Show me the stats - otherwise you're just spouting an opinion not based upon hard evidence. Forum rules.

Hmm interesting. Well said.

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One day, I will sneak across the border into Canada and be an illegal alien. It will be fun.

If you reread my post more carefully you will see that I did not claim anything but just drew a possible explanation to a possible circumstance.

I am not American, so I leave it to the people from New Olreans to judge if it is really true that obesity is a larger problem among blacks than whites.

After all I do not care about it anyway. I just tried to show that one has to be no racist to explain possible circumstances in the American society, in case they exist at all.

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When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

the egg version is the authentic one.

The others are Nockerl you can find all over Austria also in my region. For example Grie?nockerl are delicious in the so called Grießnockerlsuppe (Grieß=semolina)

__________________
When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

I think the primary problem is that Austrian food is sold as German in case it is soled somewhere.

A Wiener Schnitzel is nothing German in case it should be sold at German restaurants. In fact every time I have tried a Wiener Schnitzel in Germany it just hardened my view that they are incapable of making them, in order that its in the end an eatable product, not to speak about enjoying the food at all.

Nor is an Apfelstrudel anything German its a one of the most traditional Austrian pastries that exist.

I guess, the reason why it is that hard to find Austrian food in the US is that if you would found something like that, you would first have to explain every customer why the hell you do not offer Kangoroo meat, or alternatively why Austrian food is different from German.


The sole restaurant that at least somewhat has Austrian food (among others) is the "Schatzi on Main" in Sacramento, from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

__________________
When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

Hofbrauhäuser would be Bavarian. But I guess, in the US it would be a crude mixture of everything that looks only remotely Germanic anyway, spiced up with the food from the country that has today the flag once the German empire had (@gort )

__________________
When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

Is is in the culture.

Soul food like all southern cooking is about as fattening as it gets.


It's funny there really are a lot of fat people in America. There's fat people all over the world but a lot in the US. Perhaps there is just more food in America. One thing I was always conscious of when I spent 4 months travelling across europe was always find food first. Even in Paris, after 10 pm it could be quite hard to eat with out having to dine out and spend a lot of money. And even places like McDonalds are not cheap in Europe like it is in the US. At least twice as much.

But in the US with 24 hour convenience stores and cheap fast food places and mega grocery stores and restaurants everywhere, it just seems like you can't escape food. There is cheap fattening food for the masses everywhere you look.

I don't think the lower income masses in Europe have any better taste, eating habits or exercise routines than their heavier counterparts in America, they just can not afford to eat out every meal and gorge on potato chips and ice cream like so many do in the US.

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One day, I will sneak across the border into Canada and be an illegal alien. It will be fun.

Sorry that I have to disappoint you Jihad4Beer. But your theory is rather a myth than reallity.

Poor people, and trust me on this, can afford to eat as much as they want here. Maybe not what they want, but for sure far enough. After all we have discounters too And that we can not go shopping on Sunday or in the middle of the night is nothing someone hurts in anyway if you possess a minimum of organisational skills.


If you dont believe me. I'll invite you to Austria to see it And you will agree with other of your countrymen who said in pure astonishment: Wow, you eat heavy and so much of it!

And furthermore, sorry if you are trying to get somewhat reasonable priced food in a french restaurant. No one who knows them would ever try that But there are alterantives. And in case of Austria the situation is totally different. Our "Wirtshäuser" are not expensive, they are often medium prized, if you know the town you live in well, it may be no difficulcy to get a menu (thats here the daily different speciality of the Wirtshaus) for 5€ or even slightly below. (drinking of course additional) And believe me normally you leave those Wirtshäuser more than well fed.
Thats of course the expensive version to get to food. If you cook yourself for a family with discounter food, than you easily will be below 2€ per head for a full meal.

And from stories back than from my grand mother of the time between the wars. She told me that they lacked much and had work even more. But if there was one thing they never ever lacked on not even slightly, than it was having enough to eat. The opposite was the case, food was the only thing they had plenty of. Of course not much of a choice but the seasons also brought some variation into it anyway. (Thats for the countryside of course. In the towns at the very end of WW II and afterwards for a certain time, they had shortages on food, and propably some had also to starve.)

__________________
When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

I don't agree at all. Income and education have nothing to do with good taste for food when it is part of the culture. There was no better cook than my grand-mother who taught me how to do the "tarte à la moutarde" (mustard tort), the cassoulet (untranslatable) and the "poires au roquefort" (peers with roquefort cheese). My grand-mother on the paternal side was a very simple woman but a much better cook than my grand-mother on the maternal side who had maids at home when she was a kid (she could do a great caramlized "riz au lait" - milk rice - though ).

You do not become fat because you eat out, you become fat because you it the wrong food : too much fat, too much salt, too much wrong sugar - Mc Donald food, junk food, industrialized food and this all day long.

The other thing is that the portions in the US are huge. Nothing comparable in Europe. At least : not yet.

To take the example of France, for instance, Parisians eat every lunch out. They get restaurants tickets as part of the salary. But there is a real difference if you eat a fresh salade niçoise (potatoes, green beans, anchois, eggs) and a crème brulée for dessert + coffee or a fat hamburger and potatoe chips during the all afternoon. There is really no great secret : food is not equal to food in terms of quality.

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______________________Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”___________________Alexander Solzhenitsyn

I agree with everything you are saying here Slarti except this

When I was a student in Paris, and living on 2.000 FF a month / approx. 300 EUR - I could afford an omelette with some green salad or a "croque-monsieur" (some kind of hot sandwish) and tap water since it is free in all cofee houses (brasseries).
We did not eat out in the evening, because most of us could not afford it, and instead invited each other at home and for this evening, believe me, we cooked, and not only pizza - like I found it later to be when I arrived in Germany - but the kind of stuff we knew from the restaurants and our parents Umothers ...). To make a "soufflé" - always look great - you only need flour, three or four eggs, some gruyère cheese and 1/2 liter milk : this is not going to ruin you, always look great on the table and is very tasty. This is what I mean when I say "part of the culture".

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______________________Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”___________________Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Yes brasseries are another thing. I reffered therefore esepcially to the real french restaurants. I dont know if it was just me (thanks for your recommandations back than ) but when I was in Paris I found no restaurant with a menu that was below 20€. And I do not even know anymore in which parts at the end of the world we have been too there...

as far as I got it, french restaurant means eating a la carte with several dishes. Eating for people that want to have money afterwards too, you'll go to a Brasserie.

Do I see this right?

__________________
When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

But a brasserie is a real restaurant i.e a place where you get food. You get drink and something to eat if you wish. Croissants at any rate if it's morning, sandwiches, omelettes, small stuff but you can sit ! Some brasseries offer better food than many restaurants. They have a food card if you ask for it. If you ask for "une carafe d'eau", you will get it for free (no need to buy a bottle).

In the last 20 years, I would say, a number of chains have developed - Fast food if you want, but French way - From the croisanterie to "pomme de pain", I think ? But from the outside they look like regular restaurants so maybe are not noticed by tourists ? You also have the Chinese caterers, you can eat there as well, they are usually good and cheap.

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______________________Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”___________________Alexander Solzhenitsyn

My problem certainly was that I looked in reallity for a Wirtshaus
Didn't find one ...

Dont get me wrong, I did not try to say that in France you can not go out to eat at reasonalb costs but still something real (not only fast food or simple baguettes, pizza etc). I guess Brasseries as you said will be the matter of choice here.

I am not sure, perhaps one time we even bought something at a Brasserie, but it could have been some french fast food store either. Anyway what Jihad4beer for sure had in mind was the classy french restaurants. Brasseries may be what one could also call restaurant but especially when one says "french restaurant" I guess most will think of several dishes, high quality and prices. And in a matter of fact, I found an astonishingly high number of such restaurants in Paris.

But may I ask you Sucre, is there anything comparable to a Wirtshaus in France? Solid food at reasonable prices, maybe a bar attached, but at no costs just a pub, simply gemütlich. (IMO if you get your food faster than within 10 min its fast food not a restaurant or Wirtshaus, we have Austrian fast food chains too, basing mostly on Wiener Schnitzel and variants of it)

But if you want it to know Sucre, in the end we cooked for ourself nearly every day anyway, with our gas cooker next to the tent.

__________________
When the Nazis came for the communists I remained silent, I was no communist.
When the Nazis came for the Unionists I remained silent, I was no Unionist.
When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I remained silent, I was no Social Democrat.
When the Nazis came for the Jews I remained silent, I was no Jew.
When the Nazis came for me, there was no one left who could protest.

But yes, yes, yes : a brasserie
Or anything that may look like a café but actually where they serve food.

But of course, you know the French, they don't really like tourists, so they keep it for themselves

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______________________Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”___________________Alexander Solzhenitsyn