History of North American Food
By Leah Favela
Hot dogs with relish at the ballpark, soft pretzels sold from umbrella carts, diners selling cheeseburgers and fries, and apple pies cooling on window sills. These are typical images that might come to mind if you asked people around the world to think of examples of American food.
The phrase “as American as apple pie”, referencing this much-loved dessert as being a quintessential American product, is an appropriate metaphor, but maybe not in the way you might think. The pastry shell was invented by the Greeks, apples originated in Kazakhstan, and savory pies had been eaten in the UK for centuries. Immigrants brought various foods and ingredients from their home countries to the United States and these ingredients came together to make apple pie.
This evolution of apple pie , born out of the blending of foods from other countries, and shaped by environment and circumstance, is itself the perfect example of what American cuisine is.
How Has American Food Been Influenced by Other Cuisines & Cultures?
American food, much like American English, is an amalgamation of influences from all parts of the world, brought by people searching for a new life. Early in American history, American food was influenced by Europeans and Native Americans. As the United States grew westward, Spanish and Mexican dishes and flavors were introduced and integrated into the American food culture. As the United States grew, immigrants from all over the world brought with them their culinary traditions, flavors, and methods of cooking.
In many towns throughout the U.S. you can usually find a variety of Chinese, Mexican and Italian restaurants. In larger cities the international food scene becomes even more varied. However, the food offered may be completely different than what you would find in the country the cuisine originated from. This is partly because immigrants cooked with the ingredients available to them which were often different from what was available in their home countries. Many restaurants offering ethnic foods also changed certain ingredients; toning down flavors or omitting foods that might not be deemed appealing to the American palette.
So What is Typical American Food?
American food is defined by diversity, reflecting the various populations that have made the United States their home. Because immigrants often adapted the ingredients or techniques involved in the preparation of a dish, that dish, while still being recognizably born from a specific ethnic cuisine, inevitably became something unique to America.
Spaghetti and meatballs, what many may consider a perfect example of Italian cuisine, is actually an Italian-American dish. In Italy, spaghetti and meatballs were never cooked together and most likely were served as separate courses. The same can be said for pepperoni pizza, fajitas, and General Tso’s chicken. Though it is simple enough to trace these dishes back to their countries of influence, they were all invented through the ingenuity and adaptability of the immigrant kitchen.
Some regional cuisines and dishes were created through a blend of foods from various countries. The Creole cooking of Louisiana combines French, Spanish, African, and native elements. In the Southwestern part of the US, Americans’ love of cheese, the Spanish introduction of cumin from the Canary Islands, and the flavors of Mexico all combined to form a unique Tex-Mex cuisine. Typical “local food” in Hawaii like Spam musubi and loco moco, white rice topped with hamburger, a fried egg, and brown gravy, blend ingredients from countries such as China, Portugal, Japan, and Polynesia.
Historic Events That Shaped American Food Culture
The discovery of the “New World” by Europeans represented a huge turning point in the history of American food. Livestock, including cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens were brought from overseas and over time, new crops such as rice, barley, oats, and wheat were introduced. The introduction of wheat was of particular significance to the Americas, where maize was the native grain, though it would not become a popular crop until the colonial period several centuries later. Today wheat is the highest-produced grain in America.
For more than two centuries, American food was predominantly influenced by England with English, Scottish and Irish immigrants clinging strongly to food traditions from the Old World. Diets were simple and centered around boiled and baked meats, boiled vegetables, and simple breads and pies. When mass emigration of Germans to the U.S. began in the mid-1800s, the food culture of America began to be influenced by the introduction of barbeque, hot dogs, hamburgers, and donuts; all foods which today are believed to be wholly American. The Germans’ emphasis on food during celebrations encouraged early Americans to make meals the centerpiece of festivities and gave birth to many holiday traditions we see today such as large meals on Christmas and Easter.
Perhaps one of the greatest influences on American food culture, particularly in the South, was the involuntary importation and enslavement of millions of Africans. They brought from their homeland a variety of heritage crops such as okra, black-eyed peas, watermelon, and the kola nut. Some ingredients were incorporated into already existing dishes, changing their appearance and taste to beautifully showcase the flavors of the home country, while other ingredients, such as the kola nut (originally used to make Coca Cola) gave birth to something utterly new and entirely American.
With the rise of the industrial era in the late 19th century, food began to be mass produced, mass marketed and standardized. Large factories processed, preserved, canned, and packaged a hugevariety of foods. Processed cereals quickly became a defining feature of the American breakfast. In the 1920s, when the industrial technique of freezing was introduced, increasingly processed and nationally distributed foods began to dominate the diet of America, giving birth to fast food establishments and frozen dinners, which both gained swift popularity.
During the 20th century, American soldiers overseas were introduced to a wide variety of ethnic foods and brought home with them a more varied palate and desire to continue eating the foods they were introduced to in other parts of the world. The expansion of international trade after the end of World War II also saw the American diet grow in diversity as fresh fruits and vegetables became available throughout the year. It was also during this time that the average American became more nomadic; an increasing amount of people moved further away from the places they were born and this exposed them to a wider variety of foods.
How Has American Food Culture Evolved?
The United States has long been a country where people want foods that are fast and convenient. The fast-food culture of America is still thriving. With their ability to standardize food, many Americans find it comforting that they can purchase a Big Mac in Spokane, Washington and it will taste exactly the same as a Big Mac bought in Miami Florida. The ability of the fast-food chain to create homogenized food is comforting t to many Americans, who know that they can find a sense of home in a familiar drive-thru anywhere in the U.S.
Yet trends are slowly moving away from mass-produced and processed foods toward food that is locally and organically sourced. This can partially be attributed to the rise in popularity of food shows, with thoughtful cooks such as Anthony Bordain encouraging people to think about the effect their eating habits have beyond the table.
More and more people are questioning how their food is made and where it comes from and this has given life to small organic farms which have more than doubled in the United States in the last 10 years. Buying and eating seasonally to decrease the carbon footprint is slowly becoming more habitual with the average consumer and desire to buy from companies who adopt eco-friendly practices has led to large companies, such as General Mills, to put millions of dollars into sustainable agriculture.
The celebration of cultural heritage through food is also trending throughout America and ethnic food is becoming more main-streamed than ever before. Certain foods, such as tacos, bagels, and curries are commonly eaten throughout the U.S regardless of geographic location, religion, or ethnicity.
More and more cooks, both amateur and professional, are embracing their cultural identities and showcasing the flavors, techniques and traditions that come along with these cultures. At the same time, cooks are choosing to use sustainable, local ingredients to create dishes that, while certainly keeping the best of the Old World, are also high-lighting the best of the New. The combining ofvarious culinary components from around the world with homegrown ingenuity and creativity tomake something new yet wholly familiar is in itself, the essence of what American cuisine is.