It is easy to believe that people have heard much about cooking in the media than they would like. What, with all these celebrity chefs?! My family lifestyle is a combination of Polish and American culture, and in this context, I would like to invite you into the kitchen, which is the heart of the American home.
We already know quite a lot about traditional dishes from Poland, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere. We also know something about the quantity and quality of meals that people have in these countries, which for us are well within reach for a vacation or holiday break.
And what do we know about the cuisine of the United States of America?
Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom about "American food" is still that Americans eat mainly burgers with French fries, tasteless bread, and a lot of junk food. People who have never had a good dinner in a real American home with an American family truly have no idea what “American food” actually is: they are too attached to their Polish sausages and dumplings, or whatever their native cuisine may be. The USA is, in fact, a paradise for anyone with good taste and for those who are open to experimenting with their cooking, discovering new traditions, and having meals with family and friends.
You may sense that I am trying not to abuse the term "American food", because it far too restrictive with regard to the history and vast variety of food in the United States.
Why?
Here are some historical facts that will help us understand this.
The history of North American food began around 1500. n.e. At that time, the Pueblo, Cherokee, Iroqouis, and Mississippians all cooked corn, beans, pumpkin, and the like, but they all did so in unique ways. Some baked corn and prepared it in the form of tacos; others prepared soup from corn; and others made a purée from it.
People eating in Virginia Original Author: John White circa 1585 AD (from the British Museum) https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/media_player?mets_filename=evm00003106mets.xml
Most of the peoples of North America at the time were hunter-gatherers. During their wanderings, they hunted game such as deer, buffalo, rabbit, turkey, and pigeon. In the lakes or rivers, there were trout, salmon, and frogs. The Atlantic or Pacific coasts offered the population a bounty of mussels, oysters, lobsters, and crabs.
Everyone, regardless of wherever they were going, was busy with berries, nuts, sweet potatoes, and wapato (variety of potato).
–Wapato – potato
The Chinooks, Eskimos, and Navajo people did not eat corn or beans every day: they ate what nature gave them in their area, including wild rice and acorns, which were generally milled and made into bread.
When in the seventeenth century Europeans began to settle in what is now Canada and the United States, they liked the sweet potatoes, corn, beans, berries, and nuts and the meat I mentioned above. They also brought European animals, most notably, pigs, cattle, sheep, and chickens, and they introduced a new means of thermal treatment – smoking – particularly for pork. These were the days of the first smoked ham in North America. The idea of egg dishes also harkens back to settlers from Europe.
The nineteenth century saw yet another huge wave of immigration and new products that came every few decades:
- cereals like wheat, barley from Europe as the basis of bread,
- earthenware, black peas,
-South American soil,
- rice, bok choy from China.
Bok choy
Around 1850, the population of the United Sate was very German. They introduced hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, mustard, and sauerkraut, and of course, beer.
A wave of Italian immigration around 1880 brought pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, and ravioli. Jewish immigrants introduced fresh bread rolls, sandwiches, and cheesecakes.
It was around this time that wine came to North America, and became increasingly popular and began to rival beer.
All these changes around the beginning of the 20th century and the increasing availability of basic products and the rapid industrialization of the country enabled the delivery of fresh products to every corner of the United States of America.
Many of the most recent immigrants of the 20th century were Japanese, Koreans, and Indians, who brought Japanese shusi, Korean kimchi and bibimbab, and Indian curries.
Kimchi
As you can see, there was tremendous change over the centuries, but some things still remain the same. Most of today's crops in North America are what we know from about 1500 n.e.: corn, sunflowers, beans, and potatoes. Popular fruits and meats are still salmon, turkey, and berries. Tacos and tortillas were common in America before the first settlers and are as popular as ever today.
And what do Americans eat today?
I invite you to the next episode when we will begin to look at each food.
