white people food

It's my mother's birthday this weekend and my sister and I have decided to take her out for dinner (and dad, too). We wanted it to be for something that she wouldn't cook at home and that I can't make, and we thought that roast beef would be a good option. My parents like roast beef; it's not too "foreign" for them. So I spent a good part of last night reading the menus of nice restaurants in town (thank god for PDFs) and getting frustrated. There was a lot of steak but no roast beef to be had.

Discouraged, I posted a query on Chowhound asking for recommendations for roast beef dinner places. I was surprised to see responses today that referenced "prime rib" and then began an MSN conversation with a friend with the words, "I need some info about white people food."

So it turns out that prime rib = roast beef. Who knew? I was confused by a menu that offer prime rib in 8 oz., 10 oz., and 12 oz. servings, thinking that that meant it was steak (a really good cut of steak, obviously).

So yeah, all the confusion that people exhibit over "ethnic" food from foreign countries? I feel that about Canadian/American cuisine.