I think poke is even newer than ceviche, if you want to talk about raw fish dishes.
Technically, ceviche is cooked fish. It just uses acid (usually lime juice) instead of heat. The longer it sits in the acid the more cooked it is. Same as the longer it sits over heat the more cooked it is.
Brussels sprouts have always been yummy. What’s new is that people have finally realized that boiling the Hell out of vegetables, like people for some unfathomable reason started doing in the 1950s, is a really bad idea. Roast them, though, our broil them, or eat them raw? Now you’re talking.
I grew up eating Japanese food, which was Sashimi and Sukiyaki. Then the Sushi craze hit (it’s been quite a while now) and that’s all that’s out there now. I don’t get out much, but I wouldn’t even know where to find a good pot of Sukiyaki. It’s all Sushi Bars.
And what the Pho is Pho?
I suspect the really good ones you get as an appetizer in restaurants are deep fried.
Deep fried Brussels sprouts being good doesn’t really tell you anything about the quality of Brussels sprouts themselves, though.
& @Schnitte Trader Joe’s has a new affordable Dubai chocolate bar.
I went to college 30 years ago in a area with a large Vietnamese population and i friggen LIVED on bahn mi, which could be bought in any number of tiny hole in the wall Vietnamese grocery stores for a dollar. I’d stop by in the morning and buy 2 or 3 (plus a coffee) and that would be breakfast lunch and dinner for the whole day sorted on the cheap.
I finally went back a few years ago and none of those little places exist anymore. There were bahn mi chains which cost about ten dollars for a sandwich and were not nearly as good.
As the saying goes, you can’t go home again…
Tofu used to require a trip to a health food store or an Asian grocery. Now it is a standard grocery item in stores everywhere.
This thread is a good reminder that the WASP diet and lifestyle wasn’t quite as ubiquitous as some people think. A non miniscule number of Americans (yes “real” Americans) have been eating guacamole, pho, kimchi, ceviche, etc for a long time. A lot of these “trends” aren’t that exotic at all unless you were living in a parochial bubble.
Sure, many families had spices even more potent than salt and pepper. But you did not have to live in a bubble. When my parents moved to a medium Canadian city, there was one place that served pizza and one Chinese-Canadian restaurant. The fancy place served its version of French food. Certain foods were obviously always popular in certain populations, but that does not mean restaurants existed or that ingredients were easy to source.
I have to credit Taco Bell. They have put together unusual flavors and foods. While staying true to the restaurant’s customers.
I don’t know when Bell introduced the quesadilla. I had never seen it on traditional Mexican menus. I didn’t have a clue how to pronounce it until hearing the tv commercials.
Today people are making quesadillas themselves at home. I use the Hamilton Beach Quesadilla Maker.
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A beverage, rather than a food, but I’d submit kombucha. It looks like it’s been around in China for a very long time, and in parts of Europe for maybe 100 years or more, but AFAICT, it’s only become a popular, well-known, mass-market product in the U.S. over the last 10-15 years.
Taco Bell started selling quesadillas in 2001, but don’t give them credit for them (or even for popularizing them). Quesadillas originated in Mexico, during the colonial era (i.e., over 200 years ago), if not before, and I’d certainly seen them on the menu at Mexican restaurants in the U.S. prior to Taco Bell making them.
I don’t think I ever had Brussels sprouts before the new, less bitter cultivar was developed, but I have been told that with the old, more bitter variety boiling the hell out of them was the only way to remove the bitterness.
Come to think of it, IIRC most Vietnamese foods we get in the West like pho and bahn mi were only invented in the post-colonial era, i.e. 1950s or later. Supposedly the French colonizers would not allow their baguettes to be polluted with “inferior” traditional Vietnamese ingredients. After the French left the Vietnamese started creating dishes that combined both French and Vietnamese ingredients.
I don’t know if it counts as a New Food, but the concept of a Brazillian Steakhouse, where they bring around different cuts of meat on skewers, and shave you off what you want, was just amazing for me. They’re pricing themselves out of the market, but when I want to splurge, its just awesome.
Ditto Vancouver, Canada
Yes, 1950s vs 1967, altho the Big Mac was a copy of the Bobs Big Boy, that started with “red relish” i am not sure when they started with 1000 island.
It’s pretty much familiar food to Americans (steaks and other grilled meats, and a salad/side dish bar); what makes it different or novel to Americans is the rodízio serving style.
Poke, pho, and banh mi have been mentioned already, but that’s what I would say.