Several cultures are able to blend together in the United States. For many years, immigrants have come to America seeking a fresh start. Many became wealthy, started families, and made valuable contributions to American society. They brought their old houses’ traditions and customs with them wherever they traveled. For many people, this meant bringing their traditional cuisine and eating habits to the new place. And these cuisines have undoubtedly been adopted by Americans. We all enjoy food, after all!
The odd thing is that America isn’t only a melting pot for cultural exchange in the kitchen. It actually has a lengthy, distinctive gastronomic tradition of its own! Yes, the majority of us consider burgers, hot dogs, and chicken wings to be “American” foods. But, several well-known foods were also invented here.
1.Frozen Garlic Bread (Michigan)
Every Italian restaurant serves garlic bread. While Italian immigrants served as inspiration, the frozen variety is wholly American-made. In fact, the tale of how it came to be is an amazing example of American innovation! In the early 20th century, a large influx of Italian immigrants carried their eating customs with them. Several of them made their homes in urban areas like Philadelphia and New York. Foods grown in the Mediterranean region were scarce there. Consider olive oil as an example.
In sunny California, thousands of miles to the west, olives were being farmed. Farmers could find an Italian-like climate in the Golden State. Further west, there were many olive groves, wine grapes, fruits, and vegetables. But that climate wasn’t present in New York. Moreover, extra virgin olive oil was shipped west (from the ancient
2.Chimichangas (Arizona)
According to the legend, Monica Flin was employed as a waitress at Tucson, Arizona’s El Charro restaurant one day in 1922. She unintentionally put a burrito into a pot of hot oil in the kitchen. She hastily yanked the burrito out of the cooking oil believing she had made a mistake. She began cursing because she was angry with herself. But for some reason, she restrained herself from uttering the planned cuss word in Spanish, “chingada!” Instead, she turned it into the meaningless sound “chimichanga,” which was not a part of the language. She then came to the realization that the burrito didn’t actually seem that horrible as she took it out of the frying.
She allowed the fried dough to cool since she was curious about its flavor. She eventually took a bite.
3. Fortune Cookies (California)
Who doesn’t enjoy some luck along with their Chinese food? Chinese, of course! Not that they wouldn’t find the messages enjoyable. Fortune cookies, however, were not brought to the United States by the Chinese. Nope! They themselves were created by cunning American restaurateurs. There are several origin stories for fortune cookies. Two prominent people lay claim. They also shared a commonality: they were both employed in California in the early 20th century.
According to one legend, Japanese immigrant Suyeichi Okamura created the fortune cookie in a restaurant in San Francisco in 1906. Okamura asserted that the cookie was a modified version of a traditional Japanese dessert that contained a prayer slip. According to Okamura, he took that concept and ran with it in America.
