A friend has just returned from her first trip to the States – a visit to my one-time home of New York City. Inevitably, she was bowled over by the place. And equally inevitably, one of the big attractions was the food.
Working for a US-based publisher, first in London and then in New York, I always used to get teased by my American colleagues about the quality of British cuisine.
Now, to an extent I concede they had a point. There are some wonderful eating establishments around Britain, and in particular in London. But there are some shocking places as well. And a country that boasts fish and chips as its national dish has to be on dodgy territory.
By contrast, the year I lived in the States – and I did a fair amount of travelling around during that stint – I never had one bad meal. So, grudgingly, I had to admit my colleagues had a point. Indeed, the only complaint I ever had was that the portions were too big.
Where I did have a gripe though was with American chocolate. Hershey’s! Urgh.
According to Wikipedia, Hershey’s uses a secret, more economic process in its milk chocolate that, it is speculated, produces a compound that helps stabilize the milk, but also produces a sour, “tangy” taste. Definitely not one that works for me.
America also sets lower cocoa limits: US government rules specify milk chocolate must have a minimum 10% concentration of chocolate liquor (which, says Wikipedia, is pure chocolate in its liquid form, containing approximately equal amounts of cocoa solids and cocoa butter). By contrast, European Union regulations stipulate a minimum of 25% cocoa solids.
Even the chocolate bars we were used to finding in Britain had been adulterated beyond recognition. And I won’t even get into the comparative merits of Swiss and Belgian chocolate.
In short, this is one area where America can learn a thing or two from its friends in Europe. So I only hope Kraft doesn’t ruin Cadbury’s now it has taken charge.
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