American cuisine
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American Cuisine
Insights

Two sides

American Cuisine has both a dull and exciting side:

Dull
Fast foods
Exciting
Regional and ethnic cooking

My 10-page American Cuisine section focuses mainly on the latter, the one that sophisticated palates seek.

Innovative

American Cuisine is the most innovative major cuisine on our planet. This is not because Americans cooks are naturally more creative than their counterparts abroad. They're not. A prime reason is American Cuisine is relatively new. It is not as encumbered by ironbound culinary rules as in, say, the French and Chinese Cuisines. The Americans have more freedom to experiment.

This has been particularly true with the regional Southwestern, Californian and Hawaiian Cuisines (click their buttons above for details).

Land of plenty

America has so much land suitable for farming that it could support twice its population.

Surplus land

The arable land that could be used for agriculture is not wasted. Much of it is used by the cattle industry (which requires extensive grazing land). This has allowed meat eating to become a significant factor in American Cuisine.

Production science

America has been a key pioneer in the scientific production of foodstuffs that has increased availability and lowered costs. Some methods have been adopted by other nations.

Poultry rearing is a good example of production science. Most of the chicken in this country are raised in indoor farm factories that spew forth less expensive poultry (though a mixed blessing because the meat is less flavorful).

Cost-efficiency methods have also been applied to grains, vegetables, and fruits. Advances in canning, freezing, transportation, and processing make it possible for Americans to eat almost any food grown anywhere in any season. This accessibility has added year-round variety (but it has also suppressed some of the rich traditions of the regional cuisines).

Famous specialties
in American cities

I list and briefly describe the local specialties in 18 major American cities, from Boston to San Francisco. Click the below link to see the page.

American city specialties

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