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?
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.
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.
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.
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Quote from: Sheilbh on March 22, 2009, 09:10:03 AMLike 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.
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.
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Oh grits springs to mind as well.
Then there's the obvious: hamburgers and hot dogs.
Chowder's a good suggestion.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 22, 2009, 09:14:07 AM
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.
Quote from: Sheilbh on March 22, 2009, 09:17:56 AM
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.
Any dish with the word "loaf" in the title.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on March 22, 2009, 09:18:10 AM
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
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.
American food is great. What kind of sick fuck wouldn't like it?
Quote from: grumbler on March 22, 2009, 09:30:36 AM
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.
I think the Scots got there first ;)
Quote from: grumbler on March 22, 2009, 09:30:36 AM
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.
That's exactly why I had to break it into a list of typically American foods. Really, there are foods typically associated with Americans, but there's no
style that's uniquely and exclusively "American." As I said, the closest we get are uniquely American interpretations of other cuisines.
There's no style that's French or Italian either. The things we identify with those countries, within those countries, have strong regional associations.
And, you know, what's the French tradition. Cordon bleu sauces and creams and great technique, or rustic bourgeois cooking. Escoffier or boeuf en daube?
Tex-Mex is American, it is border food but it is from the interplay of US and Northern Mexican influences - and it is mostly found on this side of the border. Go to central Mexico and order your favorite "Mexican" dishes and I am sure you will get a healthy dose of the "Idiot Guerro" look.
If we exclude dishes from national cuisine that cross borders, then we end up with...nothing as a national dish.
Mmm...Ribs
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Californian cuisine. :wub:
This thread is making me hungry.
I'd tell the german cunt to stop going to Mickey D's, Long John Silver and Outback. But that is me, international ambassador.
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 22, 2009, 12:17:38 PM
I'd tell the german cunt to stop going to Mickey D's, Long John Silver and Outback. But that is me, international ambassador.
Also, punch her in the mouth.
Quote from: garbon on March 22, 2009, 12:01:50 PM
Californian cuisine. :wub:
Can you give us an example?
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the blueberry ones are better. :-\
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 22, 2009, 12:25:33 PM
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the blueberry ones are better. :-\
OK, I just lost my appetite. :(
EDIT: also, the smilies here still suck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_dishes
* American Parfait
* Amish Friendship Bread
* Animal Crackers
* Angel food cake
* Boston baked beans
* Banana split
* Brownies
* Buffalo meat (steaks, roasts, and burgers)
* Beignet
* Boiled peanuts
* Buffalo wings
* Buttermilk pie
* Brunswick stew
* Calamari, fried
* Cheeseburger
* Cheesesteak
* Chicken pot pie
* Chicken, fried
* Chili: Chili con carne and Cincinnati chili
* Chitterlings
* Chow-chow
* Chocolate chip cookies
* Cioppino
* Clam Chowder
* Cornbread
* Corn dog
* Corn chowder
* Cotton candy
* Crabcake
* Corn on the cob
* Cream cheese
* Depression cake
* Doughnuts
* Dirty rice
* Eskimo Pie
* Fast food
* Fudge
* Garbage plate
* Gardenburger
* Goetta
* Green bean casserole
* Grits
* Grilled pizza
* Gumbo
* Ham, hickory-smoked
* Hamburgers
o Sliders
* Hoppin' John
* Hot dish
* Hot dogs
* Hot fudge sundae
* Hush puppies
* Ice cream cone
* Ice cream soda
* Jambalaya
* Jello and Jello salad
* Layer cake
* Luther Burger
* Macaroni and cheese
* Mashed potatoes
* Moon Pie
* Muffuletta sandwich
* Onion rings
* Okra, fried
* Pancake (or Hotcakes)
* Peanut butter
o Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
* Pecan pie
* Pecan pralines
* Popcorn
* Popsicle
* Potato Chips
* Poundcake
* Pumpkin pie
* Red velvet cake
* Ribs, barbecued
* Rice Krispie treat
* Root beer float
* Rocky Mountain oysters
* San Francisco Sourdough bread
* Scrapple
* Shrimp and Grits
* Shrimp Creole
* Shoo-fly pie
* Sloppy joe
* SPAM
* Soul food
* Spiedie
* Stuffing
* Submarine sandwich (Grinder, Hero, Po' Boy, or Hoagie)
* Sweet potato pie
* Turkey dinner (Roast Turkey, Cranberry sauce, etc.)
* Toasted ravioli
* Twinkie
* Whoopie pies
I never thought of Animal Crackers as a dish.
Quote from: Razgovory on March 22, 2009, 03:32:01 PM
I never thought of Animal Crackers as a dish.
Or Corn on the Cob. Apparently, Euros never thought to heat and bite into their corn, likely because they were inserting them into their neighbors' vagina or assholes.
NO SCRIBES ALLOWED
My guess would be that American cuisine is defined by a somewhat limited vocabulary (there is a heavy dominance of beef and pork, a kind of generic «gravy» with little variations, a smallish range of usual vegetables), reliance on large portions of meat, few herbs and spices, an insistance on grills and roasts, an openness to integrate sweet and salty tastes (something much rarer in, say, French cuisine) and a domination of sandwiches.
some of Syt's wiki list is also very Canadian. :canuck: (... to which can be added KD, nanaimo bars, poutine, smoked meats, backbacon, bannock, wood-fired bagels, wild rice, hempseed, campbell's soup, sockeye salmon, saskatoon berry anything and jam busters. among others.)
To me, American cuisine is first and foremost characterised by huge food portions. There are a couple of restaurants with American themes in Hong Kong, and they all feature things like -
Steak
Burgers
Pasta
Pizza
Baby back ribs
Grilled seafood
And they all serve huge portions. US Prime is particularly good if done right.
You need Cheese in some form
It's either fried or grilled.
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 22, 2009, 08:48:06 PM
You need Cheese in some form
It's either fried or grilled.
Good point, we put cheese on everything.
Biscuits and gravy.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 22, 2009, 08:53:24 PMGood point, we put cheese on everything.
No you don't. You put «modified dairy products» on everything: Velveeta, Kraft Singles, Philadelphia and other brands, so-called «American» or «Swiss» cheese, the modified, überbland mozzarella for pizza... this is not the mark of a cheese-friendly cuisine but rather hints at a desire for texture. While there are some good American cheese, American cuisine is not interested in non-industrial, recognizable cheese.
oui. quebec is unique in NA for raw cheese ... as the govt is encouraging it. I like this.
kraft singles don't count as cheese timmy. at best, they are "cheese flavoured," milk-derived molecular complexes.
Quote from: saskganesh on March 22, 2009, 10:55:51 PM
oui. quebec is unique in NA for raw cheese ... as the govt is encouraging it. I like this.
kraft singles don't count as cheese timmy. at best, they are "cheese flavoured," milk-derived molecular complexes.
Where the hell does this image come from?
I buy cheddar from a deli and watch them slice it in front of me.
Good "American" food is best done at home, in the kitchen.
Is this German girl hot? Tell her to come to Arkansas and I'll cook up some good Southern food. I'm thinking catfish, hush puppies, and cole slaw.
@tim : It comes from the fact that processed cheese is the largest seller of cheese in the US, followed by cheddar and mozarella. These represent more than 80% of sales. Usually included in «American-type cheese» is American cheddar: mass-produced, overpasteurized and tasteless.
Oex, you've got a lot of nerve talking shit about American food, considering the only thing Quebec is known for is poutine.
Quote from: Oexmelin on March 22, 2009, 10:18:20 PM
No you don't. You put «modified dairy products» on everything: Velveeta, Kraft Singles, Philadelphia and other brands, so-called «American» or «Swiss» cheese, the modified, überbland mozzarella for pizza... this is not the mark of a cheese-friendly cuisine but rather hints at a desire for texture. While there are some good American cheese, American cuisine is not interested in non-industrial, recognizable cheese.
I've heard from Americans and Europeans that the cheese is the food thing they notice the most difference between when they move from one to the other.
Though I've never had American cheese.
Quote
Though I've never had American cheese.
I ate a lot of Kraft sliced cheese as a kid. My school encouraged parents to make some snacks for each of us for bringing back to school. It became a sort of contest among students for who had the best snacks.
My mom would make a simple cheese sandwich for me, every day, for years. It totally sucked.
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Arkansas BBQ ribs
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Oyster po'boy from New Orleans
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Fried catfish
Quote from: Sheilbh on March 22, 2009, 11:33:18 PM
Quote from: Oexmelin on March 22, 2009, 10:18:20 PM
No you don't. You put «modified dairy products» on everything: Velveeta, Kraft Singles, Philadelphia and other brands, so-called «American» or «Swiss» cheese, the modified, überbland mozzarella for pizza... this is not the mark of a cheese-friendly cuisine but rather hints at a desire for texture. While there are some good American cheese, American cuisine is not interested in non-industrial, recognizable cheese.
I've heard from Americans and Europeans that the cheese is the food thing they notice the most difference between when they move from one to the other.
Though I've never had American cheese.
I distinctly recall most if not all supermarket cheese tasted bland and probably what I could best describe as "synthetic".
Quote from: Faeelin on March 22, 2009, 08:59:53 AM
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?
Sounds like equal parts homesickness and your average 'cano pre-conceptions.
For me, BBQ holds the strongest position when I think of "american" cuisine.
Applebee's. :mmm:
I never understood why NA cheese was so bad in comparison to your euro brethren.
Quote from: Slargos on March 22, 2009, 11:44:15 PM
Applebee's. :mmm:
Remind to smack you upside the head next time in America.
Quote from: Slargos on March 22, 2009, 11:44:15 PM
Sounds like equal parts homesickness and your average 'cano pre-conceptions.
For me, BBQ holds the strongest position when I think of "american" cuisine.
Applebee's. :mmm:
Applebee's doesn't serve BBQ. Come to the South, go out into the country, and drive around until you find a BBQ shack with an old negro cooking. That, sir, is where you will find BBQ.
Quote from: Sheilbh on March 22, 2009, 11:33:18 PM
Though I've never had American cheese.
Consider yourself lucky. American cheese is to real cheese as hamburger is to ham. Or something like that. No, that doesn't fit, because unlike American cheese, hamburger is actually suitable for human consumption. Except when they put American cheese on it.
Man, fuck you guys. At least our cheese doesn't have mold growing all over it.
"American" cheese have their places. Grilled cheese, other sandwiches sometimes, and on hamburgers it's fine.
It is was quite a long time ago when I visited Boston but I remember the cheese, butter and milk all tasted strange.
at HVC: because more cheese is craft, not commodity.
exceptions to be written in new replies premptively noted.
Quote from: Fireblade on March 22, 2009, 11:49:58 PM
Man, fuck you guys. At least our cheese doesn't have mold growing all over it.
cheese is kinda a mold.
Quote from: saskganesh on March 22, 2009, 11:52:52 PM
at HVC: because more cheese is craft, not commodity.
exceptions to be written in new replies premptively noted.
But i assume euros do mass production too. i'm sure there too quality suffers, but it's still better then ours. I mean you can find good cheese here too, just not at super markets.
Quote from: dps on March 22, 2009, 11:48:50 PM
Consider yourself lucky. American cheese is to real cheese as hamburger is to ham. Or something like that. No, that doesn't fit, because unlike American cheese, hamburger is actually suitable for human consumption. Except when they put American cheese on it.
I don't like large amounts of cheese in or on things in general, but I've gotten to the point where I can barely stomach American cheese, and I only buy American cheese that is real cheese, not the "processed cheese food" shit. Swiss, provolone, and pepperjack are my preferences.
Quote from: katmai on March 22, 2009, 11:45:25 PM
Quote from: Slargos on March 22, 2009, 11:44:15 PM
Applebee's. :mmm:
Remind to smack you upside the head next time in America.
;D
I'm thinking of eating my way across the continent akin to that dude who made an entire TV series of it. Would be excellent. Last time I paid far too little attention to the finer points.
Quote from: HVC on March 22, 2009, 11:54:46 PM
Quote from: saskganesh on March 22, 2009, 11:52:52 PM
at HVC: because more cheese is craft, not commodity.
exceptions to be written in new replies premptively noted.
But i assume euros do mass production too. i'm sure there too quality suffers, but it's still better then ours. I mean you can find good cheese here too, just not at super markets.
Of course. But I've never tasted a supermarket cheese that tasted so much of chemicals from stores here as I consistently did while in the US.
The problem isn't so much mass-production, I suspect, as it is product composition.
Quote from: Oexmelin on March 22, 2009, 05:51:29 PM
My guess would be that American cuisine is defined by a somewhat limited vocabulary (there is a heavy dominance of beef and pork, a kind of generic «gravy» with little variations, a smallish range of usual vegetables), reliance on large portions of meat, few herbs and spices, an insistance on grills and roasts, an openness to integrate sweet and salty tastes (something much rarer in, say, French cuisine) and a domination of sandwiches.
How is American sandwich culture comparable to the French love of baguettes and whatnot? It seems to be more important, as most Americans probably get a healthy percentage of their calories at lunch/dinner in some sandwich form. That said, with the advent of the doener in Europe they seem to be moving our way as well.
I think the blandness of American cheese comes in large part from the requirement that the milk be pasteurized.
I'm American and I've never bought processed cheese, outside of Asia where you're sometimes lucky to find even that. I wasn't particularly impressed with cheese in Europe over America. I think complaints about American cheeses largely stem from those that have never been to America, or who have but only went to shitty restaurants and never went to a decent restaurant or grocery store. Tillamook ftw.
And at least in American grocery stores, they won't kick you out of the store for touching a package of cheese, like they did to me in France. 'Zu not touch ze cheese!!11!'
I think Thanksgiving dinner epitomises American cuisine by featuring all local foods - turkey, yam, potatoes, corn etc. but cooked in a way that owes a lot to the Pilgrim heritage.
Or food on a stick.
If you ask the common person on the street here about what American dishes come to mind they'd probably cite:
- burgers
- hot dogs
- steak
- barbecue
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on March 23, 2009, 02:13:13 AM
I'm American and I've never bought processed cheese, outside of Asia where you're sometimes lucky to find even that. I wasn't particularly impressed with cheese in Europe over America. I think complaints about American cheeses largely stem from those that have never been to America, or who have but only went to shitty restaurants and never went to a decent restaurant or grocery store. Tillamook ftw.
And at least in American grocery stores, they won't kick you out of the store for touching a package of cheese, like they did to me in France. 'Zu not touch ze cheese!!11!'
Don't even try.
You don't have to go to a "good" store to get palatable cheese at least in Sweden and Norway.
I don't doubt edible cheese is also available in the US, you just have to go specifically looking for it.
Quote from: Slargos on March 23, 2009, 03:50:36 AM
Don't even try.
You don't have to go to a "good" store to get palatable cheese at least in Sweden and Norway.
I don't doubt edible cheese is also available in the US, you just have to go specifically looking for it.
You don't have to go looking for it in America either. Every supermarket I've been to in LA and SF has had a decent selection of good cheese. Some are better than others of course, but I've never had a problem getting good cheese, you just might have to pay a bit more for it.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 23, 2009, 12:40:29 AM
I think the blandness of American cheese comes in large part from the requirement that the milk be pasteurized.
I think this is part of it. The other part is that with the exception of everyday cheese most specialist cheeses are treated by their governments like Bourbon is in the US. So they have to meet certain conditions to qualify as 'x' cheese, they're not allowed to use artificial flavours, x amount has to come from whatever and so on.
Everytime the EU thinks of requiring pasteurisation everyone goes mad. Give me Brie or give me death!
Quote from: Fireblade on March 22, 2009, 11:47:46 PM
Quote from: Slargos on March 22, 2009, 11:44:15 PM
Sounds like equal parts homesickness and your average 'cano pre-conceptions.
For me, BBQ holds the strongest position when I think of "american" cuisine.
Applebee's. :mmm:
Applebee's doesn't serve BBQ. Come to the South, go out into the country, and drive around until you find a BBQ shack with an old negro cooking. That, sir, is where you will find BBQ.
Or you can go to KC.
In my travels I've found that American food has a great deal more variety than other coutnries. Beppe Severgnini (in Ciao America) reports being overwhelmed by the sheer number of cookies in the snack food aisle of a typical American grocery store. Nowhere else will offer you a choice of five different types of salad dressing or have a menu with 20 different types of sandwiches or can you get a dozen differnt toppings of your choice on a pizza.
Also American portions are huge relative to the rest of the world. In Italy a cappucino is about 8 fluid ounces at Starbucks the smallest cappuccino is 12 fluid ounces and you can order up to 20 fluid ounces of cappuccino if you so desire.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on March 22, 2009, 09:12:44 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on March 22, 2009, 09:10:03 AMLike 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.
I'd disagree. After all, most of the stuff considered "national cuisine" of some country is really a modification of another country's cuisine. For example, Polish cuisine is a weird mix of Lithuanian, Ukrainian, German and Jewish. Greek cuisine is pretty much less-spicy Turkish cuisine. Curry is as much a part of modern British cuisine as is fish and chips, etc.
Have to agree with Marty. Austrian cuisine is a mishmash of all kinds of dishes from former Habsburg lands in original or slightly changed form.
Government cheese is the bestest.
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 23, 2009, 08:40:53 AM
Government cheese is the bestest.
Although mixing that with gov't peanut butter will leave one needing a turbo laxative...
"American Cuisine": the homeless dude won't be missed, and Cal feasts for a month. 8)
(Or maybe that should be "regional Kentucky Cuisine")
Quote from: PDH on March 23, 2009, 08:45:23 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 23, 2009, 08:40:53 AM
Government cheese is the bestest.
Although mixing that with gov't peanut butter will leave one needing a turbo laxative...
IIRC, government peanut butter came in thos huge 5 or 10 pound jars.
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 23, 2009, 08:51:12 AM
IIRC, government peanut butter came in thos huge 5 or 10 pound jars.
Or those huge cans with the sides made of cardboard with foil on the inside - the 3 inch layer of oil on top and the case-hardened stuff at the bottom were signs of quality.
Quote from: PDH on March 23, 2009, 09:09:14 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 23, 2009, 08:51:12 AM
IIRC, government peanut butter came in thos huge 5 or 10 pound jars.
Or those huge cans with the sides made of cardboard with foil on the inside - the 3 inch layer of oil on top and the case-hardened stuff at the bottom were signs of quality.
Oh man, that brings back memories.
Quote from: Savonarola on March 23, 2009, 08:16:59 AM
In my travels I've found that American food has a great deal more variety than other coutnries. Beppe Severgnini (in Ciao America) reports being overwhelmed by the sheer number of cookies in the snack food aisle of a typical American grocery store. Nowhere else will offer you a choice of five different types of salad dressing or have a menu with 20 different types of sandwiches or can you get a dozen differnt toppings of your choice on a pizza.
Mmm...You're making me think of the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays.
Quote from: PDH on March 23, 2009, 09:09:14 AM
Or those huge cans with the sides made of cardboard with foil on the inside - the 3 inch layer of oil on top and the case-hardened stuff at the bottom were signs of quality.
When you grind up peanuts and put the goo in a can that's what you get. You need emulsifiers or whatever to get the stuff to hold together.
If it tastes best accompanied by a Diet Coke or a Bud, it's authentic American cuisine.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 23, 2009, 07:47:23 PM
When you grind up peanuts and put the goo in a can that's what you get. You need emulsifiers or whatever to get the stuff to hold together.
Well, when you let the peanut butter sit for 13 years before giving it away at the commodity free-for-all it adds to the fun
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Quote from: Sheilbh on March 22, 2009, 09:10:03 AM
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.
And grit.
I don't know anyone who eats grits. It's more a Carolinas thing, I think.
Quote from: Fireblade on March 24, 2009, 08:10:41 PM
I don't know anyone who eats grits. It's more a Carolinas thing, I think.
Dude, grits fucking rock. Especially cheese grits.
My Mom made Shepard's pie yesterday. :mmm:
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 24, 2009, 08:25:10 PM
My Mom made Shepard's pie yesterday. :mmm:
Um... that's very, very English. Not American.
Quote from: Barrister on March 24, 2009, 08:26:21 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 24, 2009, 08:25:10 PM
My Mom made Shepard's pie yesterday. :mmm:
Um... that's very, very English. Not American.
We are the culinary borg.
Quote from: Fireblade on March 24, 2009, 08:10:41 PM
I don't know anyone who eats grits. It's more a Carolinas thing, I think.
Detroit has the second largest jazz festival after Montreux. One year one of the saxophonists on the main stage said he loved coming to Detroit because, unlike New York City, you can get grits here.
Quote from: Fireblade on March 24, 2009, 08:10:41 PM
I don't know anyone who eats grits. It's more a Carolinas thing, I think.
I never met anyone or even knew what the hell grit was until I joined the army. It's like a right of passage to eat the stuff.
Of course I can't stand grits.
Quote from: Faeelin on March 22, 2009, 08:59:53 AM
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?
the stuff we call "canadian cuisine" is often american food, such as boston beans, the big ass pancakes, meatballs, roasted pork, roasted beef, and a couple of others.
Modern stuff, I'd have to say that anything cooked on a bbq with some kind of hyper sweet sauce especially if it contains Jack Daniels wiskhy or if it's cook in a 4x4 pick-up truck is american food ;)
Quote from: viper37 on March 24, 2009, 11:22:12 PM
Modern stuff, I'd have to say that anything cooked on a bbq with some kind of hyper sweet sauce especially if it contains Jack Daniels wiskhy or if it's cook in a 4x4 pick-up truck is american food ;)
It's twice as American if you cook it on your engine:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.smithsonianmag.com%2Ffood%2Fwp-content%2Ffiles%2F2008%2F11%2Fmanifolddestiny.jpg&hash=d5c444afd8c15b6bc7acae1eceef30c9ebdffd63)
Quote from: DontSayBanana on March 22, 2009, 09:10:18 AM
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.
Yeah because Pizza and Hot Dogs are totally not Italian and German food given an American interpretation.
Any American who does not recognize Tex-Mex as border food has never been to Mexico and does not come from the Southwest. To those people I have nothing but gastromic contempt.
I think of Tex-Mex and Texas style BBQ when I think of Texas food. If anybody came here that is what I would take them to.
And of course that is what will be served at my wedding and rehearsal dinner.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on March 22, 2009, 09:18:10 AM
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.
All of our food is either ethnic, regional, or derived from other cuisines. That is ridiculous I cannot include the signature food of my region because it includes foreign influences? I guess we cannot count fried chicken as American food either since we were not the first people to ever fry chicken.
Valmy's food rage !