Which dish in the US can think of that best represents the American melting pot?

46 comments

  1. Springfield cashew chicken. Immigrant family’s recipes shape and are shaped by local tastes, in a mid-sized city a million miles from nowhere, and it becomes the region’s signature dish.

  2. Philly roll. A Japanese chef named Ai Saito (who trained as a sushi chef when women
    weren’t even allowed to) moved to Philadelphia when sushi was not something most Americans had ever tried and wanted to come up with a roll that didn’t have raw fish to help introduce the concept to more people. She came up with a smoked salmon and cream cheese roll at the suggestion of a Jewish customer. Then the roll spread and got exported from the US, and now you can get it all over the world including in Japan. Doesn’t get much more American than that.

  4. Casserole.

    There’s so many varieties that any culture can claim a piece. Is lasagna a casserole? What about tater tots and green beans with cream of X? It’s all casserole!

  5. Shrimp Gumbo, jambalaya, literally anything Cajun! One: because it’s so good. Two: it has a lot of Creole and southern influences.

  6. The Big Mac. There is a McDonald’s in the middle of downtown, in the fanciest suburb, in the heart of the hood, and out in the middle of the sticks. *Everyone* has had McDonald’s and we all refuse to admit we like it even though I’ve literally never seen one go out of business.

  10. I think a lot of the food you would find in Louisiana is a good representation. New Orleans was a mix of Italian, French, Spanish, German, Sudanese, Congolese, Ethiopian, a couple of other African cultures I can’t think of as well as multiple Caribbean islands and that was had a massive influence on the culture and foods of the city. Now couple that with the cajun influence down there and you have some wild meals! Mufalata’s, Jambalaya, beignets (which are just rectangular Zeppole’s), Etouffee, gumbo, I could go on and on. Just an absolute melting pot of cultures, multiple influences from Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean.

    TLDR: My answer is the entire city of New Orleans

  12. Sandwich. Bread/ pita/ taco – they’re all sandwiches and it seems every culture has a handheld /eat it on the go food item.

  13. The Texas Wiener! A Greek immigrant in NJ took a German frankfurter, fried it and topped it with a chili sauce with Greek and middle eastern influences and named it after TX, a state he’d never been to (because chili = TX cattle drive camp cookouts according to 1920s pop culture)

  15. Chili. There’s a ton of different types from different regions, but they’re all delicious and they’re all American.

  16. Lol well if anything says “American melting pot” it would be an old man eating a microwave dinner watching Foxnews while screaming about immigrants.

    But… I’m pretty sure salsa passed up ketchup as America’s #1 condiment a decade ago.

  17. Cioppino. While not as iconic as most of the others mentioned this dish might be the tastiest. Friggin spectacular

  20. Korean tacos, one of the better things to come out of the food truck era, work pretty darn well

  21. Everyone’s had spaghetti and meatballs at this point but prior to WWII it wasn’t very popular outside the Northeast but once the soldiers came back from Europe with a taste of exotic foods, this was a popular choice.

  22. There are far too many to just pick one. I’m a big fan of Korean-Mexican fusion though. Korean BBQ burritos fuckin rip dude.

  26. The hot dog. Everyone gets their own customizable sausage that’s often significantly influenced by upbringing and area.

  28. Fajitas

    1. English cheddar
    2. Asian lemons or limes and soy sauce in the marinade
    3. New world corn tortillas and peppers
    4. Old world onions, cilantro, cumin, black pepper
    5. Chicken from SE Asian or beef or pork from ? Old world.
    6. Sour creme from old world bovine

    Except for the corn in the tortillas, there’s nothing native to the US.

  32. Probably the burger. You can make it a million ways but it’s still a burger.

  35. Bulgogi chimichangas. American style Mexican food stuffed with delicious marinated Korean goodness.

  36. Gumbo or Jambalaya. It’s French, Spanish, Haitian and Native American in it’s roots and it is perfect.

  40. Pizza. No matter what spices, sauces, meat/veggies are popular elsewhere you can pretty much be guaranteed a good meal if you throw it all on a pizza.

  41. Definitely Jambalaya or Gumbo it literally has pieces of French, African, Spanish, Native American in the food lol

  42. Maybe chili? Probably not, but I feel like I’ve had hundreds of iterations that are all completely different, and it’s popular all over the country.

    Hmm… Hot dogs with different toppings per region? Same with pizza.

    Idk.

  45. I don’t think my suggestion is a top contender but –

    Reuben: a sandwich invented by Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian Jewish grocer, of corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese with 1000 island dressing on Russian rye at a poker game in a hotel owned by a German.

    Definitely could have fit more nationalities and origins in there as this is very Euro-centric, but an interesting mix.

  46. Gumbo. It is literally a melting pot of cultural inputs from West Africa, France, Native American food, and ingredients from Southern America

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