We absolutely love our bread in germany

Lots of Germans defending German cuisine, so as another German: you are absolutely right!

Germany has some great food and some Germans love making good food but German culture is absolutely not about food. The food culture we have is a development of the last ~40 years. Traditional German food is supposed to make you sated so you can go back to the fields and work! And the go to the army and fight! And then go to the ruins and rebuild!

Tasty and awesome food? Yes! A culture that tells you it loves food? No!

You haven’t had the right german food then.

Have you tried Currywurst or Spätzle or Sauerbraten or any kind of German sausage or Mettbrötchen or German bread and still think we don't love food?

I hate food. It's hard to explain but it's kinda like most food triggers my fight or flight response. It takes me a lot of willpower to eat through a regular meal. As a kid I was severely underweight because I was always avoiding food. When I moved out I took the easier approach and started eating only the stuff that was easier to eat (mostly fried and dried stuff, and some ultra processed stuff like chips and cookies). I went from one end of the BMI table to the other in ~5 years.

What, artificial chocolate sprinkles on buttered white bread isn't peak cuisine?

Or a Presbyterian church service. I gotta give it to the Pentecostals, they might be a cult but at least they know how to party.

Or they're dutch

Nah, ask us about savouries and you might hear about pies and curries and chippies - the stuff you’ve heard a million times before. But ask a Brit about their favourite pudding or cake and you might want to book some time off for the reply.

British food is unironically great, and the stereotype is based on experiences during WW2 rationing. It's made funnier that the people who say it comes from a country where people spray cheese from a can...

There's so many good pies, pastries, puddings, roast dinners, breakfasts, etc that are very good. British-Indian food is often excellent. Even a basic dish like macaroni cheese can be lovely if you make it right.

To be honest unless you include northern France, I'd argue nowhere in northern Europe has better food.

Brits: I like my food like I like my trousers. Beige and tasting of cotton.

Absolutely. And in the less extreme variants, there are cultures for which good food is the base of socialization - you mostly meet up for dinner or similar - and others where good food is the exception, happening for big occasions and parties but not an every day occurrence.

I live in Norway. I can confirm this. Norwegian food

If they bring up their cultural religion, values, politics, philosophy, or social dynamics, suddenly things can become an area of controversy and even ethical debate

Italians will go three rounds in the ring over which neighborhood has the best ice cream shop. I wouldn't even say its uncontroversial. But these also tend to be attributes that vary heavily even at relatively short distances in older communities. A certain meal prepared a certain way or a dance/music style that originated in your neighborhood becomes a unique touchstone to your community.

I might note that this is something "Planned Communities" tend to lose out on. Everyone gets a Chilis. Everyone gets a radio station franchise that plays the same six songs on a loop. Everyone gets an AMC that shows the same ten movies as everywhere else. Everyone gets a Catholic Church and a Methodist Church book-ending the local elementary school.

Then you leave your provincial cookie-cutter suburb and visit London, a city where the dialect of the language changes by intersection. Or you do a road trip in Italy and find out how every tiny township has this one kind of dish they're all really proud of. Or you just drop into inner city Houston and get an earful of Chop'n'Screw music played by guys with spinners on the wheels of their lowered Cadalliacs. Then you find some weird old bookshop in Montrose that sells pagan bumper stickers.

It’s definitely too strong a (sweet) flavor for me, but I just dislike adding sweet sauce to savory things. I also find barbecue and teriyaki sauce unpleasant for the same reason.

Chilies and spices are fine by me though, and tbf, I wouldn’t ever describe ketchup as spicy.