The United States

The cuisine of the United States has had an unjust reputation for being composed of fast food and restaurant chains. In fact, past and present immigration to the United States has created a culinary diversity found in few other places around the world. European-style foods of the Northeast and Midwest give way to the soul food of the South, with its fried green tomatoes, pulled pork, and braised greens. On a westbound trip from Louisiana, Cajun and Creole fare, represented by crawfish étouffée and gumbo, gradually becomes Texan barbecue and Tex-Mex cuisine, with its strong Mexican influence. Florida is known for exciting Caribbean food, and on the West Coast, cross-cultural food is a common find on the street and in restaurants. Attempting to pigeonhole the cuisine of the United States is an exercise in futility; every region has its own culinary landscape, with distinct marks left by new and established residents. In addition to regional cuisines, native American cooking methods—like grilling on a cedar plank, the nixtamalization of corn, or fry bread—are being rediscovered and promoted to reconstruct pre-Columbian food or to intertwine them with current cuisine to form culinary novelties.