Animals — To be moved to Stock Animal Diet
Common Stock Animal Diets
- Mice and rats love cheese, even though they actually don't. It's an old wives' tale that has been debunked.
- Cats love milk. Cats are also known for hunting mice, fish and birds, even in captivity. Well-fed cats often do it just out of instinct, which helps give rise to the Cats Are Mean trope.
- Dogs like Stock Femur Bones, meat, especially those that leave behind Stock Femur Bones, and man-made dog treats, especially those shaped like Stock Femur Bones.
- Elephants and peanuts.
- Monkeys and apes love bananas. This one dates back to the work of primatologist Jane Goodall, who used bananas in order to get close to the chimpanzees she was studying.
- Bunnies' love of carrots was actually derived from Bugs Bunny, and though some do, others prefer bananas and grass hay.
- Small birds and seeds or worms, except for parrots and crackers.
- Ducks and other waterfowl and bread. In real life, feeding ducks bread is unhealthy and can be fatal.
- Horses and hay or apples.
- Sharks and humans. You can thank Jaws for this one.
- Crocodiles and humans.
- Bears and honey, fish, or whatever people leave in picnic baskets. In fact, in some languages the word for bear roughly translates to honey-eater or honey-pig. Bears are also known for hunting salmon.
- Anteaters are called anteaters in English for the same reason. Aardvarks also enjoy ants, though they and anteaters actually prefer termites.
- Pandas and bamboo.
- Cheetahs and gazelles.
- Frogs and long-tongued reptiles eat flies.
- Snakes steal eggs or eat rodents whole. Except constrictors, which usually eat bigger animals.
- Koalas eat mostly eucalyptus leaves, a toxic plant which most other animals can't tolerate or digest.
- Penguins and fish. They also like to eat squid and krill.
- Giraffes and acacia leaves.
- Leopards and dog, impala, and human babies.
- Vultures and carrion.
- Bats are very strongly associated with blood drinking, despite only 3 of the 950-1,200 species of bat drinking blood.
- Sperm whales and squids, especially the Giant Squid.
- Dolphins and fish. Orcas not only also like to eat fish (particularly sharks) but also seals, penguins, and whales.
- Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops or hadrosaurs.
- Allosaurus and Stegosaurus or Camptosaurus or sauropods.
- Velociraptor and Protoceratops.
- Oviraptor and eggs. This is due to the fact when the dinosaur was first discovered, it was found near a clutch of eggs as if it was going to steal them. It was later revealed the eggs actually belonged to the dinosaur, meaning the "egg thief" was really a parent trying to take care of them. As of now, Oviraptor is considered to be an omnivore.
- Spinosaurids and fish.
- Pteranodon and fish.
Nations and Regions — to be moved to Hollywood Cuisine
- The other wiki has an entire page devoted to national dishes
which don't necessarily align with the aforementioned examples, as those are often just stereotypes. - Various cultures often have a stereotypical food associated with them, which is often fodder for slurs.
- Britain has quite a number of these:
- English sailors were once known for eating limes to fight scurvy. This is the origin of the slur "limey", and a British ship was called a "lime juice tub". They originally used lemons, but lemons were produced in French colonies and limes in British colonies, so they switched to the more patriotic (and less Vitamin C-rich; limes have about half as much Vitamin C per pound as lemons do) option. The lime was often mixed as juice into the Navy grog ration, giving the predecessor both to punch and the various rum sours common in the Caribbean (e.g. the Daiquiri).
- One of several French slurs against the British is to call them "les rosbifs", note due to the British stereotypical love of roast beef. To be fair, during the Napoleonic Wars, this was very much Truth in Television, as the British viewed French cooking as effete and wimpy, and took pride in eating "manly" dishes like roast beef, and the British even wrote a song about it.
- Brits also are also particularly big on toast, especially with jam or orange marmalade. Some of the other notable toast-based dishes include baked beans on toast, egg on toast (usually fried or scrambled), Marmite or Bovrilnote on toast, and the toast sandwich. Yes, that is a piece of toast in between two slices of bread. It was invented by Isabella Beeton in 1861 as an ultra-low cost meal, noting that it could be enhanced by adding other fillings between the collective three slices. All of these are automatic laugh lines in the rest of the world as supposed examples of "inedible British cuisine."
- A spot of tea is also considered quintessentially British.
- No cup of tea would be complete without an accompanying biscuit, and in the UK, the most popular one has to be the Digestive biscuit, a round wheat biscuit presented either on its own or with one side having a thin coating of chocolate. They're especially popular because they're just the right size to fit through the top of the mug to be dunked. Other popular biscuits eaten with a cup of tea include custard creams, bourbons, rich tea biscuits and shortbread.
- One of the more traditional morning options for Brits is the Full English Breakfast; which typically consists of back bacon, sausages, black pudding, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, a fried egg or twonote and toast/fried bread, often served with coffee or the aforementioned tea. It's no longer a typical breakfast for British people because it takes so long to make, and is so filling that you can't do much after you've eaten one, but it's still a beloved part of British food culture. Each region of the UK has its own particular variants of the dish; for example, the Full Scottish Breakfast also often includes Lorne (square) sausage and Tattie Scones (savory potato scones), cockles and laverbread (seaweed puree) are popular additions for a Full Welsh Breakfast, while soda bread and white pudding frequently appear in a Full Irish Breakfast.
- Regions in Great Britain have their own trademark foods:
- The Northern English and their black pudding and tripe.
- The East End of London and their jellied eels, although the dish is less popular in modern times.
- The West Country (Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire) and their cream tea with scones.note
- *The Welsh and leeks (see Shakespeare's Henry V) and cheese (the English have been joking about the Welsh affinity for cheese for centuries, with a 16th-century book making reference to a Welshman loving caws pobi — baked cheese — and "Welsh rarebit" — which, for the uninitiated, is a beer-based cheese sauce over toast — being named after this joke.
- Scots and their haggis and porridge (recall Samuel Johnson's dictionary definition of oats).note Haggis is genuinely popular in Scotland, and South Asian immigrants have modified it into the Haggis Pakora.
- Brits are famous for their love of take-out curry and other Indian fare, with their most popular choices being the Balti — which is especially popular in Birmingham, to the point where there exists a "Balti Triangle" of restaurants specialising in the dish — and the Anglo-Indian Chicken Tikka Masala. Most often, they're served with sides such as ricenote , poppadoms, chicken pakora, onion bhajis, Bombay potatoes and naan bread, as well as condiments like mango chutney, raita and lime pickle.
- In a country where food is Serious Business, the French naturally have a few of these:
- French and frog's legs, sparking the slur "frog", which was later expanded to include French Canadians. They also enjoy escargot: snails cooked in their shells with white wine and garlic butter, then served with crusty bread.
- They also have a thing for cheese, given that many major cheeses such as brie, camembert and Roquefort are named after the regions in France where they originated. Most formal meals in France will have a cheese course.
- France is also famous for its wine production. French cuisine is considered to be the best in the world, and Wine Is Classy, after all. As with cheese, the names of French wines are taken from the regions in which the grapes are grown.
- Belgians and French fries (which has nothing to do with France, but with the verb "to french"). Other Belgian dishes are mussels, sprouts, waterzooi and waffles. Very much Truth in Television in central Brussels, where every pub has the aroma of cooked mussels and there is at least one French fries vendor at each corner.
- Dutchmen, Swiss people and Frenchmen have a penchant for cheese.
- Dutchmen and herring which is eaten by tilting your head back and putting the fish slowly down in your mouth. More often, it is served cut in pieces with onions and pickles.
- Germans and kraut-based foods, hence a slur during World War II when Germans were called "Krauts" by American soldiers.
- While in Russia, Germans (and Austrians) have been called kolbasniki (sausage-makers) for centuries, such as in Tolstoy's War and Peace.
- In Russia and Ukraine Belarusians are sometimes referred to by the nickname/mild ethnic slur bulbashi - bulba is the Belarusian word for "potato" and potatoes are a staple of their cuisine. The most well known example of Belarusian cuisine is draniki - potato pancakes.
- Ukrainians are well known for their love for salo - cured slabs of pork fat.
- Irish people have also been stereotyped as eating nothing but potatoes, which comes from the sudden influx of Irish immigrants to the US because of the Potato Blight. Not to mention the reputation Irishmen have for loving whiskey.....
- "Spaghettis" and "Macaronis" can be used as anti-Italian slurs in German-speaking countries.
- East Asians are considered synonymous with rice.
- Pork is so important to Chinese cuisine that when the word for meat (肉, pronounced ròu in Mandarin and approximately yuk in Cantonese) appears in the name of a dish without qualification, it invariably refers to pork.
- Hong Kong, being known as "food paradise", has a huge range of cuisine from all over the world, but one possibility would be fishballs in the local style, and maybe dipped in curry or satay sauce, a very popular street food. Cheung Chau island in particular is known for their fishballs the size of small oranges. In general, Hong Kong has one of the highest meat consumption per capita in the world. Even compared to nearby Taiwan, Hongkongers eat twice as much fish and five times as much beef per capita. For seafood, the golden threadfin bream is a good candidate for a favourite, being so popular the $100 HKD note is nicknamed after it (as they are both red with gold accents) and they are now a vulnerable species.
- Korea has several:
- Koreans are well known for their love of Kimchi(especially Baechu(napa cabbage)-Kimchi). They eat it as a side dish in nearly every meal.
- Koreans are also infamous for boshintang, aka dog soup. China sometimes gets lumped in with them on this. However, dog soup is falling out of favor with younger Koreans due to concerns over animal rights and sanitation, since the raising of dogs for food is not regulated like the raising of livestock such as chickens, pigs and cows.
- Koreans are well known for their love of Kimchi
- The USA:
- Depictions of Americans from other cultures will often feature a love of burgers, hot dogs and fries. Americans also have a reputation for slathering everything with melted cheese. Except for dry snacks like crackers, chips, and various cornmeal-based puffs; these they'll cover in powdered cheese. And they can deep-fry anything. Including ice cream.
- Americans also love Mexican food — to the total bemusement of actual Mexicans. Perhaps not coincidentally, Mexican dishes like enchiladas and nachos lend themselves very well to being smothered in copious amounts of melted cheese.
- The meat that would qualify as America's true "trademark favorite food" would probably be chicken, because intensive agriculture made it affordable over the 20th century as health advocates demonized red meat as unhealthy in the latter part, and its nondescript flavor means it goes with any ingredient.
- Regional trademark foods:
- New York City is famous for its pizza, Chinese food, bagels, and deli sandwiches. Most of the establishments that serve these also stay open late, lending to the "City That Never Sleeps" nickname.
- Hawaii is one of the only places in the world where you'll be able to find SPAM in a McDonald's or Burger King. They even make sushi out of it!
- In New Jersey and certain surrounding areas, the favored processed meat is pork roll, aka Taylor Ham. This Trenton creation has been popular in NJ, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, and northeastern Maryland basically since the stuff was invented in 1858. The name is a point of contention: it was originally called Taylor Ham, and people in North Jersey continue to call it that, but in 1906 the federal Pure Food and Drug Act forced the Taylor Company to stop calling it ham, so in South Jersey the newer but technically correct usage "pork roll" predominates. (Trenton, where the stuff is from, is in Central Jersey, where they use a mix of both; the city's official celebration of the meat is called the "Pork Roll Festival", but this is at least partly done to avoid alienating the two or three other companies hawking their variant on the stuff at the festival.)
- Somewhat similarly, scrapple, a meaty loaf made of "every part of the pig but the squeal" (plus some cornmeal) is popular in eastern Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is also a huge fan of pretzels: the soft ones are popular across the state (although the Philadelphia area argues with the rest of the state about what shape they should be), and the hard ones were invented in PA.
- Western Pennsylvanians love to put french fries on sandwiches, salads and pretty much everything else. Chocolate is also a statewide favorite. Hershey's is headquartered in the state, after all—and Mars (makers of M&Ms, Milky Way, and Snickers with US HQ in relatively nearby Hackettstown, NJ) has a factory in nearby Elizabethtown. (Because of Hershey's and to a lesser extent Mars, the Port of Philadelphia has the East Coast's largest entry point for cocoa beans. Eastern Pennsylvania therefore has an unusual number of small chocolate producers, since they can easily piggyback on the two chocolate giants' enormous supply.)
- Pennsylvania in general love snack foods, being the home or birthplace of numerous national brands including (but not limited to): Hershey's, Tastykake, Snyder's Pretzals, Utz Potato Chips, Herr's Potato chips, Marshmallow Peeps, Mike & Ike, Turkey Hill Ice Cream, etc. It's sometimes called "The snack food capital of the world."
- West Virginia loves pepperoni rolls (a baked roll with pepperoni in it).
- Chicago loves sausages. Kielbasa, bratwurst, hot dogs... if it's made of meat and put in a casing, Chicago will gobble it up. Also known for their pride in their local deep dish pizza.note
- Both Boston and Baltimore are stereotyped as having obsessions with seafood (clams and crabs, respectively). This is absolutely true.
- Boston got the nickname "Beantown" due to the popularity of baked beans there.
- Almost all of New England has an affinity for Dunkin' Donuts, with memes being shown of certain places in Massachusetts and New Hampshire having a Dunkin' Donuts next to a Dunkin' Donuts.
- Racist depictions of African-American people invariably feature a love of fried chicken and watermelon, rustic foods from the South. Collard greens are another stereotyped food. The entire "Soul Food" style of cooking is based around foods that are actually popular in the black community.
- Southerners are also associated with certain foods, such as barbecue, corn pone, mint juleps, moonshine whiskey, and of course peanuts, immortalized in the song "Goober Peas" popular with the Confederate Army and the mileage comedians all over the world got out of President Jimmy Carter owning a peanut farm.
- In addition to many typical southern foods, Louisiana has gumbo, jambalaya and po' boys (the local nickname for the kind of sandwich that's also known elsewhere as a hoagie, submarine, grinder, hero, etc., and most often filled with fried seafood).
- The Pacific Northwest is stereotyped for salmon, apples, bread, craft beer, and wine. The region grows more apples than anywhere else in the US, the Yakima Valley grows about half of the domestic hops output (explaining the breweries). Wheat and wine grapes also do well in the "dry" halves of Washington and Oregon. Salmon is native to the area. Coffee? Blame (or thank) the Scandinavians who settled in the area in the 19th and 20th centuries, the East Africans who came more recently, and the tech-based workforce; all of which are powered by coffee.
- Seattle has another staple on top of these. Teriyaki places are almost as prolific as coffee shops. Seattle-style teriyaki started with Japanese immigrants, but proliferated under Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino immigrants (some of who bought the restaurants after the original owners retired). The end result is like Japanese dishes married Korean barbecue, and then took a honeymoon through Vietnam and the Philippines before settling in America.
- Cincinnati has a couple. For starters, chili... which is nothing like what most Americans think of when they hear the word. In almost all of the US, chili is a thick stew originating in Tex-Mex cuisine based on chili peppers and meat (usually beef), and often with tomatoes and/or beans (though beans are an especially controversial topic among chili aficionados). Cincinnati's form has its origins in Greek cuisine, with spices typical of that region; has a much thinner consistency closer to that of a sauce; and is almost never eaten by itself. Cincinnati chili is typically served over either spaghetti or a hot dog, usually topped by cheddar cheese and often by onions and/or kidney beans. A chili-topped hot dog is locally known as a "coney" (or "cheese coney" if cheddar is added). The other is goetta (pronounced "GET-uh"), a meat-and-grain sausage combining pork (or a pork-beef mixture) with steel-cut oats, also including spices and onions.
- San Francisco is famous for its seafood, particularly Dungeness crab and shrimp, as well as sourdough bread. Being home to several Asian diaspora communities, it's also famous for Chinese, Japanese and Indian food. And as the Bay Area, like the rest of California, has a large Mexican-American population, San Francisco is also known for its Mexican food, particularly the "Mission burrito".
- For Puerto Ricans, it would be "Arroz con habichuelas" or some Tostones and Mofongo.
- Befitting its nickname as the dairy state, cheese is popular in Wisconsin. Furthermore, do to a long history of German immigrants, Wisconsinites like beer and bratwurst (which is often called a "brat" for short).
- Scandinavians:
- All Scandinavians are commonly stereotyped as eating nothing but fish, cooked in the most repulsive ways they can imagine, all day, every day.
- Sweden has regional stereotypes as well. People from Skåne, the southernmost part of Sweden, are heavily stereotyped as consuming nothing but fish and a kind of local pastry known as "spättekaka", to the point where there is a slur referring to them as "sillstrypare" (herring strangler).
- Swedes and the rest of Scandinavia consider pickled herring a delicacy, and it is eaten at Christmas, Easter, Walpurgis night, and Midsummer's eve. Surströmming however, is only a trademark food.
- The people of the Nordic countries are also known for drinking large amounts of coffee, which is frequently served black, because they feel that any additions such as milk or sugar dilute the flavor.
- Finnish people are stereotyped as having their favorite candy being salty licorice (salmiakki), which is an acquired taste in other cultures. Other Nordics and Eastern Europeans also like it, but it's not as widespread.
- Mexicans are often slurred with the term "Beaner", referring to the black, pinto, and refried beans common in Tex-Mex food. Their love for tacos is also well known, and you're very likely to come across multiple taco stands if you visit Mexico. They also love to put spice on just about anything imaginable, including children's candy (with pretty mild chili powder, but still with some spice).
- Australians will put another shrimp on the barbie! Oddly enough, though, this stereotype is completely inaccurate - firstly, they call them prawns, not shrimp, and secondly, they prefer sausages, chops and steak on the barbie. The association with beer, meat pies and Vegemite is accurate, though.note
- 22 out of 23 dishes on a Romanian restaurant's menu probably contain pork, with the 23rd usually being a salad.
- There is also the tradition, which drives the straw vegetarians nuts, of sacrificing the pig for the Christmas meal, which has to include roasted pork, pork sausages and pork bacon.
- Canadians love poutine (french fries covered in gravy and cheese), originally a Québécois dish but now common nationwide. And Timbits (aka donut holes, most famously sold by the Tim Hortons chain). And Kraft Dinner (macaroni and cheese), as immortalized in the Barenaked Ladies song "If I Had $1,000,000". Also, maple syrup.
- Japanese: Sushi, rice, bento, ramen, onigiri, sake, wasabi, hot mustard, and, for the more harshly stereotypical angle, whale meat.
- Argentina: Red meat in general. Especially asado cooked (more or less like a barbecue) and mate, the national drink of choice.
- Spain: Paella, gazpacho, tapas, wine, olive oil, jamón.
- Britain has quite a number of these:
- According to some sources, eggs are the Trademark Favorite Food of the Parsi (Indian Zoroastrians) community. There is an authentic Parsi recipe out there for eggs on potato chips.
- In most of the United States, cereal and donuts are popular breakfast foods. In Texas, however, particularly parts south of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, breakfast tacos (soft flour or corn tortillas filled with savory fillings such as potatoes scrambled with eggs or refried beans and melted cheese) are a beloved breakfast food that people can't get enough of.
- Texans also love their kolaches for breakfast. The Czech pastry was brought by immigrants in the 19th century, and while traditional varieties contain fruit or a sweet poppy seed filling, since becoming a fixture in Texas they’ve been stuffed with everything from sausage to scrambled eggs to barbeque. In the historical Czech Belt in Central and Southeast Texas, along with the major metro areas, kolache bakeries are as ubiquitous as donut shops are elsewhere, and most bakeries and gas stations throughout the state will stock at least a few varieties.
- During the 2010 world cup, Walkers Crisps released a series of flavours based on trademark foods from each country. A few examples-
- England – Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding
- France- Garlic Baguette
- Germany – Bratwurst Sausage
- Spain – Chicken Paella
- Italy – Spaghetti Bolognaise
- The US – Cheese Burger
- Argentina – Flame Grilled Steak
- Japan – Teriyaki Chicken
People - In generalTo be moved to either Food Stereotype or a separate Subcultural Food Stereotype trope.
- College students, generally being either low on funds or disinclined to complex meals, have a few favorites. Packet versions of East Asian dishes such as mi goreng or ramen are both popular, as they are very easy to make and can be mixed in with any number of other things. Chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils are also much beloved, especially among vegans and vegetarians.
- Hippies and granola.
- Hipsters: Anything vegan, organic or gluten-free.
- Pregnant women may have specific cravings that they like to eat.
- Anti-environmentalist strawmen: Spotted owls, or any other endangered species.
- Straw environmentalists and granola or something composed of tofu.
- Gamers with Mountain Dew, Doritos, and energy drinks. This has been exploited in advertising for said products.
- Geeks in general are stereotyped as junk food junkies.
- In Japanese works Otaku are often depicted eating canned oden, as it's a specialty of Akihabara.
- Stoners and pizza (specifically Domino's) or anything that's around, especially sweet and salty snacks. "The munchies" are a common pop-culture effect of marijuana, which is based in reality. Marijuana raises serotonin levels in the brain, making you feel hungry and enhancing your sense of taste.
- Exploited Trope: When Washington State passed a vote to allow recreational marijuana use, the Seattle Police department showed up at the annual Hempfest gathering (the country's largest pro-pot rally) with free bags of Doritos and Funyuns. Each bag had a brief "dos and don'ts" flyer attached explaining the rights and restrictions of the new pot laws.
- Young white liberal women are associated with pumpkin spice lattes.
