In Defense of American Cuisine

#americanfood #cooking #traditionalfood #foodhistory #foodblog

“There’s no such thing as American food.” “American food is just hamburgers.” “American food is junk food.” “American food is unhealthy.” “American food: just hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza.” “All American food comes from other countries.”

I’ve been listening to people say these things for a really long time during my years living abroad and also when I lived in America but worked with people from all over the world. And I’m fed up. Why? Because these things are simply not true, or are gross generalizations.

The fact is that American cuisine has had a profound influence on the world. Is some of it really unhealthy? Of course. Has much of it been co-opted by fast food chains and the dreaded “food industry” and turned into something mass-produced and full of chemicals and additives and other things too horrible to imagine? Yes. But it doesn’t make the original dish junk.

Take fried chicken. What do you think of when you think of fried chicken? KFC? Popeye’s? Some other fast food franchise? Well, there’s nothing fast about fried chicken. When I think of fried chicken I think of my Midwestern grandmother’s. She’d take fresh chicken, dredge it in flour that she seasoned well with salt, pepper and paprika, and maybe a bit of sage or something else. Then she’d dip the pieces in egg, then back into the flour. She’d heat lard or Crisco in her cast-iron pot and fry the pieces till they were golden brown, and then she’d cover the pot and the pieces would get soft and the juices would penetrate them. She’d make a gravy from the drippings and serve it with the chicken and the mashed potatoes she inevitably made to go with the fried chicken. This dish took at least an hour to make. It was heavenly.

What about a hamburger? It’s just a hamburger, right? Wrong. A properly made hamburger is perfection. I’m not talking about pre-made patties, or, worse, frozen ones. Here in Spain all the ground meat sold in supermarkets by law has additives like “vegetable fiber” and preservatives in it. It’s revolting and I won’t touch it. A real hamburger is made with freshly-ground beef, seasoned, formed by hand into whatever type of patty the chef prefers, but usually thick and well-sized. It’s cooked either on a grill or in an iron skillet till it’s juicy but still pink inside, and served on some sort of good bun, with toppings such as cheese, tomato, lettuce, mushrooms, bacon, caramelized onions, or whatever other delicious thing you like on your meat. How is this junk? How is this less delicious than another preparation of beef? Is it simple? In its purest form, yes. Does that make it somehow lacking? No. There’s a reason why people all over the world love hamburgers.

America doesn’t have an original cuisine. Oh really? Tell that to the people of New Orleans, where Jambalaya and Gumbo reign supreme. I have never eaten anything like those dishes in any other place. They’re unique. Is the food in New Orleans influenced by the Europeans who settled it? Yes. It’s influenced by French, Italian, Spanish and African cuisine. They took old methods and combined them with the local ingredients and made something incredibly unique and unbelievably delicious. America has great regional variety, from the perfectly-named Soul Food of African-American culture to the delicious seafood dishes of New England: clam chowder, Maine lobster, steamers…the essence of summer. And barbeque! There are more varieties of barbeque in the United States than most people are aware of and it’s considered a sort of art by those who dedicate themselves to it. All varieties of barbeque have 3 things in common: meat, wood smoke and time, sometimes almost a day. American barbeque is its own culture and way of life for those who master it.

To say America has no original cuisine is ridiculous. We could say that about any cuisine. Where would Italian food be without pasta (supposedly brought to Italy by Marco Polo from China, though that’s up for debate) and tomato sauce? Tomatoes are from the Americas. So are peppers. So many cuisines rely on peppers (Chinese, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish…), but we forget that before the trade with the Americas, peppers weren’t part of these cuisines. The contribution of the Indigenous American ingredients to the cuisines of the world is indisputable yet often forgotten. What do you like to munch on at the movies? Let me guess… popcorn. A kernel approximately 1,000 years old was found in Utah in a cave that was thought to be inhabited by Pueblo Indians. It’s an ancient food. The point is that all cuisines evolve over time, as new ingredients and new methods of preparation are introduced through trade and immigration.

Is American food often fatty and unhealthy? Well, yes, in all honesty. But the same thing could be said for many other cuisines in the world. Which country consumes the most fat in the world? Not the United States, but Belgium, where they eat 95 grams of fat a day, followed by Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Malaysia, France and Switzerland in 10th place. The U.S. didn’t even make the list (www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-fat-consuming-countries-in-the-world, March 14, 2019).

The United States has 6 of the 50 best restaurants in the world according to Forbes, tying with Spain. France has 5, as does Italy. New York City is one of the world’s greatest food capitals, home to both Michelin-starred restaurants and incredible local pizza joints, but then, I am bit biased.

So, the next time you are tempted to joke about how bad American food is, imagine life without it. Take a good look at your hamburger, your Red Velvet cake and your corn chips and give them the respect and love they deserve.

© 2019 Anna Pavlakis All Rights Reserved