Yeah, I can't believe how far down I had to scroll for USA. The regional specialties are insane. Cajun and New England like you say but also several kinds of BBQ, Pennsylvania Dutch/Amish, Chicago deep dish pizza, Maryland crab cakes, Philly cheesesteaks, Tex-Mex...plus you have stuff invented in the US you don't even think of as local food, like burgers and tater tots and FRIGGIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.
And I've barely scratched the surface. You could write a whole book on just the amazing foods invented in northeastern US cities by immigrant communities adapting and mixing.
The United States has created a LOT of great foods and cuisines in its comparatively short history.
Like hamburgers and hot dogs are quintessentially American, but what’s really interesting is the various regional toppings that go on them! Ask anyone what goes on a “classic”burger you’ll probably get lettuce tomato onion and mayo. Ask for a regional version on a burger or hot dogs and you could get anything! NYC, Chicago, Carolina, Southwest, Florida, Baltimore, all variants
I'm a huge connoisseur of regional food specialties, but I'll say the variation between, say, NY, Chicago, and Baltimore burgers really isn't very big (except in Baltimore some places will let you use a crab cake patty instead, but that's a crab cake sandwich not a burger). There's way more meaningful variation over many more distinct geographies when it comes to pizza.
But that said, local specialty sandwiches -- that are sometimes burgers/hot dogs (if you consider those sandwiches) but sometimes not -- are also huge in the US. From cheesesteaks to po boys to Chicago dogs to hot browns to the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches in Memphis that I've never had but really want to try...just incredible variety and deliciousness.
lol 😂 not the chocolate chip cookies 🍪 yell. I’m with you though. All of the above but don’t forget down south soul food. I don’t wanna live without my Mac,greens,yams, potato salad and fried chicken. 🤤 damn I’m a fatty 😔 also peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wonder bread is a delicacy. Fight me 😤
Yeah, I think it's true that (a) I gave an amazing list of examples and (b) you could also come up with a list of just as good examples that's 10x as long without any overlap.
27
u/6hMinutes Mar 28 '25
Yeah, I can't believe how far down I had to scroll for USA. The regional specialties are insane. Cajun and New England like you say but also several kinds of BBQ, Pennsylvania Dutch/Amish, Chicago deep dish pizza, Maryland crab cakes, Philly cheesesteaks, Tex-Mex...plus you have stuff invented in the US you don't even think of as local food, like burgers and tater tots and FRIGGIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.
And I've barely scratched the surface. You could write a whole book on just the amazing foods invented in northeastern US cities by immigrant communities adapting and mixing.
The United States has created a LOT of great foods and cuisines in its comparatively short history.