In reality, the average resident of Austria, Germany, or Switzerland weighs less, eats healthier, and is in better physical condition than the average resident of North America. The central European diet is not only full of fruits and vegetables, but fresh fruits and fresh vegetables - most inhabitants of the region shop several times a week, getting produce from local farmers to ensure maximal freshness. Back in 1970, author LaVern Rippley wrote:
Maybe the reader has heard that German food is supposed to be heavy and doughy - uninspired. And no doubt he remembers sitting on his mother's knee listening to Grimm's fairy tales where they are always eating porridge. Of course he knows that we Americans like hotdogs (which are made by putting a Frankfurter sausage in a bun) and wieners (which are sausages bearing the name of their origin, Vienna, Wien being the German word taken into English without translation). Even though the origin of "hamburger" sounds German too it is unknown there, and seems to be of American birth. The word "hamburger" came into English by means of a process in word formation which philologists call analogy. The ground meat is named after the city of Hamburg just as those sausages have the names of German cities, Frankfurt-er, Wien-er, Regensburg-er, etc.
Many tourists from Canada, from Mexico, and from the United States are surprised to be served dishes like smoked trout or steamed asparagus when visiting southern Germany. They are likewise stunned to learn that noodles, in the form of the traditional egg noodle as it is known in America, are not frequently served; instead, one finds Spätzle in southern Germany or potatoes in northern Germany. Thus German cuisine is lighter than its reputation.
In many countries around the world, one can find those food shops which are called 'delicatessen' - but more properly spelled Delikatessen. The tradition of Delikatessen began in Germany. The word itself has a double origin: the Latin word delicatus morphed into delicatesse to which was added an -n suffix to pluralize it, meaning 'stores which sell fine foods' and sometimes also beverages. But the word was also morphed because the German verb meaning to 'eat' is essen. Author LaVern Rippley continues:
Perhaps the reader has also been in a delicatessen recently without realizing that this is a particular kind of German store where fine foods are sold: Delikat, delicate, and Essen, food. No American any longer thinks of Germany when eating sauerkraut, but during World War I the word (though not the food) became so offensive to "patriotic" Americans that the term "Liberty Cabbage" was temporarily substituted. Munching on pretzels one seldom thinks of their origin as Germany, Brezel or Pretze, a word which comes from Old High German brazzilla.
While Rippley's writing is dated, and some of his generalizations and examples are a bit questionable, his point stands: there is, in American cuisine, a significant and detectable influence from central Europe. The habit of adding cucumbers and radishes into salads is a Germanic custom. A light glaze of mixed herbs in butter is also from central Europe.
In short, many Americans are eating Swiss, Austrian, and German foods on a daily basis without knowing it!
