An American Banquet

October 1, 2024 9:14 AM

CNN has put out a list of twenty great American dishes - a list that shows the surprising breadth of the food we eat that have become iconic in American cuisine. (SLCNN)

What makes the list transcend the usual sort is the thought put into the choices - while there are foods you would expect like barbecue and chili, you also have things like the Native staple frybread, regional classics like poke and gumbo, and immigrant dishes that became staples like spaghetti and meatballs and General Tso's chicken. The list even includes the humble peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which is one of those quintessential pieces of Americana alongside apple pie and chocolate chip cookies (both also on the list.)

posted by NoxAeternum (63 comments total)

This is a good list, and now I want Eggs Benedict.
posted by box at 9:16 AM on October 1 [6 favorites]

(So yeah, I saw this through LGM, but I agreed with the assessment that this is a good list that captures a lot of the aspects of what truly makes American cuisine.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:18 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

I think I could get any of these foods within a 20 minute walk of my downtown office, I feel pretty good about that!

I’m not going too, I brought lunch today.
posted by lepus at 9:22 AM on October 1

There's lots of foods not on that list that could be argued for, but in general - that's a pretty solid list and I would eat anything on it in a heartbeat.

Wonder if the wife would be ok with me switching dinner tonight to Shrimp grits.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:27 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

The list:

Barbecue
Fried okra
Cobb salad
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Fry bread
Red beans and rice
Hamburger
Apple pie
Poke
Chili
Clam chowder
General Tso’s chicken
Reuben sandwich
Grits
Chocolate chip cookie
Gumbo
Mission burrito
Banana pudding
Spaghetti and meatballs
Eggs Benedict
posted by AlSweigart at 9:27 AM on October 1 [17 favorites]

Dangerous monkey's paw moment of wishing I had some fried okra right now. The convenience store grill used to do fried okra but it wasn't a big seller and they dropped it. Now, that was not perhaps the very finest in fried okra, but fried okra is like pizza in that it has to be really darn bad before I will not want to eat it.
posted by Frowner at 9:33 AM on October 1 [3 favorites]

I also want fried okra. It's one of the few things I miss about growing up in North Carolina.
posted by humbug at 9:44 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Same here. Fried okra is hard to find in California (at least the LA area). Every time I go back to Oklahoma I make sure to fill up on fried okra, chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. Not exactly a healthy diet but that's my comfort food.
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:47 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

The only possibly-notable omission on this list might be the French Dip sandwich, invented in Los Angeles at either Cole's or Phillippe's.
posted by tclark at 9:49 AM on October 1 [12 favorites]

Very pleased to discover recently that one of the vendors in the Orlando airport now stocks peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (actually strawberry jam)! Even at $9.99. :|
Pickins are generally slim for foods without animal products.
posted by Glinn at 9:50 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

It does strike me that these dishes are mostly extremely meaty and basically none except the okra are vegetable-centric. Do we have vegetable dishes that could go on a list like this?

If it's not purely a popularity contest, I think at least some potato dishes and some American vegetarian and vegan dishes could go on a list of notable American recipes - they might not be as popular as hamburgers but surely some corn dishes and more bean-forward bean dishes would fill the bill?
posted by Frowner at 9:54 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Nava Atlas's Great American Vegetarian cookbook (earlier edition was titled American Harvest) has plenty of things that could appear on such a list. Off the top of my head:

* Anadama bread (which is tasty as all getout, one of my favorite breads to make at home)
* Harvard beets
* Shoofly pie
* Succotash (also excellent)
posted by humbug at 10:06 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Introduced my European wife to PB&Js and her response was basically "OMG! Where have you been all my life?" The same is true really of anything on The Gumbo Pages or in Southern Living.
posted by vacapinta at 10:07 AM on October 1 [3 favorites]

I think corn is the most American ingredient, so would have had more than one corn-based food on the list, or perhaps have replaced grits with cornbread, which is more common outside of the South.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:09 AM on October 1 [9 favorites]

My personal thought was that succotash was missing and cornbread deserved more than a sidenote in the chili entry, but I'd be hard-pressed to argue what they should replace.

Potato dishes might be a little tricky because disentangling what originated in the USA vs South America or Europe seems like it could be challenging.
posted by EvaDestruction at 10:13 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

replaced grits with cornbread, which is more common outside of the South

oh you're asking for an argument

but apart from that this list doesn't look like it's supposed to be dishes that are common all over the country
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:13 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

On one hand, I would argue that a carnivore diet is representative of typical American cuisine, despite wishes for it to be different. American cuisine is still much closer to German and English cookery with its emphasis on meat and potatoes than, say, Indian or Thai cooking.

On the other hand vegetarian dishes that are distinctly American that do deserve some mention/honor

1. Caesar salad (though also arguably the most under-the-radar Mexican dish imaginable. Invented in Baja but popularized in the US, and yes, canonically should include anchovies, but my experience is that 75% of the Caesars that I've eaten have omitted the anchovy.)

2. Avocado toast

3. Succotash

4. Cream of Wheat

5. Green bean casserole (and generally cream of mushroom soup as America's answer to bechamel)
posted by bl1nk at 10:14 AM on October 1 [6 favorites]

I know it's just a listicle, but it pains me to see barbecue and not see collard greens, cole slaw, mac and cheese, or potato salad.
posted by credulous at 10:22 AM on October 1 [6 favorites]

I know it's just a listicle, but it pains me to see barbecue and not see collard greens, cole slaw, mac and cheese, or potato salad.

Or ambrosia salad.
posted by fuse theorem at 10:44 AM on October 1

Rolls: lobster, California, Parker House.
posted by box at 10:45 AM on October 1 [3 favorites]

I'd add to the list:
Brownies
Deviled eggs
Nashville hot chicken sandwich
Tater tots
Loaded baked potatoes
posted by emelenjr at 10:51 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

I contend that nothing is more American than Mexican-style French Bread Pizza.
posted by SPrintF at 10:59 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

(ctrl-f) "grape salad"
0 results

Ok CNN, you win this one.
posted by Sphinx at 11:01 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

It does strike me that these dishes are mostly extremely meaty and basically none except the okra are vegetable-centric.

That’s part of what makes it so American! Slightly more seriously, within any cuisine is the social, material, and economic conditions of the culture that produced it—and for the case of America that involves massive subsidies to the meat industry and regulatory capture by same to facilitate cheap, abundant meat, and cultural scorn on those who don’t partake.

I’ve had a colleague who’d moved to the US and was flabbergasted that meat is cheaper than vegetables. This had never really occurred to me before but it really shouldn’t be.
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:03 AM on October 1 [3 favorites]

Caesar salad is American. Sure, it was invented in Tijuana, but it was invented at a restaurant that catered to Americans, during Prohibition, on the fourth of July.

And if we're talking about foods that were invented on or near the border to feed a bunch of hungry Americans, we can't forget nachos.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:13 AM on October 1 [3 favorites]

And fajitas.
posted by box at 11:15 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

#1 should have been "Fried"
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:28 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

If we want to talk about non-meat American recipes (or at least those that can be made without meat...)

Nachoes, which despite the Times headline are definitely a Tex-Mex dish.

Grape-Nut pudding, which tastes exactly like Durgin-Park to me.

Hush Puppies, surprised it didn't make the CNN list.

And then stuff like poke sallet, wild rice, potato chips, ice cream cones... I'd throw in pizza and greek salad, too, because our versions are very distinct from their "ancestor" dishes.
posted by Playdoughnails at 11:36 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]

They almost even understood fried okra. But then that picture... oy, no.
posted by atbash at 12:09 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Having been born and grown up in Louisiana, I’m super pleased that both gumbo and red beans and rice (my favorite meal) is on the list.

Living in Cincinnati for the last thirty years years, let me say that the fact that Skyline even got mentioned is an embarrassment.
posted by MrGuilt at 12:12 PM on October 1

It does strike me that these dishes are mostly extremely meaty and basically none except the okra are vegetable-centric.

They did include grits (shrimp or other meats totally optional, and despite the photo they even said so) and chocolate chip cookies.

But, on a very different hand, they also included a photo of "gumbo" that's primarily red, and has a pile of like 15-count shrimp and whole crab legs in it, which... maybe there's some place where that's considered gumbo, but not at my house.
posted by atbash at 12:17 PM on October 1 [3 favorites]

Skyline/Cincinnati Chilli is pretty distinctive. Before moving to Cincinnati, I had never heard of it. Other things that Cincinnati claim like goetta have close analogues in other part of the country.
posted by mmascolino at 12:21 PM on October 1

I was hoping for something more like an insider's guide to American cuisine. Everyone knows about chili or burritos, but lovers of Southwestern/Mexican cuisine love chili rellenos.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:23 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

As an outsider, my immediate thought would to replace the apple pie with something more distinctively American. Pecan pie, or pumpkin pie, or peach cobbler or something.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:43 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

I think corn is the most American ingredient, so would have had more than one corn-based food on the list

Well notwithstanding that three Cajun / Creole inclusions might have seemed one too many (to some at least), I think Maque choux would have been a delightful vegetarian inclusion. After all, what could be more appropriate than a corn-centric amalgam of Creole and Native American cultural influences - even the name is presumed to derive from the French interpretation of the Native American name.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 12:44 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

Red Beans and Rice can easily be made vegan. I get the addition of andouille, especially if you want it to be an entire meal, but I always preferred cooking with ham hocks, because a) it’s really cheap, b) it’s almost a by-product, and c) you cannot pretend you aren’t cooking an animal — it’s a humble dish, and, like many humble things, very in-your-face.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:50 PM on October 1

There are few things I love to cook and eat more than gumbo. Alas, my wife is allergic to a couple of the standard ingredients and I don't want to make it without them or make it just for myself. It's hard to find in restaurants here in Western NY but always a treat when I find one that has it.
posted by tommasz at 12:53 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Maybe an entry for the entire cobbler family — cobblers, crumbles, grunts, etc. Again, relatively humble dishes that can be fancied up significantly should you so choose.

I’m not sure banana pudding is wide-spread enough to hold a spot…
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:56 PM on October 1 [5 favorites]

Agreed it needs more corn. We eat a LOT of corn.

And yes, now I am hungry
posted by Windopaene at 1:06 PM on October 1

But not more corn syrup.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:10 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

It wouldn't be a metafilter post without grumbling so I'm here to say that they're right* about poke, but the poke bowl pictured is an absolute monstrosity. An abomination, even.

(*except they're not because poke is Hawaiian it is not American)
posted by deadbilly at 1:14 PM on October 1

Australian with a lot of family in America here. It’s a pretty solid list but the omission of Chicago-style deep dish pizza is bizarre.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 1:15 PM on October 1

Isn't cold cereal with milk pretty American? The Swiss love their Muesli but I thought nobody else has the whole supermarket aisles of breakfast cereal boxes like you see in North America.

OTOH I can't stomach the nomination of succatash I see upthread - its just a mix of two cooked vegetables with a funny name which barely qualifies as a 'dish' IMO. Is it even served anywhere outside of school cafeterias?

And yes - Cobbler!
posted by Rash at 1:16 PM on October 1

Are we saying Caesar salad is vegetarian? Because it most certainly is not, if it's made correctly. Anchovies are, well, fish.
posted by cooker girl at 1:21 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

pb&j is prison food and I will not be dissuaded
posted by dame at 1:23 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Even if no anchovies, there is almost always worcestershire sauce which has fish in it.
posted by Carillon at 1:23 PM on October 1 [4 favorites]

As an outsider, my immediate thought would to replace the apple pie with something more distinctively American

As the well known saying goes, American as… something more distinctively American.
posted by zamboni at 1:33 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

Succotash has been done dirty by industrial production. Historically it was a seasonal stew of fresh or dried corn and beans with whatever else might be available. While it's often vegetarian today, it doesn't have to be, and it definitely doesn't have to be withered lima beans and sad corn.
posted by EvaDestruction at 1:44 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

Also, if you’re making succotash, fresh or frozen ingredients (or freshly cooked from dried beans) really makes the dish shine. Like a lot of things, it’s a simple dish, so getting the best ingredients you can and treating them with respect goes a long way.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:48 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Same here. Fried okra is hard to find in California (at least the LA area).

We have it though! Gus's in Mid City has it, Harold & Belle's in South LA, Bludso's in Hollywood, Dulan's in Inglewood, have seen it at various other soul food places over the years. We have it!
posted by kensington314 at 1:56 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

Hoppin John or Succotash would have been highly appropriate. Apparently, they culled to their limit as opposed to padded. Thus showing the shortcomings of an arbitrarily limited list.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 2:08 PM on October 1

Succotash has been done dirty by industrial production.

I do have it on good authority that succotash has suffered greatly.
posted by zamboni at 2:12 PM on October 1 [9 favorites]

pb&j is prison food

That's a weird way to spell "elite athlete food".
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:22 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]

I do have it on good authority that succotash has suffered greatly.

It's ACKTUSHALLY not the succotash that has suffered. It's the cat that takes the beatings.

I only recently learned succotash was a real food an not just a Looney Tunes curse word. I'm really enjoying these coy illusions to the cartoons.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:27 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

It’s a pretty solid list but the omission of Chicago-style deep dish pizza is bizarre.

depending on how much violence any of us feel like choosing, we could even say all pizza with red sauce is actually American. (Alberto Grandi previously)

I do also like how the CNN list does want to go there with regards to General Tso's Chicken and Spaghetti and Meatballs, so we should also add for the subgenre of hyphenated immigrant cuisine:

• fortune cookies
• garlic bread
• Chinese chicken salad
• rooster sauce (as distinguished from Thai Sriracha)

and on a slight derail this thread may also be interested in second order mutations -- international food based on American imports.

• Filipino Spaghetti (spaghetti noodles + American cheese + vienna sausage)
• French taco (arguably if a Mission burrito and doner kebab went on a date)
• Hawaiian pizza (invented in Ontario, Canada!)

posted by bl1nk at 2:39 PM on October 1

Okra: Never had fried TBH, but it is just so slimey in other forms I have had...
And I have always considered succotash to be related to Hominy, which, lye, no thanks, but I see that I have always been wrong on that.

I think an Oscar Meyer bologna sandwish on Wonder bread with mayo should be on here, but certainly not "great american dishes".
posted by Windopaene at 2:52 PM on October 1

this thread may also be interested in second order mutations -- international food based on American imports.

I recently learned about the Japanese/TexMex mashup of Okinawa Taco Rice
posted by knobknosher at 2:55 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

I really liked this list. The one thing that felt like it might be missing is the hot dog (or perhaps the corn dog).
posted by knobknosher at 2:56 PM on October 1

I love cajun food like gumbo and etouffee. I often make okra and tomatos, usually okra, tomato paste, celery, filé powder (sassafras), bay leaf, garlic, salt, pepper, maybe thyme, maybe onions, so basically a vegeterian gumbo.

Also, okra stops being slimy if you cook it long enough, Windopaene, so one typically cooks it a while before adding anything else. I've head viniger removes the mucilage too, but really you want that thickening effect.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:04 PM on October 1

Surprisingly solid list. As a Floridian I will say I feel like key lime pie or Cubano sandwiches could have made that list. Maybe even a grouper sandwich.

Another weirdo food hybrid that is good as hell and a great example of the kinds of wonderful nonsense American cuisine does well is the delta tamale.
posted by saladin at 3:34 PM on October 1 [1 favorite]

I only recently learned succotash was a real food an not just a Looney Tunes curse word. I'm really enjoying these coy illusions to the cartoons.
posted by The_Vegetables

I expected better from you, The_Vegetables! It’s vegetables!
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:25 PM on October 1

pb&j is prison food and I will not be dissuaded

Fluffernutter is the choice of refined, if sticky, palates
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:26 PM on October 1

Even though I strongly dislike okra (I just can’t get past the texture, so I just eat around it because it does add nice flavor), this is an excellent list. Especially the inclusion of PB&J and the Mission Burrito. A Mission Burrito is a divine thing that deserves recognition.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:47 PM on October 1