StirBlue
Head Chef
What are the ethnic foods of the USA? Would that be a pbj wrapped in Kansas wheat bread?
Ethnic in the USA
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JDP
Senior Cook
Your original post has a tongue and cheek feel to it but what we might refer to as regional could be considered American/Ethnic. Such things as BBQ's, Cajun, Tex-Mex. Although they may have roots from different parts of the world they have developed to be truly American. Just as pasta came from Asia it is most associated with Italian cuisine here. The US is a very young country that is made up of many cultures unlike Europe that has it's well defined Ethnic groups as well as Asia, Africa and the Mediteraenean (sp). Give us time be proud of our American ethnicity and build on what we have done. We are a great country it's just as an "ethnic group" we come in many shapes, sizes and colors. It would truly be great if we could be non hyphanated Americans in the future.Sorry if I'm taking this in a path you didn't intend but I'm very proud to be an American and what we have to offer the world. 
Merry Christmas and Happy Chanuka (sp)
JDP
Merry Christmas and Happy Chanuka (sp)
JDP
StirBlue
Head Chef
Well JDP that's why I eat pbj on Kansas wheat bread. I am an American. Mom's apple pie bakes here. I just want to recognize my own roots.
skilletlicker
Head Chef
What the heck is Kansas wheat bread? Okay I'm going to take a deep breath count to ten and reread Alix's advice in her Peace be with you? thread.StirBlue said:
I hope that you discover the immense heritage of American cooking that all of our forefathers have passed on to us. Clearly there are antecedents to our dishes from literally everywhere on earth but that is also true of virtually every other culinary culture.
JDP
Senior Cook
StirBlue said:
Hey if you love your PBJ on Kansas Wheat bread then God bless you. I too enjoy a good PBJ. In your original post I was given the impression that you felt the United States of America has no ethnic American dishes and you where using sarcasim to make your point by using the PBJ on Kansas wheat bread as your only example. Again my point is that the USA has made many wonderful contributions to the culinary world in styles of cooking from the many different regions of this glorious nation. Take for example Bisquits and gravy, Shrimp Etouffe, Blackened redfish, the neuveau(sp) cuisnines of the 90's, American pizza, Door County Fish Boils, tailgating ( not really one food but could almost be considered an ethnic style), smoked ribs, pork butts and briskets. The list could go on and on.
Sincerely,
JDP
bbq, chili, corn bread, deep greens, various soups and chowders such as Manhattan or New England clam or Maryland crab, gumbo...our regional cuisines are our ethnic recipes to other nations.
Veloce
Cook
The traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, a green vegetable and pumpkin pie for dessert probably qualifies as ethnic american food.
Whatcha mean?
Hey, StirBlue:
Could you clarify what you meant in your first post? As others, I do sense a bit of sarcasm, but I can't quite tell if you really wanted an answer.
Do you think the USA has issues w/ 'ethnic' food? Were you intimating that our 'original' cuisine is dull...or non-existent? Make your case, I know many who'd be interested.
I think the best and truly most amazing thing about the USA is its adoption of other cultures' foods. We will try anything! Remember when sushi was posh and chic? Heck, now folks go shop at WallMart and get sashimi on the way home. No black dress required. That is an incredible change in a culture in a few decades.
I have lived abroad for short periods. The food can be so wonderful. But in Mexico, it's Mexican. In China, it's Chinese. In Thailand, it's...you get the idea. (I'm not including large cosmopolitan cities in those countries b/c the same is true all the world over: go to a big enough city and you can get just about anything.) But even in my 15K population town in I can get several kinds of Chinese, several versions of sushi, Northern Indian, Thai, and scads of Italian, Mexican, and W. European foods. That, to me, is the coolest thing about our (admittedly adopted!) 'ethnic' cuisine.
Hey, StirBlue:
Could you clarify what you meant in your first post? As others, I do sense a bit of sarcasm, but I can't quite tell if you really wanted an answer.
Do you think the USA has issues w/ 'ethnic' food? Were you intimating that our 'original' cuisine is dull...or non-existent? Make your case, I know many who'd be interested.
I think the best and truly most amazing thing about the USA is its adoption of other cultures' foods. We will try anything! Remember when sushi was posh and chic? Heck, now folks go shop at WallMart and get sashimi on the way home. No black dress required. That is an incredible change in a culture in a few decades.
I have lived abroad for short periods. The food can be so wonderful. But in Mexico, it's Mexican. In China, it's Chinese. In Thailand, it's...you get the idea. (I'm not including large cosmopolitan cities in those countries b/c the same is true all the world over: go to a big enough city and you can get just about anything.) But even in my 15K population town in I can get several kinds of Chinese, several versions of sushi, Northern Indian, Thai, and scads of Italian, Mexican, and W. European foods. That, to me, is the coolest thing about our (admittedly adopted!) 'ethnic' cuisine.
StirBlue
Head Chef
I just think we need to look around our own country of greatness (USA) before we order out (another country). No offense intended to those wonderful people of other countries who share so much with us.
I just thought we (USA) were being left out of the ethnic foods. I guess now I know that we can be just as ethnic as everybody else.
I just thought we (USA) were being left out of the ethnic foods. I guess now I know that we can be just as ethnic as everybody else.
JDP
Senior Cook
Sorry Stir blue I got the impression that you felt we brought nothing to the table when with came to the culinary world. In a way we are also like the BASF commercial. We didn't make the dish...but we did make it better.
Merry Christmas,
JDP
Merry Christmas,
JDP
urmaniac13
Executive Chef
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2005
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- 4,764
Probably you can count "Pepperoni Pizza", "Fettuccini Alfredo", "Caesar's Salad", "Chicken Parmesan" among other things as "American ethnic"... they are practically unknown anywhere in Italy!
YT2095
Executive Chef
Technicaly unless you eat Native "American" Indian food, everything you Eat is of some ethnic origin or another, and not native to the America per se.
I say Bring-it-On, the more new stuff you can try and experience the Better
I say Bring-it-On, the more new stuff you can try and experience the Better
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
YT2095 said:
Not really. The Native Americans/American Indians were immigrants too. They just got here before the rest of us.
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
lol andy. well said. just strecthing out that timeline, huh? always good for a better perspective.
i wonder if older cultures laugh at our (the u.s. and canada) growing pains, historically speaking. if they do, i hope it is as a big brother or sister laughs at their younger sibling, having only recently been there themselves.
we've done a pretty good job trying to catch up to the cuisines of older nations, but it certainly was with their help and/or experience.
i wonder if older cultures laugh at our (the u.s. and canada) growing pains, historically speaking. if they do, i hope it is as a big brother or sister laughs at their younger sibling, having only recently been there themselves.
we've done a pretty good job trying to catch up to the cuisines of older nations, but it certainly was with their help and/or experience.
college_cook
Head Chef
Could cornbread be considered ethinc american?
Other than that I can't come up with anything thats really ours that hasn't come from something else first, though we do have a variety of unique cuisines here, including cajun, creole, tex-mex, and southern.
Other than that I can't come up with anything thats really ours that hasn't come from something else first, though we do have a variety of unique cuisines here, including cajun, creole, tex-mex, and southern.
angelbear9114
Assistant Cook
In my opinion America is a hodgepodge of cultures from around the world...That is what makes America a melting pot both culturally and in the kitchen. It is a wonderful thing. In America we have taken recipes brought over here with our ancestors and "re-tooled" them to better fit this country...If you think about it that way any cuisine is American cuisine because America is home to people from evey backround imaginable.
YT2095
Executive Chef
AND being such a large country you`re also lucky enough to cover several Climate zones for growing too
skilletlicker
Head Chef
I think this is a topic I'm just too dumb to understand.
YT, wouldn't that line of reasoning make foods made with tomatoes, potatoes, corn, or chocolate ethnically American?YT2095 said:
Therefore every human on the planet is an immigrant with the exception of a single region, probably in Africa and perhaps named Eden.Andy M said:
I think urmaniac has probably got it about right, which makes this a pretty rich and diverse cuisine.urmaniac13 said:
YT2095
Executive Chef
skilletlicker said:
no, not really.
and I wouldn`t let the "Letter" of the post spoil the meaning behind it either
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
skilletlicker said:
That's not what I said. Nor is there any evidence that, if there was an Eden, that it was in Africa.
The Americas; North, Central and South; were populated with humans very late in comparison to Eurpoe, Africa and Asia. The original inhabitants of these continents migrated over the land bridge at the Bering Strait, across and down through these continents.
My point was addressing YT2095's post about Native American food being the only American food that was not ethnic.
We're just having a little fun with the topic.
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