"Western" food

[bhskittykatt]

(Not entirely sure where to post this, but since they had this really bad attitude about it, I think it can fit here.)

So, a question. You live and work in the States. A couple from somewhere in Europe comes up to your desk and asks "Is there anyplace nearby where we can get Western food?". Where do you send them?

Note: If you ask them to define "Western" food, they simply say "You know, Western!" If you ask them again, they look at you like you're an idiot.

After telling this couple the only things nearby were Mexican, Thai, and fast food, they left in a huff and said they were staying elsewhere.

I'm still trying to figure out "Western" food. Do they mean Western culture in general, like Continental-style food? Do they mean American-style food? Texas barbecue? I know "Southwest" cuisine and "Northwest" cuisine here, but "Western"? I don't know what that is, and they refused to clarify it for me, and they treated me like an idiot because I couldn't read their minds.

[CaptMalcolm]

It's not you, it's them......

I have two culinary degrees and 10 years industry experience in food preparation and *I'D* not be able to direct them based solely on "Western food"

[Eireann]

I have one guess.

They wanted something "traditionally American" (hamburgers, hot dogs, crap like that).

[Food Lady]

The S.A.D. [Standard American Diet]?

[thehuckster]

To me, anyway, not sure if this is true to the typical vague SC, Western food is usually something like Tex-Mex (same as Western movies taking place in Texas and "western" states). A lot of this stems from me being on the east coast. However, since you did mention a Mexican restaurant and they weren't impressed, I guess that wasn't what they were going for.

"Western" food as in "Western culture" food is so friggen vast and general, I wouldn't even call it a food category. Under this umbrella you have McDonnalds on one end and fancy Italian food on another, so how the heck do you give them good suggestions based on that?!

In any case, I never use "Western" to describe food. It's simply way too vague and, as you experienced, super-confusing. Let's chalk this up to another SC who doesn't know how to describe what they're asking for and blaming you for not knowing what they want.

[TheSHAD0W]

I think I would've asked if they'd meant "southwestern" food, which would indeed be Tex-Mex and similar. I suspect that's likely what they meant, as so far as I know the US Northwest has no distinct cuisine attributed to it. They might also have meant some types of barbeque, though.

[AccountingDrone]

Hm, I would have to ask them if they mean by the foods that one sees in western movies like Tombstone - that would perhaps lead to either Tex-Mex or a place that serves something like that huge platter of grilled t-bone with home fried potatoes like in the movie The Road to Wellsville. [or Cheyenne Social Club, you know - western ranch style pub grub]

I would be thinking that by 'western' they are going by something they saw in a movie, which could be either Tex-Mex or Cowboy Chuck - huge steaks, potatoes, gravy, coffee. The main issue is that you can not always find good Tex-Mex, even out west unless there is a local hangout that hasn't been infected with any new cuisine crap. Sorry, pearls of cilantro oil and powder of capsaicin is *not* tex-Mex.

[Sunshine]

I vote for bbq. But how hard is it to say....forgot where i was....carry on

[raudf]

Or they could have been talking about the "Southern Comfort" food, like... fried chicken, corn bread, and lots of gravy. Still they should have clarified what their idea of "Western" food is. I mean by Asian standards, European style food would be "Western!"

[Merriweather]

I would guess that couple hasn't traveled much. That was one of the subtle things I learned when living in another country. You're usually prepared, even in two different English speaking countries, for a lot of things to have a different name. But there are ever so many more smaller, lesser used terms that simply do not mean the same in two countries, but it doesn't occur to you at first.

There is probably something (be it hamburger type food, BBQ or something no one here has even thought of) that in their country is routinely called "Western food", and they haven't grasped the fact that perhaps it isn't called that everywhere else as well. Doesn't excuse being rude, but could explain their frustration.

I recall a couple of instances where I asked for something I thought was crystal clear and received only blank stares, at which point I realized language differences go much deeper than most people realize, and I would have to come up with a new way of describing something I thought anyone would recognize if met with blank or odd looks.

[Mikkel]

My guess is that AccountingDrone is right. Something like cowboy cooking would probably be what they meant. I wonder why they wouldn't come up with an example of what they meant.
They could not have sounded any more stupid.

[iPanda]

To my family, friends, and me, what we consider to be western food is anything that is not east Asian, Russian, Indian, African, South American, or Mexican.
However, I do not know your couple's definition of western.

[Lore]

Up here in Canada, Western food could be: a) West Coast cuisine, like salmon and bannoc; b) Southwestern food, like BBQ or TexMex; or, most often, just c) hamburgers, fries, chicken strips, things like that. Chinese or Indian food menus sometimes have Western options that include sandwiches and fries.

[Gurndigarn]

So, a question. You live and work in the States. A couple from somewhere in Europe comes up to your desk and asks "Is there anyplace nearby where we can get Western food?". Where do you send them?

Note: If you ask them to define "Western" food, they simply say "You know, Western!" If you ask them again, they look at you like you're an idiot.

Probably steak was what they were looking for. It's part of the whole European thing-- they don't realize that our "west" is about as big as their entire continent.

Comparison map, for the curious. For those not familiar with the US, "The west" is generally considered the line of stats that starts at the western border of Texas (that's the odd-shaped state that pokes downward in the bottom center of the country) and goes up from there-- comprising the states in the Rocky Mountains and west of them.


EDIT: I just realized that the comparison map I grabbed didn't include some important parts of Europe. So make that "our west is about half as big as their continent." Sorry, that's what I get for blindly trusting the internet.

[MoonCat]

I probably would have said, "sorry, we don't use that term for food, unless you're talking about southwestern or Tex-Mex; is there a particular dish you wanted to try?"

If they couldn't be any more descriptive , then screw 'em, I say.