When I first started Culinary School, one of my Chef instructors asked his students to answer a questions as best we could. We would share our answers after writing down what we thought. The question he asked us was, "What is American Cuisine?" Or rather yet, "What makes up American Cuisine?"
A lot of us were stumped as to what we could come up with. The first thing I thought of were hot dogs and hamburgers, but those are German. Then I thought, macaroni and cheese, but pasta was first Chinese and then Italian. Then I thought, Apple Pie, but apples come from China and pastry from France. So.... what makes up American Cuisine? It's quite difficult to define our own cuisine because our country was founded by immigrants, who brought food from their native lands.
It's something to be debated because there are probably a good amount of foods that were created in America but aren't anything special enough to be defined as an "American food". To me, American cuisine is regional. You have the New England area which is full of great seafood dishes, you have the Bread Basket which is rich and hearty food, the south is rich in soul food, and the west coast is seasonal/fresh to south of the border. It is such a wide variety, that if I were a foreigner, I would be kind of confused as to what a typical American meal was comprised of. Sure we have Italian restaurants, and Sushi bars, but they are not American Cuisine.
In my honest opinion, America has no cuisine. We are the Melting Pot Nation, and a young one at that. We haven't been around nearly as long as others, but that's what great. We are still growing strong as a country and we are coming closer to defining what we would call American Cuisine.
I love that when you travel though, you can rely on other cultures having certain foods. They may vary slightly from region to region, but they are essentially the same dish. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Cuisines are hundreds and hundreds of years old. Their people have been keeping the same dishes alive today that were being served hundreds of years ago. They are age old recipes and have remained staples of these countries and can be recognized world wide. How wonderful a dish must be that draws one in, in hopes to become that much closer to their culture. I know it draws me in, I am simply intrigued in other cultures cuisines.
What also amazes me is how ancient travel has had a great influence on cuisine. When one country set out to explore new land, they took home new ingredients and recreated a dish they liked and made it their own. They might be very similar but have subtle differences with what's available in that area.
But I digress...If I absolutely had to define American Cuisine, I would say: It's one of comfort and relative ease. We are a fast paced people and we need food that can deliver. Not necessarily fast food, but food that's fast. Get what I am saying? It's not everyday that you see a mom cooking duck confit for a family of 5 or a man cooking a pig under ground but I am sure that people have done it lol. For a normal blue collar family, they want to spend as much time together as possible. A quick cooked meal such as spaghetti and garlic bread or meatloaf and steamed vegetables are a great way to go.
I often refer back to that question my Chef asked me, what is American Cuisine? It is a constant inspiration to me and remains a perplexing question. Anyway, thanks so much for reading!
P.S. If anyone would like to debate and have a say as to what they think American Cuisine really is, please let me know! I would love to hear any input! Thanks!
