Hallo! What American novelties would Germans enjoy?

2 years ago by Clay_pidgin to c/germany

Ich besuche meine Familie nächste Woche, und ich will kleine Geschenke mitbringen.

I know American chocolate is inferior, but I assume it's still a novelty. Some kind of candies probably, too. What else? Many years ago they loved to get boxed breakfast cereal and paper napkins, which seems quaint now.

It's been years since I've seen them, and I'm sure everyone there can buy whatever they want on the Internet, but it will still be fun to bring something.

Any suggestions for an Ausländer?

Don_alForno 11 points 2 years ago

I love peanut butter M&M's. They don't sell those here.

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caesaravgvstvs 3 points 2 years ago

These and Butterfingers!

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

Thank you for the idea!

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ECB 7 points 2 years ago

Ranch dressing is a big one, since you can't get hidden valley anywhere!

I always request that one from from family in the US (along with good bbq sauce and hot sauce)

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

I wouldn't have guessed ranch! Thank you.

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sumpfsocke 6 points 2 years ago

Beef Jerky!

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rainynight65 3 points 2 years ago

You don't want beef jerky - Biltong is superior in all aspects.

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crispy_kilt 6 points 2 years ago

Hot Sauces!

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clay_pidgin 2 points 2 years ago

Several have said this- seems like a good bet.

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EyIchFragDochNur 5 points 2 years ago

If Scholz brings a Kebap when visiting Erdogan you can bring Bratwurst & Sauerkraut.

No seriously, I think most Germans would like to try other country's versions of our food. But not sure if you're even allowed to import food (or what kind of food exactly) on a flight.

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clay_pidgin 2 points 2 years ago

Did he really? How odd.

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EyIchFragDochNur 4 points 2 years ago

Damn I mixed him up with Steinmeier. And actually he brought a Berliner Kebap bar owner who brought the Kebap himself. But well

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pau_hana 5 points 2 years ago

Some Pepperidge farms cookies don't seem to have an equivalent in Germany. And I think real Spam is better than the generic Frühstücksfleisch, but that's probably just a Geschmackssache.

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

I do love SPAM.

Thanks for the new word: Geschmackssache!

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Domkat 4 points 2 years ago

Reese's You are able to get them in Germany, but only in miniscule portions.

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Loki 4 points 2 years ago

Do they like spicy things? If so, maybe bring some really spicy snack. I've been disappointed by everything from the snack aisle that says "hot" on it and I don't handle spice well at all. I suspect the US has much hotter snacks??

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viking 4 points 2 years ago

Go to Penny and look for Feuerdrachen (fire dragons). That's the real deal.

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Loki 2 points 2 years ago

My limited research (finding a dedicated fan community on Reddit and reading the posts on there lol) leads me to believe I may not find the "real deal"... But I'll give it a shot anyway, thanks!

(Research because Rewe has something called Feuerdrachen and those suck :/)

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viking 1 point 2 years ago

Needs to be the Penny house brand, that's the only one with a decent level of spiciness. One of the rare few cases where someone knocked off a discount product.

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Loki 1 point 2 years ago

I went to Penny just now and picked up a bag (the Bravo ones with the Penny logo on the back), but they must've changed the recipe. It's not really hot, tastes like the Rewe ones :/

Edit: I just checked, the Rewe Feuerdrachen and the Penny ones are the same, same ingredients, same manufacturer

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Nomad 2 points 2 years ago

Asia Supermarket. Look for wasabi peanuts. Dont thank me yet, they get so addictive and hot you dont smell anything for days.

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Loki 2 points 2 years ago

Unfortunately, I despise horseradish (and wasabi), but thanks for the suggestion anyway :)

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clay_pidgin 2 points 2 years ago

They are more "scharf", though. It's fun that in English we typically use "hot" to refer to both hot peppers and horseradish.

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

I don't know! It seems like a fun idea, though.

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ErwinLottemann 3 points 2 years ago

a friend of mine always requests the current 'hot ones' sauce collection

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

Thanks!

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bjoern_tantau 3 points 2 years ago

Peanut butter! We just don't have the good stuff here. It's the only present I remember from my father's guest sisters when they visited us.

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TwoCubed 11 points 2 years ago

We get the good stuff from the Netherlands though.

I'd suggest some disgusting shit like canned cheese.

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donduky 3 points 2 years ago

Hot sauce und Barbecue Sauce nehme ich mir immer mit wenn ich in den USA bin. Ist ja auch Grillsaison

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clay_pidgin 2 points 2 years ago

Danke schön!

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Unabart 2 points 2 years ago

I know I’m a hero to my German pals when I come back with a brick of Grape Soda because, for some reason, it’s forbidden to sell here. Pop Tarts are also popular.

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

Thanks.

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voodoocode 2 points 2 years ago

Marshmallows

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clay_pidgin 2 points 2 years ago

Really!? Are they not common in Germany?

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vintageballs 3 points 2 years ago

They are available in almost every supermarket.

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RidderSport 2 points 2 years ago

Pop tarts and twinkies, never had latter myself, but Pop Tarts are really expensive here (5€ for 4)

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PhineaZ 2 points 2 years ago

Peanutbutter-based stuff (esp. sweets) make for a good pick. Reese's is available in Germany but hard to come by and expensive. And I agree with what several already said: Hot Sauce.

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Sodis 2 points 2 years ago

Don't bring chocolate. I have heard from many people, that the American is so vastly inferior to European chocolate, that some described it as tasting like shit.

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clay_pidgin 1 point 2 years ago

Have you never tried it? It's definitely worse, though I'd say it's more wax like. Like everything else here, it's made of mostly corn syrup.

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You 6 points 2 years ago

There's another additive used by Hershey and other manufactorers in the US: butyric acid. It ads a sour taste and unfortunately it reminds people of vomit.

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invertedspear 2 points 2 years ago

It’s definitely waxier in consistency, especially Hershey’s, the best known American chocolate. Not sure of the truth, but the story goes: Hershey’s sent chocolate to the military members overseas in WW2. In the summer it would melt so they changed the formula to make it more stable, which made it waxy. When troops came home they wanted what they were used to, so that became the norm. Then they switched to corn syrup, which also made it worse. There are good American chocolates, but they aren’t coming from Hershey’s or Mars.

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clay_pidgin 3 points 2 years ago

The development of processed foods in the U.S. is closely tied to the military. They funded research into more shelf-stable foods like "cheese product" and preservative laden bread. Manufacturers appreciate their products expiring more slowly as it helps out their logistics. It's not really anyone's goal to feed us all stabilizers and preservative, but because it's cheaper for big companies it's what we get. There's not much in the way of consumer protection in this area.

Certainly there's good chocolate, but price is a major factor at the grocery store. A big Hershey bar (the size of your hand) is $2 and a similarly-sized bar from a better manufacturer is at least $5.

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the_wise_wolf 2 points 2 years ago

Like everything else here, it's made of mostly corn syrup.

Haha, that was unexpected and yet, completely unsurprising. TIL

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clay_pidgin 2 points 2 years ago

We pay significant subsidies for corn farmers, but then we have to figure out what to do with way too much corn! The reason everything has corn syrup in it is because it's cheaper than sugar. That's also why ethanol is quite common in gasoline here even though it's bad for fuel economy, power, and engine health.

An entirely separate issue is that we consider corn to be a vegetable, when it's really a grain. Carbohydrates are almost all they have!

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