Top 10 Traditional American Foods - American Foods In Different Countries By Traditional Dishes

10 Traditional American Foods Hot dogs at the ballpark, chocolate chip cookies cooling on a stovetop, burgers on the 4th of July, food and quintessential American moments go hand in hand. Yet like many things in the U.S., American cuisine often came to the country from elsewhere, with German, British, Swedish, Italian, Polish, Irish, Dutch, French, and Caribbean influences all contributing to many foods we frequently consider our own. Others, like buffalo wings or a Reuben sandwich, are purely the product of American ingenuity. Here, 10 beloved favorites dishes. 1. Hot dogs. While Germans and Austrians disagree about who first invented the hot dog, mentions of sausages date back to Roman times, though it was German dachshund sausages that first caught the attention of the American public. The sausages were wildly popular at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where many say the invention of the hot dog bun occurred. 2. Apple pie. Perhaps the most iconic item on any All-American menu, apple pie first came to the U.S. by way of British, Swedish, and Dutch immigrants, where it was a staple of colonial diets for more than a century thanks to its cheap preparation. During World War II, apple pie became inextricably linked to American culture, and has since become a fixture of Americana. 3. Macaroni and cheese. The mouth-watering combination of pasta and cheese predates the founding of America by several hundred years, but Thomas Jefferson is widely credited with introducing the much-loved dish into American cuisine. After a trip through Italy, Jefferson brought a pasta maker and Parmesan cheese back to Virginia and famously served the dish at a state dinner in 1802. 4. Reuben's sandwich. Whether it was the creation of a man named Reuben Kulakowski in Nebraska, or originally dreamt up by the proprietors of Reuben's Delicatessen in New York City, the classic corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut sandwich is emblematic of 20th-century American cuisine, with Jewish, German, and Irish ingredients all making an appearance. 5. Chocolate chip cookies. The history of the chocolate chip cookie is one with an unimpeachably American history. Ruth Graves Wakefield, the owner of the now-famous Tull House Inn in Massachusetts, whipped up the first batch in 1938. Her recipe has graced the back of every bag of Nestle chocolate chips since the 1940s. 6. Buffalo chicken wings. One version of the story says Teresa Bellissimo came up with a buffalo wing as a way to make use of an accidental shipment of chicken wings, another says that it was a late-night snack prepared on the spot to satiate her son and his drinking buddies. Regardless, the origin of the buffalo wing is little disputed, and was first served in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in, where else, Buffalo, New York. 7. The hamburger. Though the name hamburger and the ingredients have strong German roots, the burger as we know it today was likely born in New York, when German immigrants combined the famous hamburger steak from their homeland with two slices of bread. The burger's popularity at Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exposition, the first official World's Fair in the U.S., soon made it a household name. 8. Biscuits and gravy. We can thank the British for the original biscuit, while sawmill gravy came about as a cheap, filling breakfast option in early American history. During the Revolutionary War, biscuits and gravy became a staple among the food's trapped colonies, and thus, an American favorite was born. 9. Clam chowder. Likely inspired by seafood stews in northern France and southwest England, clam chowder first landed in New England in the early 1700s. By the middle of the 18th century, recipes had begun to appear in newspapers in the colonies, and since then, variations from Manhattan to Seattle have become a part of American cuisine. 10. Barbecue ribs. Barbecuing is as old as this country, George Washington even made reference to a barbecue in Virginia in 1769. Whether you're partial to Memphis's wet ribs, Kansas City's hearty barbecue sauce, or the Carolinas' pork-only menus, barbecue in America has evolved from a basic form of cooking into a highly specialized, regional art.