One important characteristic of American cooking is the fusion of multiple ethnic or regional approaches into completely new cooking styles. The cuisine of the South, for example, has been heavily influenced by immigrants from Africa, France, and Mexico, among others. Asian cooking has played a particularly large role in American fusion cuisine.
Similarly, while some dishes considered typically American may have their origins in other countries, American cooks and chefs have substantially altered them over the years, to the degree that the dish as now enjoyed the world over may even be considered archetypically American. Hot dogs and hamburgers are both based on traditional German dishes, brought over to America by German immigrants to the United States, but in their modern, popular form they are so altered that they can be reasonably considered American dishes.
Given the United States’ large size it is not surprising that its cuisine is typified by distinct regional variations. The cuisine of the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, for example, makes use of fish and seafood to much greater degree than that of the Midwest, where corn and beef were long more readily available. To some degree, easy transportation of perishable foodstuffs has diminished these regional differences in recent years, but many Americans still associate certain foods with specific places, such as steak with Omaha; lobster with Maine; salmon with the Pacific Northwest; and crab and crabcake with Maryland.
American cooking has been widely exported beyond its borders. Tex-Mex, Creole, and barbecue restaurants can be found in cities all around the world, while fast-food burger bars and pizzerias are even more popular
When you have limited time to cook, you need all the help you can get. These quick meal tips can help make your quick meals even quicker!
Put 3 or 4 onions in a food processor at a time. Chop them all up, then store them in a covered container in the fridge. They can last a very long time. When you need chopped onion, it is all ready.
1 small onion = 1/4 cup (60 mL); 1 medium onion = 1/2 cup (125 mL)
Buy multiple sets of measuring spoons and measuring cups. When I am racing through a recipe, I don’t want to stop to rinse or wash a measuring cup. Having several sets lets me grab what I need and keep cooking. (It doesn’t take any longer to wash two cups than to wash one!)
If, like me, you often find yourself cooking with a toddler on one hip, invest in a set of flat-bottomed measuring spoons. You’ll be able to measure and add your ingredient using only one hand!
Discard the little lid with holes in it on your spice jars – at least for those spices that you usually need to measure. I find that the only spice I regularly want to sprinkle is paprika – for all the other spice jars in my drawer, the holey thing just got in the way and slowed me down.
To cut homemade pizza, use kitchen shears! (You can also use regular scissors.) This is much quicker and easier than cutting pizza with a knife. It results in a neater piece of pizza, and doesn’t leave scratches on your pizza pan!
When making mashed potatoes, don’t peel them! Choose thin-skinned potatoes, scrub them well, and just leave the skins on when you boil and mash as usual. You won’t lose the fiber and the nutrients that are in the skin and you’ll save lots of time. The mashed potatoes will taste just as wonderful as ever, and you’ll get used to the brown flecks!
If you insist on peeling your potatoes, get out a large colander. Put it on your work surface and peel the potatoes over it. You’ll be able to carry the colander of peelings to the compost pail or the garbage can without having to first scoop them out of the drainhole on the sink!
Do you have a great time-saving idea to share?