What Exactly Is American Food?
At lunch, a friend and me were discussing how much we love Mexican food. That led to “what has America contributed to the culinary world?” Which led to “What the hell is American food.
I did some research, also known as Wikipedia, and I found a list! It seems to me that America really hasn’t contributed much! If its a meal of sides and snacks you’re looking for, America has you covered! However, we created Pop Tarts and that is pretty damn spectacular. That was NOT sarcasm.
Think about this for a minute. Do you eat more American food or more of some other “Genre”. Due to not knowing exactly what American food is, I’m not even sure myself!
A lot of other countries have some HUGE contributions:
Mexico: Taco’s
Italy: Spaghettii
France: French Fries
Germany: Bratwurst
China: CATS
….and so many more.
America’s Contribution to the Culinary World:
- American Chinese cuisine
- Apple Pie
- Biscuit (and Biscuits and gravy)
- Bread
- Ammonia cookie
- Cuisine of Antebellum America
- Apple butter
- Apple sauce
- Baked potato
- Barbecue (see below for specific types)
- Bear claw
- Beef Manhattan
- Cooked horse child
- BK Chicken Fries
- Blue cheese dressing
- Blue-plate special
- Bookbinder soup
- Breakfast burrito
- Brunswick stew
- Buffalo burger
- Buffalo wing
- Bull roast
- Burnt ends
- Butter cookie
- Cajun cuisine
- Calf’s liver and bacon
- Carolina style
- Celery Victor
- Cheese dog
- Cheese fries
- Cheesesteak
- Chicago-style pizza
- Chicken à la King
- Chicken and waffles
- Chicken Divan
- Chicken fingers
- Chicken French
- Chicken fried bacon
- Chicken fried steak
- Chicken nugget
- Chicken parmigiana
- Chicken sandwich
- Chili con carne
- Chili dog
- Chimichanga
- Chips and dip
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Choco pie
- Chowder
- City chicken
- Clam cake
- Clam chowder
- Club sandwich
- Coleslaw
- Cordon bleu
- Corn chowder
- Corn dog
- Corn flakes
- Corn relish
- Corned beef
- Cornish game hen
- Cowboy beans
- Crab cake
- Creamed corn
- Creamed eggs on toast
- Deviled crab
- Deviled egg
- Domesticated turkey
- Doughnut
- Drunken chicken
- Eggo
- Eggs Benedict
- Eggs Neptune
- Energy bar
- Engastration (e.g., Turducken)
- Fajita
- Fortune cookie
- French dip
- Fried chicken
- Fried fish
- Fry sauce
- Frybread
- Garden salad
- German chocolate cake
- Goulash
- Greek-American cuisine
- Green bean casserole
- Grilled cheese
- Grits
- Hamburger
- Hangtown fry
- Haystack
- Hog fry
- Home fries
- Hot chicken
- Hot chicken sandwich
- Hot Pockets
- Ice cream cake
- Italian-American cuisine
- Italian beef
- Italian dressing
- Jell-O
- Jerky
- Juba
- Key lime pie
- Liver and onions
- Lobster Newberg
- Lobster roll
- London broil
- Lorna Doone
- Macaroni and cheese
- Mac n’ Cheetos
- Macaroni salad
- Maple bacon donut
- Maraca pie
- Mashed potato
- Mashed pumpkin
- Meatcake
- Meatloaf
- Milk toast
- Milkshake
- Mission burrito
- Mozzarella sticks
- Muffuletta
- Mulligan stew
- Onion ring
- Oreo
- Oysters Rockefeller
- Pancakes
- Pasta salad
- Pastrami
- Patty
- Peanut butter
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- Pemmican
- Pepperoni
- Pepperoni Rolls
- Pickled cucumber
- Pigs in blankets
- Pizza strips
- Ploye
- Pop-Tarts
- Popcorn
- Popover
- Poppyseed muffin
- Pork and beans
- Potato salad
- Potato skins
- Potato wedges
- Potatoes O’Brien
- Protein bar
- Pulled pork
- Pumpkin pie
- Rabbit pie
- Ranch dressing
- Reuben sandwich
- Ribs
- Rolled oyster
- Russian dressing
- Russian tea cake
- Salisbury steak
- Sandwich
- Sausage gravy
- Scampi
- Scrapple
- Seafood cocktail
- Senate bean soup
- Slinger
- Sloppy joe
- Smelt
- Sonofabitch stew
- Soul food
- Sour cream
- Soup and sandwich
- Squab
- Steak
- Steak sandwich
- Steak sauce
- Steamed clams
- Steamed ham
- Stuffed ham
- Stuffed peppers
- Stuffed zucchini
- Succotash
- Surf and turf
- Swiss steak
- Tetrazzini
- Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies
- Thousand Island dressing
- Toaster Strudel
- Tomato compote
- Tuna casserole
- Turducken
- Thanksgiving turkey
- Vichyssoise
- Waffle
Breads:
- Sandwich bread
- Butter With Bread
Bread and butter?! That was us?! Whaaaaa?! Either way, I’m glad we have such awesome people across the globe that can make me fatter every single day. Maybe even send me to an early grave. It’s all worth for great food! Love, peace, and chicken grease!