He's from Germany. 

Anything less bland than an American chain might kill him.

The whole point is we have authentic food from most countries available to us in Europe. Immigrants and cultures mixing is not unique to the US. What we don't have is all the big chain fast food that we see on tv, but have never tasted. We get excited because we get to try "authentic american" fast food.

Brother, if Taco Bell got you that excited you should try the real stuff. If you’re at a match in the US where any Latin American country is playing I guarantee there is an abuela in the parking lot/on the sidewalk selling food out of a cooler that will explode your European palate and send you directly to heaven.

I hate when people say this, because they clearly don't actually understand the Taco Bell dynamic. They assume it's trying to be something it isn't.

Taco Bell is not Mexican food, and they do not claim to be Mexican Food. Their items are vaguely latin-inspired, and they generally use the same 5 or so ingredients that most Mexican food uses in various shapes and sizes, but nowhere on their marketing or website will you find a claim that they make Mexican food. They don't claim to, and they don't claim to be authentic. Expecting that or even comparing it to that, is disingenuous at best, and actively stupid at worst.

Taco Bell is its own thing. I'm in Arizona, there's Mexican food literally on every corner. Most good, some excellent, very little bad, because it just doesn't aurvive. Yet 9/10 people I see at Taco Bell are some flavor of Hispanic. There's a reason they go there, and it's not because they want Mexican food.

Raising Cane's

Ugh. even within the limited circle of fast-food and fast-casual chicken finger franchises, Cane's is bland nonsense. Fried chicken as interpreted by a Star Trek replicator, and not one from the Enterprise, but the Cerritos.

I'm in France and even at every Latino bands concert there's always some Latinos selling great food at great prices. Even if you go to the embassies there's always locals selling god shit

There are a lot of people visiting the US for the first time for the world cup

MSG IS NEVER OPTIONAL!!!

One potential problem: I don’t know how it is in the rest of Europe, but in France basically all mayonnaise includes Dijon mustard, so you can’t just use it straight in an American recipe. I did usually see at least one brand labeled “American mayonnaise” that did not include mustard, but people would need to be aware of the difference.

I’d be curious to know if mayonnaise more or less always included mustard and it was for some reason stripped out of the recipe that made its way to the US (my guess would be the British having some role), or if mustard was a later addition to the French recipe after it had already crossed the Atlantic.

Lower the salt and add a bit of white pepper.

If not tangy enough, add a (very small) pinch of citric acid.

And we're smack dab between 2 places known for slow cooking in fat. Ffs we got heavy French plus a harsh winter to the north, and mfers who bury half a pig for a day in hot coals to the south!

Brings a whole new element to tossing a salad

Homemade ranch with fresh herbs, garlic, buttermilk and fish sauce is amazing.