Hi everyone! When it come to American food, where I live, people think almost exclusively about Cola, burgers and barbecue (which are delicious by themselves).
But since this country is huge, i’ve always thought there’s must be a more complex culinary richness.
If I think about states at random, like Louisiana, Minnesota, Hawaii, or Nebraska; i do understand that there are bound to be culinary specialties, that must be quite different and varied from one place to another.
So i’m curious to know more! What are the many culinary specialties of the USA?
Comments
Pancakes
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Off the top of my head some signature dishes of the states you mentioned are:
Louisiana: craw fish boil
Minnesota: hot dish (tater tot casserole), juicy Lucy
Hawaii: Poke bowl, Açaí bowl, Macadamia crusted mahi mahi
Nebraska: ?? No idea but I assume something corn based.
Biscuits and Gravy
Maryland: crab cakes with Old Bay Seasoning
Chicken fried steak & eggs
Traditionally it was Black or Southern or Soul cooking, but now you get it all over. Even at a Denny’s along the highway.
A “chicken fried steak” is just a breaded veal cutlet.
Nebraskan here! We have a few specialties – one more than likely coming from Germany.
We have the Runza, which is a bierock like sandwich, filled with seasoned ground beef, onions, and cabbage.
We’re also one of the supposed homes of the Reuben sandwich – Rye bread, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, and corned beef.
Jambalaya is GOATed. I recommend it with sausage and chicken specifically, I find that the shrimp can overpower the dish but sometimes it’s nice to add if you feel in the mood.
Some states might say gumbo, or chicken and waffles which seem very American southern to me. More generally I’d guess chili, turkey and dressing, club sandwiches, BLT.
Wisconsin: beer and cheese
That one is hard because there is nothing typical since we are such a huge country. There are different regions where things are made. I am in the northeast of the country and my daughters ask me to make sweet chili chicken stirfry, lasagna, southwestern seasoned chicken quesadillas, and New York style cheesecake.
My husband, on the other hand, makes the best barbecue smoked ribs out of anyone I know. When he makes that I make a loaded baked potato soup to go with it.
There are plenty of lists online but you’re right. There are 50 states and I don’t think the burger is the dish any of them are known for.
You can’t really define Americsn food easily, because our country is so big. It’s wildly different depending on what region you go to. Everywhere has their specialty.
Maine: Lobster
Boston: Chowder
Philadelphia: Cheesesteaks.
Cincinnati: Skyline/Gold Star chilli
The South: Soul Food.
Southern California has the best fish tacos I have ever had.
Chicago & Detroit & New York all have their own types of pizza that are vastly different from each other, and each of them claims to be the best.
I mean, I could go on and on. American food is incredibly varied and regional.
Louisiana specifically has Cajun and creole food—things like Gumbo and Jambalaya. Other foods include: biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, pizza (not the same as it is in Italy), local varieties of Mexican food like tex-mex, or chocolate chip cookies.
Barbecue with different sauces associated with different states
Maryland crabs
Nothing is more North American than a nice Thanksgiving dinner consisting of oven roasted turkey, collard greens, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, bread rolls, and cranberry sauce!!
Cornbread, Chili, Chicken & Dumplings, Collard Greens, Apple Stack Cakes, Chow Chow, Chicken Salad, Hush Puppies, and putting meat in just about every vegetable.
coastal VA. All things seafood, Eastern NC BBQ, lots of fresh veggies
Hawaii spam based dishes. I personally made some spam fried rice the other day and wow if it wasn’t the best fried rice I’ve ever made.
Louisiana has the entire Cajun and Acadian influence menu. Etoufee, jambalaya, gumbo, boudin, etc. Alligator based dishes through the entire gulf south from Texas to Florida.
Cornbread. Fried okra, although that one may be African, but I’m pretty sure they dont dredge the okra in corn meal. Which brings me to cornmeal dredged catfish.
Poke salad. Cobblers. From peach to blueberry to apple to pear.
Texas style dressing. Oyster dressing. Sweet potatoes with marshmallow or pecan topping. Pecan pie. Pecans in anything.
We have so many. Things borrowed, maybe, or things made with native ingredients, perhaps. But still American.
Maryland- crab cakes, New York- pizza, New Jersey-subs, just off the top of my head. In the south the food is delicious but heavy thing deep fried, grilled, or low and slow cooking. The north east or east coast in general seafood is very big. I loved the Native American food when I lived in Alaska. I didn’t find anything special or distinctive about the food in the west. I’ve been to at least 30 states.
Also whatever the demographic is, they tend to be really good at that food. For example the dmv has a lot of Peruvians so the Peruvian chicken is amazing. Alaska had a lot of Asians so the Japanese, Chinese, and Indian food was amazing etc. I’m Caribbean and love Caribbean food but I love Mexican too, and as you know there is a huge population in the US, you can find it in any state.
Chicken Fried steak is big in Oklahoma and Texas, Onion burgers are another from OK. Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, and if you’re lucky, corn to mix in with the spuds and gravy. Jambalaya, squirrel Sauce Piquant or whatever kind of meat you want to use, fried catfish, blue crab boils where it would take hours to eat them because the beer is going down very easily. 😆 Chili con carne, Mountain Oysters (we called them calf fries), and my favorite dish from my childhood, pinto beans, cornbread and pan-fried potatoes and onions. That help any?
BBQ in all its iterations. Texas brisket, North Carolina pulled pork, KC style. It’s all good.
there are thousands as it’s NOT just about states but also regions within those states
So so so much. The USA really doesn’t get the credit it deserves for what is American cuisine. Other countries love trying to claim American foods because their roots came from somewhere else.
Poke (Hawaiian)
Tex-Mex (Nachos, chili, fajitas)
American BBQ (The south)
New England seafood (Lobster, fried clam bellies)
Of course as you mentioned the hamburger (Connecticut) and the cheeseburger (California)
Most modern styles of pizza (New York, Chicago, Detroit)
I could go on and on tbh
Corn bread, Mac and Cheese, collared beans, fried okra are all typical southern bbq sides that most foreigners aren’t familiar with.
Low country boil is another southern contribution
Out west Navajo tacos (fried dough, with chili or ground beef, and canned veggies) are common. A product of the cheap foods provided on reservations by federal assistance programs. On a similar note fried catfish is another Rez product.
North you have your seafood chowders, and hot sandwiches like the Philly Cheese steak and Italian beef in Chicago. And then the local variations of pizza, new York, Chicago deep dish and tavern, and Detroit.
Hawaiian food typically falls under either the Polynesian branch like Kalua pig or shelf stable easy to ship products like Spam Musubi and Mac Salad.