Most American food can put a smile on anyone’s face … usually. From hamburgers, fried chicken
and apple pie, American food has reached far and wide around the globe. But what of those
items that are so repelling, we want them to be banned no matter how great most American
food is? We’ve found some more for you to feast your unbelieving eyes on - the 10 American
Foods That Should Be Banned - Part 2.
Olive Loaf
Now we're not talking about the bread here. Olive loaf bread is probably one of the most
sought after breads available at your local bakery, and for very good reason. The baking
of fresh bread with a few choice olives thrown into the dough can only take your taste buds
to higher levels of enjoyment. You simply have not lived until you've tried olive studded
focaccia bread. It is absolutely divine no matter how else you dress it. But, putting
olives in luncheon meat is a tad different, wouldn't you say? We sure would and the sight
of it alone is enough to send most people running in the other direction. It doesn't
look all that appealing, really, and at the same time, it isn't just the olives present
in the luncheon meat at all. The meat itself looks rather questionable too, with pockets
of fat and other undecipherable items staring up at you as you put this atrocious offering
to your lips and have at it. If you're courageous enough, or have enjoyed this in the past,
hey ... all the more power to you. All in all, it sounds pretty gross to us, so why
not go for a few slices of capocollo (a dry, cured pork cold cut, common in Italian cuisine)
on a freshly baked olive studded focaccia? Now you're talking!
Jello Salad
Hey ... we appreciate Jello as much as the next person. Cherry and Lime, you name it,
we'll be there to lap up all the gooey, jiggly, fruity goodness - to the last morsel, even.
But for the love of all that is decent and good in this world, can America please stop
producing Jello salad? It's quite terrible to taste and just to behold. We don't want
to see it anymore, but the more we wish it gone, there it appears again at that party
we didn't feel like going to anyways. It's right next to the hickory smoked ham and Ambrosia
salad. Can someone tell these people that it isn't 1965 anymore? We feel the need to
rid the world of such disastrous culinary ideas, if they can be called that at all.
And recipes for this stuff differ from simply weird to the absolutely absurd. We can more
than understand some preserved fruit added to the mix ... we won't argue that addition,
as at least it's still sweet. But some add radishes, olives, and whatever veggies they
can find at the back of the fridge. And to that we say: Really!? Couldn't you have just
whipped up some pudding; even the instant sort from a box would have been better than
this green jello salad with carrot shards and pickled radishes!
Deep-Fried Butter
You heard right. We're talking about fried butter. Now we know how weird that sounds,
as it's usually butter that we do most of our frying in, but the people that brought
us some of the richest dishes known to the world have thought of yet another heart-stopping
dish that can clog arteries and get you stuffed and complacent in the blink of an eye. We
wonder only if the butter is fried, well ... in butter? The recipe for this is actually simpler
than you'd think, though. Essentially, think mozzarella sticks only way higher in fat content
... way higher. A cold piece of butter is battered and then deep-fried, and depending
on the kitchen or chef, the battered piece of butter can be fried in oil, fat, or yes,
even butter. Now try working these puppies off in the gym, particularly after having
downed quite a few of these bite-sized golden nuggets of fatty goodness. But the flavor
of them is and can be way too rich for probably even the biggest fan of fatty foods. Now,
add garlic butter to the mix, and you may have a few more fans, but as they stand, they
are way too unhealthy, and we know that sometimes it's good to be bad when it comes to food,
but perhaps this may be taking it a tad too far. The item is very popular at State fairs,
specifically in Iowa.
Chitterlings
From a safe distance, this particular dish can probably be confused with chicken noodle
soup. Remember, we said from a safe distance, meaning, from afar. Because once you step
close enough to this stuff, if the sight of it won't turn you away, then the smell will.
It sure doesn't smell like chicken soup. And furthermore, those things that looked like
noodles and pieces of pulled chicken breast aren't what you thought they were. They're
actually pig's intestines, and as rubbery as ever, no matter how long you boil them
for. Offal has been gaining steam in American cuisine, which is a branch of said cuisine
that specializes in using the innards of most animals; from the brain to even the heart
and intestines. It may not sound very appetizing but intestines and stomach lining have been
a popular choice of ingredients for generations in cuisines around the world. Chitterlings,
which is one of the few American dishes to use offal, has it's roots in the southern
'Soul food' traditions and can even be battered and deep fried after stewing. Unfortunately
most recipes for this dish don't require you to sear the meat first, which can make it
all the more rubbery and all the more off putting!
American Cheese Slices
As tasty as it is, it really isn't cheese now is it? It was first produced in the early
portion of the 20th Century (although variations were around quite a bit before), and has been
with us ever since, being the main cheese used on cheeseburgers and of course the ever-popular
grilled cheese sandwich. Now, you may be asking ... how bad could this cheese be? Well, these
cheese slices are the furthest thing from being natural and actually good for you. The
actual process of fabrication, which leads to the term “processed cheese”, breaks
down the cheese far too much for it to still bear the name of cheese on it's own. Which
is why it is actually a regulated standard of identity that they call this cheese `”Processed
American Cheese”. It is an actual federal code of regulations established for quite
some time now. Although it is cheese overall, a medley of cheeses at that, they still want
to distinguish that it's different from your run of the mill old cheddar and there are
obvious reasons for this. Also, it is often mistaken as being cheddar cheese. This is
positively false, and although American cheese does contain some real cheeses like colby
cheese, some cheddar and even curd cheese (among others), the overall recipe calls for
many other ingredients that further extend this product to the realms of fake products
made to taste like the real thing. Now next time you have your heart set on a ooey-gooey
grilled cheese sandwich, try using three types of real cheddar instead. Trust us, the end
result will be a million times better.
Chicken-Fried Steak
It's all in the name really. For the most part, this recipe is quite simple and if you
know how fried chicken is prepared, then this preparation is a no-brainer. You take your
fresh cut of steak, any cut will do for this, but usually a nice rib-eye is best, boneless
if at all possible. Then you batter it, deep fry it and perhaps finish it in the oven.
This bad boy is topped with a white gravy, which is essentially a base of bechemel with
added mushrooms, sauteed with onions, and voila! Now as interesting as it sounds, it
is preposterously bad for you, loaded in saturated fat, and after you down one of these babies,
try moving an inch off of that couch or comfortable chair. Reaching for the remote will be an
utter impossibility, so you'll be stuck watching the home shopping network for hours to come.
Sorry, friends!
Fry Sauce
We're sure we can all remember that scene from Step Brothers where Will Ferrell's character
doesn't want to share what he called his chicken nugget dipping sauce with the John C. Reilly
character, who was now his step brother. For years, people have been mixing ketchup and
mayo for their fries or nuggets, and that's part of the whole fun, isn't it? There are
many people that are on opposite sides of what the best accompaniment for a french fry
is. There are those that think nothing beats the tangy taste of ketchup when it comes to
a salty golden fry, fresh from the fryer, but there are those, especially in Europe
and parts of Canada that believe that nothing should touch a fry apart from mayonnaise.
Well, for those that spend their lives on the middle ground, a combination of the two
is where it's at and we feel that a product that already does the work for you, takes
all the fun away. Let us combine mayo, ketchup and whatever other condiment we so choose
to combine on our own. As it turns out, this combo has been around for quite some time,
contrary to what Ferrell's character believed in that hilarious film, he didn't invent it.
Sweet Potatoes & Marshmallows
An American classic indeed, but as we see it passed from person to person at the Thanksgiving
table, those of us that are quite fed up with this item wonder when it will go the way of
other tiresome recipes from days gone by. Haven't we had enough of this one? Is it time
to say goodbye? The tragedy here isn't necessarily the marshmallows, but really the fact that
they aren't needed at all, as sweet potatoes themselves are already quite sweet (hence
the name) and they don't need a partner in crime to get the eater to that level of enjoyment.
There are so many recipes out there that can accentuate the sweet potato's natural sweetness,
and we don't have to resort to cheap parlor tricks like adding a form of confection to
the mix.
The Infamous Doughnut Burger
And like so many other items on this list, perhaps the doughnut burger showcases what's
wrong with all of them in the simplest and best of ways, and it leads us to ask the inevitable
question: Isn't it just a little too much? And maybe this question can be asked for so
many of the American cuisine items we've seen and the ones we haven't yet shown you. A standard
policy in the beautiful and powerful culture of American cuisine and the way in which they
live is the old adage: Go Big or Go Home, and we most certainly agree with it for the
most part. But perhaps sometimes, these ideas can be a tad overzealous in scope. This particular
recipe here is an example of that ... bacon, a fried doughnut, and the hamburger itself
... we'd hope that some of the chefs that come up with these crazy concoctions think
about the health risks of inventing something so huge, it just so happens to be way too
big for even the biggest of foodies.
Peanut Butter Pizza
This one here is definitely over the top, so to speak, as we can see the melted peanut
butter acting as the sauce here and the cooked pepperoni and peppers resting there among
the peanut ooze, very few words come to mind. Maybe the only appropriate one and one that
delivers our sentiments exactly is quite simply: Ew! So, to the creators of this dish ... wherever
you may be, we say: Please stop producing this vile concoction immediately! This is
definitely an American food that should be banned.
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