I have a confession to make. I'm Australian and I have never eaten:

Sloppy Joes

Meatloaf

Roasted turkey

"Hot wings"

Key lime cheesecake

"Home fries"

Kugel

"Dirty Rice"

However I do enjoy making vegan versions of some of these things.



I had no idea what a graham cracker, snickerdoodle, metzo, seltzer, po' boy or s'more was. I've had mac n cheese only ever a few times as a kid, and I've rarely had waffles (mostly when I lived in Belgium).



Does anyone else find cookbooks are a journey into North American cuisine? i find myself having a little chuckle when I read "Now a substitution for that old favourite..." and I've never eaten the original!



Does anyone find it hilarious that I had never heard of these things? Nothing like food to make you realise you've reached another culture.

I forget about that.



When I was young, my father and I took some American food to France. My cousins turned their nose up at it (the baby loved the Campbell's tomato soup).



What are some of the common foods in Australia that us North Americans may not have ever eaten?

I've never eaten mac n cheese.

I'm not sure what "typically" North American food is.



Some sad looking hamburger from McDonalds?

I live near Buffalo, NY and that is where "hot wings" got their start. They were the thing I found very difficult to be w/o at first when I went veggie. I soon found that I could throw hot sauce and blue cheese on just about anything and it was close enough for me. Now, losing the "cheese" part is a little tougher....baby steps.....

While I'm currently live in North America, I rarely eat these things and nor do I want to maybe except for snickerdoodles, which I love. I am a fan of good old American comfort food though.

I'm American, and I haven't tried too many Australian foods. But a friend sent over a few packages of TimTams once and... I don't care if it makes me a bad vegan to admit this... But I am SO glad I got a chance to eat those before becoming vegan! Dear Lord are they yummy!

I`m Norwegian, and the only things I have eaten from that list is Turkey and Meatloaf. I don`even know what most of that stuff IS.

*chuckle* I'd love to hear about more Aussie food as well. I have a good time here finding out about "traditional" foods and then trying to veganize them. Just don't get me started on the whole cookie/biscuit/scone/muffin name debaucle.

There is a vegan version of them which comes quite close. They are by "Leda" I think.

O_O



I must google this.

Even as a Canadian I find trips to gas stations and grocery stores in the US to be quite fascinating....



We have a lot of things in Canada that you just can't find that often in the States, and there are a lot of strange looking snack foods and brand names in the US that I've never even heard of.



When I went to Burning Man a couple years ago I ended up buying a load of candy and chips on the trip back so I could weird out all my friends with the American food.



It's fun realizing that you are from a unique country that has different things, with television and the internet I think we sometimes forget that a bit.

Oh definitely. Is veg food easier to find in Canada?

'pends on where you go in Canada. Toronto is like vegetarian heaven, but some of my travels in more rural parts of Quebec and Ontario have yielded decisively less positive results, food-wise.

It really depends on where you go, it's a big country.



I can say that Vancouver, B.C. is absolutely fantastic for veggies. It's a city full of hippies so there are hundreds of vegetarian restaurants and health food stores and organic markets here, I love it. We even have a raw vegan restaurant I haven't tried yet!



I've heard great things about Toronto too, but I've never been. I'd imagine it's similar here to how it is anywhere else, big cities will have a wide variety of things while you might be more out of luck in rural areas.

I just thought I'd help out anyone who is curious, but not quite interested enough to google it all.



Sloppy Joes ground beef (somethimes turkey) in a tomato based sauce served on a hamburger bun. Very messy.

Meatloaf self-defining - loaf made of meat

"Hot wings" chicken wings in a spicey sauce normally served with blue cheese or ranch dressing with celery on the side

Key lime cheesecake A slice of heaven

"Home fries" normally made of pan fried potatoes with onions, bell peppers, and loads of dripping butter (I think some locals use lard)

Kugel a Jewish dish I would describe as a bread pudding with vegetables

"Dirty Rice" cajun spiced rice with bits of giblets, bell pepper, celery and onions



I have to agree with the OP; a cook book of vegetarian style North American foods would be great!

Sloppy Joes - No big up here (atleast in my area)

Meatloaf - When I was omni

Roasted turkey - When I was omni

"Hot wings" - Nope

Key lime cheesecake - Nope

"Home fries" - Erm...not sure what home fries means...normal fries?

Kugel - No clue

"Dirty Rice" - No clue.



Canadian Foods to add to the list that I wish could be vegan-ized



Poutine - Non-Veg

Tourtière - Non Veg

Bannock - Non-Veg

Habitant Pea Soup - Non Veg

Butter-Tarts

Nanaimo Bars

Cedar Plank Salmon - Obviously non-veg



Just to name a few.

Is it ever....I love Naam restaurant...sooooo good!!!!

Oh yeah, that place is awesome. It's pretty close to where I live so I go there a lot, love the fries and miso gravy.

My fellow vegan friend has an awesome nanaimo bar recipe I need to get, when I do I'll share. Apparently they taste exactly the same too, mmmm!



And as far as poutine goes you can come close with fries and vegetarian gravy, all that's missing is the rubbery cheese part...

as an american, i never had half of the foods you mentioned!



never had... hot wings, key lime cheesecake, kugel, or "Dirty Rice". :P