Thoght I’d make a topic about this cause there was none. So whats your favorite American food? Theres cheeseburgers, hotdogs, pizza, sandwichs, mac and Cheese, turkey, corn. and much more. For snacks theres donuts, Doritos, Hersheys, Oreos and much more.
Mine is Hot Dogs for food and donuts for snacks. I was gonna say ice cream but don’t know if it’s really American cause we don’t eat the most or anything.
Haha! What an odd topic considering we’re a hodgepodge of food. 
Probably burgers and fries. And Hershey’s dark chocolate.
Yep, that is a meal of win :3
Pizza is not American. It came from Italy then came to New York.
There are already two threads on ‘favourite foods’, and this feels a little culturally-imperialistic to me (It’s like setting up a thread on ‘What’s Your Favourite Australian Food?’ or ‘What’s Your Favourite Malaysian Food’ or ‘What’s Your Favourite New York Food’?).
And interestingly, what constitutes as ‘American food’ is largely fast-foods, which in turn are adapted from other nationalities like English (apple pie), Italian (pizza), German (hamburger and hot dog) and Mexican (fajita). Unlike older cultures, there are hardly any famous dishes from America. The most ‘American’ dishes are probably from the indigenous population, namely Native Americans. Unfortunately, buffalo stew and succotash, which I’d love to try one day, are not as popular as Big Macs and freedom fries, which I eat when all other eateries have closed late at night.
Not that there’s anything wrong with this… Ramen, one of my favourite Japanese dishes, was originally a Chinese dish… steak and mash, an Aussie staple, is from England, and there are probably many more examples of ‘migrant-turned-local dishes’. But just as something to ponder about, there are few intrinsically American foods per se.
Still, there are a couple. Gumbo stew is one of my favourites. I’ve been a fan of the Louisiana specialty way before it entered mainstream culture when ‘Princess and the Frog’ came out. New England clam chowder is also another delicious soup I love. And let’s not forget chocolate chip cookie, which came from Massachusetts! 
But other than that, uh… I guess we can thank America for Kentucky fried chicken and A&W Root Beer? 
thedriveintheatre- Wow, I never knew steak and mash was an Aussie staple! Awesome. 
Though yes, I’m with you there about American foods generally not originating from America, though at the same time it isn’t quite right to say that an American fajita is the same as what you’d find in Mexico, for example- more a modified version of it. Just as I’m aware that when I have a curry from a takeaway here in England, it won’t taste anything like a curry that I could have in India, the same seems to happen with a lot of American foods. At least, that’s what I found when I visited a curry restaurant in New York, which had curry the likes of I’d never seen before!
When I think of American food, I think of Oreos and KFC, both of which I love though they’re treats more than regular, everyday foods. Gumbo is something I’ve always wanted to try but have never had the chance to.
I wish I could send my gumbo over to you! It wouldn’t last on the journey from California to England!
Anyway, I’m glad lizardgirl brought up gumbo, because I’m a huge fan of Cajun food. I love red beans and rice, jambalaya, gumbo, cajun chili. I put Creole seasoning on just about anything! Soooo good!
I also can’t resist hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fris.
Cheeseburger.
No question.
In paradise.
Hahaha “Heaven on earth with an onion slice”
Coolest song ever!
My impression of Australian food is mostly ‘pub grub’ like chicken parmagiana, shrimps, steak, and maybe some curry. There are of course exotic meats like kangaroo and emu (which you can even buy in the supermarket!), but it’s mostly a niche market.
No offense, but I find the curry here in Oz pretty wimpy. I’m not sure how it tastes like in England, but you’re right about the curry being different elsewhere! The kind of curry we have in Malaysia is a lot spicier and saltier (Southern Indian, I suppose). Same goes with the tomyum, laksa, salsa, and pretty much anything spicy is watered down and sweetened up for Western tastes. I laugh when my puny Aussie friends complain about the food being too spicy. It’s not hot till you’ve got to the source!
Ooh… I want to try jambalaya one day. There’s a fast-food chain in Singapore called ‘Popeyes’ (I think it’s pretty popular in the States too) that sells cajun fried chicken. Not sure how authentic it is (I didn’t find it too hot or anything) but I do like watching the old Popeye cartoons on the telly in the restaurant!
For anyone who is curious, gumbo is similar to any other ‘chuck-it-all-in’ soups like tomyum, menudo and goulash. It has the consistency of a stew, and there’s bits of seafood and okra in it and it’s supposed to taste semi-spicy. I had a bowl in Singapore at a soup restaurant, but again, I’m not sure how ‘authentic’ it is until I actually order one in a bar in New Orleans!
I’m also a fan of the burgers and milkshakes at Carl’s Jr in Singapore, and the root beer and twister fries at A&W in Malaysia. There’s even an old-fashioned A&W drive-in (where they clip the tray to the side of your car) in my hometown!
ellie-jessie-eve- Haha, yeah, it’s a lovely thought but gumbo and long aeroplane journeys don’t go very well together, I guess. 
Cajun food seems to be the one thing you can’t get over here much, aside from stuff like creole seasonings. I honestly didn’t know what jambalaya was until I recently Googled it, and so I don’t quite understand why it isn’t as popular over here as it sounds lovely.
thedriveintheatre- Pub grub. Mmmm. Scampi and chips, toad in the hole, with a bit of sticky toffee pudding or spotted dick for afters…You’ve got me going now!
As mean as it sounds, I’d love to try a bit of kangaroo or something equally exotic when I go to Australia one day. Isn’t crocodile for sale, too? Nom nom nom.
‘Watered down and sweetened up’- that’s exactly right! When I went to Thailand, one day we all went out for lunch and had to choose what we wanted before we arrived. Our guide, Iris, a lovely lady (and I say lady in the loosest sense, if you get what I mean) was saying to us, “oh, have the red Thai curry! It’s delicious!” and we all questioned whether it was spicy. She replied, “only a little, but not much at all” and so we ALL chose it, all thirty of us. By the time we arrived and tried it, we realised we had made a big mistake trusting a local to tell us if something is spicy or not, because that must’ve been the spiciest spoonful of food I have ever put in my mouth.
I now realise I haven’t talked of American food at all really. What I do love is barbeque ribs and that sort of thing, though I don’t know how American that is. There’s a restaurant chain called Smith & Western here, and it’s meant to be authentic American food and they do things like racks of ribs with piles of chips and sauce everywhere, and it’s delicious.
thedriveintheater: I’ve never eaten at Popeyes, but I noticed on my trip to New Orleans that they had Popeyes all over the place! I’ve had gumbo here in California, but your right. It’s not as authentic as going to a bar in “N’awlins”
lizardgirl: That’s a pity that cajun food isn’t that popular over in the U.K. It’s actually not even that popular where I live either! I think I had my first Jambalaya a little over a year ago. But it’s becoming more popular. My local farmers market recently opened up a “Taste of Louisiana” booth.
Because I live in California, there is a large Mexican population. Especially since I live in the wine country, and many Mexicans come here for work in the vineyards. The best part about living in an area with a large Mexican population is their food. I love Mexican food, and there are many authentic Mexican stores and resteraunts around. I don’t know how many of you have taco trucks in your town, but they are good! I love Mexican American food!
Laugh out loud, just as an amusing aside, I went to a trans-cabaret in Bangkok, I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life (By the way, the best tomyum soup I had in my life was at Bangkok Airport. Ironic, but true!).
It’s strange though, they don’t serve spinach as a side dish… xD
cheeseburgers = German
hotdogs = German
Pizza = Italian
sandwiches = ARE YOU HAVING A LAUGH? English
mac and Cheese = Italian
turkey, corn. = Naturally occuring…
what were you saying about American?
You can thank the Chinese for ice cream and pasta (which is used to make spaghetti). 
I don’t think by “American Cuisine” they don’t mean food originating in the US, but rather food that is very common in the American food culture.
And as thedriveintheater points out, just because pasta is commonly called Italian, it doesn’t mean that it originated in Italy.
Food is a very general thing!
It probably doesn’t count here, but in Wisconsin we have a unique set of yummy foods. On the mild end we have the average cheese curd and on the other end of things either chocolate covered bacon on a stick or the new doughnut burger on a stick.
Yum!..?
I think it counts! Wisconsin is in America (isn’t it? )
Chocolate covered bacon? …I’m curious to know if it tastes good, does it?
Mm, chocolate covered bacon. That sounds like an interesting concoction! Is it milk chocolate or dark chocolate, Alcanafin? I can imagine dark chocolate actually going quite well with bacon.
I like chocolate but not bacon, kinda weild but still. When ever I get pancakes at IHOP i get sausage instead.
I like pizza, Rice Krispie treats, Gobstoppers… I could go on and on, though. 