We have a new coworker from Europe who insists that nobody that side of the Atlantic would ever have leftovers for lunch. How true is this? For clarity he is referring to home cooked meals reheated for the next day’s lunch.

Edit: for clarity, we knew he was full of it, thank you, he owes me $5

I'm curious about this. Is there a dish in your country that tourists think represents the country they're in even if it's just...not eaten that much? Like tourism lives in a time bubble?

Yes this was inspired by frogs legs in Paris, I'm wondering if there are any other examples.

Europe excels at bread, especially compared to America, but we've mastered bagels.

Seems tailor-made for Europe, and you could do it even better. There could be regional styles (Hungarian paprika bagel? Italian truffle bagel?, etc.). Toppings would make for wonderful variance (Gelbwurst and quark in Germany, obviously various smoked fish in Scandinavia, wonderful pork in Spain, etc.). And better coffee to go with the bagel, of course.

Seems a winning combo with untapped potential. But what do I know?

(FWIW, I've been to most countries in Europe.)

EDIT: I should have been more specific. I have seen bagels occasionally in Europe, but mostly they are pretty rare.

Also, it is interesting that in this thread there are people saying both "wtf? bagels are everywhere" and "yeah bagels aren't common here because we have other stuff."

Hi from Norway.

Here most shops sell salami containing horse meat. Unless the horse in question has been given medication that makes the meat inedible, most horses that has to be put down due to injury end up in the nearest slaughterhouse. And then most of the meat is used to produce certain types of salami. (On rare occasion it might also be possible to buy horse steaks).

Does your country sell any unusual types of meat in the shops?

I’m looking into how pizza toppings vary across different European countries, and how much they differ from typical North American pizzerias.

Rather than guessing off travel blogs, I'd love real local input:

What 3–5 standard toppings or local staples belong on almost every menu where you live?

What typical American toppings almost never show up as standard options in your country?

Appreciate any local context!

Edit: Adding my take on baseline NA toppings.

Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Ham, Sausage, Mushrooms, Peppers, Onions, Olives, Anchovies, Jalapeños.

If I asked for a black coffee here in Hungary I would always get an espresso. You can't even get filter coffee here except at retro hotel breakfasts and in speciality cafés. So I was surprised that when I was in Germany for the first time, a black coffee always meant something from a batch brewer drip machine. What is the default coffee in your country?

Hungary has a few strong candidates, but pörkölt is my winner. In photos it can look like brown sadness in a bowl, then you eat it with nokedli and suddenly life makes sense.

What’s your country’s version?

I do have friends from other European countries, and when I visited them, I was surprised that often they offered me still water from bottles that they bought in the supermarket. Upon asking why they wouldn't use the water from the water pipe, they were a bit confused.. Here in Austria almost nobody would think of buying still water in the supermarket except if you need it on your way. Despite my research about high water quality in Europe, it seems that some don't trust their tap water.. or are there other reasons?

In the US a seemingly growing number of young people rarely or never cook, they get everything delivered or from a chain restaurant. Is this the same in your countries? How common is eating out in general?

Not as popular as Italian, but at least available.

Like, it’s hard to think of Italian food without tomato sauce right?
Or England, Ireland and Scotland without potatoes, even many east European dishes use potatoes at least weekly.
You think chocolate in Europe and many people think Belgian chocolate.

Also corn and beans are used throughout Europe so, what were the European signature dishes before these ingredients came from mostly Latin America?

Edit. To people assuming I don’t know about all of the food that came from Europe to America or that I’m in some way belittling “your” food before these exchanges between continents, that is not the point.
I’ve learned a lot about differences between north and south food in Italy and different dishes between Europe. I’ve also learned a lot about pickled food that sounds delicious. In Mexico we don’t have such variety. Thanks to everyone answering ❤️

What food habits in your country does everyone else find weird?

In terms of consistency, availability, texture, and variety. I haven't travelled enough to have a proper opinion, but I personally really enjoy bread in France.

I've always wondered about this. In every country, people grow up with dishes they like and dislike. What's a dish you grew up disliking?

I just had duck for the first time and I'm interested in how common it is in other countries.

How is it prepared? Any traditional dishes?

Is duck something for special occasions or is it an everyday food?

Title ^

Edit: also mention whether people in your country actually like it.

As the title says

I am really keen to learn what different nationalities keep in their freezers. I am in the south east of the U.K and one freezer has frozen raw dog food and pre-prepared baby meals in silicon containers, while the second one is full of analog film.

Are there any seasonal harvests in your area? If not frozen, how do you store it long term?

I'm British, and Cheddar (or sometimes Red Leicester) is most people's go-to cheese. It's hard, not crumbly, melts well, and works in pretty much every situation (sandwiches, grating on food, burgers, pizza, eating on its own). Do other countries have their own cheeses like this, or do you use specific cheeses for specific situations?

As in with whatever the current minimum wage in your country is (since some countries make a difference let's say an adult 21+), can you buy a full meal in your city/town/region from a restaurant/food place?

I know full meal is a vague description but what is offered will vary much by country to country. Let's just say something that you think would fit the following descriptions:

1) I would count street food but not cold food from the grocery store. Anything that doesn't require any assembly or cooking from you and is a hot meal

2) would fill the average adult up (at least enough for a proper lunch)

3) has different components/ingredients like I wouldn't consider a giant portion of fries a full meal

So I guess the main question is if it at all possible to get a prepared for you, filling meal with minimum wage.

But for a follow up

1) are there lots of different options for variety? Like can you for example only buy pasta for that money but everything else is significantly more or could you get a burger, a pizza, fried rice, ramen ect... All within that budget

2) is it possible to have semi healthy meals? I am not talking lean salads kinda healthy but something with veggies, proper protein, not only deep fried/carbs?

Curious to know the buying power of the minimum wage in the different countries.

Edit: Should have specified... I meant with one hour of minimum wage pay, can you buy one meal.

Not whether that's feasible to do everyday (it isn't for most people) but whether one hour of working minimum wage is enough to buy a meal. So if minimum wage is 10 euros an hour, if 10 euros can get you a meal or not really

What’s a weird drink in your country that’s oddly popular?

In Lithuania it's very common

In my home country Germany there are many different products made from irish milk, especially by the kerrygold brand, which is also producing here.

I’m from East Asia and currently live in the Netherlands. One thing that surprised me is how poor many chain fast-food restaurants feel here — inconsistent food, poorly maintained restaurants, and sometimes almost nonexistent service, despite fairly high prices.
In East Asia, the same kind of chains are generally more standardized, presentable, and reasonably well serviced.
Is this mainly a Netherlands thing, or is it similar in your country? And why, despite Europe’s high labor costs, does the end result often seem to fall below basic standards?

Inspired by this question