American Food

[r_transpose_p]

Several times I have been baffled when immigrants to this country ask me "So what is 'American food

Comments

[soupdumpling]

You should read "The Soul of a Chef". It has a different take on what American cuisine is :)

[r_transpose_p]

Right, I knowingly neglected "Haute Cuisine." I was thinking of mentioning that it was rarely consumed and most of our haute cuisine chefs can trace their training back to France, but I decided not to force it into my half-formed generalization.

[skamille]

Hehe.

[r_transpose_p]

Oddly I thought you'd be the person who'd object to this idea the first. Most of the exceptions I could think of are somehow related to immigrant groups or the American South.

I really do need to figure out what ordinary New Orleans residents eat, although I've heard stories about home cooked gumbo that make it sounds like it significantly departs from the culinary ideology I've outlined above.

[angelbob]

American beer is pretty similar, yeah. British beer is designed for the British climate. American beer is designed to rehydrate you while you do hard labor in a hot climate.

[catamorphism]

Actually I think that American food is epitomized by a frozen, microwaveable peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

[r_transpose_p]

Hmm, we have both a freezer and a microwave in the office.

I may try this out and tell you how it tastes.

Or I may simply acknowledge beforehand that microwaving bread tastes awful.

This gives me a really evil idea involving flour, water, oil, yeast and a microwave.

And no, it does not involve "making diamonds"
http://www.rangeguide.net/diamonds.htm

[r_transpose_p]

http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/breads-yeast/microwave-ww-bread

damn! Of course someone would have tried this already.

[catamorphism]

I actually was thinking of this, but you know, whatever works.

This gives me a really evil idea involving flour, water, oil, yeast and a microwave.

I'm sure *somebody* has tried this, probably an MIT undergrad.

[queen_elvis]

I think that's a really hard question to answer because we're all too deep into our own culture to analyze it. A PB&J doesn't even hit my radar as "American cuisine" -- more like "what people feed their kids."