British Undeservedly Snotty about American Cuisine

[HVC]

Cooking cod in 50 different ways is not a cuisine either, irmao. 

Where the portuguese go right is desert. There's a reason it leads the world in diabetes

Where do the eggplants inject the insulin at?

The skip the insulin and go straight for the heart disease and early death

[grumbler]

On account of size and as Queequeg says the range of environments this covers I'd guess the US could well be more varied than a typical European country (though maybe not the foody ones. In Greece for instance I found huge variation between Corfu and Athens) but its definitely not up there with the entire continent.

I think American food is homogenized to a far greater degree than European food, if that is what you mean.  There are definitely American localized/regionalized foods, but nothing in the mainstream anything like the difference between Greek and Italian food within such a short distance.  Americans have been too mobile and too entrepreneurial too long for that to be true.

[grumbler]

Yes. And so are the staples of every national cuisine: the lowest common denominator and things that have crossed the regional frontiers. Just like the magret de canard or the cassoulet. My point is that these sorts of regional variations exist everywhere.

Of course they do.  Is someone arguing that food does not vary by region?

As for "missing" or not the whole point of local cuisine, I have lived in Chicago for a year and have had enough friends in New Orleans to go beyond touristy stuff. But then, I guess I could also claim that people on the forum have also "missed" the whole point of every other foreign cuisine.

I think you should make that claim about people who seem to have missed the whole point of other cuisines (I am not sure what a "foreign cuisine" even is; is it a cuisine that is different from the one one grew up with, like Cajun would have been to your Chicago-born friends in Chicago?).  Even the "All-American style" menu will be different in different parts of the US.  Grits are "All-American" in the South, but unheard of in the Northwest.

[grumbler]

Traditions and regional (or national according to some) differences are strong enough to have well over half a dozen languages and dialects still alive. Food is no different.

I think food and language are a great analogy; enough so that I would bet the strongest local food traditions are in the areas with the strongest local language traditions.

[Jaron]

In the culinary world, Americans only receive credit for foods they have innovated from " farm to fork" as they say. As such, taking a European dish is not fairly American cuisine anymore than putting Mayo on potato chips would be fairly called a European invention.

IF Chinese started to put soy sauce on a hot dog, would you call it authentic Chinese? I didn't think so.

"Americas" doesn't count either.

Canada has no unique cuisine to think of, and that leaves only America and Latin America. Although tacos, burritos, and such are common food in the US now, it would be unfair to think of them as American cuisines.

In truth the only true legacy of America is barbecue. Even fried chicken has some serious European roots that cannot be discredited.

[Josquius]

BBQ is more heavily assosiated with Australia than the US though.
And of course its done by pretty much everyone to a greater or lesser extent.

Canadian food...hmm....Seal? 

But myeh. Culinary nationalism is silly. Most dishes have routes in multiple countries.

On account of size and as Queequeg says the range of environments this covers I'd guess the US could well be more varied than a typical European country (though maybe not the foody ones. In Greece for instance I found huge variation between Corfu and Athens) but its definitely not up there with the entire continent.

I think American food is homogenized to a far greater degree than European food, if that is what you mean.  There are definitely American localized/regionalized foods, but nothing in the mainstream anything like the difference between Greek and Italian food within such a short distance.  Americans have been too mobile and too entrepreneurial too long for that to be true.

Sort of true in Britain too.
There are without a doubt regional dishes but most of them have long since spilled over.
There are still some like haggis and eel pie you only find in their birth areas but stuff like yorkshire pudding and pasties are countrywide these days.

[Jaron]

Where on Earth did you get this silly notion BBQ is more associated with Australia than the US? It has its roots in the Americas and has been an integral part of our culture for as long as those stars and stripes have flown over our cities.

Australia may have copied us with great success in the Commonwealth, but that does not change that the science of BBQ is very much an American innovation.

[HVC]

Canadian food...hmm....Seal? 

Poutine and maple syrup (although not together )

[Eddie Teach]

Plus, I've never noticed the bbq on the menu at Outback. Course, I always get the steak anyway, so don't look very hard. 

[grumbler]

BBQ is more heavily assosiated with Australia than the US though.

Really?  I am astonished.  Is the area where you find this to be true (I assume your own home area) closely associated with Oz, somehow?  That's the only explanation for such an unusual concept that I can think of.  Barbecue has been a style of cooking in the Americas (and known by that name) since long before Australia was even discovered.

[alfred russel]

I think Tyr is referring to grilled meats as barbecue, rather than what we think of as barbecue.

[grumbler]

Australia may have copied us with great success in the Commonwealth, but that does not change that the science of BBQ is very much an American innovation.

America as in Caribbean, yes.  Texas style smoking is a slightly different process than the original barbecue over coals.

[grumbler]

I think Tyr is referring to grilled meats as barbecue, rather than what we think of as barbecue.

You can barbecue on a grill, but most often you grill on a grill.  Agree that what Outhouse Steakback serves as "barbecue" is just grilled.

[katmai]

pfft the best of spanish cusine is Basque in origin

[Queequeg]

Chicago actually is the lowest common denominator of American food. 

Traitor.  Aren't you a Chicagoan yourself? 

There's a wide variety of climates just within Spain. Tropical, oceanic, mediterranean, continental, arid, high altitude ... Climate here is less extreme and varied than in the US, but it is far from being uniform.

Spain is very diverse for its size.  On par with California.  However, worth noting that it is on par with California, rather than with the entire US.  Last time I checked, Santiago de Compostella wasn't covered in snow half the year.  St. Paul and Alaska are. 

Your paella comment tells a lot.

That's cause I was trolling.   

Yes, it is a diverse place.  Cuisine-wise, probably more diverse than huge chunks of the USA.  More than the whole thing?  Not sure about that. 

"trans-American food"

America is the heartland, and therefore what you mean by trans-American is really Mid-Western.