What is AMERICAN food?

[Kali]

If you had guests from another country coming for dinner and you wanted to serve them a "typical" American (US, I don't necessarily mean indigenous) meal what would you choose.

Note I was going to try to limit this to serious choices but figured the fun stuff is interesting too so go ahead and list deep fried twinkies, but give me some better choices as well.

This has actually happened to me a few times and my choices were for one meal southern fried chicken, mashed spuds and cream gravy, green beans with bacon salad and peach pie. Another time I did steak kabobs (I know kind of Middle Eastern, but what the heck) and had rice and green salad, strawberries and pound cake for desert. Good ole hamburgers and fries (all homemade and grilled over wood coals) was another. Your turn.

[KitchenWitch]

1. Hot Dogs and homemade baked beans

[wildhorses]

2. apple pie

[BarenakedLady]

3. Corn on the cob

Burgers (veggie for me, of course) pasta salad, apple pie? :shrug:

[crim son]

4. Definitely burgers/hot dogs

potato salad, corn on the cob & apple pie.

edited for "applie" pie.

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Chicken fried steak with white gravy, mashed potatoes, and greens

cooked in bacon fat.

For some good midwestern foods, one could do: brats, sauerkraut, baked beans, chips.

Or tuna casserole (preferably with peas), with vienna bread and peanut butter.

Jell-O "salads" are distinctly (and disgustingly) American, especially midwestern.

And good ol' barbeques: whether ribs, chicken, steaks, burgers, franks, brats, or pork chops.

Fish boils - another great American tradition, which is distinctly Wisconsin (though it might come from Scandanavia, but I'm not sure)

Chop Suey is purely American.

Hardtack, biscuits (or sourdough bread), and beans is another one.

[KitchenWitch]

6. It is tuna HOTDISH, ya cretin!

:P

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Maybe in Mionnesota. But in Wisconsin, it's a casserole.

Hotdish is something entirely different - we make the distinction between casserole and hotdish.

Stupid minnesotans - you're so uncivilized and peasant-like, not worldly and sauve like Wisconsinites - you don't even know the difference.

In fact, I believe you serve your bratwurst (because you don't even know "brats") with ketchup.

Philistines.

[KitchenWitch]

8. LOL

Brat!

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Gopher!

[KitchenWitch]

13. Pfffft

:P

[Xipe Totec]

14. Yup, Tuna Noodle Casserole

with peas.

:9

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. That's better than what my grandma calls it.

Slops.

Yes, you read that right. Slops.

My sister and I are traumatized against tuna casserole, purely on the basis of the fact that our grandmother insisted on feeding us "slops," whenever humanly possible. When she wasn't feeding us "slops," it was usually some organ or sauer graten (mmm...beef soaked in vinegar). No wonder I grew up with a disdain for meat.

[Arugula Latte]

11. The Thanksgiving spread is a pretty good bet.

Cranberries, corn, squash, potatoes -- all originally New World foods, I believe. Tomatoes are native, as well, but not so Thanksgivingish.

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. That's what we did a while back when cousins visited from Luxembourg.

Hot summer day, no AC, my sister cooked a big turkey dinner for a bunch of people in her small house. We all sweated like pigs, but had a great time.

[sarge43]

46. Yes they are.

Stewed tomatoes would make a nice side dish with the classic T'giving dinner.

[XemaSab]

55. Turkey is 100% American

:D

But turkey farming is gross.

:P

[Mojambo]

12. Anything Supersized. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

15. SOS

Chipped beef and gravy sandwich

(A.K.A. Shit On a Shingle)

[Initech]

16. American food is deep-fried.

I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a way to deep-fry cheeseburgers.

[EOTE]

53. Easy enough.

Get a good burger, squeeze it in a press or with your hands until the bun envelops everything else. Stick a couple toothpicks in it for good measure and dip in funnel cake batter. Deep fry for a minute or two, et voila, deep fried cheeseburger. If they can deep fry twinkies, snickers and even Coke, then they can deep fry just about anything.

Oh, I believe hamburgers are German, not American. Named for their place of Origin, Hamburg, Germany. As for American cuisine, the Po' Boy and other variations on the submarine sandwich are nice. And make sure to put American cheese on everything :). No one knows cheese like the Americans :P

[bigwillq]

17. Burgers, dogs, potato salad

fried chicken, corn on cob.....

YUM-O!
:bounce:

[Katina]

18. I think "American food" depends on a lot of things.

First and foremost, how many generations you've been here. Secondly, ones "ethinicity". For example, my grandmother was 1st generation Irish. She thought tomato sauce was made from tomato juice. Try going to your grandmother's house for easter vacation and she tries to cook "Italian." She boils the pasta till it's paste, and then pours tomato juice over it. UGH!.

Then you have the Easter dinner. Your choices are roasted leg of lamb or fresh ham. (pray for the fresh ham) Green beans go with either meat and they get cooked from the time the meat goes in the oven so the green beans are actually grey in color. Then you have the potatoes that are so overcooked, that when you mash them, they stick together like glue. We used to have a contest...who could pick up the whole pile of potatoes and hold them up on their fork the longest..before the mess cracked and fell onto the plate. To me, that's american cooking....and god help me if I ever cook that way.

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. Let's see:

Cobb salad, charcoal-grilled porterhouse steaks (from corn-fed Midwestern cattle), baked potatoes, with a good California red wine. For dessert, maybe something like apple pie a la mode.

[Dukkha]

20. an All American dinner

[Kali]

21. I just scared the cat

with my loud burst of laughter. - great pic where did you find that? Your own kitchen?

[patrick t. cakes]

22. grilled cheese with tomato soup. yum.

:9

[Floogeldy]

37. Yow.

With a Coke. :)

[sarge43]

47. Roast beef sammich with vegetable soup, also yummy n/t

[greblc]

71. had that for dinner tonight!

[rug]

23. Anything with mayonnaise

[Orangepeel]

24. meat, starch, veggie

IMO, it's the format of the meal that makes it "American style". It should include a meat dish (steak, ham, chicken, meatloaf, whatever), a starch (usually a potato, but could be rice or bread stuffing) and a veggie (probably corn, peas or green beans).

[catmandu57]

25. Poor folk food

Hamburger helper, if you're really poor just helper.

[wildhorses]

26. green bean casserole

:eyes: its a tradition

[KamaAina]

27. Lu'au: kalua pig, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, poi, haupia

perfectly American, even though our state quarter won't be out for another couple of years, unless you're one of those people who come up with those offers that are "valid in the continental U.S. only." :P

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

34. Hell, my mom thought you guys were another country or something.

[u4ic]

29. Here ya go:

Looks...uh...appetizing...:scared:

[martymar64]

30. A nice Barbeque would work

Some Steaks or maybe some sausages or burgers. Some potato salad and cole slaw. Grilled ears of corn. Some buttery dinner rolls and pecan pie for dessert. A little chili in there couldn't hurt either.

[mykpart]

31. Country ham with

turnip greens or mixed greens, sweet potatoes, cornbread and/or biscuits. Turkey and dressing & "fixins." City Chicken (No chicken in it, just veal and pork).

[Generic Brad]

32. Hawaiian plate lunch

Slice of Spam, macaroni salad, scoop of white rice, a chicken or pork entree, kim chee all smothered in brown gravy. At least that's what I used to eat when I lived there and had the metabolism to take it.

[StellaBlue]

33. Thanksgiving

Turkey
Cranberry sauce
Pumpkin and pecan pie
Sweet potatoes
Cornbread

Etc. - all distinctly American, not coopted from another culture, NOT fast food

:)

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

35. Ribs

With potato wedges and lots of coleslaw. Yum yum.

Of course, if your guests aren't used to eating with their hands (depending on where they're from), ribs might be too much of a culture shock.

[photogirl12]

36. Deep fried and/or covered in cheese n/t

[sir_captain]

38. The best serious American contributions to cuisine, IMHO

are barbecue, creole (gumbo, etc) and the good ol' steamed maine lobster.

Barbecue is by far #1, though. That's up there with anything.

Burgers are certainly great too.

[mainegreen]

49. LOBSTAH!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Kali]

39. some great ideas! Skipping individual replies but...

Really thanks. I am laughing in total agreement with some, have DONE some and will do some others.

Tuna casserole! Yeah that is pretty classic. How embarrasing. But I eat it at least once a month. With peas.

Steaks and Bbq - yep those are the stand bys that almost everybody loves and for the Vegs the good old portobellas and zuchinnis.

Nobody mentioned chowder or crab cakes (not that I am near any seas or oceans or have a clue how to prepare them) that was kind of interesting.

Thanks everybody. Any more?

[sarge43]

50. Crumble potato chips on top of that tuna casserole

for the ultimate Midwest church supper experience.

For breakfast: a big old stack of buckwheat pancakes with real maple syrup, not that carmel colored crap. An English friend had some for the first time. She looked just like Jeff Bridges in Starman when he ate Double Dutch Apple pie - died and went to heaven.

[Kali]

58. Husband's specialty is blueberry cakes - there

is now a small cult in Germany that are devotees of those puppies.

[sarge43]

60. Well, there are worse things to become addicted to. n/t

[petronius]

40. It's an interesting question - so much 'American food' is more commonly

considered regional food within the U.S. I think the only thing that could really be considered universally American would be the roast turkey dinner. Along with that (and echoing other posters) I'd say that the major items you would need to get a good feel for American culinary contributions would be southern barbecue (that's a lifetime study in itself), western barbecue (e.g. Santa Maria style), New England seafood (lobster, clam bakes, oysters), and Cajun/Creole (including crawfish boils and/or low-country boils).

Other items that strike me as being 'American' are pot roast, meatloaf, fried chicken, and beans & franks. I think watermelon belongs to us, as does pumpkin pie, corn dogs, and TV dinners.

Damn, this thread made me hungry!

[Bassic]

41. Shepperd's pie?

Chicken pot pie? Tourtière (don't know the english word or even if you guys know what it is).

[meegbear]

42. Anything processed, chemical laden and sports a corporate logo

[calico1]

51. And supersized!! n/t

[noonwitch]

43. Sausage on a stick, wrapped in a chocolate chip pancake!

I was laughing at Jon Stewart when he was discussing this on The Daily Show.

At least once a week, I see an ad for a new food product that makes me think "That can't be healthy". Like the McGriddles, which I've never tried, but you know anything like that just can't be healthy.

[AllegroRondo]

44. barbecue or chili

nothing like a big rack of barbecued pork ribs

[seemunkee]

45. BBQ Ribs, fried catfish, Gumbo, Chili

[sarge43]

48. Nothing says America like any kind of Jello salad

Cherry with fruit salad

Lime with shredded veggies

Lemon with citrus fruit

[izzybeans]

52. Slightly modified forms of food from other countries

[Kali]

59. by slightly modified you mean take all the fun flavor, texture and

or odd ingredients out?

[izzybeans]

64. Like confusing cumin for curry or

katsup for roasted tomato stew

[XemaSab]

54. Fresh-mex

is about as American as you can get. :bounce:

[rurallib]

61. I second - pass the salsa please.

[anarch]

56. fry bread

served with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

[MissMillie]

57. chicken pot pie, baked beans, turkey dinner

fried chicken, baked potato, anything w/ corn in it.


hamburgers!!!!

[JitterbugPerfume]

62. Mexican food

spanish rice, burritos , tacos etc

They were here first, ya know

Indian food--corn ,beans, wild game

[AngryAmish]

63. steaks, baked potatoe (thanx Mr. Quayle) and green beans

[YankeyMCC]

65. Kinda depends on the region

Here in New England it would be something like Clam Chowder (although I'm not personally likely to serve it just because I don't like it) or a clam bake etc...

Pumpkin Pie, corn, venison or turkey, maybe some baked beans.


I think BBQ might be one style that could qualify as a more general American style.

[TommyO]

66. Keep them around for breakfast

and serve them biscuits with sausage gravy - YUMMY!

[Fox Mulder]

67. Nothing I like to eat.

:puke:

[Liberal Veteran]

68. High Fructose Corn Syrup smothered in Partially Hydrogenated Veg Oil.

....on a stick.

[jmm]

69. I'd serve take-out from Panda Express or Taco Bell.

Nothin' says American food like a weak imitation of another culture :hide:.

There's plenty of regional food but very little in the way of American food.

[sendero]

70. Fried Chicken....

... with mashed potatos, cream gravy, green beans and starting of course with a lettuce and tomato based salad.

Now I'm hungry. :)

[mopinko]

72. pot roast

spuds, carrots, au jus. apple pie or chocolate cake. beer.