I would completely agree. It’s not realizing this that’s causing too much unnecessary conflict and issues. We are all Americans. We all bring something to the table. All of us combined is what makes up the country. Not one area is the same but doesn’t make it any less American (yes, the Amish are Americans - I should’ve mentioned food from there). We keep repeating past mistakes and make the same to new comers despite the painful past we’ve endured ourselves instead of learning from them and building a better future for every single American. We do have new things that pop up in the US that doesn’t exist elsewhere. If it persists even for a short period, it’s American as well (not all American food is good. Especially candy sushi…)
Thank you for the salad bowl statement. I now have a better way to describe us!
That was a rhetorical question. It’s most definitely Japanese. But it’s concept was Chinese. They made it Japanese as it was made for Japanese people in Japan. That’s what makes it theirs. Much like all the food i had described
You won’t find spaghetti with meatballs anywhere in Italy. Polpetti as an antipasto, maybe. But not a toddler’s fist-sized meatballs on top of pasta positively drowning in red sauce. That is American-Italian food.
-Spaghetti with meatballs (giant) = American food
-Spaghetti alla Chitarra con Pallottine (mini meatballs) = Italian food from Abruzzo.
-Fettuccine Alfredo as we know it in the US with heavy cream (especially with chicken) = American food
-Pasta al Burro = Italian food. What Italians eat when they’re not feeling well. There is an Alfredo that made a dish based on Al Burro. No heavy cream. No chicken on top of pasta.
I am sure in the past, Americans swipe that these are Italian dishes and not American. Some will still claim these are Italian and not American. I am guilty of this as i didn’t know what real Italian food was (very much like Chinese food) from being an American kid growing up.
Almost every American food I know is an adaptation of immigrant food made in the US for the people in the US. Native food is the exception but even there, who knows? When they crossed that land bridge, did they bring their own style to some of the cooking based on what was available here? I’d say it’s highly likely.
This thread and discussion, if anything, is exactly why the term “authentic” is very much not dead. But alive and kicking
So when does a dish become authentically American and lose the slash?
How long before the foreign cuisine is assimilated
into our cultural stew?
As an example, the tacos I grew up eating, deep fried beef with peas and sometimes potatoes and sprinkled with either cheddar or parmesan, are sometimes called Santa Fe tacos, after the RR that brought most of the immigrants to work in slaughterhouses and other heavy industry.
Those tacos are now themselves hard to find because the population has continued to grow with later waves bringing different experiences and cooking skills/knowledge from different Latin American regions.
I don’t have the answers, only the questions.
My 2 cents (which also explain my list from my experiences living across the country):
I see the term “authentic” as cultural of foods in that country and it doesn’t need to be the entire country as long as the subsets are within that country and unique to that area.
If the tacos brought over are not the same as how it is in the non-American country and doesn’t resonate with people in that country/culture, I believe it to be authentically American as either a part (if regional/town), or the entirety of our American culture would have experienced it. In other words, it would’ve been a uniquely American experience. Even if it no longer exists (like a lot of older versions of American food), it is still part of our culinary culture and history.
Some of it stays, some of it eventually goes away, but it was an American thing at some point in time. Having said that, it’s really difficult to get rid of something that is familiar to a period/place. Especially something nostalgic to that culture. It’s like an immigrant who came here and becomes homesick for food that aligns with how food is prepared and made back home. They seek it out. Same nostalgia. Of course, changes to how a dish is prepared happens, but as long as it resonates with the people in that country/culture/people (whether regional or nationwide), it remains authentic to that country/region as its still part of that culture. Food, much like culture, evolves. And so does authentic food to that country.
My dad used to claim that there was a giant factory underground somewhere in middle America that churned out oceans of red sauce, delivered by a maze of pipes to every Italian restaurant in the country.
That’s reminding me that I sold spaghetti and meat sauce to raise money for our note taking service in medical school. This was at Howard University, a HBCU or “Historically Black College and University”. Raised a decent amount of money.
took a while to gather these . . . the market is not real adept at keeping things in stock anymore . . .
they all taste different. I’m fond of this brand - old school, made with cane sugar, etc etc
Remembering an occasion when my father came to visit us. I had bought him some sarsparilla tea and asked if he would like a cup of tea. An enthusiastic “yes”. Then a taste. “Is this something special?” “Yes!” “Next time, don’t do me any favors.”
But root beer and birch beer are two entirely different animals. I can drink root beer if there’s no better alternatives. But a PA Dutch birch beer? Yes please.
No, not really similar. A good birch beer is more red than brown (with the exception of a white variety I had in Connecticut) and has a much nicer flavor than root beer (IMHO). If you see it being made in a PA festival, give it a try. Though it admittedly may be an acquired taste for those of us born and bred in PA.
