Category talk:American cuisine

Untitled

Does anyone have an idea as to how "Pizza", "Au jus", "Chili con carne", "French Fries", "Fajita", "Neapolitan sauce" and the like became placed in the "American cuisine" category? Not to say that Americans are egocentric or anything... the favorite meal of the UK is allegedly Chicken Tikka Masala, but we don't attempt to lay claim to it! Dybeck 14:05, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't know about au jus or Neapolitan sauce, but pizza, chili, fries, fajitas are definately American food. You don't have to INVENT something to call it X-nationality cuisine. Arguably the best food in the London would be Chinese or Indian in origin. No doubt chicken tikka masala will be considered American food in a decade or so.

To my grandmother, tacos were something foreign, and Italian was still slightly "exotic". Kids today maybe eat as many tacos as hamburgers, and the most frequently consumed vegetable in the US is french fries (unless you count ketchup as a vegetable like Ronald Reagan did). Fast food is definitely an American invention and pizza, chili, fries, fajitas, tacos, chinese, etc. are as much fast food as hamburgers, shakes, and fried chicken.

THB 14:18, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry, I disagree. Just because a food is routinely eaten somewhere other than its place of origin, doesn't mean it can be considered part of the new country's national cuisine. Your addition of 'Chinese' to the list of American foods really illustrates my point. Chinese food is American cuisine? Surely if any country has a claim to Chinese food, it's China? Otherwise, perhaps these should be recategorized as global cuisine, since Chinese food is very popular in a great many countries?

And... an apology... Chicken Tikka Masala WAS invented in the UK, as my colleague's just pointed out. Obviously though, curry of almost any other similar variety would clearly be considered (outside America, at least) to be Indian cuisine. Dybeck 14:29, 8 March 2006 (UTC)