American food: The 20 greatest dishes

American food: The 20 greatest dishes

Editor’s Note: Americans have come up with a lot of incredible foods. Does this list satisfy your appetite? Or have we frankly left out one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below.

America is called a melting pot – and that’s certainly true of its food.

The USA’s culinary history is that of reinvention. Waves of food influences – Native, African, British, continental European, Asian and Latin – have landed on our shores (and still do).

People take those classics, mix ’n’ match ’em and then slowly (or quickly) turn them into definitive American dishes. And then we oftentimes send the reformulated food back out into the wider world to complete the cycle.

From starters to desserts, here are CNN Travel’s 20 selections for the greatest American food dishes:

Barbecue

People enjoy barbecue around the world, but Americans have taken a collective passion for low ’n’ slow cooked meat to the next level. Spanish conquistadors brought the cooking style practiced by indigenous Caribbean tribes north. It’s arguably one of the most-argued about foods in the United States – and we’re well-aware of the grand pizza rivalry.

Four classic, regional BBQ rivalries and styles reign: Carolinas (where they’ve gone whole hog for pork); Texas (where beef is king); Memphis (where it’s all about ribs and rubs); and Kansas City (where a sweet, tomato-based sauce is a must). But that’s just the beginning. Regional types have their own subsets of disputes.

For instance, head to the South and you’ll discover a South Carolina / North Carolina split on sauces. Then in just North Carolina, there’s the epic division of Eastern (whole hog, vinegar sauce) and Western (pork shoulder, tomato-and-vinegar sauce). In parts of South Carolina, a mustard-based sauce from German immigrants is preferred, and in even more select spots, a relatively secret “barbecue hash” is beloved. Meanwhile, “Texas big city barbecue” is sweeping the whole nation.

Fried okra is a delicious combination of two long-standing American culinary traditions.

The first is how Americans came to embrace various foods and cuisines from Africa that were brought over during the era of the brutal transatlantic slave trade. Okra, which thrives in heat and humidity, became a regular feature in the South on tables of all races and classes.

Then comes in a second tradition: the American love of deep-frying. (We are the nation of the deep-fried Twinkie, after all.)

Okra can be found swimming in gumbos, succotashes and such. Hard-core fans might enjoy the slimy green pods simply steamed or boiled. They’re even pickled. But breaded and fried is often the entry point for reluctant first-timers, who can be quickly won over with the crunch and distinctive “grassy” flavor.

It’s still wildly popular in the South. Irmo, a small town in South Carolina, holds a yearly Okra Strut to celebrate the fuzzy-skinned, cylindrical veggie. Fried okra makes a great snack, a proper side dish or one part of another concoction such as the Fried Shrimp and Okra Po’boy a la the Williamsburg Inn in Virginia.

Cobb salad

Fried okra is a delicious combination of two long-standing American culinary traditions.

The first is how Americans came to embrace various foods and cuisines from Africa that were brought over during the era of the brutal transatlantic slave trade. Okra, which thrives in heat and humidity, became a regular feature in the South on tables of all races and classes.

Then comes in a second tradition: the American love of deep-frying. (We are the nation of the deep-fried Twinkie, after all.)

Okra can be found swimming in gumbos, succotashes and such. Hard-core fans might enjoy the slimy green pods simply steamed or boiled. They’re even pickled. But breaded and fried is often the entry point for reluctant first-timers, who can be quickly won over with the crunch and distinctive “grassy” flavor.

It’s still wildly popular in the South. Irmo, a small town in South Carolina, holds a yearly Okra Strut to celebrate the fuzzy-skinned, cylindrical veggie. Fried okra makes a great snack, a proper side dish or one part of another concoction such as the Fried Shrimp and Okra Po’boy a la the Williamsburg Inn in Virginia.

Cobb salad

A satisfying and often humble economic mainstay of the masses, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was once a decidedly fancy treat for elites in the early 20th century.

According to the National Peanut Board, peanut butter was first introduced at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and became popular in upscale tea rooms. Peanut butter and watercress, anyone?

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The first known PB&J sandwich recipe was published in 1901 in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and used currant or crab-apple jelly. Eventually, mass production techniques in the early 1900s and the introduction of the sandwich as a ration for US military personnel in World War II helped spread the appeal. Parents did the rest, packing the easy-to-assemble, irresistible combo into their kids’ lunch boxes – or sneaking it into their own brown bags.

The sandwich continues to have a dedicated and sometimes upper-crust following.

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