why american breakfast?

You're right Travis and Kirk that post was not by me :(( There seems to be a troll on the loose again :(

<<I presume the above post is not by the real andre from south africa.>>

And I.

Do you find (unintentionally) almost-white tomatoes in restaurants in any countries besides the US? I can't figure out why anyone would bother using them when they're like that.

We get mushy orange ones sometimes in Canada.

<<Do you find (unintentionally) almost-white tomatoes in restaurants in any countries besides the US? I can't figure out why anyone would bother using them when they're like that.>>

I agree. Deborah (or any other Californians, Arizonans, or Nevadans), do you ever go to In 'n Out ? What I don't get is that California has a bountiful supply of great tomatoes grown in the central valley and other places, yet In 'n Out tomatoes are too often "pink foam" (as my mom refers to them). Too bad, because everything else about the burgers are great.

Oh, I myself hate supermarket tomatoes that at times are all but tasteless, and are often a rather dull orangy color as well, which are unfortunately quite common. However, though, luckily when I'm at my parents' house, during the summer, my dad has a patch of tomatoes growing in the backyard, and the tomatoes from such're infinitely better than the generic crappy supermarket tomatoes which are so common.

Am I really the only person who doesn't eat tomatoes?

I don't I hate tomatoes :) so you not alone

I'll eat tomatoes alright, but I detest tomatoes which have more in common with styrofoam than with actual items meant for human consumption, which unfortunately are probably a majority of the tomatoes around here in stores. Tomatoes are *not supposed to be orange*.

I've never ever heard of "almost white" tomatoes! What makes them like that? I must say tomatoes here are great...the very best come from the Channel Islands but I suppose the British climate is ideal for perfect tomatoes and vegetables. I should know...I worked in a supermarket to earn cash all the while I was at uni. I reckon I know what I'm talking about. I did a cookery course designed for men last year and now I'm really into the cooking thing. You cn do great things with a tomato!

Brit toms are firm and red and really sweet and tasty...they may be tinged with green when you buy them but they turn red eventually. I have heard Americans (we get loads of US tourists here) at my till say that veg and fruit here are better quality and fresher than they get at supermarkets in the USA where they tend to go "off" a lot quicker for some reason. Maybe it's a climate thing I don't know.. the climate here is generally cooler and moister but all supermarkets are air conditioned anyway.

I am NOT doing a "crazy ADAM stunt" here believe me...I am telling you as it is and what they said either to me, or to someone else in my hearing.

The big thing is that the tomatoes one gets in stores here in the US during most of the year are picked when unripe, sometimes very unripe, and then are let ripen while in transit, which just isn't the same as letting them become ripe or near-ripe while still on the vine. As during much the year, our tomatoes are brought in from other parts of the world, they, well, have to be quite unripe when picked if they aren't going to be overripe when they get here. Such allows one to have tomatoes available to one year-round, but it also means that the quality of said tomatoes isn't going to be exactly ideal either.

>I don't I hate tomatoes :) so you not alone <

Thank goodness Jack! Now I feel better ;)

I think that with a few exceptions (e.g., cherries, apples, citrus fruits, sometimes grapes and pears), most US fruit is not very good, except at farmers' markets. Part of the problem is that orchard land is diminishing while the demand for fruit is growing. What's now known as Silicon Valley used to be full of orchards, and was a major fruit-producing area of the country. And the fruit was much, much better in those days (this is not just nostalgia speaking). The scenery was prettier, too:

http://content.scu.edu/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISOROOT=/svhocdm&CISOPTR=3&CISORESTMP=&CISOVIEWTMP=

<<What's now known as Silicon Valley used to be full of orchards, and was a major fruit-producing area of the country>>

True. My mom and dad were born and raised in San Jose. They were born in the late 1950s and grew up when the area was still transitioning from rural-suburban in character to major growth center. My mom and dad remember when the song "Do you know the way to San Jose?" came out, of course about how San Jose was supposedly an ideal place to escape the congestion and urbanness of Los Angeles, with lines like:

"I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose.
L.A. is a great big freeway....Do you know the way to San Jose?
They've got a lot of sapce. I was born and raised in San Jose
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose...Do you know the way to San Jose?...Can't wait to get back to San Jose."

We laugh at the song now, because San Jose doesn't conjure up images of quiet, relaxed, pastoral settings, but scenes appropriate to a city now larger in population than San Francisco. And I've definitely sat on endless freeway traffic in San Jose, for the record :)

However, you can still get excellent fruit and vegetables in the San Joaquin central valley and along the central coast where all those strawberries, artichokes, and things like lettuce and green beans are grown.

Kirk,
1. I would look something more reliable than wikipedia for argentinian population...
It is a country which had a huge european inmigration in XIX century until middle of the XX. But, it is also a country with population "crossbreeded" from the time of the colony. As most people come from european grand parents, and there is always some kind of prejudice against all that it's not european, a pression issued from the longing of great parents, many people tend to deny this cross breeding.

2. I insist, it seems you haven't been much time or you have been just in one place. I will not say which one :-)
We do have spicy food, and we cook quite elaborated food with corn, etc.. and not only eat mash patatos and meat :-)) We have, it's true, a lot of italian food, as long as 55% de la population seems to have italian origins... Obviously, we are a little far from Mexico, so we don't have tortillas, but have you eaten tamales? Or humita? Locro? Empanadas? mmmm

Hey Dora! It's good to see an Argentine here :) I didn't mean at all to insult Argentine cuisine, as it has some great stuff--what I did mean is that in my time there I really did miss what I consider "spicy" food. I lived in Buenos Aires (for 4 months) but traveled to some different parts of the country, including a week I spent in the extreme north of Argentina (in Tilcara and the surrounding areas) where the food was admittedly spicier (and more influenced by indigenous customs)..however, even the spiciest food in the north still wasn't anything close to standard fare in Mexico or what I consider spicy in the US.

<<but have you eaten tamales? Or humita? Locro? Empanadas?>>

Yup..they were all delicious...but not very spicy! Even the empandas con carne "picante" had no semblance of spice to my (and the other North Americans') tongues. Food is simply not very spicy in Argentina compared to what I'm used to in the US. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as people have different tastes and some people don't like any hint of spiciness. But, personally, the lack of spice kind of drove me crazy.

Anyway, some of the things I really liked in Argentina were, of course, the excellent beef and steaks, the ice cream (usually of better quality than in the US), the pastries (such as medilaunas), and choripan. I loved choripan!

<<there is always some kind of prejudice against all that it's not european>>

I noticed that. I actually heard of a study by a group in the University of Buenos Aires that found that 56% of Argentines have at least some indigenous genetic heritage, even tho most identify as "pure Europeans." Many people may have traces of indigenous heritage in them (as is relatively common in the US...I know plenty of people considered "white" that are like 1/16 Cherokee or 1/32 Navajo, etc.) while not even realizing it.