American Cuisine - Determining the real staples of American Cuisine

[Fliddaroonie]

Well depends on what you're in the mood for. If you're itching for Eggs, there's Huevos Rancheros, if you're feeling a bit Tex-Mex. Not strictly American, but Scotch Eggs are also really good. British Cuisine and American are pretty similar. My sisters would kill me for forgetting about Eggs Benedict! Benedict Casserole with Potatoes O'Brien has been an Easter staple in my family for years. Steak and Eggs is a simpler, but good breakfast. French toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs are a lazy Christmas morning. Chicken and Waffles are great if you have some leftover fried chicken.

If you're asking for a simple breakfast, Fresh Corn Bread and Milk is by far the greatest thing you'll ever have. It's surprising how something so simple is so fucking tasty. My late grandfather grew up in West Virginia, and that was something he always loved having, any time of the day. Breakfast was always a bit slim for me growing up, mostly just Oatmeal or Cereal. Having a full breakfast is a treat, mainly because it takes some time to make and eat. Usually got to be up and out by no later than 0630, and you don't go to bed til 10 at night, no naps in between. Big breakfasts were a weekend or holiday affair.

Great thing is, you can just mix and match most of your dishes on what you want. Just make sure it always includes a Starch/Grain, an Egg, and a Meat. Anything that mixes them can count as both! My suggestion for a full breakfast is the classic Southern Breakfast; Biscuits and Gravy with Scrambled Eggs and Hash Browns

Spoiler: Biscuits and Gravy w/ Scrambled Eggs and Hash Browns

Buttermilk Biscuits
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour (~480 g)
1 tblspn Baking Powder (~21 g)
1 tspn Baking Soda (~5 g)
1 tspn Salt (~5 g)
7 tblspn (~105g) Butter (or, preferably 6 Tblspn (~90g) of Lard) (It's recommended to freeze and cube the butter or lard; I'm on the fence about freezing it, but cubing is definitely a help)
1 Cup of Buttermilk (~230ml) (If you're European, don't use your Buttermilk. American Buttermilk is different, it contains an added Enzyme that helps leaven it I believe. If you can't get American Buttermilk, just mix 1 cup Whole Milk (~230 ml ) with 1 tablespoon (~15ml) of either White Vinegar or Lemon Juice, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or until it curdles slightly)
(Optional) 2 tspn (~14g) of Honey or Sugar (I wouldn't recommend this if you're going for "authenticity")
Melted Butter for brushing

Preheat oven to 450F (~230C)
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Cut in the Butter or Lard with a pastry cutter or two forks until the mixture is crumbly. Form a well in the bowl and pour in the Buttermilk (and Honey) and stir until just mixed, it should be wet and lumpy. Roll out onto a floured surface, and, with floured hands, pat down the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness (~1 cm), then fold both ends into the center. Repeat the process about 6 times. Your dough should be about an inch thick (~2cm) at this point, get a biscuit cutter (or a decently sized glass, something about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter or 6 to 7 cm). On either a greased Large Cast Iron pan or a parchment paper lined baking sheet, arrange all the biscuits in a tightly packed, hexagonal pattern. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Take out and immediately brush them with the butter, then let stand for 10 minutes. Don't feel bad if they come out a little wonky, biscuits are tricky to get right, and it's mostly something you learn from trial and error. Even a bad biscuit is pretty good.

Sausage Gravy
1 lb of Breakfast Sausage (450 g)
1/2 cup of All purpose Flour (~120 g)
2 1/2 cups of Whole Milk (~550 ml)
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Scramble the sausage into bits in a medium sized pot and cook on medium-high heat until brown, then lower temperature to medium-low and add half the flour to the pan to crisp the sausage bits. Then slowly incorporate the remaining flour and milk alternating, and whisking constantly. Low and slow is the key for good gravy. You want to whisk constantly on low to prevent flour clumps from forming. Make sure to add a lot of pepper to the gravy as it thickens. Once thickened, it's ready. Keep on the lowest heat possible until it's time to eat! (If it thickens too much, thin it out with a little milk and whisk until incorporated ; if it's not thickening, add a little flour and whisk.)

Scrambled Eggs
4 large eggs
1 tblspn of Butter (~14g)
1/2 cup of Whole Milk (~115 ml)
1/2 lb of grated cheddar cheese (~225 g)
Black Pepper, Salt, Paprika, Cayenne Powder

In a medium sized bowl, crack the four eggs and mix with the milk and cheese until runny, spice with ground black pepper, salt, paprika, and cayenne powder. In a medium sized pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat, pour the eggs onto the pan and gently push the egg mixture around until light and fluffy.

Hash Browns
3 large russet potatoes
half a large yellow onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tblsp of Butter
Salt, Pepper, Paprika

Using a cheese grater, grate the 3 unpeeled russet potatoes (washing before hand is a given). Dice the yellow onion into small cubes, and mince the clove of peeled garlic. In a large pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat, then add the onions until just sweating. Then add the garlic, and quickly afterwards add the shredded potatoes. Mix the ingredients together, adding the salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Once mixed, spread evenly across the pan, pressing down on the potatoes, and let cook for about two minutes. Then stir again and repeat the process, occasionally flipping in sections. Do this for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Hope it's helpful! I usually wing those recipes, and had to tweak the ones I have to be more like I do. I'm not sure if you're Euro or not, but those measurements are the best I could get.

I'm a Eurofag, yeh, but I have measring cups, it's all good. Thank you!


I went with steak, eggs and home fries. And now I can barely move but it was worth it. Oh hash browns are awesome too, actually, good shout I had a former colleague from Idaho and she would make hash brown casserole? Damn. Arteries begone but it was so damn good.

 

[Billy "the Bot" Bobson]

I'm a Eurofag, yeh, but I have measring cups, it's all good. Thank you!


I went with steak, eggs and home fries. And now I can barely move but it was worth it. Oh hash browns are awesome too, actually, good shout I had a former colleague from Idaho and she would make hash brown casserole? Damn. Arteries begone but it was so damn good.

Haven't had Hashbrown Casserole in a long while, that was a hunting cabin favorite!

 

[I can't imagine]

Edit : Anyways, I thought diners were a thing in the US. Or maybe it's just all the movies I've watched.

Diners exist, but their heyday was a long time ago. Most of the ones still around have a retro/kitsch style to them; usually some sort of 1950's aesthetic. But in the past, they were definitely a big part of the culture, and could often be found inside of department stores and the like. The food generally isn't too spectacular, but it's a decent cross-section of American foods, I suppose: bacon, pancakes, biscuits, burgers, BLTs. That sort of stuff. Unhealthy, but pretty quick and easy to prepare, so you can get in and out pretty fast if you want.

 

[The best and greatest]

American food culture is centered around niggers. They eat food for niggers. They killed hundreds of thousands of white men to free niggers. They listen to nigger music. They elect a nigger as their president. They dress and act like niggers. They draw the entirety of their modern culture from niggers. They post sassy gifs about niggers. They watch sportsball in worship of niggers. Their biggest event of the year involves throwing parties in honor of niggers playing sports. They use nigger slang like "bruh" and "thot". When you say "Martin Luther" they're not thinking of the father of protestantism. They're thinking of the nigger. Their cities are completely overrun with niggers. They worship their ZOGbot police force disproportionately filled with niggers and their global police force of soldiers filled with niggers. Their men sit around watching nigger ball while their women sit around watching nigger talk shows and fantasizing about nigger dick. They worship niggers like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson and the late Janet Jackson while attacking the whites who actually built their country before niggers took over. Their movies are filled with niggers and their music charts are topped by niggers. They send niggers to the Olympics and celebrate when the niggers win because those niggers are true red blooded american niggers. They watch nigger porn to a point where "BBC" does not make them think of an international media company but about nigger penises instead. They will tell you how much they hate niggers and how the mutt's law meme is a stale joke and they are just pretending to love niggers but the evidence speaks for itself in that America has always been and will be a nation of nigger loving niggers.

You voted for Biden, aren't you black?

 

[Disgruntled Pupper]

The southwest practically revolves around green chilies, and not just any green chilies, but Hatch green chilies specifically. They can be incorporated into most traditional Tex-Mex/southwest cuisine, but if you get a can you can also add them as a topper to burgers, or make them into a chili and then put that on the burger.

 

[PotatoSalad4711]

Grits. I know it’s mostly a southern thing, but damn do I love it. Don’t make them too watery, and just add a little butter with salt and pepper.

As far as eggs, you can do anything with them. Cook one over easy and mix it with grits. Scramble them and add some cheese and onion. Hell, make your own egg McMuffin (it’s so easy). The possibilities are endless.

BTW, I have an old family cookbook that features things like fried gator, so if you need the recipe let me know.

 

[XYZpdq]

Grits. I know it’s mostly a southern thing, but damn do I love it. Don’t make them too watery, and just add a little butter with salt and pepper..

no bullshit it's amazing how much some dumb ass motherfuckers can fuck up grits

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Can't get more American than a bottle of bourbon.

 

[Dysnomia]

Diners exist, but their heyday was a long time ago. Most of the ones still around have a retro/kitsch style to them; usually some sort of 1950's aesthetic. But in the past, they were definitely a big part of the culture, and could often be found inside of department stores and the like. The food generally isn't too spectacular, but it's a decent cross-section of American foods, I suppose: bacon, pancakes, biscuits, burgers, BLTs. That sort of stuff. Unhealthy, but pretty quick and easy to prepare, so you can get in and out pretty fast if you want.

We have a lot of diners in Philly. Most are really old. The Mayfair Diner is good. I hear the Tiffany Diner didn't survive the pandemic though.

But from what I've seen, unless it's some chain like Red Robin they are all pretty old and tend to keep their retro style. I like that though. I only go if someone takes me. To me eating out is a coffee and a donut.

Most traditional American stuff doesn't appeal to me but I like cornbread.

 

[Stoneheart]

Barbeque. Has origins with enslaved blacks and is now a regional specialty in the deep south and midwest.

Thats complete BS. Its stolen from european settlers,,, there are still places around that serve BBQ like stuff and predate the discovery of the Americas

 

[Eris!]

American food culture is centered around niggers. They eat food for niggers. They killed hundreds of thousands of white men to free niggers. They listen to nigger music. They elect a nigger as their president. They dress and act like niggers. They draw the entirety of their modern culture from niggers. They post sassy gifs about niggers. They watch sportsball in worship of niggers. Their biggest event of the year involves throwing parties in honor of niggers playing sports. They use nigger slang like "bruh" and "thot". When you say "Martin Luther" they're not thinking of the father of protestantism. They're thinking of the nigger. Their cities are completely overrun with niggers. They worship their ZOGbot police force disproportionately filled with niggers and their global police force of soldiers filled with niggers. Their men sit around watching nigger ball while their women sit around watching nigger talk shows and fantasizing about nigger dick. They worship niggers like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson and the late Janet Jackson while attacking the whites who actually built their country before niggers took over. Their movies are filled with niggers and their music charts are topped by niggers. They send niggers to the Olympics and celebrate when the niggers win because those niggers are true red blooded american niggers. They watch nigger porn to a point where "BBC" does not make them think of an international media company but about nigger penises instead. They will tell you how much they hate niggers and how the mutt's law meme is a stale joke and they are just pretending to love niggers but the evidence speaks for itself in that America has always been and will be a nation of nigger loving niggers.

All food that we associate with niggers, fried chicken etc, are actually hillbilly stots-irish food that the slaves appropriated because there was no African nigger-cane or whatever the fuck they eat in Africa. Nigger culture is appropriated white-nigger culture.

 

[horrorfan89]

In all seriousness I'd have to say food that has always been a part of the North American continent has been lobsters, salmon, bison, eels, beans, pumpkins, corn, squash, clams, oysters, wild turkeys
Everything else from apple pie hamburgers, hot dogs, and all that are based on european recipes or foodstuffs. Chicken, apples, pies, all that good stuff? Came from settlers from the old world

 

[mindlessobserver]

Distinctly American foods are foods that require being cooked over fire. BBQ, stews, pies and and flat iron frying.

Basically, any dish that can be cooked in cast iron, either over open flame, or buried in hot coals. This is a product of Americas frontier history. Pies are huge in America because they were the only true desert that could be made. Put fruit, sugar and so on in a cast iron pot, bury it in the fire, and voila, pie. All pie recipes come from that.

BBQ, the most famous American food, is done via low heat brazing and smoking. Over an open fire.

The famous "American Breakfast" of Pancakes, Eggs and Bacon is a play on the traditional english breakfast. Instead of toast you have the pancake. Bread grows stale and rots, but flour keeps longer. So you milk bessy the cow before dawn, mix the result into some flour. Fry the bacon or Salt pork and then use the melted fat to fry the milk and flour mixture. Pancakes. After that throw in the eggs and you are good to serve a huge calorie dense meal fit for the next day of hard frontier work.

Pretty much all American dishes stem from this common root. The traditional dishes of various countries, adopted for cooking with open flame, and or fried.

 

[FatalTater]

I tried to figure out American cuisine before and I came to the conclusion that at it's core, US food is a mix of British and German dishes. (Most of the stuff I like is, anyway.)

Bob Evans restaurant is the most basic American food place I can think of right now. https://www.bobevans.com/menu

 

[mindlessobserver]

I tried to figure out American cuisine before and I came to the conclusion that at it's core, US food is a mix of British and German dishes. (Most of the stuff I like is, anyway.)

Bob Evans restaurant is the most basic American food place I can think of right now. https://www.bobevans.com/menu

Which makes sense as between them English and German Americans are the largest ethnic groups in America. I think what really sets American food apart from its continental origins though is the willingness to experiment with it. We'll take a German style sausage (like say...a hot dog) and put a Mexican Salsa on it, and then serve it with English style Chips (that for some reason we call French Fries), usually paired with a German style Pilsner or Lager. The classic "All American" hot dog lunch. The "Philly Cheese Steak" takes English style roast beef, sliced thin, then grilled German style for a few moments and served with peppers, onions and cheese on an Italian Roll.

I think the big mistake alot of people make who are unfamiliar with American food is assuming the Fast Food versions they find in their own countries is somehow representative of it, or that its homogenous across the entire country. Its not. I would actually argue that the American food pallet is probably the most expansive of any country. Purely anecdotal observation, but the vast majority of Americans know how to use Chopsticks, for whenever they eat Asian style or derived foods.

 

[stupidpieceofshit]

English style Chips (that for some reason we call French Fries),

The Potatoes were originally cut Julienne which is also called "French cut", at least in the first printed record of "french fries" a few decades before Thomas Jefferson in a White House dinner served "Potatoes in the French style"

 

[ulsterscotsman]

BBQ and BBQ sauce are the greatest things food wise to come out of the US.
Nothing nicer than sweet potato fries with BBQ sauce.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Pardon me if I’ve already said this, but America has an extremely rich cuisine if you count regional cuisines.

by which I really mean Southern. Southern food is particular to the South, but that does make it a type of American, and it is distinctive and appealing. Heavy usage of corn (cornbread, grits, hominy), chicken, pork, greens, frying and barbecue, sweet beverages (sweet tea, almost every soda is of Southern origin), seafood if we include Cajun, Gulf, and Lowcountry.

Other regions are harder to identify because they had more immigration, which crowded out the more local folkways. In the South it remained a primarily African-Indian mix with European elements. Southwestern food has a big chunk of Mexican in it.
The closest thing I can think of to a true Northern foodway is that they do a lot of sandwiches and pizza.

 

[Maude Snew]

Can't get more American than a bottle of bourbon.

Entire jar of mayo right from the fridge.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Pardon me if I’ve already said this, but America has an extremely rich cuisine if you count regional cuisines.

by which I really mean Southern. Southern food is particular to the South, but that does make it a type of American, and it is distinctive and appealing. Heavy usage of corn (cornbread, grits, hominy), chicken, pork, greens, frying and barbecue, sweet beverages (sweet tea, almost every soda is of Southern origin), seafood if we include Cajun, Gulf, and Lowcountry.

Other regions are harder to identify because they had more immigration, which crowded out the more local folkways. In the South it remained a primarily African-Indian mix with European elements. Southwestern food has a big chunk of Mexican in it.
The closest thing I can think of to a true Northern foodway is that they do a lot of sandwiches and pizza.

Northern American food is big on its sandwiches for sure, but also its heavy stews and soups, especially of the seafood variety like clam chowder, crab boils, and anything that requires a heavy bread to go with it. It gets cold as fuck up there. Really big on cured meat too, and of course, maple glazed bacon, which is a hallmark and staple of the Northern American cuisine. Shit goes on and in everything.