

Or the mysterious “La Dama de Azul,” a Spanish nun named Sister Mary of Agreda, who reportedly never left her convent in Spain but came back from one of her astral projections preaching Christianity to Indians in the New World with their recipe for venison chili. Consider Kit Carson, whose dying regret was that he didn’t have time for one more bowl. Courtesy Paul Sableman/Creative Commons/FlickrĮven the most modest chili has legions of fans. So what’s the deal with the star-spangled association? The pie council’s John Lehndorff explains: “When you say that something is ‘as American as apple pie,’ what you’re really saying is that the item came to this country from elsewhere and was transformed into a distinctly American experience.”Īnd you’re saying Americans know something good enough to be an icon when we eat it, with or without the cheddar cheese or vanilla ice cream on top.įrito Pie: not pie at all but Fritos with chili on top, served in the chip bag itself. Apples aren’t even native to the continent the Pilgrims brought seeds. Not to burst the patriotic bubble, but it’s not an American food of indigenous origin.įood critic John Mariani dates the appearance of apple pies in the United States to 1780, long after they were popular in England. Eric Thayer/Getty Images North America/Getty ImagesĪccording to a pie chart (seriously) from the American Pie Council, apple really is the U.S.’s national favorite – followed by pumpkin, chocolate, lemon meringue and cherry. A better threat might have been no meatloaf sandwich in your lunch tomorrow.Īpple pie is a stalwart of American culture. However your mom made it – we’re guessing ketchup on top? – she probably served that oh-so-reliable meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans.Īnd you were probably made to sit there, all night if need be, if you didn’t eat all your beans. (In her day, you had to cut the meat finely by hand the advent of commercial grinders changed all that.) Who would have imagined when the recipe for “Cannelon of Beef” showed up in Fannie Farmer’s 1918 “Boston Cooking School Cook Book” that every mom in America would someday have her own version?įannie made hers with slices of salt pork laid over the top and served it with brown mushroom sauce. After leading the charge for the sushi invasion of the 1980s, the California roll now occupies grocery stores everywhere. The avocado-crab-cucumber roll became a hit, and from that SoCal beachhead, sushi conquered the country. Most credit chef Manashita Ichiro and his assistant Mashita Ichiro, at L.A.’s Tokyo Kaikan restaurant, which had one of the country’s first sushi bars, with creating the “inside out” roll that preempted Americans’ aversions by putting the nori (seaweed) on the inside of the rice and substituting avocado for toro (raw fatty tuna). So much more than the gateway sushi, the California roll isn’t just for wimps who can’t go it raw – although that’s essentially the way it got its start in Los Angeles, where sushi chefs from Japan were trying to gain a beachhead in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Whatever the size, this is America's favorite sushi. You’ve still got your own teeth, right?Ī section of the world's largest California Roll. However you take your jerky – caf or decaf in strips, chips, or shreds – prepare to chew long and hard.

#Shrook favorite food portable
Jerky is so versatile and portable and packs such nutritional power that the Army is experimenting with jerky sticks that have the caffeine equivalent of a cup of coffee. Flavored with teriyaki, jalapeno, lemon pepper, chili. Peppered, barbecued, hickory-smoked, honey glazed.

Beef, turkey, chicken, venison, buffalo, even ostrich, alligator, yak, and emu. We like the creation myth that says it’s the direct descendant of American Indian pemmican, which mixed fire-cured meat with animal fat. It’s American food the way we like our wilderness grub – tough and spicy. Courtesy Larry Jacobsen/Creative Commons/Flickrĭehydrated meat shriveled almost beyond recognition – an unlikely source of so much gustatory pleasure, but jerky is a high-protein favorite of backpackers, road trippers, and snackers everywhere. It might not look appetizing, but the taste speaks for itself.
