# What foods are uniquely American? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128 "2015-12-22T21:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/41 "2015-12-23T00:47:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > No it is not. It was developed by French-Canadians in the Louisiana region. They adapted certain cooking styles to a new set of ingredients. Not only that, most _modern_ Cajun food recipes only date back to the 1980’s when the early celebrity chefs like Paul Prudhomme and Justin Wilson popularized it and pushed it out to a mass audience. Most people outside of Louisiana had never even heard of, let alone had, Cajun food before then. Sure, Cajun food is a real cuisine with a long history and general unifying concepts but it was very family and community based for specific recipes. I am from Louisiana and know a lot of Cajun families and I have some older traditional Cajun cookbooks. The basic ideas like making a proper roux are there in the older versions but a lot of the specifics are different today. For example, one of the most popular Cajun dishes in the 80’s was blackened Redfish (Paul Prudhomme made it so popular it threatened the whole species). I am not going to claim that no Cajun family ever made that dish but I have yet to meet one that had ever seen it before it became popularized. The spice blends used have been updated and refined as well. Early Cajun settlers didn’t have access to the number of spices available in even the most basic supermarket today let alone the custom blends for Cajun cooking so they used more basic ingredients. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/42 "2015-12-23T00:48:49Z")
Boiled peanuts? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/43 "2015-12-23T00:49:20Z")
When I think of American food, I think of Velveeta and ranch dressing. ---
**Author:** ![Torontonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/45deac/32.png) [@Torontonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torontonian)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/44 "2015-12-23T00:54:06Z")
Ketchup. Wasn’t it called Catsup in 40s? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/45 "2015-12-23T00:55:20Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > For example, pizza was mentioned above as not being American. That is not true for some definitions and [Cecil agrees with me](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1695/who-invented-pizza). The most common type of fast food pizza now seen around the world was invented in the U.S. in early 1900’s and became popular outside of Italian communities in the 1950’s. It is true that there is a much older pizza concept in Italy but it doesn’t resemble your typical New York style pizza very much let alone a Chicago style one. Most pizzas, even in Italy require tomatoes and that is a New World fruit. Did you actually read that article or just skim it? Because it clearly states that pizza was brought to the US by Italian immigrants around 1900, not that it was invented in the US. > [@](#): > > Italian immigrants brought pizza to the United States, in the early 1900s. However, it was the 1950s when pizza caught on outside the Italian-American community, and quickly spread throughout the U.S. and became an international food, now found in every country. ---
**Author:** ![littleAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@littleAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/littleAl)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/46 "2015-12-23T01:00:47Z")
Grape flavoured anything. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/47 "2015-12-23T01:10:04Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Corn dog Sausages come from Germany and Eastern Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/48 "2015-12-23T01:11:28Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Wikipedia can be edited by any yee-haw big-teethed remember the Alamo shit-heel, so I don’t think I really need bother. not true. Wikipedia uses sourcing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/49 "2015-12-23T01:11:30Z")
> [@littleAl](#): > > Grape flavoured anything. Grape-flavored stuff is pretty much the same thing as blackcurrant-flavored stuff. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/50 "2015-12-23T01:13:59Z")
> [@Torontonian](#): > > Ketchup. Wasn’t it called Catsup in 40s? Sorry, Chinese. Even the word is Chinese (I think we got it from the Cantonese version.) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/51 "2015-12-23T01:25:55Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Did you actually read that article or just skim it? Because it clearly states that pizza was brought to the US by Italian immigrants around 1900, not that it was invented in the US. You just said two different things, neither of which contradict what I said. Italian immigrants didn’t literally deliver the same pizza they used to have from the old country. Pizza fundamentally just means flat bread with stuff on it and there is no clear origin because it is an obvious and very old idea implemented every from the Middle East to Greece and Italy to India. The Italians were the ones that combined cheese and tomato sauce to form what is unarguably a type of pizza before it was introduced to the U.S. and it is still widespread in parts of Italy today. However, Italian immigrants to America didn’t introduce that specific style to the U.S. when they started their first pizzerias in the early 20th century. They had to develop a new style based on the ingredients and preparation methods they had available. Several people developed a new, distinctly American style, of pizza that spun off to be the ubiquitous New York style you see worldwide today. Others that immigrated to Chicago created a completely new style that is barely recognizable as pizza (but still tasty). The New York style of pizza remained relatively isolated within Northeastern Italian-American communities for a few decades until it became a national sensation in the 1950’s (i.e.; you could get something that resembled it in most large cities and even some larger towns across the country). That phenomenon eventually spread worldwide but the style that spread is much closer to the type that Italian immigrants developed after they got to New York than it is to its ancestor, Neapolitan pizza. Thanks to the foodie movement, you can also find traditional Neapolitan pizza in the U.S. readily now as well but it isn’t the most common style. However, it is a mistake to think that today’s Neapolitan pizza is any less unchanged than the evolution of American pizza. The original Pizza Margherita, the most popular style of Neapolitan pizza, originally dates to 1889 but has also been updated constantly. The evolution of pizza and its various branches are a good example of why this question is so arbitrary. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/52 "2015-12-23T01:29:48Z")
Gyros, invented in Chicago. I showed my young students in China pictures of dishes from PF Chaing’s. They had no idea what that stuff was. Fortune cookies, either (as **Duckster** noted upthread). You could make a case for turkey. They were originally raised for food in Aztec-era Mexico, but the whole oven roasting and stuffing thing might have been us gringos. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/53 "2015-12-23T01:34:24Z")
Coca-Cola and bourbon, separately and together! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/54 "2015-12-23T01:39:44Z")
Potatoes are a New World crop. It’s heavily associated with Ireland as much as Idaho and probably originated in Mexico, but what could be more American then the good old spud? Succotash is American. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/55 "2015-12-23T01:56:31Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You just said two different things, neither of which contradict what I said. Italian immigrants didn’t literally deliver the same pizza they used to have from the old country. Pizza fundamentally just means flat bread with stuff on it and there is no clear origin because it is an obvious and very old idea implemented every from the Middle East to Greece and Italy to India. The Italians were the ones that combined cheese and tomato sauce to form what is unarguably a type of pizza before it was introduced to the U.S. and it is still widespread in parts of Italy today. However, Italian immigrants to America didn’t introduce that specific style to the U.S. when they started their first pizzerias in the early 20th century. They had to develop a new style based on the ingredients and preparation methods they had available. Several people developed a new, distinctly American style, of pizza that spun off to be the ubiquitous New York style you see worldwide today. Others that immigrated to Chicago created a completely new style that is barely recognizable as pizza (but still tasty). > > The New York style of pizza remained relatively isolated within Northeastern Italian-American communities for a few decades until it became a national sensation in the 1950’s (i.e.; you could get something that resembled it in most large cities and even some larger towns across the country). That phenomenon eventually spread worldwide but the style that spread is much closer to the type that Italian immigrants developed after they got to New York than it is to its ancestor, Neapolitan pizza. > > Thanks to the foodie movement, you can also find traditional Neapolitan pizza in the U.S. readily now as well but it isn’t the most common style. However, it is a mistake to think that today’s Neapolitan pizza is any less unchanged than the evolution of American pizza. The original Pizza Margherita, the most popular style of Neapolitan pizza, originally dates to 1889 but has also been updated constantly. > > The evolution of pizza and its various branches are a good example of why this question is so arbitrary. To be honest I don’t see a huge difference between New York style and what was going on in Italy in the 19th century. Your mileage may vary. However, you seem to be changing your argument from the previous post, which seemed to think tomatoes being a new world fruit was somehow important. I guess you did some background reading and found that tomatoes being used in Italy predated the US as a country. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/56 "2015-12-23T01:59:34Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Potatoes are a New World crop. It’s heavily associated with Ireland as much as Idaho and probably originated in Mexico, but what could be more American then the good old spud? > > Succotash is American. yeah, I think way too many people overestimate how old a lot of cultures’ “traditional” dishes are. Tomatoes are a New World vegetable, yet somehow they’re strongly associated with Italy. You’ll even find them in “traditional” Indian dishes like chana masala, for God’s sake. then there are some Vietnamese foods; bánh mì is about as “traditionally” Vietnamese as I am. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/57 "2015-12-23T02:15:08Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > However, you seem to be changing your argument from the previous post, which seemed to think tomatoes being a new world fruit was somehow important. I guess you did some background reading and found that tomatoes being used in Italy predated the US as a country. I didn’t change my argument. I already knew that New World crops were exported back to Europe and elsewhere starting with Columbus’s voyages and became fairly widespread in the 16th century. My point was that you can easily push the “cultural appropriation” argument to absurdity and that is just an extreme example. What most people don’t realize is that it isn’t THAT absurd. The vast majority of so-called traditional dishes are quite new in their present state and ever-evolving with many lines of cross-pollination. That applies to the vast majority of countries, cultures and cuisine. For example, SPAM (the canned meat) is just as traditional today as poi and pineapples to Hawaiians because of WWII. I would argue that any dish regularly prepared by Americans from base ingredients is American by definition and the same holds true for any other country. You can call that jar of Marmite British because it is a direct import but that lasagna recipe that was handed down by your American grandmother is authentic as any other. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/58 "2015-12-23T02:26:34Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > There are a number of good examples given above but “cultural appropriation” of food is a stupid idea in general. . . . . The list of New World foods that didn’t exist in Europe, Asia and elsewhere is long and they were quickly appropriated themselves after the early transatlantic voyages. Those include corn, chocolate, potatoes, tomatoes, bell pepper, chili pepper, vanilla, various beans, avocados, peanuts, pecans, cashews, pineapples, blueberries, wild rice, chocolate, gourds, and squash. Can you imagine what different cuisines around the world would be like if you cut out all of those? . . … You said chocolate twice. Is that because you really like chocolate? Having played in the distant past with medieval cooking, your list is the way I think of dividing food. It was either available and being used in the time and area that you’re interested in or it wasn’t. It’s fascinating to watch how foods become available in different places and how methods get developed. But people always, in every time and every place ate what was available. It’s food. Well, except when it’s distrusted. It took awhile to convince Europeans that tomatoes weren’t poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/59 "2015-12-23T02:35:19Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > You said chocolate twice. Is that because you really like chocolate? > > Having played in the distant past with medieval cooking, your list is the way I think of dividing food. It was either available and being used in the time and area that you’re interested in or it wasn’t. It’s fascinating to watch how foods become available in different places and how methods get developed. But people always, in every time and every place ate what was available. It’s food. > > Well, except when it’s distrusted. It took awhile to convince Europeans that tomatoes weren’t poisonous. well, in their defense most of the nightshade family is pretty nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128/60 "2015-12-23T03:04:26Z")
Frozen food was an American invention (Clarence Birdseye), though not exactly a style. Fruit juice, other than fresh-squeezed, is also American; it’s where electric refrigeration and the American Protestant temperance movement intersected. Frozen concentrated juice, which might also have been a Birdseye invention, could be dehydrated, frozen and transported cheaply and profitably on freezer cars on freight trains. The Bloody Mary was probably invented in Paris, but there’s a charming myth that American comedian George Jessel asked his bartender, out of the blue, for a vodka and tomato juice. Bartender tweaked it with hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and salt, and a stalk if celery, perfecting it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-are-uniquely-american/741128.md?page=4)