I’ve been thinking about it, and I can only name 3 dishes that were uniquely created in the USA (so no General Tsao Chicken), that were not an old recipe with a changed ingredient because it’s hard to get the original (so no Jambalaya), or were not just bigger sandwiches (so no Italian sandwich):
Gumbo.
Pumkin pie.
Buffalo wings (but I’m not sure if this can be called a dish, as its so simple its more like a snack, and its fast food).
If someone can think of more, please advise - I’m extremely curious.
America does have its own style, though. Or rather a set of styles, just like any other region.
I would say that one aspect of “American-style” cooking (and “American” here includes “Canadian”) is avoiding cooking. There’s so many options when you don’t really want to cook. Just stack some premade elements onto the premade bread and you’ve got a sandwich. Or stick a frozen dinner in the oven (with entire sections of grocery stores dedicated to the options). Or boil some premade dried pasta and mix with heated up premade sauce. Or just get someone to bring you warm food made by someone else.
Or for actual cooking, there’s each of the variants in the OP meme. So many things that people complain about not being authentic, when it’s actually just being cooked American style. Might be due to what ingredients are easier or cheaper to get, which style is easier to make, or just preference.
Pizza is a great example. I’ve had pizza that was described as “authentic italian” and personally I find it to be soggy and floppy compared to the pizza I normally eat. It’s not bad, but I prefer the American style by far. At least in general, a poorly executed American pizza can still be gross, and a high end Italian pizza will probably still be more enjoyable than a mid end American pizza, but all else equal, I like pizza with crust that isn’t saturated with sauce to the point of no structural integrity and toppings smothered in cheese.
Curry is another one that varies quite a bit by style. I like the Thai style (the curry is more of a soup than a sauce) the best personally, but don’t think I’ve ever tried a curry I didn’t like. It’s a dish where you need to be more specific than “curry” to say what you have in mind.
The reality is that the vast majority of people have had as little to do with how their culture’s cuisine has developed as anyone else, so the bragging or competitive comparisons don’t really make sense. Same thing if there’s any shame with being from one of the less prominent or made fun of cultures. I’m Canadian and while I love a good poutine, I had nothing to do with their invention.
Whether or not the dishes were invented in North America, I’d say that the following all are North American dishes (mostly based on my own upbringing in Southern Canada):
various mayonaise + X sandwich salads (eg egg or tuna)
potato chips
steak/ribs bbq style
chicken wings
clam chowder
chicken noodle soup
chili
sloppy joes
casseroles
mac and cheese
grilled cheese sandwhiches
deviled eggs
loaded fries/baked potato
pasta and meat sauce
Today, my culture includes things like sushi and curry, too. Not to say I have any kind of ownership or special connection other than I enjoy eating them and make an effort to do so from time to time.
It depends on how you define “uniquely created in the USA”.
Frybread has a rich and complex history within the USA, and I would argue it’s very much “uniquely created in the USA” but most variations have a pretty much identical recipe to hungarian lángos.
Also a lot of USA food is very regional. Hawaii has a lot of unique foods, such as loco moco, spam musubi, etc. but would be unrecognizable to most USAians.
Teriyaki dishes are technically Japanese, but the Pacific northwest has taken the concept and run with it to the point where it’s now it’s own unique creation. It also has cheese zombies, jojos, Seattle dog, huckleberry everything, etc.
Southwest USA and Mexican have a lot of overlap but are also just as distinct with “Tex-mex” being it’s own culinary thing. Puffy tacos, chili con queso, cornbread, cowboy caviar, nachos, etc.
Midwest, Alaskan, southern, east-coast, Puerto Rican, etc. all also have their own unique culinary traditions at this point with lots of micro-regional distinctions within them.
However, they aren’t marketed, advertised or popularized in the same way that things like “Chinese food” is. Despite “American-Chinese food”, like general Tsao, or orange chicken, being very much it’s own genre that is unrecognizable as either traditional/old recipe USA or Chinese foods.
To discover many of these things you can’t just “tourism” through but have to actually try to know and understand the people and places.
Conversely, it’s not like Italian food stops being Italian due to its use of “new world” food stuffs like tomatoes, or pasta is any less “Italian” despite it just being Chinese noodles with a few changed ingredients.
If you insist on playing that game you’ll find nothing is unique.
That’s sushi with spam. I wouldn’t call that unique because how similar it is to any other sushi, its just an ingredient replacement. Now if the spam was specifically seasoned or prepared then yeah, it’d be a unique snack.
Frybread is basically hungarian lángos
And deep fried podpłomyk recipe is also very similar.
loco moco
I can’t find anything like it, or from similar ingredients, so I’d call it unique. They are similar dishes, but either with more than 1 ingredient removed, or lacking the complexity.
cheese zombies, jojos, Seattle dog, huckleberry everything, etc.
Grilled cheese sandwich, potato wedges, hot dog with a different ingredient, huckleberry is an ingredient, not a dish.
Southwest USA and Mexican have a lot of overlap but are also just as distinct with “Tex-mex” being it’s own culinary thing. Puffy tacos, chili con queso, cornbread, cowboy caviar, nachos, etc.
Igredient replacement, literally not a dish but a dip, Native American, a bean salad, nachos are Mexican. Tex-mex I think is mostly one ingredient replacement. Literally you had a lot of beef and cheese and that’s how you made Mexican recipes.
Midwest, Alaskan, southern, east-coast, Puerto Rican
Midwest and Alaskan, as well as east-coast, those three sound most promising. Can you maybe tell a bit more about them?
Southern is likely to be European cuisine with one ingredient replacement, Puerto Rico is famously a territory of the USA, but not a state :-)
pasta is any less “Italian” despite it just being Chinese noodles with a few changed ingredients.
Yeah, pasta is not a unique Italian dish. It was invented by so many cultures independently. Bolognese sauce on the other hand is, as I can’t find any other similar dish that was invented independently from it. Do you see the distinction I’m looking for?
Edit: you might wonder why then I count pumpkin pie as a unique - the main ingredient changed, and you often add caramel and pecan pies on top, making it significantly different than other pies.
Spam musubi is identical to your pumpkin pie example, main ingredient changed and often with different sauces/sides/etc like spicy mayo, teriyaki or gravy. Either they’re both unique or neither one is and, based on how you categorized everything else, nothing is unique.
Loco Moco is just egg curry with hamburger.
Gumbo is just bouillabaisse over rice.
Bolognese sauce on the other hand is, as I can’t find any other similar dish that was invented independently
Tomato based meat sauce? That’s just curry with some of the complexity removed.
Poutine nachos? Authentic Mexican food!
Also, think about what it means when you dismiss a food as “uniquely American” because it’s “Native American” cuisine.
Midwest and Alaskan, as well as east-coast, those three sound most promising. Can you maybe tell a bit more about them?
I’m sorry to say, but there’s nothing unique in any of those places either. Ambrosia is a standard fruit salad, Cincinnati chili is just spaghetti and hot dish is just shepherds pie. Sloppy Joes are just a ragú curry sandwich and corn dogs are tamales on a stick. Akutaq is just ice cream with an extra ingredient or two and birch syrup is “an ingredient, not a dish”.
I guess thats why gastro restaurants are using wild cooking techniques to come up with new dishes and flavours combos.
Foam?
But dishes most people cook in their own home have legacies reaching far beyond time.
Take the Pavlova. Legend has it that it came from the long long ago, in the mist of times of Australia, long before any NZ bastard tried to steal it from us.
I’ve been thinking about it, and I can only name 3 dishes that were uniquely created in the USA (so no General Tsao Chicken), that were not an old recipe with a changed ingredient because it’s hard to get the original (so no Jambalaya), or were not just bigger sandwiches (so no Italian sandwich):
Gumbo.
Pumkin pie.
Buffalo wings (but I’m not sure if this can be called a dish, as its so simple its more like a snack, and its fast food).
If someone can think of more, please advise - I’m extremely curious.
Edit: Etouffe is also one.
America does have its own style, though. Or rather a set of styles, just like any other region.
I would say that one aspect of “American-style” cooking (and “American” here includes “Canadian”) is avoiding cooking. There’s so many options when you don’t really want to cook. Just stack some premade elements onto the premade bread and you’ve got a sandwich. Or stick a frozen dinner in the oven (with entire sections of grocery stores dedicated to the options). Or boil some premade dried pasta and mix with heated up premade sauce. Or just get someone to bring you warm food made by someone else.
Or for actual cooking, there’s each of the variants in the OP meme. So many things that people complain about not being authentic, when it’s actually just being cooked American style. Might be due to what ingredients are easier or cheaper to get, which style is easier to make, or just preference.
Pizza is a great example. I’ve had pizza that was described as “authentic italian” and personally I find it to be soggy and floppy compared to the pizza I normally eat. It’s not bad, but I prefer the American style by far. At least in general, a poorly executed American pizza can still be gross, and a high end Italian pizza will probably still be more enjoyable than a mid end American pizza, but all else equal, I like pizza with crust that isn’t saturated with sauce to the point of no structural integrity and toppings smothered in cheese.
Curry is another one that varies quite a bit by style. I like the Thai style (the curry is more of a soup than a sauce) the best personally, but don’t think I’ve ever tried a curry I didn’t like. It’s a dish where you need to be more specific than “curry” to say what you have in mind.
The reality is that the vast majority of people have had as little to do with how their culture’s cuisine has developed as anyone else, so the bragging or competitive comparisons don’t really make sense. Same thing if there’s any shame with being from one of the less prominent or made fun of cultures. I’m Canadian and while I love a good poutine, I had nothing to do with their invention.
Whether or not the dishes were invented in North America, I’d say that the following all are North American dishes (mostly based on my own upbringing in Southern Canada):
Today, my culture includes things like sushi and curry, too. Not to say I have any kind of ownership or special connection other than I enjoy eating them and make an effort to do so from time to time.
It depends on how you define “uniquely created in the USA”.
Frybread has a rich and complex history within the USA, and I would argue it’s very much “uniquely created in the USA” but most variations have a pretty much identical recipe to hungarian lángos.
Also a lot of USA food is very regional. Hawaii has a lot of unique foods, such as loco moco, spam musubi, etc. but would be unrecognizable to most USAians.
Teriyaki dishes are technically Japanese, but the Pacific northwest has taken the concept and run with it to the point where it’s now it’s own unique creation. It also has cheese zombies, jojos, Seattle dog, huckleberry everything, etc.
Southwest USA and Mexican have a lot of overlap but are also just as distinct with “Tex-mex” being it’s own culinary thing. Puffy tacos, chili con queso, cornbread, cowboy caviar, nachos, etc.
Midwest, Alaskan, southern, east-coast, Puerto Rican, etc. all also have their own unique culinary traditions at this point with lots of micro-regional distinctions within them.
However, they aren’t marketed, advertised or popularized in the same way that things like “Chinese food” is. Despite “American-Chinese food”, like general Tsao, or orange chicken, being very much it’s own genre that is unrecognizable as either traditional/old recipe USA or Chinese foods.
To discover many of these things you can’t just “tourism” through but have to actually try to know and understand the people and places.
Conversely, it’s not like Italian food stops being Italian due to its use of “new world” food stuffs like tomatoes, or pasta is any less “Italian” despite it just being Chinese noodles with a few changed ingredients.
If you insist on playing that game you’ll find nothing is unique.
That’s sushi with spam. I wouldn’t call that unique because how similar it is to any other sushi, its just an ingredient replacement. Now if the spam was specifically seasoned or prepared then yeah, it’d be a unique snack.
And deep fried podpłomyk recipe is also very similar.
I can’t find anything like it, or from similar ingredients, so I’d call it unique. They are similar dishes, but either with more than 1 ingredient removed, or lacking the complexity.
Grilled cheese sandwich, potato wedges, hot dog with a different ingredient, huckleberry is an ingredient, not a dish.
Igredient replacement, literally not a dish but a dip, Native American, a bean salad, nachos are Mexican. Tex-mex I think is mostly one ingredient replacement. Literally you had a lot of beef and cheese and that’s how you made Mexican recipes.
Midwest and Alaskan, as well as east-coast, those three sound most promising. Can you maybe tell a bit more about them?
Southern is likely to be European cuisine with one ingredient replacement, Puerto Rico is famously a territory of the USA, but not a state :-)
Yeah, pasta is not a unique Italian dish. It was invented by so many cultures independently. Bolognese sauce on the other hand is, as I can’t find any other similar dish that was invented independently from it. Do you see the distinction I’m looking for?
Edit: you might wonder why then I count pumpkin pie as a unique - the main ingredient changed, and you often add caramel and pecan pies on top, making it significantly different than other pies.
Spam musubi is identical to your pumpkin pie example, main ingredient changed and often with different sauces/sides/etc like spicy mayo, teriyaki or gravy. Either they’re both unique or neither one is and, based on how you categorized everything else, nothing is unique.
Loco Moco is just egg curry with hamburger.
Gumbo is just bouillabaisse over rice.
Tomato based meat sauce? That’s just curry with some of the complexity removed.
Poutine nachos? Authentic Mexican food!
Also, think about what it means when you dismiss a food as “uniquely American” because it’s “Native American” cuisine.
I’m sorry to say, but there’s nothing unique in any of those places either. Ambrosia is a standard fruit salad, Cincinnati chili is just spaghetti and hot dish is just shepherds pie. Sloppy Joes are just a
ragúcurry sandwich and corn dogs are tamales on a stick. Akutaq is just ice cream with an extra ingredient or two and birch syrup is “an ingredient, not a dish”.There is nothing new under the sun…
I guess thats why gastro restaurants are using wild cooking techniques to come up with new dishes and flavours combos.
Foam?
But dishes most people cook in their own home have legacies reaching far beyond time.
Take the Pavlova. Legend has it that it came from the long long ago, in the mist of times of Australia, long before any NZ bastard tried to steal it from us.
…and the buffalos came " this close to extinction so that was almost one less dish.
Grits
Also cornbread and corndog
Probably a lot of things with corn