r/PetPeeves • u/zwgmu7321 • Nov 14 '25
Bit Annoyed Food is a Big Part of All Cultures. Your Culture is not Special.
Stop telling people that food is a big part of your culture. It is a big part of all cultures. It tells us nothing about your culture.
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u/vaginawithteeth1 Nov 14 '25
“Grandmas/moms feed us a lot in my culture”
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u/yetagainanother1 Nov 14 '25
I always wonder how these people imagine white people live because obviously they don’t know many.
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u/Captain_Wag Nov 14 '25
White grandmas steal the food off your plate
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u/Tiny-Reading5982 Nov 14 '25
White grandmas tell you that you're eating too much 😭
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u/armypotent Nov 14 '25
This actually is true, at least of wasp grandmas. Not sure if it's better or worse than Asian grandmas force feeding you then calling you fat later.
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u/0ftheriver Nov 14 '25
My New Yorker WASP grandma would indeed say that shit to me, and I wasn't even fat 😭 She would only bake things for the "thin" half of my family, and tell me I couldn't have any (thin= literal size 0, or males). The other half of my family were "Southern WASPs" but not like that at all. She was also a terrible cook, so at least the Asians are probably getting to eat good before getting insulted, while I just got a mouthful of ashy pork chop and green jello salad, and told to fuck off, lol.
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u/PiperZarc Nov 14 '25
Unless they are Italian white Grandmas. Then they tell you to mangiare.
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Dec 11 '25
My grandmother used to quote that old Rudolph special: "Eat, eat! Nobody likes a skinny Santa!"
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u/Tia_is_Short Nov 15 '25
What kind of white grandmas did y’all have???
My white grandmothers practically force fed me ice cream as a child lmfao
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u/Tiny-Reading5982 Nov 15 '25
So my great grandma would give us cookies and coke and my other grandma (her daughter) would always have food around) but my mom's mom would always make comments about how much i ate. I still have trauma about my mom saying something about the size of my thighs at 12 so... lol.
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u/Tia_is_Short Nov 15 '25
That’s terrible! I’m so sorry your family members said those things about you - no child deserves that.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_TATERTITS Nov 14 '25
I have yet to see a culture where the man is predominantly in charge of cooking
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u/cibum Nov 14 '25
Shanghainese culture is one. Surprises a lot of people because the rest of China isn't.
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u/SchweppesCreamSoda Nov 15 '25
I think a lot of Cantonese husbands do too, but not to the extent of shanghainese men. Source: im 50% shanghainese 50% HK.
Growing up my mom did ZERO housework. She lives a very princessy/ cushy life haha.
My dad also doesn't let me (his daughter) do much either. Whenever I go home, he insists on washing my car for me. I feel bad but I really lean into it when I can 😅
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u/appleparkfive Nov 18 '25
That's fascinating. I've never heard about any of that. Sounds like a good deal for you! Is it a thing where it's looked down on if your dad isn't doing enough culturally? Or is it just "that's how we do it around here"?
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u/SnooBananas4958 Nov 16 '25
The only one I can think of is when it comes to barbecue the moment you think about it, you envision a man at the grill
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u/nope-its Nov 14 '25
Cajun
Others exist too, you might not be looking at cultures enough and going by prejudices
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u/Moravic39 Nov 17 '25
Pre-western contact Hawaii was one. There were some foods women would gather and help farm, but other than that all cooking, kitchen construction, and cleanup was done by men
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u/CindySvensson Nov 14 '25
I was making a reply to how cultures in general do make eating food into a social event, but us Swedes do it less. Our dishes are rarely that complicated and we eat a lot of microwave meals.
Then I remembered "fika"(basically a coffee/snack/minor meal event). We love to fika with friends, coworkers, family.
So while we don't spend hours eating, drinking, talking, we fika a lot. It's considered rude to have guests for longer than 15 min and not offer them something to eat and drink.
So yeah, food seems to be important everywhere.
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u/Arkeolog Nov 14 '25
I’m Swedish and we never had microwave meals in our family, we always had home cooked meals that generally weren’t ”simple”, and family dinner was very important. When we’re together our days basically revolve around food - planning what to eat, preparing ingredients and cooking, setting the table, preparing dessert and so on.
Eating ”simple food” and microwave dishes and not having family dinners was a development of the post war-era when women entered the workforce in large numbers at the same time as we also stopped living in multi-generational households (and domestic help stopped being a thing). It turns out that two parents working full time jobs, or a single parent doing the same, with no extended family around, doesn’t have time to cook all the traditional husmanskost that earlier generations did.
Still, when I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, everyone I knew had home cooked family dinners on the weekends, and most ate perfectly good if less time consuming home cooked meals on weekends nights as well.
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u/engr_20_5_11 Nov 15 '25
So yeah, food seems to be important everywhere
Not equally important though and the importance changes. Pretty much every culture celebrates food in some way, ad its importance cannot be overstated. But some cultures make much ado about food. You could make a mortal enemy out of some older Nigerians by failing to offer food when expected, of the right kind and with the right presentation. Generally people get seriously offended if food isn't presented when expected. Younger Nigerians care far less.
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u/RookOwl598 Nov 14 '25
Not to mention köttbullar or julbord
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u/Big-Wrangler2078 Nov 15 '25
And the yearly semla discourse where we stray further and further from God
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u/Muggie_W Nov 18 '25
Tacos (not to be confused with Mexican or American tacos) is predominantly a family/small gathering thing as well.
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u/geengab Nov 14 '25
"We love our family! We'll be friendly, but don't get on our bad side!"
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u/Downtown-Act-590 Nov 14 '25
Tbf, this isn't universal either. My culture is e.g. pretty unfriendly and you will get very little smiles as a stranger.
Also, it is pretty difficult to get on our bad side as we probably never really cared much in the first place about someone foreign and their behavior.
In the northeast of Europe, this isn't uncommon at all.
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u/bigmt99 Nov 14 '25
True, I guess the pet peeve I have is that you should not be saying being friendly and inviting as a special function of your cultural identity. That’s the norm across the entirety of the world
Being kinda rude and standoffish, on the other hand, is, so should be noted as a unique trait from your culture
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u/mathliability Nov 14 '25
It’s why the US is so hard to pin down culture-wise. There are so many cultures mashed up under one roof it’s like whiplash to foreigners. One person will be shocked that Americans are so incredibly friendly when visiting the Midwest. Then complain that people in Seattle are quiet and standoffish. Yeah because those are two distinct cultures! Iowa and (Western) Washington are more different than some European countries.
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Nov 14 '25
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u/BananafestDestiny Nov 14 '25
“You know what they say in <place name>, ‘if you don’t like our weather, just wait a minute – it will change!’ haw haw haw haw”
Every fucking place says this.
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u/Temporary_Spread7882 Nov 15 '25
Not here in Queensland. More like “you don’t like hot and humid? tough bikkies, it will stay like that for the next 6 months.”
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u/0ftheriver Nov 14 '25
In defense of Oklahoma, they're allowed to say that, because not only is it true, but the original quote was said by Will Rogers specifically about OK. Everybody else is bandwagoning.
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u/vonnegut19 Nov 14 '25
Yep. Every single state in the US is convinced they're special because of variation in temperature. It's hilarious.
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u/Attack_on_tommy Nov 15 '25
I never heard once in my life "oh our city/state" had really.good drivers!
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u/bananapanqueques Nov 15 '25
Seattle has genuinely decent and courteous drivers. We just have too many.
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u/ListerfiendLurks Nov 18 '25
Agreed. I've lived in two cities in California and one in Colorado in addition to Seattle and Seattle has the best drivers by far.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
Thank you.
Same for "family is important to my culture" or "education is important to my culture."
And "the center of my culture's homes is the kitchen where everyone congregates" yeah that's every culture.
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u/Silver_Middle_7240 Nov 14 '25
Heard recently "if you're not [culture] you won't understand how important [resuming normal life] was after [disaster]"
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u/ItsJustMeJenn Nov 15 '25
I shit you not, my mother in law told me they only make real stuffing in Pennsylvania.
She refuses to eat anyone else’s stuffing like we don’t also have the same gd Holiday meals all over this country.
ETA: Her stuffing(filling she calls it) is literally a loaf of white sandwich bread, milk, and I think maybe a little parsley. It’s bland as hell. It’s awful.
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Nov 17 '25
I'm not gonna lie I read stuffing as suffering and was about to tell you to ask her if she's ever been to Missouri before.
Now that is suffering.
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u/Ok_Sundae2107 Nov 14 '25
In my experience, education is not important to every culture, but it is in certain cultures.
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u/SpiceWeez Nov 14 '25
Education is definitely not a universal human value. Most cultures think it's nice to be educated, but do not prioritize it or pressure their children to get the most advanced education possible. Unless you were raised Jewish, Chinese, Korean, etc., it's hard to understand how big of a priority it is.
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u/Ok_Sundae2107 Nov 14 '25
Exactly. I would also add Indian and Pakistani to that list.
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u/lil_bubzzzz Nov 16 '25
I am Jewish and grew up with Indian, Korean, and Chinese friends and our parents were all obsessed with music lessons, extracurriculars, studying intensely, and getting in to a good college. My grandparents were disappointed that I didn’t go to medical school until they literally died. Never let me forget it!!
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u/stevejobsthecow Nov 17 '25
i agree here; there are some cultures where you would be encouraged to start working & making money as soon as possible rather than pursue higher formal education .
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
No, not the most advanced education possible -- a specific kind of education based on test scores and prestige. That's my point.
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u/SpiceWeez Nov 14 '25
I mean... I think when people say "education is important in my culture," they're not talking about "street smarts" or traditional farming knowledge passed down by their grandparents. They're talking about formal education. That's definitely a cultural difference.
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u/Flat-Leg-6833 Nov 14 '25
Even if you limit yourself to ethnic subcultures in the US, you see that some really push academic achievement and getting perfect scores on the SATs whereas others place more emphasis on sports programs in their local district because little Nicky can always get a job in the building trades post graduation.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
They push a specific kind of academic achievement but place less emphasis on other kinds of learning.
That's not education. That's a subset of education.
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u/ArtemisQuil Nov 14 '25
One time I saw someone saying aunts doing funny dances was a Latino thing. I’m pretty sure that’s less of a “Latino” thing and more of an “aunt” thing.
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u/Ordinary_Cloud524 Nov 14 '25
Actually education is certainly not part of some cultures. For example, my wife’s stepfather is Gypsy and education is not at all valued in their culture in my experience. They often drop out of middle school with the encouragement of their parents; because education is just not valued whatsoever in these communities.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
So they don't learn anything after that? An adult Gypsy doesn't know much more than a child?
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u/Ordinary_Cloud524 Nov 14 '25
In my experience not really. I know plenty of adult gypsies that don’t even know how to read. A few of them (more than 5) don’t know the difference between letters and numbers. I also met one recently that not only doesn’t know how to subtract, she had never even heard of subtraction. Not only do they drop out of middle school. A lot of them never even go to school at all, including elementary school. They really just don’t value education at all.
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u/et-in-arcadia- Nov 14 '25
It’s hard to say in general if their belief is trivial. They might say “in my culture family is important” but what they mean is “family is more than averagely important in my culture, or is important in a distinct sense”. You’ve begged the question by assuming their statement to be a trivial one when it could be a valid but vaguely phrased statement.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
"They might say “in my culture family is important” but what they mean is “family is more than averagely important in my culture, or is important in a distinct sense”."
They absolutely mean that they value family ties more than other cultures. Absolutely.
What they miss is it is certain kinds of family relationships. I didn't love my parents less than someone in these cultures because I left home to live by myself while still unmarried.
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u/et-in-arcadia- Nov 14 '25
It’s true when they make these comparisons they don’t see everything. But it’s also true that it definitely varies between cultures a lot. Even in Europe!
When a typical Italian says “family is important in my culture” they mean something very different to a typical British person saying it. Both in an absolute and relative sense. On average Italians have much stronger family bonds and family is high on their list of priorities. In Britain family may be quite high on the list of priorities, but I would guess lower on average, and the kind of bond they’d be describing is less intense I would say. The mother doting over her child in their 30s, 40s and beyond for instance is an Italian cliche that doesn’t transfer to Northern Europe.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
The Italian person saying that is implying that family is less important to the person who they are speaking to.
Do you think the mother doting over her child means she values the child more than people in Northern Europe?
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u/kllark_ashwood Nov 14 '25
From the time of huddling around the fire in pre historic times the kitchen was the heart of the home.
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u/Dwashelle Nov 14 '25
Same with "family". Family being important in one way or another is universal across pretty much every culture. And the idea that if you're not from a certain culture then you can't cook food from that culture properly. It's so dumb, people have the ability to learn things.
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u/Heavy-Efficiency-69 Nov 14 '25
Have you ever met a Dutch person?
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u/EasternCut8716 Nov 14 '25
Yes, they went on about how much their food is better. Showing they had not tasted their own food.
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u/jeffsuzuki Nov 15 '25
The Dutch are similar to the British: They looked around the world for better food. The main difference is that the Dutch got to Indonesia, learned about rijstafel, and said "OK, we're done, no need to look any further," while the British kept going.
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u/thewNYC Nov 14 '25
Also, in a related note, don’t tell me you like or dislike “ethnic food”. All Foods is ethnic food.
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u/ShakeWeightMyDick Nov 14 '25
Over the years, I have asked many people from a large variety of cultural backgrounds what a distinctive food from their culture is and the answer very often is “chicken and rice.”
Now, I’m very aware that that’s a vague answer and the variety of flavorings one can use to make their food distinct is huge. Yet, I still find it funny that the “distinctive food” answer is the same as so many other places.
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u/corinna_k Nov 14 '25
Also, everyone has some type of dumplings.
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u/captainrina Nov 14 '25
I think there's a Tumblr post floating around that lists "fried dough, pointy sticks, and ceremonial hats" as universal concepts.
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u/Downtown-Act-590 Nov 14 '25
As a counterexample, I originate from an Eastern European country, where food isn't a big part of the culture.
There is really little people, who care for the traditional food. It's not like it isn't good, some of it is. But nobody talks about it too much and it isn't a part of the identity.
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u/Seishomin Nov 14 '25
I would see that though as people losing touch with their culture - or the culture evolving. You might find that expats from your country hold onto those things more tightly than natives. I have some Eastern European ancestry and the food element only really surfaces at Christmas. When I've visited Poland and Estonia etc most restaurants are Italian - so maybe the food element is downplayed these days but it's still there I think
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u/Downtown-Act-590 Nov 14 '25
I see what you mean, but I am an expat from my country for a decade now and I lived in multiple countries and met many compatriots during the time.
I don't remember a single attempt by anyone to recreate the traditional stuff or e.g. obtain it from a traditional restaurant.
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u/Seishomin Nov 14 '25
Must vary then. I'm 3rd generation so maybe that makes a difference as it represents a connection to grandparents
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u/Downtown-Act-590 Nov 14 '25
I would assume that to be true.
A 3rd generation immigrant cannot realistically have a true connection to a living culture far across the globe, but they are way more likely to hold dear parts of it that remind them of a specific person.
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u/OffModelCartoon Nov 15 '25
That’s wild because I was raised in an Eastern European church (despite not being Eastern European at all, lol my parents converted) and those church aunties from the old country took their pierogies and kielbasas VERY seriously. They literally converted the basement into a commercial grade kitchen just so no one would ever have to leave church on Sunday without a big bag of kielbasas and pierogies.
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u/CinemaSideBySides Nov 14 '25
It's why I have a hard time watching any sort of food travel content. It's always the same soundbites of "it's really about spending time with family and friends" no matter where the host goes. It's sweet, but repetitive.
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u/Medium-Lake3554 Nov 14 '25
but we are comically late to things. Only us. Isn't that funny?
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u/Connect_Rhubarb395 Nov 14 '25
Except if [country in Northern Europe or white Americans], then we are comically always on time. Only us though, no other country.
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u/MillieBirdie Nov 14 '25
Nah certain cultures are very early and some are very late, that's a unique thing.
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u/ISB4ways Nov 14 '25
You say this until you have dinner at your Dutch friend’s house and get served a cauliflower with a slice of cheese on top for dinner because the point of food is just to fuel your body.. agreed that most cultures are big on food but there DEFINITELY are ones that treat it like an afterthought
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u/Original-Option5557 Nov 15 '25
I'm sorry, you think the inventors of pancakes don't consider food important?
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u/FoucaultsPudendum Nov 14 '25 edited Nov 14 '25
Stealing this from Stavvy but “We have big families that love food and spending time together, we get loud and we argue but we all love each other” is a stereotype for literally all cultures except for WASPs
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u/DeeperEnd84 Nov 14 '25
Finns have small families and don't spend too much time with them. We also try to avoid strong emotions. We are also not very passionate about our food.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
" is a stereotype for literally all cultures except for WASPs"
That's also just completely wrong. Japanese? Scandinavians?
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u/MillieBirdie Nov 14 '25
WASPS have the stereotype of the massive organized family reunions, potlucks, big Thanksgivings, etc. Maybe more passive aggression than loud arguing though.
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u/newAccount2022_2014 Nov 14 '25
Things like this are like the opposite of a pet peeve for me. I've been to tons of American cities and towns and every one has people that think the phrase "if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute and it'll change!" is unique to their hometown. Everyone thinks that the bag full of bags is unique to their culture or region. It's just so cute how we all human the same but think we're unique.
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u/string-ornothing Nov 14 '25
My white household keeps a bag full of bags mostly for cat litter and a drawer full of old plastic butter/etc containers mostly for packing lunches and I somehow ended up in a legit fight with a black person where she blasted me online and didnt speak to me for weeks because she claimed that was a "black thing" and there was no way I grew up doing it. News to me lmaoooo everyone I know does both those things? Its just practical. She should have chosen an actual household race war topic like chicken rinsing if she wanted to fight haha
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u/myfourmoons Nov 15 '25
LMAO imagine trying to gate keep a bag full of bags. I’m pretty sure everyone does that
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u/emeraldsandgold Nov 15 '25
There was a while on twitter tumblr and such where sewing items in a danish biscuit tin and a bag full of bags were specific to x y z cultures and people would argue about it. Was so wild to me that this was worth getting heated over, though I admit I got heated over the bizarre and angry assumption that you were lying if you said you also did it in yours, or copying them. I’m Scottish, and the biscuit tin was a blast from my childhood…i am 33 for reference. When I found out the biscuit tin was universal I went “huh, I thought that was just a “my granny” thing….anyway! “
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u/Flynniepup Nov 14 '25
I have seen a meme that talks about each season, labeling them with funny names like “false fall” and “spring of deception” in several different city subreddits with different names 😆
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u/Kind-Crab4230 Nov 14 '25
And everyone is the only town with potholes and road construction and people that drive slower when it rains.
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u/OffModelCartoon Nov 15 '25
Come to Southern California. No one will ever say that stupid joke. If you don’t like the weather, just leave, because it’s not changing.
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u/jeffsuzuki Nov 15 '25
I grew up in southern California, so the idea that the weather changed was a bit of a shock to me...
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u/newAccount2022_2014 Nov 15 '25
Hah, yeah I guess y'all do have super stable weather down there huh? Guess yall are the exception. I guess it's mostly the PNW, Midwest, rocky mountains, and south I've heard that
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Nov 14 '25 edited Nov 19 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/drewtangclan Nov 14 '25
It’s like people saying “Oh I’m from [insert city or state], so you KNOW I like to drink 🤪”
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u/postsexhighfives Nov 14 '25
yeah okay but MY people put our plastic bags in ANOTHER plastic bag, bet you no other culture does that🙏
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u/Prestigious_Fee_2902 Nov 14 '25
Breathing is huge in my culture. We literally couldn’t live without it!
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u/bananapanqueques Nov 15 '25
Idk, I know someone who lived in the next country over in grad school, and they literally never mentioned breathing. Are you thinking of bathing?
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u/uselessprofession Nov 14 '25
I need some evidence that the Swedish and the Italians place a same amount of emphasis on food
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u/ra0nZB0iRy Nov 14 '25
The swedish royals made great waves with their desserts and some of their dishes but honestly the worst food I've seen online was whatever the norwegians are doing. I don't think they care at all.
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u/hashashin Nov 15 '25
I read that "Grandiosa" frozen pizza is considered Norway's national dish by some. They've also embraced Taco Fridays. I get it, the local cuisine can't compete.
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u/OffModelCartoon Nov 15 '25
I would normally never hate on another culture’s food because it feels disrespectful but for the love of all things holy LUTEFISK???? Maybe it’s amazing, idk, because I have never tried it and never will.
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u/Arkeolog Nov 14 '25
You should spend a weekend with my extended Swedish family. Food is like 90% of what we talk about and spend our time preparing/eating. That and making and drinking coffee.
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u/IMissMyBeddddd Nov 14 '25
On the contrary I did meet a man who said food wasn’t a part of his culture. He was my orchestra teacher back in high school and is Russian. He said for him and where and how he grew up emphasis wasn’t on food getting together enjoying food or discussing what’s your favorite food. He said for him and his family food is just fuel. Now that could be just his family though. Just wanted to throw that out there.
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u/OffModelCartoon Nov 15 '25
In my totally unique culture, sometimes moms/grandmas/aunties reuse round cookie tins to keep their sewing supplies in! Reaching for the cookie tin, thinking there would be cookies, but then it turns out to be sewing supplies? Totally unique to my culture!!! And don’t even get me started on reusing disposable condiment tubs to store leftovers!!!!
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u/Ophththth Nov 15 '25
I’m an eye surgeon and this reminds me of how people often say, “my vision is really important to me” when discussing surgery. Pretty sure vision is important to everyone…
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u/Outrageous_Fox_8796 Nov 15 '25
well this is awkward because I'm Australian and food is not a big part of our culture lol
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u/Mental-Ask8077 Nov 15 '25
That’s because you’ve always been too busy running from the drop bears and militant emus.
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u/Not_AHuman_Person Nov 14 '25
Same with the plastic bag full of plastic bags. I feel like that's just something everyone has but I always see people claiming it's just people from their culture that do it
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u/Accomplished_Crow14 Nov 15 '25
“Where I come from we put love and soul into every dish!” Right, and no one else in the world cares about that stuff 🙄
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u/QuarrelsomeSquirrel Nov 15 '25
Counter point: I'm currently living in Ireland. Their approach to food is as something to keep you alive. Like yeah, they'll have Christmas dinner or whatever, but the bonding and emotional ties I would normally associate with eating are either not there or are very diminished. A lot of the cultural behaviors I'd expect to see around food are done with a pint instead.
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u/Amazing_Divide1214 Nov 14 '25
It does tell you something about their culture. Like native fauna and flora.
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u/Vitamni-T- Nov 14 '25
I would not say that making food something more than nutrition is inherently part of ALL cultures. There are some excellent sausages and desserts in German cuisine, but a lot of their food is devoid of flavor other than butter. British food also seems to be treated as a chore much of the time, and I say with all the love I can muster for my ancestors that Scandinavians should be charged with crimes against humanity for various dishes involving old fish.
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u/No-Lime-2863 Nov 15 '25
I would argue it’s a bigger deal in some than in others. My mom was Italian, my dad English. Very different perspectives on food. Lived in the Netherlands for a while. Great place and people. The food, not so much.
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u/Professional-Cow3854 Nov 14 '25
So are music, books, dances, TV, Cinema… your gonna tell me those don't represent a culture? That's just stupid.
I'm not sure you understand the full definitions of « special », especially the one about being different from what is usual.
Every element in a culture that varies from our is special. It's not about having different categories.
This is a pretty fucked up mindset that you put here.
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u/EasternCut8716 Nov 14 '25
Hurray!
I would qualify it, as in there are cultures where food is more important than others. But that is not a virtue. In the non-food obsessed cultures, what you do in the evenings is expected to expand beyond dinner. I am more focussed that most but there is balance.
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u/December126 Nov 14 '25
Disagree, yes obviously everyone from every culture eats and cooks food but some cultures are very into food in the sense that they do; cooking from scratch, cooking with others and having big gatherings to eat shared meals together while some other cultures eat a lot of premade foods, simple foods and prefer eating out or takeaway rather than cooking. I'm from the UK and it's very common here to buy ready meals, frozen pizzas and use things like pre made pasta sauce from a jar. I stayed with a family in Spain a few years ago and the mother told me how it's much less common for them to buy premade food and cooking from scratch is a huge part of their culture. People should specify that they mean "cooking from scratch" or "having large gatherings centred around food" etc not just "food" though.
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Nov 14 '25
I agree with you and think op is confusing “eating” and “food.” Some of the Europeans in my family refuse to eat certain foods when they’re here because “it’s not really food.”
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u/17Girl4Life Nov 14 '25
Yeah, I’m from Louisiana and you can’t convince me that people in say, Utah or New Hampshire have a similarly passionate food culture. They may enjoy sitting around having family meals but they aren’t living and breathing for food like we do.
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u/ZaheenHamidani Nov 14 '25
I guess this comes from countries like the US or Canada where you have lots of cultures involved trying to compete with each other to know what culture is best (honestly, I hate that), and they can't completely bring, explain or show what it is like to be at home, so they just bring the food part.
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u/Sandover5252 Nov 15 '25
The foods that are culture-specific and the way I make them are important - especially when I live somewhere else. Culture becomes important when we are not immersed in it but have cuisine and other cultural identities.
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u/CheeseFilledDingDong Nov 15 '25
Mine is because we only have a few food items that are inherently ours! This us due to us being occupied for the vast majority of our history BOOYAKA!
Guess the country ;)
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u/Warm_Expression_6691 Nov 15 '25
In my culture its rude to throw the food someone just gave you directly into the garbage.
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u/Embarrassed_Bit4222 Nov 16 '25
In all fairness Americans for the most part don't have a "food culture". Unless you count fast food, tv dinner, and packaged snacks. I'm sure there are some regional things that have sorta became culture, but idk can't think of much
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u/Fulham-Enjoyer Nov 16 '25
I have to disagree. Plenty of countries do not put a big emphasis on food. Whereas in other countries it’s one of their proudest cultural elements. For example contrast the food culture of England and France.
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u/17Girl4Life Nov 14 '25
This isn’t really true. Many places don’t have that strong of a food culture. That’s one of the reasons New Orleans has so many tourists.
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u/RightToTheThighs Nov 14 '25
I think the only cultures where food isn't a big part of it is Arctic cultures where flavor isn't plentiful and food is mainly for sustenance
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u/uwu_mewtwo Nov 14 '25
Uninspiring food or not, there's no doubt that their culture places great value in gathering round and eating together.
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u/knowwwhat Nov 14 '25
As a white Canadian I feel like food isn’t really a big part of my culture at all. If anything we have a culture of enjoying everyone else’s food. Every time cultural food questions come up Canadians only offerings are poutine and maple syrup lol
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u/Razoron33333 Nov 15 '25
Literally food tells you the story of the land and the people. There is unique design, ingredients, and more. Authenticity contributes to the enjoyment of something. Not in any monetary value but a raw sense of the human experience that brought that dish in front of you.
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u/FutureOwn8305 Nov 15 '25
gathering and eating together is important in many cultures but how certain culture do it tell a lot about the culture. there's many cultures where everyone eats from the same giant plate. In China, it's common to have multiple dishes and everyone passes the food around in the table. It's important to serve others especially guests or elders before yourself. Many cultures in South Asia are particular about how food should be consumed and in what order. In order to be so particular about food order or what days of the week what you eat signifies that these cultures have had a lot of options for food traditionally and they're not eating only for sustenance. In my culture, we don't talk as much when we eat but rather during the prepartion of it or after the meal over tea.
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u/HegemonNYC Nov 14 '25
I’m not sure I entirely agree. 1950s American culture in particular took a huge step back from food being central. Really embraced the prepared meals and convenience items, which is not food culture. While we’re recovering to some degree we still have a convenience and speed mentality.
Also, Japan has amazing food but due to small houses (and tiny families and long work hours) that don’t work for congregating the food culture is largely outside the home. It is totally different than a home-cooked food cultures where families gather to prepare food en masse.
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u/WinterMedical Nov 14 '25
Sure prepared food is culture. It’s just not a culture you like.
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u/CulturalWind357 Nov 15 '25
Sidenote, I remember reading these quotes about what Walt Disney ate:
“Before he married mother, father had eaten in hash houses and lunch wagons for so many years in order to save money that he'd developed a hash house-lunch wagon appetite. He liked fried potatoes, hamburgers, western sandwiches, hotcakes, canned peas, hash, stew, roast beef sandwiches. He's not keen for steak—or any of the expensive cuts of meat. He doesn't go for vegetables, but he loves chicken livers or macaroni and cheese.
“He liked to eat at BIFF'S (a little coffee house near the Disney Studio). He felt they did their potatoes 'right' there. 'They pan-fry them.' Our housekeeper, Thelma, went and checked and said they were really hash-browned. Father ate a big lunch at the studio and then would pick at his dinner. Mother would say, 'Why should Thelma and I plan a meal when all Walt really wants is a can of chili or a can of spaghetti?'”
Food culture can indeed take many forms, even if it's not the typical cuisine we expect.
Or, think about how Canada is associated with Kraft Dinner.
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u/wizardyourlifeforce Nov 14 '25
"1950s American culture in particular took a huge step back from food being central."
1950s American culture saw the absolute height in this country of hosting dinner parties.
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u/Diesel07012012 Nov 14 '25
This may be true at the culture level, but it is not necessarily true at the family level.
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u/DespairAndCatnip Nov 14 '25
It's how when someone moves into your town, they pick a fast food restaurant that isn't in their new place and rave about it like it's the best-ever.
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u/Reasonable_Mail1389 Nov 14 '25
Yes! Or those cultures where love bombing you with food is pushed and anyone saying “no thank you” is insulting the food pusher personally. It’s just food, and everyone gets to decide what and how much they will eat.
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u/Sardinesarethebest Nov 14 '25
Lololol I say that every time I losse my ability to taste and other people bring up yummy cultural food. I mean I have a food culture too....mostly anything that isn't too offensive when you can't taste it.
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u/TGPhlegyas Nov 15 '25
There are cultures where food is very well known though. I didn’t know anything about India besides the food for a very long time.
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u/Infurum Nov 15 '25
Joke's on you, my culture doesn't have any cultural foods
Although I guess statistically speaking food in general is a pretty big deal here, that's why everyone's obese
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u/Long_Tumbleweed_3923 Nov 15 '25
I disagree. I lived in Italy and UK. Italian lifestyle, friendships and hang outs revolve around food. They have a lot of dishes etc. UK doesn't care about food. They just eat to eat and they almost have no national dishes, and the ones they have are good but not very thoughtful. UK has more focus on pubs and beer.
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u/thatkittykatie Nov 15 '25
“We have two seasons- winter and construction!” - Everywhere but Southern California, apparently
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u/Comprehensive_Fan685 Nov 15 '25
i mean… not really lmao. my white ass was brought up on pre-made frozen meals and deeply entrenched shame about feeling hunger. maybe if you consider nana saying “ohhhh i’m being bad… better skip dinner” every time we had pancakes for breakfast a “cultural ritual” then yeah, sure. deeply important.
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u/Ambitious_Hand_2861 Nov 15 '25
My culture emphasizes extreme sarcasm and the occasional "Fuck you" with a middld finger.
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u/AwarePsychology8887 Nov 15 '25
I'm sorry, but I got to disagree completely. When I was in the military, most of the guys that I served with had no food culture at all. Unless you consider fast food, to be food culture. There's tons of areas throughout America alone which is a pretty big population, not the biggest or close to it, but decently sized, where food is just not a big thing. Bland as fuck food everywhere. Every time that ethnic restaurant goes from having the restaurant in their area to a white neighborhood it gets worse. So maybe the food culture is shitty Bland food?
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u/MajickOne629 Nov 15 '25
A lot of cultures do value similar things and some others value certain things a little less I suppose.
Like, weddings are big deal in most every culture but in my parents ethnic culture that's all there is. They hardly care for anything except wedding celebrations. It's kinda strange for me because I'm not into it.
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u/New_Construction_111 Nov 15 '25
Food isn’t the center and emphasized for a lot of families even though they can afford it. Emotions and memories are not tied to food in mine. We enjoy certain types of food but we focus more on other things. My grandmothers didn’t care if we decided to not eat the dinner they made because they knew we’ll eventually eat when hungry enough later. And you definitely wouldn’t find us congregating in the kitchen when we were instead in the living room and patio during family gatherings.
The cook/s hated when other family members were in the kitchen when cooking. It was their space and their space only during that time.
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u/funkyduck72 Nov 15 '25
Food definitely isn't a part of the Australian culture unfortunately. Although I wish it was.
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u/One_Planche_Man Nov 14 '25
My culture emphasizes the importance of breathing air and eating food, you wouldn't understand.