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American food


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The true American food is a Big Mac with Coca Cola.

Otherwise there is very little that is indigenous to the US, and what there is tends, like most cultures, to be food of poverty - southern food in particular, such as cornbread or BBQ or even Sourdough.  The Puritan tradition hasn't helped either.

Few Presidents, or other equivalents of aristocracy have been bon viveurs or gourmets, so there has never been a tradition of court food to draw on. Instead commercial interests, such as big beef and big corn/corn syrup have dominated and still do, hence hamburger and coke..

Discussing what "American food" might be in terms of what preparations, techniques, etc. are indigenous is just as problematic as discussing indigenousness in terms of any other food culture. Should we rule out tomatoes, potatoes, etc. from non-American cuisines or even sauce preparations such as sauce bechamel, much used in Italy, from Italian cuisine.

It seems to me that regional cuisines or food cultures are more styles or modes--just look at the adaptation of many French techniques in New Orleans cooking for instance. Is it French or American? I'd say distinctly American and Louisianian (given' the language hell today, :wink: ) in many ways in terms of style but French in technique.

I think talking about the favorite foods that Americans love is easier--you just ask them. I like fried chicken, crabs liberally doused with old bay eaten outside on a table lined with newspaper with a nice cold beer for hours, cornbread, gumbo, lobster rolls, hamburgers, pizza (which, as far as I understand, is very different in style here as opposed to Naples), corn on the cob, et cetera ad infinitum...

josh

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Just as a side note, I don't care if most of the world considers the Hamburger(i perfer them with cheese) junk food, or doesn't consider it a real contribution to cuisine.  They sure do eat a lot of them over here in Europe.  A let me tell you, they sure know how to f*#k them up!

There's no doubt that the hamburger as we now know it is an American original, but its name comes from a German city and its culinary DNA can probably be traced to that city as well.

True the Hamburger was supposedly first served by a German imigrant. They have something here called a ficadelle which is more like a meatball, and they do not but it on a roll. Here, in Germany, they definitely consider the hamburger an American invention, although it probably was named after Hamburg.

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