#honestly i feed peak american food culture was during the nuclear family era

[pumpkinstep]

I actually know a lot about why American chocolate tastes the way it does. well I guess more than average and more specifically about Hersheys chocolate. The vomit taste actually comes from the milk. The way the milk used in the chocolate is boiled to help it last longer and be shelf stable, (please correct me if I'm wrong I'm writing from memory) brings out that acid taste. it isn't, as far as I'm aware, something that is artificially added to the chocolate. You can notice this same taste in cheese like parm.

sorry I'm bad at spelling, it's the hard cheese made exclusively in Italy, in terms of real parm, and used for spaghetti most commonly.

anyway, not all American made chocolates taste that way. there's tons of brands that make chocolate here that don't have that taste and even some of Hersheys other bars don't really have that taste as strongly as the standard solid bar. maybe it has something to do with there being less authentic chocolate content when it comes to their cocoa covered bars? who knows.

I know the standard for American chocolate has been set by Hersheys but if you try local stuff or visit chocolate shops, you'll find it's a lot more varied.

also also also,

Chocolate wasn't that common in MREs and you were more likely to find fruit chews instead as the standard sweet treat. You were more likely to see Chocolate biscuits or powdered drink mixes before you would come across a bar proper or choco coin.

in regards to sliced bread, I have a fun fact for you.

the invention, as far as I'm aware, was pushed by the need to feed a lot of people and provide good nutrition to potential soldiers, which correlated right with young kids and teens.

though I think I'm thinking more of how that desire led to the government food scientists inventing enriched flour and adding vitamins to most food things the average lower to middle class family would buy.

idk, I love food history.

if anyone else is interested in food history, there's three channels I watch for it,

Tasting History with Max Miller

Townsends and son

and

Steve1989MREinfo

Inspired by that poll coming for British food, have an alternative.

Shout-out to @sigh-the-kraken for suggesting American delicacies I wouldn't want to touch 👍