I love great food.
I love the way great food tastes.
Food has to be good, though, for me to bother with eating it. If something doesn’t taste so great? I’ll wait until something better comes along.
But I know a lot of people where this is not true. Some people will eat a big bowl of mediocre. Or a whole plate of subpar. And that is all fine and good if that is what makes them happy. It’s just not for me.
With that said, I live here in America. Americans are lucky. Most of us have a wealth of food here. It is easy to buy. There are many places where people can eat or buy just about any food they want.
Anything.
America is often referred to as a “melting pot” because of our mixing of cultures. And that’s certainly true of our food.
But here is the thing. Most of our dishes came from someplace else. The United States’ culinary history is that of reinvention. Many different food influences – from Native, African, British, continental European, Asian, and Latin – have landed in our great land.
We mix them up. We toss them around. And we push them back out again for the world to see.
I recently read an article at CNN about the 20 Greatest American Food Dishes. And here is what CNN came up with.
For their Food Dishes.
BBQ
Fried Okra
Cobb Salad
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Fry Bread
Red Beans and Rice
Hamburger
Apple Pie
Poke
Chili
Clam Chowder
General Tso’s Chicken
Reuben sandwich
Grits
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Gumbo
Mission Burrito
Banana Pudding
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Eggs Benedict
Here is the link to the original article, in case you want to read more about each dish. However, CNN did not indicate how they chose their 20 Greatest American Food List. 20 Greatest American Dishes
I agree with about seven of these in terms of being great. As in “iconic.” Otherwise, I can find a whole lot of American dishes that are much better than these. Like macaroni and cheese. Or homemade creamy potato soup. Or chicken noodle soup or chicken and dumplings. I could go on.
I suppose with anything else, it is all subjective.
But. General Tso’s Chicken? No way. Red beans and rice? No, no. Cobb salad. Nope there too. And on.
What fails on this list to you? What should be here?
You stir the pot.
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“Cooking is all about people. Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people get together to eat.” — Guy Fieri
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“Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors—it’s how you combine them that sets you apart.” — Wolfgang Puck
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“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking, you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” — Julia Child
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The 20 Greatest American Dishes? You decide.
