Personal experience: American portions that shocked me
'04.01.2018'
About the American portions, many know firsthand. When ordering one, you can safely expect that at least two of them will feed on it. So we reasoned until recently.
One Sunday afternoon my husband and I decided to go to the famous chocolate factory in San Francisco Ghirardelli and finally try their chocolate. My attention was attracted by the ice cream menu, which I had not eaten for eight months. Solved order. And more coffee to him, please.
While my husband was making an order, I found a table overlooking the ocean and Alcatraz, sat down and waited. The waiter slowly walked me out of a state of oblivion:
- Your order, please.
In the first second it seemed to me that someone was just kidding me. The waiter brought a huge plate with nine weighty balls of ice cream, flavored with nuts, cream, chocolate and fruits (it is in the photo itself, only here it seems three times less), and also 6 dessert spoons! That is, the portion is designed for at least six.
By the time I finally got out of stupor and began to laugh. The people who were sitting around turned around to see who ordered this plate for 50 $. Some even came up and said "what a great portion" and "we wish you good luck."
The husband was able to squeeze out of himself only "I just wanted to please you."
By the way, we failed in our task because it was unreal. Therefore, my advice to you: order is always more modest if you do not want to receive the audience award as the most hungry customers of the restaurant.
Interesting fact: Serving sizes ranging from muffins to sandwiches have increased significantly over the past decades. Unfortunately, the size of the belts of the Americans reacted accordingly. In the 70s, about 47% of the US population was overweight, now 66%. And the number of obese people has doubled - from 15% of the population to 30.
Not only the sizes of portions increased, but also the plates, mugs and the rest of the dishes. At the start of 90, the standard dinner plate size increased from 25 to 30 cm in diameter. The size of the dishes has a significant impact on the amount of food consumed by a person. People not only impose more food on themselves, but also, as a rule, eat it all up.
Two slices of 20 pizza were “weighed” in 500 calories years ago, today the standard slice size has increased, and along with two slices we get 850 calories. These extra 350 calories, if consumed twice a month, will add you 1,8 kg per year, or 18 kg per 20 years.
20 years ago, the most popular coffee with milk and sugar gave us 45 calories, today the most popular among Americans large mocha with 2% milk - 330 calories.
Grown in size and standard bagel. 20 years ago, it was 7,6 cm in diameter and 140 calories, today it is 15,2 cm in diameter and 350 calories. What can we say about the cheeseburger: in 20 years, from 333 calories, it has grown to 590 calories.
