What is American cuisine?

[Dianemwj]

Many people seem to think that American cuisine consists mainly of hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pizza. And we do eat those things, I'm fond of them myself, but I don't really think there is such a thing as strictly American cuisine. To me, American cuisine is what any particular American happens to be eating at one particular moment. Our culture, and especially our cuisine, is a conglomeration of all the many cultures and ethnicities which have come along with our many immigrants.

The Irish, the Italians, the Jews, the Puerto Ricans, the Chinese, the Mexicans, the Africans and many, many others have made their own contributions to "American cuisine". Many of these immigrants had to "Americanize" their cooking due to the unavailabilty of familiar ingredients (not so much anymore) and also, if they wanted to open a restaurant, they needed to appeal the unadventurous American palate. This eventually changed as local Americans began to develop a taste for all that unfamiliar food.

There are also regional differences; the Cajun food of the deep South, the casseroles of the Midwest, Hispanic food of the Southwest, the Chinese food in San Francisco, the barbeque of Texas and Memphis; but as people moved around the country, they brought their food with them. So one can eat barbeque in San Francisco and tuna-noodle casserole in New York City (although New Yorkers would never admit it), and Mexican food in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although, I must admit, the worst Asian food I ever had was at a Benihana knock-off in Cedar Rapids. My husband kept telling the chef "my wife's fried rice is better than this" and other such comments until the chef started flinging food at him.

So what is American Cuisine? Danged if I know. It's everything. We even have a new restaurant here in Las Vegas called The Cornish Pastie Company. I can't wait to try it.

 

[Dianemwj]

I've also heard of grits (although I still don't fully understand what grits are/is) and jambalaya - is that like a southern caserole?

I wonder, too, if there are any dishes of native american origin that are still popular?

I've made jambalaya from an America's Test Kitchen recipe and it is rice, flavored with tomato and spices, with shrimp and chicken added. It's one of those dishes which is individual to the cook. Like chili.

I've had grits, in fact I have a canister of them in my pantry, and to me they taste a lot like a cereal we have here called "Cream of Wheat", only made with corn. They are very much like polenta only made with white corn and a little soupier than polenta. It's my understanding that grits are generally eaten with butter, salt and pepper. I'm not a Southerner, so I can't be sure.

I don't know of any Native American foods that are currently popular except for Indian Fry Bread which is usually sold at fairs and carnivals. It's very tasty, but I don't know how authentic it is.

 

[Dianemwj]

I'm not saying this is accurate or correct, just my opinion. When American food is mentioned, what comes to my mind is steak with mashed potato, vegetable salad and soup. It can also be a hamburger and fries. Do not forget the mustard because that's one thing that makes it American. And for the vegetable dishes, brocolli and cauliflower represent that category. That is why we have a dish called American chopsuey that is a mix of broccoli and cauliflower with asparagus and carrots.

Well, I must disagree about broccoli and cauliflower. To most Americans, these two vegetables wouldn't even be in the top ten. I like all vegetables, but if given the choice I wouldn't pick either broccoli or cauliflower as my side of vegetables. You're right about asparagus though, I love the stuff, and on the rare occasion it is served at work in the EDR, a line forms in front of the asparagus steam pan and one better be quick with sharp elbows to get any.

Most of us don't eat mashed potatoes with steak. It's not unheard of, but the typical potato dish served with steak is a baked potato with sour cream and chives, or big fat steak fries. And the vegetable would be creamed spinach or sauted mushrooms. Or both.

Hamburgers can be garnished with mustard certainly, but some folks would rather have ketchup or a mixture of ketchup and mustard. Mayonnaise is not unusual either, but don't put any on mine. Some restaurants put their own "secret sauce" on hamburgers, and I've been known to put on a bit of horseradish. Or thousand island dressing. It's a very personal thing. To me the perfect hamburger has ketchup and mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion and dill pickles. Sort of like the way Jimmy Buffet likes his (Cheeseburger in Paradise) only I prefer my burgers without cheese.

 

[Corzhens]

@Dianemwj can you give me a short list of your American food? No offense, I am just interested because I was really surprised that you don't count broccoli and cauliflower as American. That is part of our American orientation that we inherited from our parents - they were the young ones when America drove away the Japanese and established their presence here.

With the baked potato, that is served in our favorite steak house near the international airport in Manila. That is the only place where we got to know that baked potato is served with steak. All other restaurants here have the mashed potato as the standard.

 

[Morning Glory]

@Dianemwj can you give me a short list of your American food? No offense, I am just interested because I was really surprised that you don't count broccoli and cauliflower as American. That is part of our American orientation that we inherited from our parents - they were the young ones when America drove away the Japanese and established their presence here.

Broccoli is a very popular vegetable in the UK, as is cauliflower. I think that broccoli has usurped cauliflower in popularity here and I'd hazard a guess that its one of the top selling vegetables here. Mashed potato is also very common here but not with burgers! We have it with sausages and gravy (brown meaty gravy) for example, or to be really traditionally working-class London, with jellied eels and meat pie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_and_mash

 

[Corzhens]

May I segue a bit, @morning glory, your post is about UK food rings a bell. I remember when my husband was assigned in London for 4 months, he was telling me about Brussels sprout. He described it as a small cabbage head and tasted like cabbage although it has a bitter aftertaste. And there was also that fish and chips which was served on coned paper that sometimes are actually old newspapers.

 

[Morning Glory]

May I segue a bit, @morning glory, your post is about UK food rings a bell. I remember when my husband was assigned in London for 4 months, he was telling me about Brussels sprout. He described it as a small cabbage head and tasted like cabbage although it has a bitter aftertaste. And there was also that fish and chips which was served on coned paper that sometimes are actually old newspapers.

Ah! sprouts - you either love them or hate them. Now, I wonder if they would be a commonly used vegetable in America.

 

[Lullabelle]

Good question Shaun, much like asking 'what is english cuisine'?

And I think you would get a similar answer. It is regionally based, some dishes become popular and spread nationally. Immigrants bring their dishes and these become incorporated. Chefs learn their trade, go abroad, pick up ideas and include them into other dishes. The point being it is constantly evolving.
The american themed restaurant you might visit will no doubt be an anglicised version of our preconceptions i.e. burgers, fried chicken, apple pie etc. And yet., if you were dropped blindfold into say, The French Laundry, (one of the US's top, top restaurants and has been for many years) you would probably not guess it was 'american cuisine'.

English Cuisine is a mix of different cultures, meals borrowed/adapted from other countries.

 

[classic33]

May I segue a bit, @morning glory, your post is about UK food rings a bell. I remember when my husband was assigned in London for 4 months, he was telling me about Brussels sprout. He described it as a small cabbage head and tasted like cabbage although it has a bitter aftertaste. And there was also that fish and chips which was served on coned paper that sometimes are actually old newspapers.

Recipe for Brussel Sprout Cake on here. The taste is down to one of the "ingredients" within the sprouts themselves. As someone is trying to find out

 

[lizzief79]

In the UK, we probably would consider American food to be burgers and hotdogs. However, it is a country that covers a large expanse and each region has their own speciality dishes. It is also a country where people have emigrated from many different countries from across globe and each of these countries will have influenced the cuisine in the US.