So America's got no fancy foods????

Question

Everytime I want to treat myself to a fancy place, I always say "oh let's go to that nice Italian place they opened up" or
"oh they've got great sushi over there"
Whenever I think of the word fancy, I don't think of America,
But why??? Is America not fancy???

Answer 1

Before I can answer your question, you need to understand what American Food mean.

The cuisine of the Native Americans was of course the first American cooking style, and it lent a great deal not only to subsequent American cooking but also to culinary styles around the world. Turkey, corn (maize), beans, sunflowers, potatoes, peppers, and various forms of squash (including pumpkins) are among the Native American foods now widely consumed elsewhere. Superimposed on this original native diet is the massive contribution of the various immigrant groups; many dishes considered quintessentially American are in fact based upon the cooking traditions of other countries. For example, apple pies, pizza, runzas, chowder, and hamburgers are all either identical to, or derived from, European dishes. Burritos and tacos similarly have their origins in Mexico.

Even when trying to pinpoint a particular style or dish as "American", there is much regional variation in the United States. Notable regional styles include Hawaiian cuisine, Cajun cuisine, and California cuisine. While all three types are part of the larger category of American cuisine and may influence other areas of the country, they do not necessarily typify what comes to mind when one hears the word American.

Another factor that makes defining American cuisine difficult is that most of it developed as home cooking rather than haute cuisine. Some aspects of American food culture that might not be immediately described as cuisine include baked beans, barbecue, and clam chowder, as well as many of the American-style candy bars and fast-food items popular around the world.

Given the United States' large size it is not surprising that its cuisine is typified by distinct regional variations. The cuisine of the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, for example, makes use of fish and seafood to much greater degree than that of the Midwest, where corn and beef were long more readily available. To some degree, easy transportation of perishable foodstuffs has diminished these regional differences in recent years, but many Americans still associate certain foods with specific places, such as steak with Omaha; lobster with Maine; salmon with the Pacific Northwest; and crab and crabcake with Maryland.

American cooking has been widely exported beyond its borders. Tex-Mex, Creole, and barbecue restaurants can be found in cities all around the world, while fast-food burger bars and pizzerias are even more popular.

With that in mind, American cuisine has much regional variation, and the basic Perceptions of American cuisine could be define as fellow:

American Chinese cuisine
Barbecue
California cuisine
Euro-Asian cuisine, a kind of fusion cuisine
Fast food
Floribbean
Cuisine of Kentucky
Hawaiian cuisine
Italian American cuisine
Midwestern cuisine
Chicago
Native American cuisine
New England cuisine
New York City cuisine
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine
Philadelphia cuisine
Puerto Rican cuisine
Southern cuisine
Cajun cuisine
Louisiana Creole cuisine
Soul food
Southwestern cuisine
New Mexican
Tex-Mex

The first generation of television chefs such as Robert Carrier and Julia Child tended to concentrate on cooking based primarily on European, especially French and Italian, cuisines.

Only during the 1970s and 80s did television chefs such as James Beard and Jeff Smith shift the focus towards home-grown cooking styles, particularly those of the different ethnic groups within the nation.

Not only contemporary television cooks like Rachael Ray, chef Anthony Bourdain, even notable American restaurant chefs include Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, and Alfred Portale are now cover a variety of cuisines and styles, both home-grown and foreign, reflecting the increasingly adventurous palate of the modern American.

To sum it up, there are lots of "fancy" american restaurant out there, you jut need to find them in a different way. For example if I go to Chicago, i will think of Chicago Style Pizza. Boston - Lobster. Even when of goto a so call "Japanese" restaurant, 90% of the rolls are create in US, in a way those are form of California cuisine (since most of them are create there a.k.a California Roll).

Answer 2

America is a melting pot, plenty of cultures have gone into it and made it what it is now. This not only applies to language, it also applies to food. People are always asking about the perfect example of American food. People are more sophisticated and demanding now. Would you be satisfied with pot pie, or apple pie, meat and potatoes, baked beans, chowders, stews, soups? Probably not. American cuisine has evolved over the years, it takes things from different cultures and makes it part of an already growing list. Pizza is not Italian, nor are Burritos, or Pannini. Some things are actually an American invention. Someone had the bright idea of adapting a favorite ethnic food, from a foreign country which later made it into the American mainstream. There is nothing wrong with that.

Actually there is some fancy stuff in America, you have all the nouvelle California cuisine which is in the experimental stage and has turned out some interesting dishes. Unfortunately, not everyone is a five star chef or has the ingredients, time, patience and acquired taste, to enjoy them. I guess meat, potatoes and veggies still rule in most American households. Probably a nice crown roast or a good cut of meat is considered as fancy enough.

American fancy to me, can be a hearty Irish pot roast, or scallops in a wine sauce, with a baked potato and steamed veggies. How about you?

Answer 3

US chefs can make fancy food, all the best ingredients are in country. Steak houses are a tradition in the US, crab cookers, Mexican restaurants, Italian pizzerias, Chinese and Japanese...that's American. The US is as fancy as you want it to be...try the Four Seasons, NY.

Answer 4

A lot of foods that you wouldnt think of as American are in fact, from America. Cajun food. A lot of seafood dishes served inthe Northeast for intance. Venison and veal dishes with rich gravies served in the south.

Visit any fine "southern styled" restaurant adn you will get some very refined cookiing styles that originated right here in the US.

Answer 5

before i say anythin i just need to say that none of your sources work. now, i recently went down to the dominican republic for a service trip. while its not quite a 3rd world country, it comes pretty close. i saw how the poorest of the poor lived and it changed me. if you asked me this question a month ago i would of said "so what, its their money, its their business, they can do whatever they want with it". i still believe that. but now i feel as if i have to say that your absolutely right. i wish everybody could do what i just did so that they could see what is happening. six million dollars will go a LONG WAY. something needs to be done. we cant just give a country money and walk away. we need to also go there and experience how it is so that we know exactly where to spend the money.

Answer 6

first thing that comes to mind is meat and potatoes. I don't think American food has a great rep, but there are many fancy, expensive steak restaurants. there is also soul/southern food and there are a few higher end attempts.

Answer 7

Steak, Lobster, Shrimp, Crab...

Answer 8

Part of your quandry is that so few foods are from the U.S. (I assume you mean US when you say America). Immigrants bring their food and we adopt it. The all-time U.S. fancy foods are steak and lobster.

Answer 9

What do you call famcy foods? pizza? sushi? I am not american but you can find in usa all sort of ingredients to make a fancy plate. Now one thing is do you know how to cook?In usa you can cook any plate and eat any kind of food
maybe if you dont want to cook is what you call "fancy foods"?
or maybe you just go to chip restaurants......

Answer 10

it is fancy but not fancy enough by comparing to other culture food, i think we do have a fancy dish i just don't know it yet

Answer 11

So Italians, Thais, japanese, chinese cant be americans?

American food is what yo mamma cooks. People dont go out for it because it's what they eat at home.

but a steakhouse could be considered an "american" restaraunt.

We just say we're going out for american food because american food is just food.