Grocery stores in the US often have an interesting mix of foods from other countries, but those foods are definitely a limited selection of what is available in the original country.
They offer a tiny peek into the cuisine of a particular country.
Reddit user GlyohFrost wanted to know which American foods made it into other countries' stores, so they asked:
"Non-Americans of Reddit, what's in your 'American' Aisles?"
Cookies
When I lived in Germany there was a little American food section in my store that had "American cookies" (chocolate chip), "American ice cream" (cookies and cream), and the most expensive Oreos ever. All of the packages had US flags on them.
Also around July 4th they had packages labeled "American drinking game" and it was several Solo cups and 2 ping pong balls.
Not Health Food
Twinkies, Gatorade, Lucky Charms (ridiculously expensive for some reason) american varieties of Pop Tarts, A1 sauce, Hershey chocolate, Nerds and a few other American sweets. The only thing I ever buy is the pop tarts.
Cool American
Here in the Netherlands, I've seen more and more American products appear in the normal supermarkets, but never in an "American" aisle. We just don't have the space for a dedicated aisle like that.
Used to be (quite some years ago) that oreos weren't sold in the Netherlands, only in special import stores. Now they're pretty much everywhere.
Jelly beans also have started making it here. Cliff bars are also starting to appear the past couple of years.
Also interesting note, Doritos Cool Ranch are called Cool American here.
Scent Memories
No American aisle but we do have a chain of American importation stores: https://www.tasteofamerica.es/
We have overpriced cereal (10€ for a box of Froot Loops), beef jerky, Reese's Cups (my personal favorite), doctor pepper, vanilla coke, and for some reason Yankee Candles, among other things.
I like to buy there occasionally.
Cheesy Poofs
Donuts, and those cheesies that are in ball form in that giant plastic container with the red lid.
Candy, Candy, Candy
Candy, candy and more candy. When what I want is Triscuits, which are obscenely expensive over here in the UK. You don't know how lucky you are to be able to get Triscuits so easily. I have a box and a half now ( boyfriend treated me) and allow myself one at a time. How sad is that?
Right Next To Poland
We don't have a whole aisle, but there is a three-foot section of weird-looking sweets and biscuits that I've seen on US TV. It's next to the Polish section, which is about eight feet of horrible pickled things.
What would you stock in an aisle of quintessential "United States" food?
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
@jessicachastain/Instagram
