What is American Cuisine?

[Faeelin]

Talking to a German girl the other day who's visiting the States for a year, she started complaining about how American food is so terrible compared to German food, since it's just hamburgers, steak, and seafood. This kind of made me blink, since a) German food is sausage and potatoes, and b) I wasn't sure what I actually considered American cuisine.

So, I'm curious. What qualifies as American? French toast? Pizza? Barbecue ribs?

[grumbler]

There are foods that have been invented in the US, but I don't think that there is an "American cuisine."  There is simply too much variation.

[Sheilbh]

Like everywhere in the world I imagine there's a lot of regional difference.  Such as, for example, Germany.

The things that come to my mind are Southern.  Jambalaya, southern fried chicken, corn bread, Tex-Mex. 

[DontSayBanana]

I would characterize hot dogs as typically American food, pizza, hamburgers/cheeseburgers, cheesesteak, and fried chicken.

There is more to German cuisine as well, but I would be the first to admit that it is very rich cuisine, mostly meats and dairies.

[Weatherman]

[DontSayBanana]

Like everywhere in the world I imagine there's a lot of regional difference.  Such as, for example, Germany.

The things that come to my mind are Southern.  Jambalaya, southern fried chicken, corn bread, Tex-Mex.

That's interesting, as I think a lot of Americans would not consider Jambalaya and Tex-Mex as American cuisine- both are American interpretations of other cuisines, and I think a lot of people get those confused.

[Admiral Yi]

Meatloaf, ribs, hotdogs, chicken fried steak, pot roast, onion rings, green bean casserole, turkey and stuffing, chili, clam chowda, fried oysters, chicken fingers, chicken wings, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, succotash, creamed corn, lima beans, catfish, hamburgers, corn on the cob, cornbread.

Then you've got all the texmex and Cajun stuff that might or might not qualify.

[DisturbedPervert]

[Admiral Yi]

cheesesteak

D'oh, of course.

Sloppy Joe's, peanut butter.

[Sheilbh]

Oh grits springs to mind as well.

Then there's the obvious: hamburgers and hot dogs.

Chowder's a good suggestion.

[DontSayBanana]

Meatloaf, ribs, hotdogs, chicken fried steak, pot roast, onion rings, green bean casserole, turkey and stuffing, chili, clam chowda, fried oysters, chicken fingers, chicken wings, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, succotash, creamed corn, lima beans, catfish, hamburgers, corn on the cob, cornbread.

Then you've got all the texmex and Cajun stuff that might or might not qualify.

Tex-Mex is American interpretation of Mexican cuisine, so I don't think that counts. Cajun and Creole are both pretty exclusive ethnic subsets, so I don't think those should be considered for the status quo, either.

[DontSayBanana]

Oh grits springs to mind as well.

Then there's the obvious: hamburgers and hot dogs.

Chowder's a good suggestion.

Yeah. You have got a point on the broader regionalizations. New England and Maryland seafood, corn bread, grits in the south; I'm torn on whether to include Midwestern chili into it, though- It's not Tex-Mex, but it's still a regional interpretation of Mexican.

[Admiral Yi]

Any dish with the word "loaf" in the title.

[Sheilbh]

Tex-Mex is American interpretation of Mexican cuisine, so I don't think that counts. Cajun and Creole are both pretty exclusive ethnic subsets, so I don't think those should be considered for the status quo, either.

They're not the status quo but they're uniquely American.

Like Anglo-Indian cuisine.  A bunch of curries that don't exist anywhere but the UK.  And the great joy of food is how local it can be.  I really like the North of Italy for this where you get very German dishes (sausages, sauces, dumplings) done with a bit of an Italian twist, for example.  But now, whatever the history, it's very Italian.  Another example would be Sicilian food which is hugely influenced by Arab cuisine.

Searching for gastronomic purity is a fools game :p

[grumbler]

So is cuisine now defined simply as a list of foods?  If we use the morely accepted meaning along the lines of "a distinctive style of cooking" I maintain that there is no "American Cuisine" but simply a collection of them, generally derived from other, more national cuisines.  If there is anything distinctive about American cuisine in general, it is probably along the lines of more extensive use of deep fat frying, but even that is not all that general.