What's "Good Old American" Food?

"What is truly American food?" Tommy asked at dinner the other night, "food that has it's origin in the US?"  We made a few guesses and I turned to Google.  The guys would call out a food, and I'd look it up. We found out that there are many foods that did not originate in America, such as ice cream, french fries, carrot cake, soda and good old apple pie. (Hmmm?)

But here are a few things that actually call America their birthplace.

Breakfast Cereal -- In the late 1800s a number of people, including the Kellogg brothers and C.W. Post, wanted to find grain-based vegetarian breakfast alternatives to replace the pork and other heavy breakfast fare available.  More info here.

Potato Chips -- According to a website called Potato Chips!, Native American/African American chef George Crum, at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York on August 24, 1853 "was fed up with a customer — by some accounts Cornelius Vanderbilt — who continued to send his fried potatoes back, because they were too thick and soggy. Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they couldn't be eaten with a fork. Against Crum's expectation, the guest was ecstatic about the new chips. They became a regular item on the lodge's menu under the name 'Saratoga Chips.'"  The first commercial potato chip company was founded in 1910.  Click here for more info.

Ketchup -- Ketchup is a modification of Chinese ke-taisp, more like soy sauce.  It went through many iterations in the early days of our country, but when it became a tomato-based product it was quite different from condiments found elsewhere.  It was called Tomato Ketchup when the F & J Heinz Company began to sell it in 1876, but by the end of the century the word  "tomato" was dropped from the name.  More here.

Hamburgers and Hot Dogs -- Hamburger meat and hot dogs (frankfurters) were named for the German cities of their origin.  But Americans thought to put them on bread and turn them into meals!

Popcorn -- There may be nothing more American than popcorn.  The English who came to America in the 16the and 17th centuries learned about it from the Native Americans. Learn more here.  (According to our friend Ron, he and his wife were responsible for introducing popcorn to Australia in the early 1970s!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies -- The Food History website has a great story about the origin of chocolate chip cookies.  Ruth Wakefield, an inn-keeper, liked to make cookies for her guests.  In 1930 she decided to try making chocolate butter cookies, so she broke up a chocolate bar that Andrew Nestle had given her.  To her surprise, it didn't melt when it was baked, but she served it anyway. Check this out for more on this all-American treat.

I'd thought we might have introduced into international cuisine something with a little more substance than corn flakes and chocolate chip cookies!  Tommy thinks turkey may be native fare.  Could be!

We are a young country, populated by people from every nation of the world.  As such, it will likely take several hundred more years before any particular style emerges as truly American.  For now, there's always the hamburger.

My research was an after-dinner Google search. If you've got information on anything that is truly American, please let me know at threeminutestonine@gmail.com.