What is American Cuisine?

[Ed Anger]

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

[Oexmelin]

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.

[saskganesh]

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.)

[Monoriu]

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.

[Grey Fox]

You need Cheese in some form
It's either fried or grilled.

[jimmy olsen]

You need Cheese in some form
It's either fried or grilled.

Good point, we put cheese on everything.

[Caliga]

Biscuits and gravy.

[Oexmelin]

Good 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.

[saskganesh]

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.

[jimmy olsen]

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.

[Fireblade]

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.

[Oexmelin]

@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. 

[Fireblade]

Oex, you've got a lot of nerve talking shit about American food, considering the only thing Quebec is known for is poutine.

[Sheilbh]

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.

[Monoriu]

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.