that they had to revert to vanilla filling.)
3. Pork rinds
Pork rinds are a traditional southern snack. Perhaps you grew up thinking they were like Rancheros crisps?
They’re actually deep-fried pig skin. Yum.
4. Graham crackers
Graham Crackers are essentially the US equivalent of digestive biscuits: sweet, but ultimately a bit bland. Commonly used in baking recipes and to make the campfire stalwart S’mores. (Roasted marshmallow and chocolate between two graham crackers.)
Fun fact: they were originally conceived as a bland food eaten to combat and suppress sexual urges. No, really.
5. Corn dogs
Corn dogs are hot dog sausages coated in sweet cornmeal batter. As you can imagine, they are incredibly healthy and are known for their life-extending properties.
LOL jk, it’s basically a clogged artery on a stick.
6. Milk Duds
Relatively unexciting when compared to other American sweets, Milk Duds are chocolate-covered caramels that are popular amongst cinemagoers.
( ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
7. Sloppy Joe
You may remember that sloppy joes played a pivotal role in It Takes Two, the classic Olsen Twins movie, but did you know that it’s just mince meat served in a sandwich?
Mmmmm.
8. Candy corn
Candy corn is basically a sugar-flavoured sweet that is yellow, orange and white to represent the appearance of corn. Oh, did we mention that it tastes like sugar?
Bonus: Google reckons it tastes like crayons.
9. Tootsie Roll
Chewy chocolate-flavoured sweets with the consistency of caramel or taffy. No more, no less.
10. Lucky Charms
Most Irish kids can probably relate to hearing about or seeing Lucky Charms on TV and being like:
But just what are they? Well, it’s basically an oat cereal (think Cheerios) with multi-coloured marshmallows in the shape of hearts, stars, clovers, horseshoes and more thrown in.
Magical.
11. Kraft Mac & Cheese
A dietary staple if movies and television are to be believed, macaroni and cheese is basically pasta and cheese. The Kraft variety is arguably the most popular and comes in a box, with each box containing a few servings of pasta and powdered cheese sauce. (Yes, powdered.)
Kids love it.
