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I dislike most Asian food, doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.. I do not like soy sauce, rice, dark meat poultry, or undercooked cabbage, and it's kinda hard to avoid those things with Asian cuisine.
I eat plenty of hot and spicy food, but not everything needs it, in my opinion. For example, a nice serving of lumpy, buttery mashed potatoes are perfectly fine without any kind of seasoning.
If there's one thing I can simply can't tolerate, it's dry, bland meat. There's no reason for such a thing to even exist.
I like many bland foods and cuisines and don't understand the bigotry against them.
Now let me say that something can be done badly bland, but otherwise, a bland cooking technique highlights the natural flavor of the food. Bad ingredients need something to spice them up, but good ingredients can stand on their own most of the time.
I remember when a friend of mine shipped me some salmon he caught in Alaska. The purest, most beautiful fish I had in my life. I poached a piece in butter with a sprig of dill and served it with salt and a splash of lemon juice. It was divine, the very essence of the fish.
But my gf at the time, an ardent xenophile, claimed it was too bland and "European". So the next dinner she took a piece and made a Thai style green curry. The curry was absolutely delicious, but the fish could have been a piece of Chinese pond-raised Tilapia for all it mattered.
I don't know if others agree but I actually like the natural taste of food that would be considered "bland" by some! I actually like grilled chicken no spices, baked potato just a dab of butter, and vegetables made fresh with no spices or butter (something about plain cauliflower or butternut squash, no spices or butter added, just makes me salivate at the mouth).
HOWEVER - I eat Indian, Mexican, Polish, German, etc. food all the time. Its just got to be made GOOD and cooked properly to cultivate the natural flavors instead of hiding them for me to be really interested. There is nothing like a red baked potato that is steamed or baked at the right temperature with the skins still on, that is so good it doesn't need a lot of spices. Things that are underdone, overdone, or bad cuts....well bring on the spices, they need them!
I get what the OP is saying. You must admit that mozzarella and American cheese are rather tasteless. White bread, tasteless, chicken, bland, potatoes, bland, rice, and pasta, bland, and we Americans eat a lot of these foods.
I find myself needing to add more and more herbs and spices to my foods as I get older, because they tastes bland. Thank God for Nexium. I always buy the hot version of anything these days, like breakfast sausage or Italian sausage, or salsa, etc.
Why are the two most consumed cheeses in America the most bland? Mozzarella and "American" cheeses are two of the most boring ways to consume calories I know of. Why does it have to be this way? Why do plenty of our grown adults have almost exclusively these two food groups: 1. Chicken 2. Potato ?
What in the world?
In this land of plenty, I can assure you that it doesn't "have to be this way." Unless, of course, that's what people want.
I get what the OP is saying. You must admit that mozzarella and American cheese are rather tasteless. White bread, tasteless, chicken, bland, potatoes, bland, rice, and pasta, bland, and we Americans eat a lot of these foods.
I find myself needing to add more and more herbs and spices to my foods as I get older, because they tastes bland. Thank God for Nexium. I always buy the hot version of anything these days, like breakfast sausage or Italian sausage, or salsa, etc.
Thank God for Nexium. I used to eat kimchi for breakfast. Sigh. Those days are gone.
Some people have talked about preferring the natural taste of high-quality food without sauces or seasonings. I'm not like that at all. In fact, to me good sauces are the essence of good meals. This is one reason I've had little trouble reducing my meat eating - a steak, or piece of chicken, fish, or pork that is unadorned just doesn't taste good to me no matter how high-quality the meat. But I feel the same way about vegetables, tofu, or rice.
Is American food bland? I wouldn't say so in that we absorb so many other influences from around the world. I will say that places that serve what is called "American cuisine" do not have much variety. 20 hamburgers on the menu? It's all the same dish with different stuff on top.
My grandmother grew up on a farm in Illinois. And this woman could cook wonderful food. It may have been simple stuff, but it had flavor. Whether it was fried chicken, or homemade chicken soup with homemade noodles, pork chops with country gravy and biscuits, apple pie to die for, she knew her way around food. And I would not consider it "bland" which to me means without taste. But it wasn't heavily seasoned because back in her day, on the farm out in the country, there wasn't much to season with but salt and pepper. But I remember the meals she could turn out, and they were great.
Good quality American cheese in grilled cheese sandwiche is a must!
What is not to like about mozzarella all melty on a pizza or lasagna? That is tastygood.
The quality of food in the US declines really quickly the further away you are from the coasts and the Mexican border. I think when it comes to cuisine, America is its own worst enemy. We have so much good food here like collard greens, po boys, New York slice, Philly cheesesteak, but the corporations took over the production of food and deluded the American cuisine into burger and fries.
How much time have you spent in the midwest? I am certain not much for you to say this. We have every type of ethnic restaurants you can think of right here in NWA for instance. And what about cities like Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, Denver? I could go on and on. We have all of those foods you list above plus many others. They are seasoned correctly I will add. The one thing we are lacking many places is a good selection of Jewish Delis and some old timers still shy away from a lot of spice, but with the mobility throughout our country, you can live anywhere and get great foods. Try St Louis; the Italian section that has been there for years: oustanding delis and fantastic Italian foods; how about Chicago for pizza or anywhere almost for decent Mexican food, especially AZ, TX and NM or collard greens throughout the south?
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Try St Louis; the Italian section that has been there for years: oustanding delis and fantastic Italian foods; how about Chicago for pizza or anywhere almost for decent Mexican food, especially AZ, TX and NM or collard greens throughout the south?