What is interesting about the cultural foods of the U.S. is that they are not commonly referred to as American cuisine. The food we imagine when we think of American food is not served at a restaurant but rather shared among friends and family at a barbecue. Burgers, hot dogs, french fries, sausages, and bacon are among the foods loved by many Americans who can cook these over a grill or stove. These foods are very easy to make and are delicious despite their simplicity. American cuisine does not require much skill, training, or practice that must be done within the country. The average person is perfectly capable of making most of these foods. They also don’t contain many different ingredients, so they can be accommodated to various tastes.
While American cultural foods do not have many desserts, the most popular one is apple pie. But we can trace the origins of apple pie to England, not the U.S. If apple pie wasn’t created by Americans or is even consumed on a regular basis, why would it be so culturally important? Well, it seems that during WWII, U.S. soldiers would explain the reason why they enlisted in the military was for apple pie. Ever since, the phrase, “as American as apple pie” has been commonly used to refer to anything patriotic. Coincidentally, the popularization of french fries bears a strong resemblance to this story. French fries were actually Belgian fries but when they were offered to U.S. troops stationed in Belgium during WWI, the Americans thought the people offering them the fries were French. There were many Belgians who spoke French but these instances show how many of the American cultural foods were influenced more by the expression given off by the food rather than its historic ties to American cuisine. They make for very funny stories.
- Antonin Ducroux - USA (East Coast)
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