I have been living in the United States for a few years now. I sometimes experience cultural shocks when I talk to my American friends. The amount of culture shocks I have now is nothing compared to the first few months I lived in the U.S. The first time I landed in the U.S. was memorable. Many of the culture shocks I had were more surprises than shocks — the way Americans are always smiling and chatty people, the huge grocery stores with unlimited things we’re tempted to buy, Americans’ obsession with Starbucks, and the list goes on.

However, there is one thing that makes me particularly sad to see. It’s an American habit I don’t want to have, even if I live in the U.S.

The spoiled dish

The first time I experienced this was during my first visits to meet my American in-laws. I often get inspired by recipes from Youtube videos. One day, a video inspired me to make hot dogs for the family for dinner. When I say make hot dogs, I meant that I wanted to make the bread, the topping, and the sauce from scratch. I set out to shop for all the ingredients needed.

While searching for the most appetizing sausage, I bought bratwurst. In the afternoon, I prepared the dough for the hot dog buns. While waiting for the dough to rest and rise, I prepared the filling. I marinated minced red onions with a mixture of water, vinegar, and sugar in a jar to make pickles. I fried garlic and ginger to make a crunchy topping. I prepare the yogurt sauce to add sweetness and freshness by mixing lemon juice, parsley, garlic, and chopped onion. I prepare all the ingredients perfectly for dinner.

Once everything is ready and the bread is baked, I assembled everything in the perfect order. Bread, butter, arugula, sauce, sausage, pickle onion, fried garlic and ginger, and minced scallion. I was proud of myself for making the hot dogs so nice.

My wife saw the dish I had made and took out her cell phone to take a picture. After that, I served everyone at the table. My father-in-law, who is not very expressive with food in general, expresses his surprise at the first sight. I wait for their reactions with impatience as everyone takes their first bite. Then, my father-in-law gets up from his seat, looking like he had forgotten something. He opens the fridge and grabs something. He comes back to the table, and I finally see that what he took was barbecue sauce. He opens the bottle and pours the sauce, pouring little barbecue waves on the hot dog. This was, for me, the culture shock that will stay with me all my life. I worked in the kitchen for hours just to have my hot dog efforts covered in barbecue sauce.

The Shocking Habit

What shocks me is that this story is not only relevant to my father-in-law, but I’ve noticed that Americans tend to add sauce as if it were salt or pepper. I see that ketchup is needed to eat potatoes, and ranch dressing drowns every salad. In short, dressing and sauces are everywhere. The problem, from my point of view, is that with the strong taste of any sauce, a dish can be spoiled. Personally, I make grilled mushrooms from time to time for my vegan friends. The amount of barbecue sauce I use has to be adjusted carefully. If there is too much of it, the dish becomes a blob of barbecue sauce with the texture of a mushroom. I sometimes wonder if it is even possible to tell the difference between pork and beef when they’re both doused in barbecue sauce.

I should mention that I love ketchup, mayonnaise, and any sauce you can find. I use it sparingly and even sometimes use it to make my own homemade sauces. But what makes me sad is that some Americans are addicted to it. Any sauce is good, but too much sauce saturates everything. There are endless ways to boost the flavor of any dish. In Mexico, specific ingredients are added to add an extreme freshness that accompanies the deliciousness of tacos. In Japan, there are sesame dressings that make the cucumber the most desirable vegetable. There is so much to discover, and I myself am still learning. While waiting for the change, I cook with my father-in-law, following the hot dog recipe I made for him, and together we experiment with the homemade sauce that works best to his taste.