This does seem like a very US-centric problem. None of the recipes I was brought up on base their quantities on third party packaging, and generally don't use premixed ingredients. It's very strange.

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blahedo 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Neal Stephenson referred to the phenomenon as "recombinant cuisine" in Reamde and identified it as specifically Midwestern, although I think it is more broadly American. (But I am Midwestern, so maybe not :)

	▲	jandrewrogers 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I lived all over the US when I was young. If I had to pick a part of the US that I most strongly identify with that kind of cuisine, it would be the Midwest, no contest. Other parts of the US used it to varying extents but in the Midwest it was a core part of the cuisine. They practically reveled in it. Some of the casseroles constructed that way from those days were legit delicious but I haven’t seen or heard of them since the prior millennium. I’m not even sure if some of the prefab ingredients are still available. I’d eat some of those again in a heartbeat. You don’t see it on the coasts anymore but the tradition still seems to exist in flyover areas. NB: I just googled some of these things and the recipes appear to exist online, I just don’t know where to buy some of the canned ingredients.
	▲	DoneWithAllThat a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		No, he didn’t. What he was referring to was combining finished products to create new dishes. Not using pre mix products.

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aidenn0 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In the '90s I remember that people in Germany would request I bring brownie mix when I visited; apparently US brownie mixes were superior to anything available domestically.

	▲	nicbou 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		That makes sense since it's an American dessert. Germany seemingly only produces the worst possible version of American bread and butter popcorn.

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sersi a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I was thinking that and feeling rather proud of being European where we rarely use pre-mix (I've seen some in supermarkets but don't know anyone who uses them).

Then I realized that I typically buy my puff pre-made (made with butter) because it's good enough and it's hard to make at home... Most people I know do the same. Now granted, making puff pastry is quite a bit more involved than mixing ingredients like a pre-mix cookie recipe but still...

	▲	account42 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Puff pastry is also usually not the main part of whatever you're making but rather just something to hold it together. I see it more as buying pasta to go along my self-made stew - sure I could make it myself but for most dishes I wouldn't notice the difference. The cake mix is much more defining of the taste of the resulting cake so I'd want to have a say as to what goes into it instead of just using someone else's design.

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cogman10 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It usually doesn't matter. But I can think of a few recipes that have been impacted which usually rely on canned goods. They'll call for something like a "15oz (425g) can of diced tomatoes" and shrinkflation has turned those into 12.5oz cans (350g). You can't even buy a 15oz can anymore which is a bit frustrating.

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mrweasel a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I can get a spice mix for tacos/burritos here in Denmark. The spice package assumes 500g of ground beef, which no longer comes in 500g packaging, but only 400g. Not a massive issue, the food is just a bit more spicy.

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jedimastert 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> None of the recipes I was brought up on base their quantities on third party packaging

I mean, they were probably all made using convenient measurements that were converted to whatever units you use after the fact.