I received this e-mail from a reader. It is a good question so I am sharing it with everyone.
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Dear Mr Leco:
I found your summary of US cooking very informative. However it fails to mention one of the distinguishing characteristics of US food that is a continual source of bafflement for foreigners in this country.
It is this: In the US, sugar and other sweeteners are added to food that in other countries contains no sweeteners. A list: sugar is added to: Chinese food, salad dressings, barbecue sauces, bread (especially the kind of bun eaten with hamburgers and frankfurters), stews, beans and roasted meats.
It is true that there are some dishes in other countries that mix sweet and salty: Persians put raisins in rice, Argentines put raisins in empanadas, there is a Moroccan dish containing sugar, in Sweden bread is often sweetened, etc. But only in the US is it a systematic, all-encompassing principle.
If you like that sort of thing, very well. I myself detest the combination of sweet and salty, and for me eating out in this country is always associated with complex enquiries and negotiations with the serving staff or host with the purpose of avoiding sweet-salty combinations. Except of course in desserts. Fortunately I never have to anxiously enquire whether there is salt in the desserts.
Regards, Carl Stoll