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There's nothing quite so American as gathering your friends and family to celebrate Independence Day with a classic cookout. We polled Eatocracy readers a while back, and nearly 38,000 votes later, it seems that the ultimate summer menu would consist of a burger (cooked medium and topped with cheese, lettuce and onions), potato salad, corn on the cob and watermelon, washed down with plenty of ice cold beer. Only in the U.S.A., right? Well, not quite. While those dishes may now be synonymous with American life, liberty and the pursuit of a really great picnic, like most of the citizens themselves, often their origins are elsewhere. While it took some American ingenuity to slap meat on some bread and render it a hand held sandwich, the concept of the patty itself was brought to the United States by German immigrants who had become fans of the Hamburg Steak. This cheap, chopped or roughly ground beef was mixed with fillers like breadcrumbs, suet and onions, bound with eggs and seasoned with nutmeg. The meat, often salted and smoked for preservation, was brought over to the United States by immigrants on the Hamburg America Line and became a popular menu item on New York City restaurants that catered to German sailors and European immigrants, hungry for the flavors of home. That beloved potato salad, too, was the provenance of primarily German immigrants who brought over the endless regional variations that became popular in the U.S. in the latter half of the 19th century. While Spanish explorers introduced spuds to Europe in the 16th century and a few French and British potato salad recipes can be found in the texts of that time (see Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery and Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cookbook), the German versions - characterized by warm dressings featuring a heavy vinegar bite - prevailed. It took good old fashioned American engineering to add mayonnaise to create the creamy, often egg-laden versions seen in delis and gracing picnic tables across this great land today. Corn on the cob - now, that's one for the home team. Sweet corn - the variant of maize or field corn with a particularly high sugar content, which we use for cob consumption - was cultivated by Native Americans in the 1700s and shared with European settlers around the 1770s. It's also extremely popular served as a Mexican street food called "elote." In this preparation, cobs are grilled or roasted and slathered in condiments like lime, mayonnaise, cheese and powdered chiles. Watermelon, ubiquitous at picnics from coast to coast, is believed to have originated in the Kalahari Desert of Africa. The melons were depicted in Egyptian heiroglyphics as far back as 5,000 years ago and were placed in the tombs of pharoahs to nourish them into the afterlife. Merchant ships brought the fruit to China by the 10th century, and that country remains the largest watermelon producer in the world. In his book "Southern food: at home, on the road, in history," food historian John Egerton writes of watermelon's introduction to the United States via African slaves, who also brought along okra, black-eyes peas, collard greens, yams and benne seed - also known as sesame. And finally, to round out the feast: beer. Oh hoppy, malty, happy-making beer. Civilization has been brewing and quaffing permutations of beer since at least 6000 B.C., and studies show that Apache, Pueblo, Navajo and Tarahumara tribes in Northern Mexico and Arizona were no slouches, themselves - brewing a weak, corn-based beer called tiswin at least 1000 years ago. Archaeologists also found evidence of fermented residue associated with beer production in 800 year old pots belonging to Pueblo tribes in what is now New Mexico. This contradicts previous assertions that the area had remained dry until the Spanish arrived in the 16th century with grapes and wine. And as for that apple pie? English, Dutch and Swedish recipes go back centuries, but it's believed that mock apple pie - made without apples - was invented by pioneers traveling out West in the mid-1800s. The ingenious travelers used similar spices to evoke the taste of the bounty they missed from back East. Now that's the flavor of good ol' American ingenuity. Results of the Picnic Poll Favorite Picnic Main Dish: Burgers 43% Beer 51% Favorite Hot Picnic Side Dish Corn on the cob 42.3% Favorite Cold Picnic Side Dish Potato salad 38% Favorite Burger Toppings Cheese 15.8% Favorite Level of Burger Doneness Medium 29.5% Favorite Picnic Dessert |
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Nope.
Love this read, Kat.
MRE
I live in Canada. Given that the VAST majority of food contamination, and related deaths, happen in the US, with VERY few happening in Canada, you should really be wishing that MORE of your food is foreign
Stats to back that up? I seem to recall some stuff happening in China a few times.
I mean, we bow to the humble Canadian cuisine....it must be hard to put gravy on french fries to create a national dish
Not so my dear countryman. Look no further than the CFIA recall list and compare to the FDA recall list and you will note that the two countries are neck and neck when it comes to recalls involving contamination, allergen mislabeling and other national embarrassments involving food. I work professionally in the food biz, and the the "mini me" perception the world has of Canada with regards to the US in this instance, it actually true. Same number of recalls (almost), but America does it BIG.
God Bless the USA
No matter where the food originated, it's all-American. What makes this country great is that we are truly a melting pot. All nationalities contribute to what makes this country the land of the free. Happy Fourth, no matter what you eat!
True, happy 4th of July and be proud of your day!
Just like those politically correct television commercials.
How am I rollin? Bacon wrapped Nathans hot dogs with home made Chilli on top
Throw one up to Canada, sounds THAT good! happy 4th!
One bacon wrapped chili special comin your way Isabel :)
A meal is not American unless it has at least 3000 calories.
A meal is not American unless it contains at least 3000 calories.
U r a turd.
....with an apparent trigger happy mouse button :P
Connecticut steamed cheeseburger ?
I live in Connecticut and this is the first time I've heard of one of these.
Oscar Myer stopped producing American Hot Dogs over a decade ago.
YOu can buy Turkey Dogs, Beef Franks, Chicken Franks or Mystery Meat Franks but American Hot DOgs were ALL PORK.
the hamburger was invented in Germany. here in Hamburg we just call it the "er".
My hamburger is from grass fed beef raised and slaughtered on my parents farm. The tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and onions in my pasta salad are from my garden as well as the corn on the cob and the wax beans. I'll make the hamburger buns myself. So I would say overall my meal is pretty American.
Why do we think of everything in terms of the original 13 colonies? The other territories, which are as American as the rest, were already eating potatoes introduced by Hispanics long before Germans came over. Add to that mayo which is a Spanish invention (from the island of Mahon: hence mahonesa in Spanish) or allioli if that suits you better and you have the perfect combination. Made in the Americas, and enjoyed by the whole world, potatoes with mayo are a sure winner.
As potatoes are native to South America, they weren't really introduced by the Hispanics, but by native South American/Mexicano people. Yes, to some areas in the east, they were re-introduced back from Europe, but.
Here is my favorite American meal.
1. Grilled GMO corn with cheese from antibiotic-laden and corn-fed cows.
2. A class of chilled Coke with High Fructose Corn Syrup.
3. Barbecue sauce with High Fructose Corn Syrup.
4. French fries cooked in GMO Canola oil.
Thanks to Monsanto, freedom means you dont have a choice and they are free to tell you what to eat and believe.
Billions of ears of corn ingested each year and yet no one has become ill. Imagine that. Something that is completey safe dispite the sky is falling alarmists. Science – what is it?
Let's keep it simple. BBQ taquitos, hot chile sauce with garlic, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and a side of avocado.
Lemonade ad libitum, please keep them coming..
I do not think there will be any space left for dessert.