Ten Foods That Make America Great

[Pan]

4. Fish tacos/burritos -- there are whole segments of the Southern California population for which this represents an entire food group of its own. I'm one of those weirdos who prefers my fish in burritos to tacos ... I just like burritos better than tacos anyway

San Diego kicks ass in this category of Mexican. It's not as well represented in LA. Senor Fish is pretty good, they do a deep fried scallop burrito that carried me through my first pregnancy.

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JY, if you have some recommendations of places to get good fish tacos in San Diego, please post 'em here. Thanks.

[ronnie_suburban]

Heh. In my head, it doesn't feel like I've been all that well traveled ... until I start counting up states I've been to, and I go "wow, better check the Brain Odometer!" My major pipedream for some years now has been to acquire an old but reliable motorhome and take off cross-country, blogging about all my observations culinary and otherwise as I go. Maybe less stylish than a Harley, but definitely a bit more comfortable. (Anyone in SoCal with a lead on such an old-but-reliable RV, feel free to PM me. )

I think Ronnie Suburban offered to sell Daniel one for his roadtrip, you should PM him ;).

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LOL! Nah, wasn't me. If I'm in that market at all, it's on the "buy" side as well.

I agree with the many who've posted about the thoughtfulness of jbonne's list. I thought it was a fun and discussing-inspiring piece.

=R=

[NulloModo]

Heh. In my head, it doesn't feel like I've been all that well traveled ... until I start counting up states I've been to, and I go "wow, better check the Brain Odometer!" My major pipedream for some years now has been to acquire an old but reliable motorhome and take off cross-country, blogging about all my observations culinary and otherwise as I go. Maybe less stylish than a Harley, but definitely a bit more comfortable. (Anyone in SoCal with a lead on such an old-but-reliable RV, feel free to PM me. )

I think Ronnie Suburban offered to sell Daniel one for his roadtrip, you should PM him ;).

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LOL! Nah, wasn't me. If I'm in that market at all, it's on the "buy" side as well.

I agree with the many who've posted about the thoughtfulness of jbonne's list. I thought it was a fun and discussing-inspiring piece.

=R=

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Ah, it was the guy with the helicopter. I am always confusing you with the guy with the helicopter...

[divalasvegas]

Heh. In my head, it doesn't feel like I've been all that well traveled ... until I start counting up states I've been to, and I go "wow, better check the Brain Odometer!" My major pipedream for some years now has been to acquire an old but reliable motorhome and take off cross-country, blogging about all my observations culinary and otherwise as I go. Maybe less stylish than a Harley, but definitely a bit more comfortable. (Anyone in SoCal with a lead on such an old-but-reliable RV, feel free to PM me. )

I think Ronnie Suburban offered to sell Daniel one for his roadtrip, you should PM him ;).

Dang, I did give the whole Pennsylvania/Penn-Deutsch nexus short shrift in my previous list, didn't I. Another whole chapter in my fantasy regional-cuisine book. I am ashamed to say that in all the vacations to Pennsylvania my family took me on as a kid, I never once tried scrapple--I think my parents were afeared of it. But as an adult with a distinct fondness for "variety meats," I bet I would groove out on scrapple pretty fierce.

You simply must drop everything, find a place you can order some online, and get some now. Picture this - all of the great spicey flavors of sausage, the crispness of overcooked bacon, the creaminess of the interior of foie gras, and that subtle hint of organ meats.... all for less than the price of chuck steak. Man could live on scrapple alone if the need arose.

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Oh NulloModo and MizDucky STOP, STOP, STOP taunting me. I want scrapple now! I'm now officially seriously craving piles and piles of scrapple, along with South Carolina style pork pudding--which I'd love to nominate, but you can't even find it anymore--and maybe some bacon.

Another nominee: fudge. Behold: "A Brief History of Fudge."

http://www.woodstockcandy.com/fudge-recipes.html

Edited July 2, 2005 by divalasvegas (log)

[NulloModo]

Oh NulloModo and MizDucky STOP, STOP, STOP taunting me.  I want scrapple now!  I'm now officially seriously craving piles and piles of scrapple, along with South Carolina style pork pudding--which I'd love to nominate, but you can't even find it anymore--and maybe some bacon.

Another nominee: fudge.  Behold: "A Brief History of Fudge."

http://www.woodstockcandy.com/fudge-recipes.html

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Pork pudding? I am intrigued, what is this pork pudding you speak of?

[divalasvegas]

Oh NulloModo and MizDucky STOP, STOP, STOP taunting me.  I want scrapple now!  I'm now officially seriously craving piles and piles of scrapple, along with South Carolina style pork pudding--which I'd love to nominate, but you can't even find it anymore--and maybe some bacon.

Another nominee: fudge.  Behold: "A Brief History of Fudge."

http://www.woodstockcandy.com/fudge-recipes.html

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Pork pudding? I am intrigued, what is this pork pudding you speak of?

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Pork pudding, as I recall from dim memories, is a type of sausage, but not in texture, only in the sense in that the mixture is stuffed into pork casings and shaped into a big ring. The texture was smoother, almost country pate like and the color was frankly kind of beige. I think it was a mixture of "variety" pork parts, rice (I think the rice was mashed or crushed, not whole grains) and seasonings, and maybe some pork stock. The final product had a ring or horseshoe shape. To prepare it, you would just it's had slice off a chunk--can't remember if it was floured it first--then cook in a frying pan of hot grease until it was all crusty on the outside and creamy and porky on the inside. Being that this was natural casing it would kind of flatten out and since the ends of the piece were open, unlike regular link sausage, some of the insides would ooze out into the grease creating extra crispy pork pudding at each end. I know that may sound totally unappetizing to many her, but I'm drooling as I write this. My mother told us a story about how she was craving her mom's pork pudding and made the mistake of buying it "up north" from a grocery store. She said became deathly ill from that fraudulent pork pudding. And when her mom/my grandma heard that, she got on a train from little ole Lone Star, South Carolina all the way to DC to bring her baby girl "real" homemade, pork pudding.

That's all I can remember NulloModo.

[lexy]

And if you ever feel inspired, Mabelline, to start a whole separate thread on all the different variants on frybread and other Native dishes, I know I for one would read it with great interest (not to mention my drool-bib on).

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I'd just like to second this request. I know next to nothing about fry bread (although I'm pretty sure I'd like it, since it seems to hit two of my favourite food groups, namely 'fried things' and 'bread'), but I'd love to learn more. Is it sort of like bannock?

[NulloModo]

Oh NulloModo and MizDucky STOP, STOP, STOP taunting me.  I want scrapple now!  I'm now officially seriously craving piles and piles of scrapple, along with South Carolina style pork pudding--which I'd love to nominate, but you can't even find it anymore--and maybe some bacon.

Another nominee: fudge.  Behold: "A Brief History of Fudge."

http://www.woodstockcandy.com/fudge-recipes.html

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Pork pudding? I am intrigued, what is this pork pudding you speak of?

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Pork pudding, as I recall from dim memories, is a type of sausage, but not in texture, only in the sense in that the mixture is stuffed into pork casings and shaped into a big ring. The texture was smoother, almost country pate like and the color was frankly kind of beige. I think it was a mixture of "variety" pork parts, rice (I think the rice was mashed or crushed, not whole grains) and seasonings, and maybe some pork stock. The final product had a ring or horseshoe shape. To prepare it, you would just it's had slice off a chunk--can't remember if it was floured it first--then cook in a frying pan of hot grease until it was all crusty on the outside and creamy and porky on the inside. Being that this was natural casing it would kind of flatten out and since the ends of the piece were open, unlike regular link sausage, some of the insides would ooze out into the grease creating extra crispy pork pudding at each end. I know that may sound totally unappetizing to many her, but I'm drooling as I write this. My mother told us a story about how she was craving her mom's pork pudding and made the mistake of buying it "up north" from a grocery store. She said became deathly ill from that fraudulent pork pudding. And when her mom/my grandma heard that, she got on a train from little ole Lone Star, South Carolina all the way to DC to bring her baby girl "real" homemade, pork pudding.

That's all I can remember NulloModo.

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All I can say is.... wow, that sounds delicious. Well, that, and I have been away from the south too long.

[racheld]

FRIED CHICKEN!!

And where in heck did they get that diddly-squat "po-boy" with just three shrimp-- French Laundry? Po-boys are PILED up with stuff, not lined up like those one-quail-egg spoons. Whoever made that list has been getting all their info from cookbooks and magazines, not travelin' and eatin'.

Puh.

[glossyp]

And if you ever feel inspired, Mabelline, to start a whole separate thread on all the different variants on frybread and other Native dishes, I know I for one would read it with great interest (not to mention my drool-bib on).

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I'd just like to second this request. I know next to nothing about fry bread (although I'm pretty sure I'd like it, since it seems to hit two of my favourite food groups, namely 'fried things' and 'bread'), but I'd love to learn more. Is it sort of like bannock?

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I'm endorsing this thought as well. Mabelline is quite right about the multitude of frybread variations and I think it would be interesting for those less familiar with this dish and other quintessential foods from the American Southwest.

Nice article Jon - I was very pleased to see that you didn't miss the aforementioned geographic area - chile verde rules!

[*Deborah*]

I think it's a cool list. Nice distribution.

My #1 addition would be maple syrup. Blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. The genuine stuff, of course. (Maple syrup always seems to be what people want you to bring them from the US.)

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Maple trees grow north of the border, too...we claim them to the extent of using a leaf on our flag, but we concede that the syrup is not strictly Canadian

[Tess]

Deborah, I was actually thinking of mentioning the Canadian connection. Then I figured this wasn't the only import from elsewhere in the continent besides the US that was mentioned on the thread.

Edited July 2, 2005 by Tess (log)

[Ducky]

Nicely-written article. And I felt pretty comfortable with your choices, jbonne--but maybe that's because you did manage to hit several of my all-time favorite foods (the clam chowder, the pastrami) and one of my relatively recent joyful discoveries (New Mexico's unique way with red and green chile).

It really is hard to narrow it down to just ten, isn't it? Here's a list just off the top of my head:

1. The New York deli-style sandwich--ain't gonna restrict it to just pastrami, as that would slight my other true loves, corn beef and sliced tongue. Say it's a combo sandwich and you've got it covered as a single food item.

2. New England clambake--including all the trimmings: ya gotta have some corn on the cob in there, and some lobsters, and a bunch o' beer to wash it down.

3. The serious non-fast-food burger--oversized, damn-the-E.Coli red inside, loaded with trimmings, pickle on the side ... wait, do I hear Jimmy Buffet in the background? 

4. Fish tacos/burritos -- there are whole segments of the Southern California population for which this represents an entire food group of its own. I'm one of those weirdos who prefers my fish in burritos to tacos ... I just like burritos better than tacos anyway ... except for ...

5. The Indian taco, on Navaho frybread. A thing of beauty (especially if you're in New Mexico or someplace else that knows that "Christmas" is more than just a December holiday )

6. Southern fried chicken. My misadventures in chicken frying have convinced me that doing this dish right is an artform of the highest caliber.

7. The perfect Seattle-style caffe latte. Very specifically, the gorgeous lattes they pull at Vivace in Seattle. When I think of those perfectly-executed leaf-patterns in the foam, that dark-sweet taste that makes your hair curl with the first sip, I get weak in the knees.

8. Fried clams. Still missing them.

9. Chicago-style pizza. Yeah, I'm being a traitor to my Noo Yawk roots, but I know a good thing when I taste it. And whereas New York-style pizza has a recognizable connection to its Italian ancestors, the Chicago style I think can rightfully be called a purely American invention.

10. The pig roast. There are so many worthy variants of barbeque out there, and I am so not an expert on any of them, but there's just something so totally over-the-top in going the proverbial whole hog. And damn it's tasty. (Oh fat, wonderful fat, my love and my downfall...)

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Loved your list mizducky! That and your name...were we separated at birth?

[mizducky]

Loved your list mizducky! That and your name...were we separated at birth?

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Well, you know what they say ... ducks of a feather squawk together ... or something like that ...

[touaregsand]

Chili.

Tejas.

[Allen]

This article was obviously written by someone wishing to perpetuate the right wing conspiracy to deprive what is indeed America’s most popular food of its rightful place at the top of any such list because it might be an embarrassment to the Republican Party. Anyone who has traveled this great nation of ours and has talked with the people who work to make this a great nation would know that the most American of all foods is the humble French fry.

It is easy to understand why the right wing would not want to mention the French fry. It might bring up the fact that they tried to change the name of this hard working side dish to suit their geopolitical agenda.

They have also tried to slander those who associate with the French fry, namely tomato ketchup. In the past election tomato ketchup was linked to the Democratic Party and blacklisted by the current administration, but the American people have refused to buy into this culinary McCarthyism. Had the administration done its homework better they would have realized that tomato ketchup had worked as a vegetable in the Reagan Whitehouse.

Just remember, whenever you see a hamburger, French fry will be there. Whenever you see a hot dog, French fry will be there. Through oil, through salt and seas of ketchup French fry will be there.

[Pan]

Deborah, I was actually thinking of mentioning the Canadian connection. Then I figured this wasn't the only import from elsewhere in the continent besides the US that was mentioned on the thread.

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Sugar maples are an import to what's now the United States?

I know you didn't mean that.

Edited July 3, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Jaymes]

And of course, as others have mentioned, a list including all of the uniquely "American" favorites would be waaaaay too long to fit into one article.

But I do think leaving out BBQ was grievous, no matter what lame excuse you gave. You easily could have listed BBQ and then said something like, "From the Carolinas to Texas, from Kansas City to Mississippi, BBQ may vary in types of sauces, heat sources, and meats, but BBQ is all American, all the time." So the "too wide a region" thing doesn't wash. And after the BBQ blurb, you could have said, "Watch for a more in-depth exploration of BBQ in an upcoming issue." Would have been smart to have piqued interest. But leaving it out entirely was just a glaring omission. (Can you tell I'm a BBQ aficionado? )

Other than that, compliments to you, Jon. Just so happens I've lived in many of the places you did mention and have traveled to all of them, eagerly sampling the regional cuisine as I went. I was really impressed with your knowledge of the 'locals,' their food, history, traditions and preferences. Several times, I found myself thinking, "Oh, he must be from there to know that." But then you went on to make a similarly spot-on observation about a different locale.

So, congratulations.

Well done.

Edited July 4, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[*Deborah*]

Deborah, I was actually thinking of mentioning the Canadian connection. Then I figured this wasn't the only import from elsewhere in the continent besides the US that was mentioned on the thread.

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Sugar maples are an import to what's now the United States?

I know you didn't mean that.

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We had a similar "Canadian Food" thread in honour of Canada Day in the Toronto forum...I think there are really few foods that grow only one one side of the 49th (well, I should say those which grow near it, tend to grow on both sides of it), so we had to not count maple syrup, too, although anyone who's travelled here knows that the Canadian airport giftshops are chockfull of maple syrup, maple sugar candy, etc., etc.

The original NAFTA? North American Free Tree Agreement!

[EdS]

America's most influential culinary contribution to the world is junk food.

[Pan]

America's most influential culinary contribution to the world is junk food.

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But if so, does it make American great?

[jbonne]

thanks to various folks for the compliments. i assure you, the original list for possibles was very, very, very long.

you should, however, see some of the utterly nasty responses we've gotten to the list. i'm just plain ignoring the outrage of a sizable Philly contingent about the cheesesteak (my basic response: tune in next year), but to the scrapple lovers out there (and scrapple was on my initial list), all i can say is: if people hate shoofly pie as much as they seem to, i can only imagine what they'd say about scrapple.

ditto chile verde. i particularly took pride in putting that in because it's an original, and it's a very not-too-obvious choice. the NM folks who've seen it were overjoyed, while folks in Philly, Chicago and the entire Midwest think i'm on crack. ah well.

But I do think leaving out BBQ was grievous, no matter what lame excuse you gave.    You easily could have listed BBQ and then said something like, "From the Carolinas to Texas, from Kansas City to Mississippi, BBQ may vary in types of sauces, heat sources, and meats, but BBQ is all American, all the time." 

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we said in the intro that we didn't want to spark a battle about BBQ, mostly since i'll be doing a BBQ item for Labor Day. as someone who lives with a lifelong Austin native, and who has been told under no uncertain terms that no greater food exists than Texas brisket, i wouldn't dare to pretend that BBQ doesn't make the cut.

[edited re: chile verde]

Edited July 4, 2005 by jbonne (log)

[jbonne]

FRIED CHICKEN!!

And where in heck did they get that diddly-squat "po-boy" with just three shrimp-- French Laundry?    Po-boys are PILED up with stuff, not lined up like those one-quail-egg spoons.  Whoever made that list has been getting all their info from cookbooks and magazines, not travelin' and eatin'.   

Puh.

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welcome to the world of stock photography, Rachel.

and i'll personally give a smackback on the travelin' part. i ate more po-boys in a single week in New Orleans this May than is healthy or wise.

[jbonne]

Just remember, whenever you see a hamburger, French fry will be there. Whenever you see a hot dog, French fry will be there. Through oil, through salt and seas of ketchup French fry will be there.

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also when you see a steak frites, a moules frites, a fish and chips, and about half the foods of northwestern Europe.

while i admire the French fry to no end, i think its provenance is a bit too global to hand credit fully to the USA.

Freedom fries, otoh ...

[Jaymes]

we said in the intro that we didn't want to spark a battle about BBQ...

Yeah, probably a smart move, especially since you've got your hands full fending off all those grumpy Philadelphians.

And you're right....to include a mention of BBQ, anytime, anywhere, does immediately "spark a battle."

You probably have to steel yourself to prepare for the BBQ article. And go into training. And plan an escape route. And predetermine a good place to 'hole up' until the ensuing and inevitable fracus dies down (well-stocked, of course, with some of that good ol' Lockhart brisket).

Edited July 4, 2005 by Jaymes (log)