American Cuisine - by food author Howard Hillman

American Cuisine

American

An insightful guide

to American Cuisine

for diners and travelers

by an established authority

American Cuisine

has two facets

American Cuisine has a dull side (fast foods) and an exciting side (regional and ethnic cooking). My 10-page American Cuisine section focuses on the latter.

Famous regional

and ethnic cuisines

Click the buttons below to learn about these American Cuisine stars.

American Cuisine

Insights

Innovative - American Cuisine is the most innovative major cuisine on our planet. This is not because Americans cooks are naturally more creative than their counterparts abroad. They're not. A prime reason is American Cuisine is relatively new. It is not as encumbered by ironbound culinary rules as in, say, the French and Chinese Cuisines. The Americans have more freedom to experiment.

This has been particularly true with the regional Southwestern, Californian and Hawaiian Cuisines (click their buttons above for details).

Land of plenty - America has so much land suitable for farming that it could support twice its population.

Surplus land - The arable land that could be used for agriculture is not wasted. Much of it is used by the cattle industry (which requires extensive grazing land). This has allowed meat eating to become a significant factor in American Cuisine.

Production science - America has been a key pioneer in the scientific production of foodstuffs that has increased availability and lowered costs. Some methods have been adopted by other nations.

Poultry rearing is a good example of production science. Most of the chicken in this country are raised in indoor farm factories that spew forth less expensive poultry (though a mixed blessing because the meat is less flavorful).

Cost-efficiency methods have also been applied to grains, vegetables, and fruits. Advances in canning, freezing, transportation, and processing make it possible for Americans to eat almost any food grown anywhere in any season. This accessibility has added year-round variety (but it has also suppressed some of the rich traditions of the regional cuisines).

Learn about these

regional American cuisines

Click the 9 regional cuisine buttons:

Also learn

about these exciting

world cuisines