Partner (UK) and I (US) talk about this a lot. I felt this way, but she pointed out to me that the US is astonishingly good at taking dishes from other countries and putting a spin on them, such as changes in texture or combinations. Once I started to pay attention I agreed.
It’s also about fusing different cuisines together, to make something new. America is the big melting pot, and that means you end up getting flavor palettes that otherwise wouldn’t have been brought together.
Traditional Mexican food isn’t anywhere near as spicy or as cheesy as Tex-mex, for instance. That’s because Texans took the traditional Mexican cuisine, combined it with American peppers and English+North American aged orange cheeses, and created Tex-mex. Tex-mex also tends to rely on flour instead of corn, because Mexico had red/yellow/white maize (and later, modern yellow corn) while American settlers had wheat.
And then California Mexican food is an entirely different third type of food.
Hell, my favorite local pizza joint sells a chicken tikka masala pizza that is fucking wonderful. We have a really big North Indian population in my area, so lots of the local restaurants have veggie options (India is largely vegetarian) and/or Indian spice blends incorporated into some of their menu items.
Yes! Great demonstrations of what she talks about. The biggest complaint she has is that we will go to a place, let’s say it’s a Vietnamese place, and it will be really good but not at all authentic. She wishes those were called what they are, Vietnamese American Fusion. Like, take pride in this thing you created.
Partner (UK) and I (US) talk about this a lot. I felt this way, but she pointed out to me that the US is astonishingly good at taking dishes from other countries and putting a spin on them, such as changes in texture or combinations. Once I started to pay attention I agreed.
We fry it, add fat, carbs, and/or add sugar.
Done.
It’s also about fusing different cuisines together, to make something new. America is the big melting pot, and that means you end up getting flavor palettes that otherwise wouldn’t have been brought together.
Traditional Mexican food isn’t anywhere near as spicy or as cheesy as Tex-mex, for instance. That’s because Texans took the traditional Mexican cuisine, combined it with American peppers and English+North American aged orange cheeses, and created Tex-mex. Tex-mex also tends to rely on flour instead of corn, because Mexico had red/yellow/white maize (and later, modern yellow corn) while American settlers had wheat.
And then California Mexican food is an entirely different third type of food.
Hell, my favorite local pizza joint sells a chicken tikka masala pizza that is fucking wonderful. We have a really big North Indian population in my area, so lots of the local restaurants have veggie options (India is largely vegetarian) and/or Indian spice blends incorporated into some of their menu items.
Yes! Great demonstrations of what she talks about. The biggest complaint she has is that we will go to a place, let’s say it’s a Vietnamese place, and it will be really good but not at all authentic. She wishes those were called what they are, Vietnamese American Fusion. Like, take pride in this thing you created.
Only two of those four are unhealthy.
But also, I know a fellow southerner when I see one.