What would you serve in your AMERICAN Restaurant

@engineer,

Quote:

I've seen "American" restaurants overseas. They generally look like a Friday's.

Yeah, and they serve fajitas. For real - they do.

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@OmSigDAVID,

Dadpad asked:

Quote:

What would be on the menu of your American resteraunt.

I would choose to display the REAL America which is a conglomeration of various cultures in MY American restaurant.

Quote:

We decided to live our lives in freedom by strangling the domestic powers of government;
we did not decide to rip off the intellectual property rights
of other countries by inflicting an American plagiarism upon them.

I wouldn't call it ripping off or plagiarizing - I would call it honoring and celebrating the wonderful mix of cultures -through food- that our country embodies.
We grow and produce all the ingredients for every dish I listed. People in America eat these foods everywhere every day.

Quote:

If u allege that lasagna is AMERICAN food, u may well
have very irate, indignant Italians holding u to account
for plagiarism. Do u tolerate plagiarism in your students ?
What do u tell them about intellectual honesty ?

I would give proper credit. I would tell them that I got my lasagne recipe from my Italian American friend and I got my matzoh ball soup and latke recipes from my American friend who is Jewish from Brooklyn for god's sake, and I got my stuffed cabbage recipe from my Polish friend, and I got my enchilada recipe from my Texan mother, etc., etc.

Because the other way a whole huge segment of Americans are left out. They're not represented. I'd rather all Americans are represented in my American restaurant.

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@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

Germans, at least generally, are still apprehensive about going to Jewish restaurants because of Holocaust guilt.

I didn't imagine that guilt would be anywhere near that powerful, interesting.

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@Robert Gentel,

Yes it's still there - doesn't stop me though from going to DZ Aken's Jewish
deli - great food!!

One of the most intriguing German writers of native American culture was
Karl May. He never visited the United States but his books are treasures to
read and almost every German kid and teenager has read them.

Thus, my American restaurant would serve native American food. Blue corn, squash, beans, Indian fry bread, bison, salmon, trout - something along these lines, and the interior would be tepee style, everyone entering the restaurant gets a feather headdress and moccasins.

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I admit I like corn somewhat less lately, it all seems too damned sweet above the corn flavor. Hybrided to sugar tharn..

Look for white or Mexican corn. It's flavor is a lot lighter than sweet (yellow) corn. That's what's served around here on the cob, or more often nowadays, in a cup with butter, chile sauce, white cheese and lime juice.

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@Robert Gentel,

Robert Gentel wrote:

Thomas wrote:
Germans, at least generally, are still apprehensive about going to Jewish restaurants because of Holocaust guilt.

I didn't imagine that guilt would be anywhere near that powerful, interesting.

I thought it was odd, when in the 1990s, a German naturalized American attended my fine dining group in NY.
He said that he had been an officer in the US Army retired after 20 years.
He certainly did not appear to be anywhere near old enuf
to have been active as an adult during the 1940s.
He spoke perfect English; no accent. He did not appear foreign in any degree.

Spontaneously, very unexpectedly, he made a short speech
saying that he was relieved that he was accepted in the group
by the Jews; that their resentment of him woud permit that.

When people arrive for dinner in my group, we do NOT
hold a trial to decide whether any newcomer will be accepted.
Nomally, we are seated by the maître d’ we chat informally,
ofen discussing current Mensa business, if something is up
and we call for the menu. We have no induction ceremony
at which anyone 's nationality is considered.

He believed that there was a chance the Jews woud resent him.
I 've never seen that happen in the over 30 years that I 've been in Mensa.

Apparently, his presentation found its origin in German racial guilt.

David

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Thanks for your replies, all!

OK - new question - whaat the hell are "home fries""?

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wow all good stuff. Except for davids belabouring on a point. If aiden is the owner she can havewhat ever she wants, as customer she can ask for anything she thinks fits the bill. If i'm the owner and 20 people came in and ask for Jewish and Italian dishes I'd put it on the menu. Remember its a menu we can have a variety of stuff and i wil need to change the menu every so often.
Origin branding is becoming something of a phenomenon around the world at present. We cant market wine as cab sav anymore as this brand and style of wine belongs to that region of france. we can however make a wine that is similar in style and grape content but call it something else.

Quote:

"I've seen "American" restaurants overseas. They generally look like a Friday's."

I'll assume that's the name of a chain of stores rather than how someting looks on a particular day of the week.

I think the canadians would be up in arms if i served Tim Hortons as American coffee . At least thats the impression i got from some canadian girls.

Some foods like tamale and lasagne may well be subsumed into a culture eaten very day by everyone but they still remain essentially part of the original culture.
Some foods are slightly or substantially changed in their style or ingredients or presentation and could be considered for an American restaurant, or at least for a themed night.

Prior to this thread If i was to stick strictly to what i know as "American" It would be
Donuts and coffee with a side of poptarts for breakfast
Macdonalds or at least some kind of hamburger for lunch with fries.
For Dinner Fried chicken (but only if your not black) then twinkies. or as an alternative some of moms apple pie

OMG no-one mentioned twinkies.

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@margo,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_fries

Home fries usually accompany breakfast.

http://www.bfeedme.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/oven-home-fries-recipe-11-13-2006.jpg

http://www.bfeedme.com/oven-home-fries-with-peppers-onion-recipe/

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What home fries are can vary from restaurant to restaurant. Some have chunks of potato fried as in the image above. Some serve diced, fried potatoes. Some serve sliced, fried potatoes. The commonality is that it is fried potatoes, and often, but not invariably, fried with onions. The idea is that this is how people fry their potatoes at home, and i'd say they're not far wrong in that. Personally, though, i prefer hash brown potatoes, which are usually assumed to be shredded, fried potatoes.

http://thediningdiva.typepad.com/the_dining_diva/images/perrys_hash_browns_biscuit.jpg

Hash browns are also sold in patties, and in the United States, that is what is served at fast food joints such as MacDonalds. I'll eat those, at a pinch, but i prefer the real hash browns. If the place i'm eating at does them well, i can make my breakfast of hash browns and a side of bacon or sausage.

1 Reply

@Setanta,

the best hash-browns are made from shredded leftover baked potatoes, imho...

cows make patties as well, but I don't eat those either.

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@dadpad,

Quote:

I'll assume that's the name of a chain of stores rather than how someting looks on a particular day of the week.

TGI Friday's is a chain of overpriced restaurant/cum bar establishments with crap food, but predictable crap food, so you know what you're getting wherever you find one. I've eaten at a Friday's once, and that will remain true for the rest of my life.

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@dadpad,

dadpad wrote:

Donuts and coffee with a side of poptarts for breakfast

Most of the Americans I know only do the donuts occasionally. Like when some guy decides to buy everyone in the office a donut. That usually happened every few weeks. I think poptarts is much more of a kids food, but I think coffee is right. I think the stereotypical adult breakfast in my age group is a trip to Starbucks (very possibly a drive-through trip) for a caffeine fix and some kind of pastry (muffin etc) or something from a fast food breakfast menu (e.g. breakfast burritos) if they are actually going to eat before work.

Quote:

Macdonalds or at least some kind of hamburger for lunch with fries.

With people my age it was hugely varied. Near office areas there were huge "food courts" with a large variety of eats, or we'd rotate between our favorite restaurants (Mexican, Thai, Indian etc). Eating burgers every day for lunch makes me think of the blue-collar workers (e.g. construction) that Burger King tends to use in their ads but most American folk I know share one common food trait: they don't like to eat the same thing every day.

Among our eating group we'd probably eat at a burger place less than once a week. There is just way too much good stuff to eat (we'd even joke about making a database to store them so that we could make the decisions easier). Every day where to go to lunch was the most debated decision.

Quote:

OMG no-one mentioned twinkies.

Most Americans talk about Twinkies more than they eat them. It's like the arch typical junk food that they joke about (the jokes revolve around how unorganic/unhealthy they seem).

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Yeah, if you don't make them that way, it's a good idea to cook them in a steamer before you fry them.

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For a good doughnut stereotype, think eastern Canada. Those folks are doughnut crazy. Tim Horton's, before it became all fancy and frou-frou with the soup and salad lunches, etc., was just your basic doughnut chain. Country Style and Coffee Time are the other big doughnut chain stores in Ontario. Country Style competes on the Tim Horton's level, with fancy breakfast sandwiches and sandwiches, soups and salad at lunch time. Coffee Time is your basic doughnut store, with some pre-packaged sandwiches and sausage rolls and patties. Patties are a West Indian thing, a kind of pastry (what Americans would recognize as a turn over) filled with spicy meat. There are two Coffee Time stores within five minutes walk of the house here.

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@aidan,

David wrote:

If u allege that lasagna is AMERICAN food, u may well
have very irate, indignant Italians holding u to account
for plagiarism. Do u tolerate plagiarism in your students ?
What do u tell them about intellectual honesty ?

aidan wrote:

I would give proper credit.
I would tell them that I got my lasagne recipe from my Italian American friend and I got my matzoh ball soup and latke recipes from my American friend who is Jewish from Brooklyn for god's sake, and I got my stuffed cabbage recipe from my Polish friend, and I got my enchilada recipe from my Texan mother, etc., etc.

Because the other way a whole huge segment of Americans are left out. They're not represented. I'd rather all Americans are represented in my American restaurant.

THAT's the critical consideration. U can freely OFFER them the food,
but DON 'T claim that it is AMERICAN, when it was
invented elsewhere. Honesty compels u to identify lasagna on your
menu as Italian food when u offer it (or say nothing at all,
but don 't claim that it is American).

Its the same as if I open "David's Emporium of American Literature"
I can include the writings of George Washington, James Madison,
Patrick Henry, Ben Franklin, Sam Clemens a/k/a "Mark Twain",
but NOT Arthur Conan Doyle, nor Leo Tolstoy, however fine and popular and enriching
their works might be for Americans, because thay were NOT American authors
and it is very rong to fake it. It disgraces your honor.
For all time FOREVER, it will remain
English Literature and Russian Literature.

If I open a Gallery of American Art,
I can well include the work of Currier & Ives,
but NOT the work of Claude Monet, nor the statue of ME by Michelangelo.

ALL art, including the culinary art, must be truthfully attributed.

If there is any distinction in principle between honest, accurate
attribution of foreign food and foreign literature, Rebecca,
I hope that u will enlighten me as to what it is.

David

1 Reply

@Robert Gentel,

Robert Gentel wrote:

Most Americans talk about Twinkies more than they eat them.
It's like the arch typical junk food that they joke about
(the jokes revolve around how unorganic/unhealthy they seem).

I used to eat them in the 1950s.
I never met a Twinkie I didn 't like.

David

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fascinating insights here.

Seems that carbohydrates, with other carbohydrates, are rather popular?

Not too many vegetable (other than potato) suggestions. Smile

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@margo,

most vegetables were invented before america, miss margo...

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Rockhead wrote:

most vegetables were invented before america, miss margo...

Is that any breason to avoid them (almost) entirely??

2 Replies

What would you serve in your AMERICAN Restaurant

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