American food lessons?
I have a friend who teaches me her Neopolitan/Italian cooking and she asked we trade off and I teach her some American dishes. Any thoughts on what might be enjoyed?
Emily
Naples, Italy 9/12/12
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Pat-ironically, the Cajun food you consider " uniquely American" is actually French Canadian!!! The Cajuns descend from the French-speaking Acadians who were expelled from the Maritime Provinces by the British, against whom they sided in the French and Indian War ( maybe that war has a different name in Canada; that is the US name for it). They were welcomed in Louisiana. The French origins probably explain why Cajun food is so good. It is the men who do the cooking in that culture, or so I was told by an excellent cook who is proud to be Cajun.
Except that when the Acadians made it to Louisiana, they discovered the hot pepper. Must be a border control thing-nothing spicy allowed past the border. Does Canada have sniffer dogs for that?
Do you have recipe books with you? Why not show her pictures of some "American" food and see what she is interested in having you make for her.
My family has hosted a number of foreign exchange students and they ALL wanted a Thanksgiving dinner. Stuff a chicken with the most savory bread stuffing you can make with dried bread, celery, onions and lots of sage -- a very common ingredient in Italy, and if you can't find cranberries, use some kind of jam. Make Gravy, and if possible at all a pumpkin pie!
We served an entire Thanksgiving meal to a French and a Spanish exchange student who were with us in the summer, and they both loved it! We're in Atlanta, so I made corn-bread dressing, but I don't know how you would be
able to do that with local ingredients there, so a bread stuffing would be great.
Bacon and anything with bacon. Nothing is more American than bacon. For desert you can serve Lipitor.
Turkeys (tacchino) are more available in Italy than they used to be, you should be able to do a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (you can even find cranberries if you search).
My friends in Italy always want an American dinner at some point, and something like fried chicken with sweet potatoes (fried or mashed), a berry cobbler, and a raw salad go over well, as does a big, juicy cheeseburger.
"Pat-ironically, the Cajun food you consider " uniquely American" is actually French Canadian!!!" That's like saying New English clam chowder is actually British, or a cheese steak is actually Italian, because people whose ancestors came from those places invented them. Although it's been over a decade since I last visited the province of Quebec, I don't remember eating anything remotely like cajun food. Or perhaps if I'm wrong, our good Canadian friends here can correct me?
I don't know why I didn't think of this before. How about Buffalo Wings? They've become very iconic. PM me if you need a recipe.
Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread or muffins, Zucchini bread or muffins, Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, corn bread with navy bean soup, fajitas, meat loaf, BBQ ribs, Navajo fry bread, succotash, American pancakes with maple syrup, fruit pies and fruit cobblers, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, pot roast, chili, enchiladas, burritos.
Your friend may be quite surprised that you can make great baked goods with pumpkin and zucchini.
Great suggestions, Jo! Muffins and cupcakes are becoming very popular in Italy - I'm sure Emily can create "authentic" versions using your suggestions. By the way, meatloaf is a home-made staple in parts of Italy and is on some restaurant menus, it's called "polpettone" (big meatball).
This is a hilarious post. I love it!
American depends on which part of the country you are in.
Midwest - roast beef, mashed potatoes both covered in gravy and green beans.
Apple pie with cheddar cheese, cheddar cheese or potato soup with ham.
Cold Beer and bar food.
A really nice smoked Ham and Riesling. Trout. Corn on Cob.
South - Already covered by others here.
West - Steak or hamburgers.
California - healthy stuff or wine related dishes.
Florida - fresh seafood and citrus stuff. Key-lime pie. More Southern Stuff.
Texas - tex-mex, more beef
Ubiquitous - Chinese Buffet
American Indian Dishes - Indian Tacos on fry bread
Fried Anything! - snickers bars, french fries, catfish, twinkies
Good Luck Choosing! There's always Paula Deen recipes on Foodnetwork.com
Have Fun!
Mac and Cheese.
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