Think ‘American food’ and your mind quickly turns to fast, junk or processed foods. After all, that’s what most of the world thinks American food is. It might better be described by words like greasy, generally unhealthy, industrial output. When I first arrived in Switzerland I remember a few people wondering out loud if Americans ate anything other than hamburgers. I won’t dispute it, some Americans eat badly, but not all do.
To celebrate its sheer endless culinary creativity, good or bad, here’s the last in my list of the 24 most popular American foods or dishes. Of course, remember, I’m from the east coast (with a bit of Chicago thrown in for good measure). There will be inevitably missed regional specialties of foods I’ve never tried from places I’ve never been. If you missed my previous posts you can find the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th ones here.
So let me just ‘dig in’ as it were, and begin. They’re not in any special order though.
Chocolate chip cookies
America’s love of chocolate is unwavering. The chocolate chip cookie reflects this.
It was invented in Whitman, Massachusetts in 1938. It is attributed to the American chef Ruth Wakefield who owned the Toll House Inn at the time. Ruth Wakefield said that she was looking for an alternative to a popular thin butterscotch nut cookie they served with ice cream. She added chopped bits from a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar into batter and the chocolate chip cookie was born. The cookie became extremely popular and eventually she gave Nestlé the recipe and in exchange she was paid in a lifetime supply of chocolate from the company. Sounds like a fair deal to me. To this day, Nestlé prints a chocolate chip cookie recipe on every package of their chocolate chips.
The cookie can come in different consistencies, from crisp to gooey. They’re delicious cold and amazing warm. They are great when used as an edible spoon with ice cream. There are many variations that cater to every taste.
Not surprising at all, Massachusetts Official State Cookie is… you guessed it, the chocolate chip cookie. Wondering if there is a National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day? Of course, August 4th.
Hot dogs
Nothing complements a baseball game or summer cookout and says American quite like a hot dog. Okay, it really screams American if you stick a toothpick with an American flag into the hot dog. But put together a hot dog, potato chips and baked beans and you’ve got fixings for the perfect cookout.
But, similar to the apple pie, the hot dog didn’t have its beginnings in America. For that we owe a debt to a similar sausage from Frankfurt, Germany (hence, “frankfurter” and “frank”) and the German immigrant Charles Feltman, who is often credited with inventing the hot dog by using buns to save on plates. Ah, Americans are so resourceful; cookies instead of spoons and buns instead of plates.
But it was the Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker’s who spent his life savings of $300 for a hot dog stand on Coney Island that turned the hot dog into an icon. Every Fourth of July since 1916, the very same Nathan’s has put on the International Hot Dog Eating Contest. The current thirteen-time winner Joey Chestnut took the title in 2020, downing 75 hot dogs and buns in the 10-minute face-stuffing event.
The Swiss hot dog is similar to the American but still very different. Most places that sell hot dogs have special machines with a steamer part to keep the hot dogs warm and warm spear prongs to prepare the buns. Switzerland doesn’t play around when it comes to bread and there is no way they would sell an American type soft bun. The bun looks similar to little French breads, but shorter. Instead of slicing it open to lay the hot dog on it, they basically tunnel the bread with the warm spear. After the bread is prepared they squirt in ketchup, mustard and/or cocktail sauce. They put the hot dog in, wrap it in a napkin and you are good to go. It’s a much neater way to serve and eat hot dogs.
Cheeseburger
First came the hamburger, then the cheeseburger. Take a hamburger, slap on some cheese that melts and voilà, a cheeseburger. Add any variation of toppings and it’s still called a cheeseburger. If you increase the number of hamburger patties at the same rate as the cheese slices, you can end up with a double, triple or even a quadruple cheeseburger. There is no correct or incorrect cheese on a cheeseburger either. Fast food restaurants usually use processed cheese, but any other cheese that melts may be used. Americans like American cheese on it but variations may include cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, and blue Cheese.
If you have ever been to Minneapolis, Minnesota you might have come across something cheeseburger-like called a ‘Juicy Lucy’. That’s two hamburgers with cheese sealed inside to create a single patty, the melted cheese making up the core. It seems to keep the meat near the center juicier. I’ve never had one but frankly, they look a little messy to eat.
The classic cheeseburger is said to have been invented in 1926 by a 16 year old in Pasadena, California. The story goes that Lionel Sternberger, who worked as a grill cook at his father’s sandwich shop, burnt a hamburger. To cover up his mistake he put a slice of cheese on it. Others say he invented it on purpose.
It seems like no iconic food is complete if it doesn’t have a national day. So, for all you cheeseburger lovers out there September 18th is your day!
Jambalaya
Jambalaya is the sweep-up-the-kitchen cousin of Spanish paella. It comes in red (Creole, with tomatoes) and brown (Cajun, without). It’s made with meat, vegetables (a trinity of celery, peppers, and onions), and rice, it’s Louisiana’s signature dish originating in Louisiana’s low-lying swamp country. There, crawfish, shrimp, oysters, alligator, duck, turtle and other game were readily available. And what’s readily available is what they put into their jambalaya.
Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filet gumbo … the dish inspired Hank Williams to write an ear worm of a party song about it in 1952. Dozens more have produced cover versions of the song, including Jo Stafford, Credence Clearwater Revival and Emmylou Harris to name a few.
Whatever the color and secret ingredients, you can be sure of one thing when you sit down with friends to a big bowlful: son of a gun, gonna have big fun on the bayou!
Tater tots
The last American food on my list is a variation on the potato. It can’t rival things like Thanksgiving dinner, apple pie or even the hot dog, but it has a right to be on the list.
Like the Swanson TV dinner, the tater tot was invented while trying to use leftovers. The company Ore-Ida was searching for a way to use slivers of cut-up potatoes. They added some flour, spices and formed them into little cylinders and deep-fried them. And so, in1956 the first hash brown cylinder tots were born. A large portion is served in school cafeterias so kids grow up eating those potato cylinders dipped in ketchup. More than 60 years after their invention, America is still eating them to the tune of about 32 million kilos taters annually.
If you live in Europe, you might be asking yourself if these are so spectacular, why you can’t buy these in your country. That’s simple, they are American and aren’t sold in Europe. But they are very similar in taste to the Swiss Rösti, they just look a lot different.
That about wraps it up, we’ve come full circle from fried Twinkies to fried potatoes. I hope you enjoyed reading about what Americans like to eat. Of course, there are other foods and meals I could add to the list, I hear you out there asking ‘where are the brownies??’ Or ‘where are the hamburgers or grilled cheese sandwiches’? Yep, the list can go on and on… Maybe I’ll start another list of goodies.
Stay safe and healthy everyone.
-
-