Nothing Beats American Dishes

America, the land of the free and home to over 300 million people. This is a place known for opportunity, skyscrapers, and diversity. Hundreds of years ago our ancestors came from all over to America in attempt to create a new life. With them came their tradition, food, and religion of the country they were raised, leading to one giant melting pot.

For a while it was separated; the Italians associated with only Italians, and the same was with the German, Irish, and English. When did it come to the point where we all became American? As time went on, cultures mixed joining people of different backgrounds and leading to a unified lifestyle, an American lifestyle. This I would say worked in our favor as some of the most mouth watering foods were introduced.

After traveling around Europe one thing was made certain, a meal is the size of a snack compared to an American meal. The American lifestyle prides itself around the bigger the food the better. Americans don’t go to a restaurant and expect their meal to be a piece of chicken the size of a silver dollar and 5 roasted potato wedges on the side. We want a huge juicy steak taking up the whole plate with a side of mountain high mashed potatoes, steaming corn on the cob, and a huge piece of warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Anything less, we are unsatisfied and anything more we enter a food coma which means “Roll me straight to bed after this meal!”

What exactly is American food? A prime example would be the All-American-Hamburger. It doesn’t get much more American than this with a side of French Fries as a meal. A typical hamburger is about a pound and a half of ground beef molded into a circle the size of a coaster, grilled until the juices run and it is still a little pink in the center, than placed in between two slices of a sesame seed bun. From here it is your preference to any toppings your heart desires; tomatoes, lettuce, grilled onions, bacon, ketchup, pickles, BBQ sauce, cheese, and anything else you can imagine. Everyone likes something different and in America, you have it your way!

I doubt in any other country most natives would find a half-pound burger to just not be enough. Around this country you can order Hamburgers weighing up to five pounds! Remember bigger is always better here.

Another absolute favorite American dish is a hot tender rack of Baby Back Ribs. Pork, from the ribcage of a pig, is smothered in barbeque sauce and smoked on the grill until they are falling off the bone. This dish is typically served with coleslaw and steaming baked beans. It is bit more money than your typical Hamburger but without-a-doubt worth every penny.I guess we need to thank our ancestors who came over so long ago with their food traditions. It allowed us to take meat that was originally used to make Italian meatballs and make it into a giant juicy hamburger. And nothing tastes better than taking a bite into a piece of meat that is just falling off the bone tender filling your mouth with so much flavor your taste buds go wild for more.

America has hands down the best dishes in the world but when a foreigner comes for a visit they better bring their appetite because in American, bigger is always better!