Tuesday, January 25, 2011

American Dining Overseas

Hamburger is a German word, French fries aren’t French, and pizza is clearly an American adaptation of an Italian dish.  In the modern world, it is very difficult to put identify a food with one particular culture.  However, if you go to a Chinese restaurant or a Mexican place, you can easily predict what is on the menu.  I have often thought about what an “American” restaurant would serve overseas.  When I’ve asked this to people, they don’t hesitate to name some fast food restaurant, or say “burgers and fries.”  Even before this assignment, I knew there was a deeper meaning to American food.  So, let’s say for a moment that I am opening up a chain of American restaurants throughout Europe.  What would be on the menu?
            First, I would serve a dish rich in tradition in America, turkey.  Turkey is associated with holiday feasts in the U.S. and seems to be quintessentially American.  We love roasted turkey, turkey and swiss sandwiches, and the comparatively healthy turkey burger.  Keeping with America’s love of poultry, I would also serve many fried chicken dishes.  Fried chicken is the heart of the cuisine in the southern states, which are some of the most patriotic in the nation.  One example of a fried chicken based dish is buffalo wings.  To me there is nothing more American than a fried chicken wing drenched in sauce so hot that it hurts.  It is a necessity that a good American restaurant overseas has wings and a wide variety of sauces.  Buffalo sauce was named after Buffalo, New York, a quintessential northern city, while fried chicken is a southern staple.  This makes buffalo wings an uniquely American dish that encompasses more than one region of the U.S.
            Due to the recent health food craze sweeping through America, another item that is imperative to include on an American restaurant’s menu is a variety of soups and salads.  There are a multitude of places in the states that boast a soup and salad combo.  Nearly every deli and even some fast food sandwich shops have this to offer.  The most American of soup and salad would be chicken noodle soup with a house salad with ranch dressing.  This would be a healthy alternative on an American menu.
            After eating a salad, a visitor to an American restaurant overseas can’t leave without treating themselves at least a little bit, after all the U.S. is the one of the most overweight nations in the world.  A dessert would have to be an option on an American restaurant’s menu.  And aside from the quintessential apple pie, the menu would also include pumpkin pie, another favorite of the United States.  Also, birthday traditions are very important in America.  Strange as it sounds, I would like to put homemade cake and vanilla ice cream on the dessert menu.  Nearly nowhere in America can you find this on a restaurant’s menu, yet cake and ice cream is a tradition deeply rooted in American culture. 

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

W2 Buckeye State Favorite

A toothache and a bunch of dentist bills would never have stopped me from going to my grandma Diehl’s house when I was growing up.  Yes, she would make turkey and chicken salad sandwiches, appetizers, and of course fruit salad and the like.  But the main culinary attraction when I visited my mom’s parents was without a doubt dessert.  Grandma made this dessert that was uniquely Ohio.  Her buckeyes were better than any store bought brands or anything one could find at a bakery.  First, she mixed peanut butter with some sort of cream, which gave it a fluffy, almost marshmallowey texture.  After these were done, she would melt chocolate in a pot on the stove, and proceed to dip the peanut butter morsels into the melted chocolate with a toothpick.
Here is where many go wrong when making buckeyes: they simply dip the peanut butter into the chocolate fondue, and pull it right back up and leave it to cool.  Grandma Diehl will hold the peanut butter ball in the chocolate for much longer, allowing a thicker layer of chocolate onto the outside.  Then she will leave them on a tray for an hour or so to let the chocolate harden.  No, the buckeyes are not perfect circles like the ones in stores, but they make up for it with sheer size and taste.  Grandma’s Ohio delicacies are about the size of a golf ball and taste like a chocolate and peanut butter match that gives Reese’s a run for its money.  No trip to southern Ohio to visit my Grandparents is complete without taking at least two tins of these buckeyes home with me.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

W1 North Coast Cuisine

If one asks someone from nearly anywhere in the country their first impressions of Ohio, he or she would almost always be filled with images of Midwestern culture, flat cornfields, rolling hills, and of course, prototypical “American” food.  The Midwest is the last place that is usually associated with food variety.  However, along the shores of Lake Erie lies a place that is filled with as many food cultures as there are people.  I decided to investigate Cleveland’s culinary culture as my first post on this blog.
            “The mistake by the lake” as outsiders so callously refer to the city is home to one of the largest Little Italy neighborhoods in the country.  Along the main road through the neighborhood lies several family owned Italian restaurants and bakeries.  A personal favorite of mine is Guarino’s.   The restaurant is filled with old Italian décor, several photos of the owner’s family, and the smell of homemade pasta salad and chicken parmesan.  Across the street lies Corbo’s Bakery, which is home to the single greatest cannoli that I have ever tasted, and no Little Italy trip is complete without it.
            Both the Polish neighborhoods and the Jewish neighborhoods of the east side also have their own cuisine and ethnic food cultures.  The African American food culture is also very prominent in Cleveland, and even received attention when Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel series No Reservations. Another aspect of Cleveland cuisine that differentiates it from the rest of Ohio is the seafood.  Fat Fish Blue, a Cajun style seafood restaurant located downtown has also been visited by prominent food critics and television hosts.
            Perhaps the most unique center of Cleveland food culture is East 4th Street.  The street is closed to traffic and is covered in brick and stone.  Each restaurant has a European style patio filled with people enjoying one of the many East 4th establishments.  Zocalo is home to an eighty dollar shot of tequila, and Lola is the work of famous chef, Michael Symon.  A trip down East 4th, I could easily be fooled into believing I was in downtown Paris or London, but walking a block or two in either direction quickly snaps me back to reality.
            I am by no means claiming that Cleveland’s food culture is any better or more important than that of the rest of Ohio.  I am simply attempting to show everybody the tip of the iceberg that is Cleveland area cuisine.  If you are lucky enough to visit the old rust belt town, make sure to pay special attention to the city’s unique food selections.