Post #1312809 · Elektrine

2026-02-17 21:21 UTC

It depends on how you define "uniquely created in the USA". [Frybread](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frybread) has a rich and complex history within the USA, and I would argue it's very much "uniquely created in the USA" but most variations have a pretty much identical recipe to hungarian lángos. Also a lot of USA food is very regional. Hawaii has a lot of unique foods, such as loco moco, spam musubi, etc. but would be unrecognizable to most USAians. Teriyaki dishes are technically Japanese, but the Pacific northwest has taken the concept and *run* with it to the point where it's now it's own unique creation. It also has cheese zombies, jojos, Seattle dog, huckleberry everything, etc. Southwest USA and Mexican have a lot of overlap but are also just as distinct with "Tex-mex" being it's own culinary thing. Puffy tacos, chili con queso, cornbread, cowboy caviar, nachos, etc. Midwest, Alaskan, southern, east-coast, Puerto Rican, etc. all also have their own unique culinary traditions at this point with lots of micro-regional distinctions within them. However, they aren't marketed, advertised or popularized in the same way that things like "Chinese food" is. Despite "American-Chinese food", like general Tsao, or orange chicken, being very much it's own genre that is unrecognizable as either traditional/old recipe USA or Chinese foods. To discover many of these things you can't just "tourism" through but have to actually try to know and understand the people and places. Conversely, it's not like Italian food stops being Italian due to its use of "new world" food stuffs like tomatoes, or pasta is any less "Italian" despite it just being Chinese noodles with a few changed ingredients. If you insist on playing that game you'll find *nothing* is unique.

Replies (1)

@ThirdConsul@lemmy.zip 2026-02-17 21:48

> spam musubi That's sushi with spam. I wouldn't call that unique because how similar it is to any other sushi, its just an ingredient replacement. Now if the spam was specifically seasoned or prepared then yeah, it'd be a unique snack. > Frybread is basically hungarian lángos And deep fried podpłomyk recipe is also very similar. > loco moco I can't find anything like it, or from similar ingredients, so I'd call it unique. They are similar dishes, but either with more than 1 ingredient removed, or lacking the complexity. > cheese zombies, jojos, Seattle dog, huckleberry everything, etc. Grilled cheese sandwich, potato wedges, hot dog with a different ingredient, huckleberry is an ingredient, not a dish. > Southwest USA and Mexican have a lot of overlap but are also just as distinct with “Tex-mex” being it’s own culinary thing. Puffy tacos, chili con queso, cornbread, cowboy caviar, nachos, etc. Igredient replacement, literally not a dish but a dip, Native American, a bean salad, nachos are Mexican. Tex-mex I think is mostly one ingredient replacement. Literally you had a lot of beef and cheese and that's how you made Mexican recipes. > Midwest, Alaskan, southern, east-coast, Puerto Rican Midwest and Alaskan, as well as east-coast, those three sound most promising. Can you maybe tell a bit more about them? Southern is likely to be European cuisine with one ingredient replacement, Puerto Rico is famously a territory of the USA, but not a state :-) > pasta is any less “Italian” despite it just being Chinese noodles with a few changed ingredients. Yeah, pasta is not a *unique* Italian dish. It was invented by so many cultures independently. Bolognese sauce on the other hand is, as I can't find any other similar dish that was invented independently from it. Do you see the distinction I'm looking for? Edit: you might wonder why then I count pumpkin pie as a unique - the main ingredient changed, and you often add caramel and pecan pies on top, making it significantly different than other pies.

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