American Food Part I: French Pasta?

I have become intrigued of late at the state of American food and culture . In a time when patriotism is reaching nationalistic levels, no one seems to be embracing the food as a solid player in the vast quilt that is American culture. There is a very real rennaisance happening in food of the Americas lately, yet the food media seems to dismiss American food as nothing more than kitsch and comfort. Very few chefs are being acknowledged for presenting Americana in fine form.

Out here in California, a lot of the fine American eateries are labeled with oh-so-trendy label 'California-French.' Having taken an interest in geography recently, it has come to my attention that California, despite would Ann Coulter would have you believe, is actually a big part of the United States of America. So a new nomenclature could be 'American-French.' But really, how confusing does that sound. It is not the fusion craze of the tech-boom years. It is not Hollandaise sauce on Macaroni and Cheese. I would also point out that the star chef of all star chefs, Alain Ducasse, has become famous over the years for his exotic and technically perfect risottos and pastas. I don't believe anyone would dare label his fine cuisine 'French-Italian.' (Especially after the mortal-kombat headbutt of the century-but that's another story.)

"California" cuisine does have legitimate roots. It is said to have grown from the likes of Alice Waters at Chez Pannise and others who write menus based on seasonality, thus creating and ever-evolving menus that reflect the bounty of the local farmer. California cuisine has actually made it's way across the Atlantic into Paris. There are now California-French restaurants springing up among the galaxy of Michelin stars that is the Paris landscape. So through this, I am to infer that the French don't support local farmers, that California is the standard of local cuisine? That hardly seems accurate.

American food is as diverse as its melting-pot population. Pizza, as most American's know it, is a creation of immigrants and the sons of immigrants who settled into New York City in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is nothing close to the pizza of Naples, and yet is delicious and popular and as American as apple pie. Border America has also given birth to new forms of culture American fare. Mexican food has merged with the great southwest to bring about "Tex-mex" and the nouveau Southwestern flair a la Bobby Flay. There is Baja Mexican and Chipotle mayonnaise flowing like the Rio Grand. In NYC, you can find Americanized Puerto Rican, Moroccan, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Russian, you name it. All of the food lends respect to its native land all the while evolving into a very different, very American, product of its own.

Encourage the revolution. Drop the false hyphenated labels. American food is great and deserves praise and celebration. I will be doing new entries on this topic for a while, so please stayed tuned. Happy Eating.