Haha, this reminds me that when we do our business trips to visit our global offices, many of the workers are nice enough to bring a local treat for the team to snack on. The one request from our Swiss office: NO American candy or chocolates. They found it inferior and often would eventually toss the stuff out. 
I did make an exception and bought maple candy for them one time (since I’m in New England) - that they enjoyed, because it was different.
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I remember stopping at a Persian bakery on my way to an Italian Canadian friend’s house. The friend is a former chef, who was making pizza for a dozen of us who had traveled to Austria together on a ski trip.
I always bring some kind of host gift. I’d intended to bring paczki or berliners since my friend liked the apricot krapfen in Austria so much, but the bakery that sold them was closed.
The Persian bakery next door was open.
So, I brought Persian baklava, and Persian coconut florentines.
Later, the friend told me not to bring pastries or sweets that weren’t Italian. LOL.
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Perfect! You can’t lose with baklava.
He asked me not to bring it ever again. LOL
I think he sent me home with the leftovers.
It was a good version of Persian baklava, just not their kind of thing.
Now, with that group, I either bring something Italian or possibly something fairly ordinary like brownies.
Wow! Interesting. I guess you can lose with baklava. Maybe I’m biased by my own family’s ooos and ahhhs over baklava.
I used to take coconut patties or key lime taffy…things they definitely wouldn’t have locally.
And then I’d bring European chocolates back for the awesome teams that backed me up from the home office.
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I’m chewing on a Bit-o-Honey right now. I didn’t eve know they still made them. Was just at the Dollar.25 Tree this AM, and sure nuff, Bit-O-Honey.
There’s not much food that is purely from the USA if that is indeed the topic. I am going to say potato skins, since that is purely American. I am not sure there is another culture that scoops out most of the potato and just eats the skins. They are always a winner.
My favorite, though is turkey gravy. The turkey exists to provide a base for the gravy. Even when other cultures cook turkey, I am not sure they are making the gravy.
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Giblets rule!
I finally learned how to make magnificent gravy; I start with a turkey stock made from roasted turkey wings.
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That sounds like a really good idea. That way I can have great turkey gravy anytime.
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Let me know if you want the recipe. It takes a lot of time but I guess good stuff takes time, right?
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This one is my favorite, although the access. may not be free anymore.
My Canadian husband feels the same way. My eyes just about roll out of my head each time the knife and fork come out for pizza.
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Oh lawd! Do Canadians also eat burgers with knife and fork? Which food culture does Lulu follow?
A few years ago we had guests from the Netherlands. We took them to a Mexican restaurant. They ate their tacos with k&f! Our group rolled up and ate with fingers. Quite the cross cultural moment.
Don’t get me started on wannabe-chichi desis who eat Indian finger foods with k&f. Many jokes abound on these. Non Indians would get a pass.
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I use a knife for my burger if the burger is tall and comes with a knife stuck in the bun to hold it together.
I generally don’t use a knife, but sometimes it make sense.
Most Canadians eat burgers or pizza without utensils.
If I can’t wash my hands for some reason, if it’s takeout and no handwashing is available, I might use cutlery for pizza. I don’t eat with my hands as much as I used to. If I can’t wash my hands, I’ll often hold the pizza by the crust and throw away the crust. Which isn’t a new thing- Cornish pasties were created so the miners could eat, without being able to wash their hands.
I can’t speak for the other 38+ million Canadians.
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People eating fried chicken with knife and fork will always be weird.
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Well if you are having fried chicken and waffles and pour the syrup over, its far easier to use a knife and fork than deal with sticky gooey hands. 
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Lulu eats here pizza like a normal human … with her hands. But LLD gets weirdly squeamish when confronted with food meant to be eaten in hand. His parents are from Scotland, so maybe it’s a British thing rather than Canadian.
I bet I’d love hearing all the jokes about the chichi desis (while glad I’d get a pass).
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This is a combination of various stock recipes … makes a lot, you can halve the recipe if you like. I buy organic turkey wings at Whole Foods close to T-Day.
Turkey Stock Oven: 400
5 Turkey Wings (about 5 lbs.) cut at joints
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered (I leave the peels on)
A few carrots, large chunks
6 parsley sprigs and few sprigs of thyme, tied in a bundle
2 Bay leaves
¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
(Make stock up to 3 months ahead and freeze in airtight containers. Refrigerate 2 days to thaw.) Stock can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled. Spoon off the fat before using
(Go to recipe for Whole Foods Stress Free Gravy. Gravy can be made and then refrigerated, up to 2 days ahead. Then, follow finishing directions, (drippings, while turkey is out of oven and resting.)
Arrange wings in a large roasting pan and place in oven. After 45 minutes, turn wings over and add onions. After 45 minutes more, add carrots. Roast until deep brown, about ½ hour more, total of 2 hours.
Transfer the wings and onions, carrots and herbs to a large stock pot.
Add 2 cups of water to the roasting pan, place over 2 burners and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits. Add all to the stock pot.
Add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low; simmer uncovered until the stock is very flavorful and reduced to about 8 cups, about 2 ½ hours.
Strain the stock into a large bowl. Cool 1 hour, then refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours. Once your stock is made, let it cool completely, uncovered, then cover it and chill. If covered while hot, it will go sour.
Remove wings to cutting board when cool, pick off meat and reserve for another use.
This is my stuffing recipe BUT I don’t put any cranberries and I added some other things. I use Acme Sour Dough bread, double the recipe. Around the holidays, Chinese markets sell fresh water chestnuts … makes the stuffing so much better! They are hard to peel, a bird’s beak knife makes it easier:
https://cookbookfundraiser.com/recipe/4764994/charlie-trotters-sourdough-cranberry-stuffing.html
Here are my ingredients:
Can be mixed up to 2 days ahead, keep refrigerated
2 One Pound loaves Acme sourdough bread, cubed (toast in oven at 350 for 15 minutes or 250 for 30 minutes (I used Acme Sour Batard from Whole Foods) (can do this a few days ahead)
1 ¾ cups chopped onions (about 1 big one)
2 leeks, chopped … white and light green parts (wash well, then dry with paper towels)
2 – 3 Serrano chilis, seeds removed, finely chopped
3 shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
25 (or so) fresh water chestnuts, peeled and sliced
1 ¾ cups chopped celery, including leaves, use tender stalks
1 cup (or more) slivered, toasted almonds
4 - 5 apples (Rome Beauty or other cooking apples like Braeburn) peeled, cored, cut into cubes)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
½ cup (or more) finely chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons sage, fresh, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon thyme, fresh, chopped
2 Tablespoons (or more) chives, fresh, chopped
1. 5 Tablespoon Bell’s Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Chicken or turkey broth, barely heated (3 or more cups)
2 sticks unsalted butter
I HAVE to make the Bourbon Cranberry Sauce from Food & Wine … for some reason, they call it a relish:
Now I don’t see it listed on their site, here’s my copy:
1 cup Bourbon (the alcohol cooks out but you can sub orange juice)
¼ cup minced shallots
Grated zest of 1 orange
One 12-ounce package of fresh cranberries, picked over = 3 ½ cups
1 cup sugar (I put slightly less than 1 cup)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
In a small nonreactive saucepan (I use a non-stick pot) combine the bourbon, shallots and orange zest. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until the bourbon is reduced to a syrupy glaze, about 10 minutes.
Add the cranberries and sugar, stirring well until the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat slightly and simmer, uncovered, until maybe ½ of the cranberries have burst, about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the pepper. Transfer to a bowl, let cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate.
Make Ahead: This sauce can be made several days before serving.
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