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Comment by rectangletangle | Hacker News Reader

Kind of curious what the counterpart to this would be. What things are typically ascribed to Americans, that Americans are often unaware of?

American Sauce in the Netherlands comes to mind.

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When I was a kid, I was terribly confused about how a country could fly to the moon when it was depicted as quite rural in "The Waltons".

An "Americana" pizza in Finland is ham, pineapple and blue cheese: https://www.kotipizza.fi/dist/pdf/KP_menu_A4_laaja_EN.pdf

I feel like dressing up like an Indian and throwing whatever Finland's primary export is into a harbor.

British Petroleum is already throwing it in the harbor for you.

Filet Americain or "American Filet" is a popular dish in the Netherlands and Belgium that I'm pretty sure not many in the USA have heard of.

Filet Americain is based on steak tartare. And American sauce is based on Thousand-Island dressing. They are adapted to local taste and customs, but they would be somewhat familiar to Americans.

Most people here in Australia have never heard of the Australian Shepherd breed of dogs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Shepherd

If it's this[1] you're referring to, it's called "thousand island dressing" in the US, except at McDonalds where it's called "Special Sauce." Also, sandwhiches that traditionally call for Russian dressing, such as a Reuben now typically use it as well (it's more sweet and less spicy than Russian dressing).

1: https://imgur.com/Fh8pSjk

Not quite, I'm referring to american fritessaus, which is more like mayonaise, and distinct from thousand island dressing (which is popular in the US, In-N-Out calls it "spread").

Digging a little deeper it appears like McDonalds may have actually invented the sauce to appeal to the Dutch market, where fritessaus is popular (instead of tomato ketchup). Because McDonalds is American, their take on fritessaus grew into it's own thing called "American Fritessaus," or simply "American Saus."

https://www.hollandsupermarket.eu/remia-fritessaus-american-...

The American Fritessaus is similar to Big Mac sauce because they're both milder takes on Louisiana style remoulade. Which was a spicier version of the traditional topping for fried potatoes in France so it's like it went in a circle.

In Denmark when they want to make fun of American self-importance, they call it "guds eget land" or "God's own country". I've never heard the expression in English.

I have heard North Carolina described as "God's country". I think this is a reference to its natural beauty, as well as being in the Bible Belt.

That phrase is usually used to refer to Yorkshire, a large county in northeastern England.

On the west coast of the US people sometimes jokingly refer to Oregon as "God's Country," because it has lots of churches.

As someone who grew up in Oregon, I'm surprised, as when you rank states by religiosity, it's usually way down near the bottom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

I'd expect such quips about Utah or the South.

This is a popular country song in the radio right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWGyyLiqY4

Though the difference in phrasing (“god’s own country versus god’s country”) is meaningful.

I've heard both “God’s Country” and, though somewhat less frequently, “God’s Own Country” used to refer to parts of America, particularly the rural Midwest and/or Bible Belt.

That's literally Kerala's tag line (a state in India)

I've heard it used referring to New Zealand (by NZers, although often now abbreviated to just "Godzone"). The equivalent term we'd use to make fun of the US is "land of the free".

I used it when the police there let me off a speeding ticket in the mail - I had no idea it was a common thing

I'm from the American south, we refer to any rural area where people are more self-reliant and the land is not developed as "God's country." It doesn't have much to do with how religious the area is or how many churches are there.

The expression "God's country" is not that uncommon, and maybe used ironically or just without any particular expression of religiosity. Usually I've heard it used to refer to an area pleasant to live in or visit.

There was once a German expression for felicity, "Living like God in France."

Probably nearly everything portrayed in American movies and TV shows. Um, no, there is not choreographed singing and dancing in the cafeteria of American high schools.

Nope the terrible door knobs instead of handles are evreywhere. I was so surprised when I moved to the USA and learned that those aren’t just a comedy trope. People actually in fact use them.

That’s what confirmed for me that everything physically possible that I see in American TV is in fact true.

I've similarly heard of people shocked to find that red Solo cups[1] are in fact ubiquitous at American college parties, and not just a staple in movies/TV.

[1] https://www.staples-3p.com/s7/is/image/Staples/sp41688274_sc...

I have literally never seen a disposable red cup in person until I came to the US. They’re surprisingly sturdy and well made.

I'm a Brit who moved to the States about three years ago. As well as this surprise, I was also shocked to discover that Jaywalking is actually considered a (minor) crime, and not just something that Americans made up to make fun of tourists (similar to Australian Drop-bears).

If the factoid I'm remembering is accurate, the "crime" of jaywalking was one of those things automobile manufacturers lobbied for in order to shift the blame for accidents from automobile/drivers to the pedestrians actually getting injured. Of course, before the automobile, streets were for pedestrians just as much as they were for any other means of transportation, and everyone moved slowly enough to get out of each others' way.

In fifty-plus years of walking around in the cities and suburbs of the US, I have never seen anyone get a citation for jaywalking, though I know it happens now and then.

My impression is that the police do it now and then to hassle persons they otherwise disapprove of or dislike. The writer Gary Wills once wrote of some DC police giving him a jaywalking ticket, apparently because he thought that a look at their car before he crossed implied disrespect. But I pretty routinely jaywalk in the presence of the police without attracting their notice. I'm pretty innocuous in appearance, but I see others do this too.

Do you mean to tell me that in India the passengers on a train don't routinely perform dance numbers on the roof?

the "American Favorite" Toast Hawaii (an open faced ham and pineapple sandwich) in Germany.

Lol reminds me of Hawaiian pizza (pizza topped with pineapples and thinly sliced ham). Hawaiian pizza is actually a Canadian dish, though it's now popular in most of the US, including Hawaii.

Germany has a pastry called “Amerikaner “. At least in the Stuttgart area.

These exist in the US, but they're called black and white cookies. According to Wikipedia they may have been created in New York by Bavarian immigrants. But it's unclear if the confection's origin is German or American.

> These exist in the US, but they're called black and white cookies.

Most images of Amerikaner, like that on Wikipedia [1], are potentially misleading because they only show the upper side, so it looks like a cookie with frosting. But in actuality, the dough is not flat and evenly distributed like in a cookie, but gets much thicker in the center, see e.g. [2]. Not like a cookie at all.

[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerikaner_(Geb%C3%A4ck)#/medi...

[2] http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J6qYwRqgE6M/T76gn5d3XMI/AAAAAAAAA6...

"Ich bin ein Amerikaner."

And when Kennedy said "Ich bin ein Berliner", he was certainly not referring to the pastry (a jam-filled doughnut, though spheroidal instead of toroidal) known in most of Germany as "Berliner" but known in Berlin as "Pfannkuchen", which in the rest of Germany just refers to a pancake.

Oh, interesting! As an American, I had to google that one.

For those who are curious it's basically mayonnaise, but not quite. There is no direct equivalent in US cuisine to my knowledge.

Chipotle sauce, aoili, remoulade...

Not exactly the same thing. It's like mayo but thinner and sweeter, and has little green fleks in it.

Is it riffing off ranch dressing? I've heard that ranch is associated with the US, outside of the US.

Edit: looks like "american sauce" can refer to a multitude of things. Typically it seems to either be some kind of ranch or thousand island.[1] Both of which are separate from "Sauce Americaine", from French cuisine.[2]

2nd edit: If the OP is talking specifically about Heinz brand "American Sauce", apparently the closest match in American cuisine is either thousand island or big mac sauce/"secret sauce" used on burgers (which is based on thousand island). It is pretty American, come to think of it.

[1] https://www.thedailymeal.com/news/travel/which-mayonnaise-he...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauce_Am%C3%A9ricaine

https://www.hollandsupermarket.eu/remia-fritessaus-american-...

http://www.typicaldutchstuff.com/ahamericanfritessaus-pi-364...

https://cf.geekdo-images.com/camo/271763ae14b82c0f612b6b9f61...

This is what I'm referring to.

Interestingly, Fry Sauce[0] is near ubiquitous in Utah (and no other US state as far as I know). You can find it on offer just about anywhere in Utah that sells fries.

0. https://www.eater.com/2016/8/6/12054512/fry-sauce-ketchup-ma...

It exists in California too at least.

Exists yes, but is it ubiquitous? Do you find it everywhere you find fries?

In Japan, corndogs are called "American dogs"

I was a bit surprised to see Americano as a coffee choice. Turns out it’s basically the plain coffee Americans make in regular coffee makers every morning.

Well I think Americano is an effort to dilute Espresso in with hot water in order to make it more like the regular plain coffee that Americans are used to.

Right. It’s not coffe from a coffee maker (mr coffee) but rather a diluted espresso shot to mimic the strength of coffee maker coffee.

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