I spend so much time at airports that I’ve had a chance to notice that the Delta lounge at Laguardia serves the same dish as the Maple Leaf lounge at the Montreal Trudeau airport.
It’s chicken stewed in mushroom sauce.
At Laguardia, though, it tastes terrible. Dry, chewy, just bad. In Maple Leaf, it’s extremely tasty.
It’s not an oddity. Food in Canada is vastly superior to food in the US. Everything tastes better. And it’s comparable because it’s often the same dishes and the same recipes.
I haven’t spent much time in Canada. So I can’t comment there specifically. But I have noticed that with US and different countries. A ham sandwich here is usually not great; in France, delicious. A cheap noodle dish here makes me feel like I have had a ton of salt and is greasy; in Asia, the most humble noodle dish is extraordinary. And I feel better in even significantly less wealthy countries after eating: less bloated, less tired etc etc.
I am assuming its ingredients. I know for a fact that wheat grown in the US is subject to chemical pesticides that are banned in most of the world. So maybe that’s it?
What do you think it is?
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Yes, it’s also very noticeable in Europe. And absolutely, the health effect is instant and very noticeable.
I have no idea what it is. It’s got to be a lot of different things.
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Its not the actual cooking, though would you agree? Like we have talented chefs and cooks here. Or maybe more salt and more oil here?
I jusy keep coming back to the issue of raw ingredients. We have a fairly extensive garden and for about 5-6 months out of the year, we purchase almost 0 produce. So we are still buying bread, meat etc. And even that makes a difference in how we feel. I understand why things taste better coming from our garden (we grow heirloom varietals; we pick at just the right time etc etc.) But why would we _feel_ better? Pesticides is my best guess? I would be interested to know anybody else’s opinions too!
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Its likely not made with the same food. I can’t speak for Canada, but America upwards of 80% of all restaurants, airports, schools, etc. all source their food from the same company SYSCO. They have no choice as SYSCO despite monopolies being illegal have more or less captured a monopoly on food distribution.
Essentially if you are eating in America you are eating Sysco food, be it a McDonalds, or a high end restaurant. Which means its not going to be locally grown, and it has likely sat in storage for months.
So yea. Same recipe, completely different taste. Or rather same recipe, 6 months in storage, and lowest cheapest quality ingredients.
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I hate SYSCO.
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Frankly I know food is grown in America, heck there are farms all over where I live, but I also know that almost none of that food grown locally actually manages to make it into the local markets.
There are a few exceptions, a few farms and butchers here and there who raise, slaughter, and sell their own herds and crops, but most food comes from SYSCO, and most locally grown food doesn’t actually seem to actually be sold locally or even in the US for that matter.
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
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