I was just reading over this interesting thread again to pick up things I missed the last time around. Anything about food is always interesting, even if the food itself isn't particularly appealing. Americans, for example, don't seem to eat kidneys or blood pudding. But some eat ketchup on everything. Some regions here have lots of immigrants and that has meant that supermarkets now carry totally unrecognizable vegetables of the root variety (taro, anyone?).
I grew up eating relatively bland and usually overcooked, vaguely English-style food tempered with the addition of vaguely German-style food (like kraut). Even macaroni was foreign at our house. My tastes have broadened over the years, along with other things, but nothing really remarkable. But apparently European habits have changed, too, or perhaps they were never what I thought they were. A classic British dish is sausages and mash, which I managed to have once when we were in the UK a few years ago and I discovered that it is available, sort of, in France, too. Pizza seems to be available everywhere. At least it is in Germany, France and presumably Italy. I will admit to liking meat loaf and I was pleased to find it on the menu at a restaurant in Trier, Germany. It was described as prepared "Jaeger style." I also like the canned "Spam," the flavor of which is greatly improved (well, some) by frying. I also discovered they do eat French fries in France but I don't know about French toast.
