Why is it that in different parts of america the food & drinks are so different,what's your favorite?

Question

Down south theres grit ,tacos out west,I'm in PA nowit's cheesesteak & scrspple(what is scapple anyway?)different sodas different beers I just want to know.

Answer 1

This is one of the great things about the US and travelling around it since there's such regional diversity in the food. A lot has to do with where people came from originally...they influenced their regional cuisines. In the Southwest, you get Mexican or Tex-Mex. In Florida, Cuban or other Carribean. In Louisiana, Cajun and Creole. In the overall South, southern food and soul food (which is very similar to some of the food you get in west Africa). In New England, very English and Irish. South of Boston, there's a Portuguese enclave. Around PA thru to Chicago, you get a lot of Germanic and Slavic influences. The Midwest has Germanic and Nordic food. Along the West Coast, a lot of Asian influences. And, in every big city, you can find ethnic restaurants. I live in NYC and can eat just about anything from anywhere -- had Indonesian Friday night and Balkan food Saturday.

On the food network, there's a show called "feasting on asphalt" and it's all about eating regional foods as you travel by road around the US.

I grew up in New Mexico so I'd have to say New Mexican (not Tex-Mex) is my favourite. I love green chile and tamales....

Answer 2

Well, there will be differences in alot of things due to geographical distances and barriers. Out west there's alot of Mexican influence in their food and drink because of their proximity to Mexico. Down south we have foods like grits, watermelon, boiled peanuts, Sweet tea, because 1. they're made from things that we had here and, 2. they're reflective of the cultures of the people that live in the south.

I'm origianally from Miami and I can tell you that alot of the foods, drinks, music there are HEAVILY influenced by people from the carribean...especially CUBA.

Everything just get's influeced by the origins of the people. Our country is so big...that you will have different pockets of people from different places living in conctrated areas. If our country was the size of say....Jamaica....there wouldn't be enough room for different people to spread out with their influences.

By the way...you don't want to know what scrapple is. Just think about the name.

Answer 3

Well, America is considered "The Melting Pot". When a lot of people immigrated here they brought their families, extended families, and neighbors. Usually they settled in one area. Therefore all their old-world traditions of cooking stayed alive in the community.

Personally I like southern cooking. And I've never even lived in the south!

Answer 4

Its a huge country... with different markets and different preferences of people in each geograpic region.