American Dishes

[Thanks for the Crepes]

American cheese is definitely distinct to USA, I think. Some people look down on it. The folks over on the Modernist Cuisine thread spend a lot of time and energy to duplicate the creamy meltability of this ubiquitous product of our culture. It is almost essential to macaroni and cheese.

 

I prefer what I can get in my grocery deli sliced to order either white or yellow based on what I will be doing with it. Even Kraft and the sometimes derided Velveeta use annatto as the yellow coloring. It's plant based, and a lot less scary to me than some of the food colorings legally in use here. I have a jar of Badia ground Annatto (achiote molido) in one of my pantry cupboards for use in Latin American dishes. 

 

Other things I can think of that developed here are nachos, jambalaya, our unique and delicious country cured hams, Frito pie, Chicago deep dish pizza, the Philly cheese steak sandwich, spiedies, corn on the cob, clam/lobster bakes, NY bagels, crunchy breakfast cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, po boy sandwiches, corn dogs, beef/bison jerky, popcorn, Thanksgiving turkey dinner, the Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich, key lime pie, tater tots, club sandwich, pumpkin or sweet potato pie, pulled pork BBQ sandwich, deviled eggs, loosemeat or sloppy joe sandwiches, cobblers, buckles and bettys, red velvet cake, key lime pie, buffalo chicken wings, reuben sandwich, fried cheese curds, biscuits and gravy, s'mores.

 

We may be a young culture, but we have definitely developed a singular food culture, although far from in a vacuum. Let's face it, we have so many different styles of regional pizza here, even I can't keep up, and I am a pizza fanatic. Some people luckier than I make a hobby of traveling around the country in their leisure time sampling regional food specialties, sometimes before they disappear for good. Viva la difference, say I!

 

Oh, I forgot sopapillas! These are a Southwest specialty and can be served sweet with honey or powdered sugar or with green or red chilli con carne. I've tried the linked recipe, and it is excellent. Came out fluffy and puffy, just like those pictured.

 

 

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

American cheese is definitely distinct to USA

 

I wish it were. Every few weeks I get Chinese acquaintances telling me they've found cheese in the local shops and expect me to get really excited. It always turns out to be locally made American cheese style process[ed] cheese, which in my mind isn't cheese, at all. They have never met real cheese.

It is also what my mother attempted to inflict on us in the UK 50+ years ago, except my father (and my brother and I) always preferred real cheddar. From Cheddar. The local grocery store called us "the cheese family" and told us we accounted for around 75% of their cheese sales. My French mother actually still believes that the UK just doesn't have cheese and so any old crap will do instead. But then, I've mentioned her culinary incompetence before.

Edited July 22, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@liuzhou,

 

Few would seriously dispute the superiority of French cheese makers, although cheddar happens to be my very favorite cheese of all. I like mine medium sharp, though, and I realize that makes me a rube in some eyes. My elementary palate just cannot appreciate things that smell like unwashed feet.  I know many do though, and again, viva la difference! And I am so thankful for the sharing among cultures all over the world of ingredients, cooking techniques and recipes. I believe it has enriched all of our lives. Many of the more ancient food cultures would be nothing like they are today without our pesky American ingredients. And of course, we have benefited immensely from other cultures too. I think it's all a very good thing.

 

I still hold firm in my stance that processed American cheese holds a valid place in the culinary repertoire. Quality varies here, as I am sure it does everywhere. I am lucky to have access to good stuff that's even cheaper than the best Kraft on offer. It makes a mean mac n' cheese or a Southwestern cheese dip for tortilla chips. "Real cheeses" just don't melt down as creamy and smooth. I suspect that is why the Modernist Cuisine folks spend so much time trying to duplicate it from "real cheese".

 

 

[IowaDee]

And I would offer that honestly American creation...ta da, The Fortune Cookie.  

[Tere]

Actually the UK has a fantastic cheese culture with lots of regional cheeses and many small local cheese makers, at least as good as that in France  

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, Tere said:

Actually the UK has a fantastic cheese culture with lots of regional cheeses and many small local cheese makers, at least as good as that in France  

 

That was partly my point.

 

3 hours ago, IowaDee said:

And I would offer that honestly American creation...ta da, The Fortune Cookie.  

 

Yes. The Wiki thing lists them.

Edited July 22, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[cakewalk]

15 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

... potato candy ...

 

That's a new one for me. What have I been missing?

[IowaDee]

And this insipid item that is pushed at Iowa's Welcome Centers, corn cob jelly.  Once we had indoor plumbing, we had to find another use for all those corn cobs...

[liuzhou]

If anyone is seriously interested in American food history, I recommend this series by food historian Cynthia D. Bertelsen. It is now on its third daily article and is scheduled to run until July 28th.

[huiray]

22 hours ago, KennethT said:

Many years ago, there were a lot of restaurants that served "American food" - the menu consisted largely of grilled or broiled proteins - steaks, broiled chicken or lamb chops, broiled flat fish (like fillet of sole), along with some form of potato (mashed potatoes, french fries or hash browns) and an overcooked vegetable or two - usually string beans, peas&carrots, etc.  There were very few sauces or seasonings aside from salt & pepper, or Heinz' ketchup.  Thankfully, these types of restaurants have gone out of fashion (and out of business), at least in the NYC area (with the exception of the steakhouse, which is as or more popular than ever).

 

KennethT, have you ever heard of this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_fried_rice  :-) 

I assure you it is still served in Thailand to this day.

[huiray]

Hello, @thomaschristeena, where are you?

ETA: Meaning both where are you located and why aren't you responding...?

ETA2: It might be useful for you to respond so that it might not be thought that you are just trolling eGullet.

ETA3: If you are a "student" looking for information on culinary aspects of USAmerican society you ought to state this up front.

With Kind Regards.

Edited July 22, 2016 by huiray (log)

[KennethT]

@huiray - no I've never seen that before... interesting

[ElainaA]

6 hours ago, cakewalk said:

That's a new one for me. What have I been missing?

I haven't thought of this in years. My mother used to make potato candy for us when we were small. I have never heard of it anywhere else. It was simply left over mashed potatoes mixed with confectionary sugar, a little milk and, maybe vanilla (?) to make a dough the texture of soft clay. She would divide it into pieces and color each with food coloring. We would use it like clay to make shapes or letters or miniature fruit (We had all watch Mom make marzipan fruit). If we were feeling unusually patient we would let them dry before eating them. It was a rainy day activity - when you have 6 kids you need to be creative to prevent mayhem. 

Edited July 22, 2016 by ElainaA (log)

[Lisa Shock]

8 hours ago, cakewalk said:

That's a new one for me. What have I been missing?

 

I learned to make it from the neighbors when I was in elementary school in Appalachia. Take a small peeled, boiled potato (if you are boiling them for dinner just make a spare) and let it cool to room temp. One small potato the size of a tangerine will soak up an amazing amount of sugar and make PLENTY of candy. Do not use a refrigerated potato. Mash the potato and add a drop of vanilla and confectioner's sugar until it's firm, or like Elaina says, soft clay -but not too soft, closer to Play-Doh. We always rolled it out into a rectangle about 1/3" thick, then spread it thickly with peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your choice), roll up and slice into pinwheels. Store between sheets of wax paper so it doesn't dry out, try to eat it within a few days.

 

I did some online research on this candy. Some people, wrongly, claim that it was pioneer food. (confectioner's sugar? really? and PB isn't that old...) Turns out that this candy originated during the great depression, in Pennsylvania.

 

Recipe with pics.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Lisa Shock (log)

[Martin Fisher]

30 minutes ago, Lisa Shock said:

Turns out that this candy originated during the great depression, in Pennsylvania.

 

FWIW, appears to pre-date the great depression by at least three decades.

 

The Ideal Cook Book by Annie R. Gregory, Copyright 1902

Table Talk, Volume 25, Copyright 1910

The Columbus Medical Journal, Volume 32, Copyright 1908

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[ElainaA]

49 minutes ago, Lisa Shock said:

 

 We always rolled it out into a rectangle about 1/3" thick, then spread it thickly with peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your choice), roll up and slice into pinwheels.

 

Recipe with pics.

 

I forgot about that! Only, as I remember, we made sandwiches, not pinwheels.

[Lisa Shock]

Ok, I stand corrected. Still, it was not a staple of pioneers in the 1800s, nor is it an Irish food -I have seen people dyeing it green and serving it (with PB) on St. Pat's.

[Martin Fisher]

Possibly derived from potato pudding? 

There are a lot of very old potato pudding recipes — which proves that sweetening of potatoes was quite common.

 

Potato Pudding, Sweet.
Bake half a dozen large potatoes, and when they are done enough break them open and scoop out the contents with a spoon. Beat them lightly, and with a quarter of a pound of the potato flour put three ounces of clarified butter, half a teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-rind, a dessert-spoonful of lemon juice, a pinch of salt, three table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar, and three table-spoonfuls of milk or cream. Beat the pudding for five or six minutes, then add separately the yolks and well-whisked whites of three eggs. Butter a plain mould, ornament it with dried fruit or slices of candied peel, pour in the pudding, and bake in a well-heated oven, or steam the pudding if preferred. Turn it out before serving, sift sugar thickly over it, and garnish the dish with jam. Time to bake, three-quarters of an hour; to steam, one hour. Probably cost, 1 [cent]. Sufficient for five or six persons."

~Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery, [Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.:London] 1875

Edited July 22, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Could be. I know that late Victorian era servants in England made literally hundreds of potato dishes, as they were served at practically every lunch and dinner, and each meal had to have different dishes than what was served recently. Here's a reference paper on sugar. Sugar, particularly white sugar, was an expensive ingredient until the 1900s, although there was a big price drop in the 1820s as well. Powdered sugar wasn't sold, you made it by nipping a chunk of sugar off a loaf and then grinding it in a mortar and pestle. (although granulated sugar seems to be an American invention) With the lemon in it, and sugar, that potato pudding recipe would have been served in an upper-middle class household, or on a special occasion. (Even when I was a kid, you could not get lemons year-round at the supermarket.)

[JohnT]

I am quite supprised that you Americans have not stated the one food that, I am lead to believe, is 100% American – Turkey anything! Or am I wrong in this assumption?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Arriving late, I was going to champion Tetrazzini, however I see @Lisa Shock already has.  How about Chicken Divan or Lobster Newberg?

 

Even better:  spaghetti and meatballs.

 

 

[IowaDee]

I think that chop suey is an American creation too.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

9 hours ago, JohnT said:

I am quite supprised that you Americans have not stated the one food that, I am lead to believe, is 100% American – Turkey anything! Or am I wrong in this assumption?

 

I did, in fact, list above both turkey Thanksgiving dinner and the Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich (which is made with turkey).

[liuzhou]

Fun but informative, interactive map of food origins here.

 

(ingredients; not dishes)

Edited July 25, 2016 by liuzhou
clarification (log)

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Fun but informative, interactive map of food origins here.

Thanks for the link to this work.  I love maps  I could spend hours and hours looking at the various iterations from this project.