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Did you know that in America, immigrants brought with them the traditions of their homeland
— including their food, cooking practices, and recipes? Most foods known as American
are actually dishes from other lands that have gained popularity across the country.
Cuisine in different parts of the United States developed independently since each region
was influenced by the nationality of colonists that settled there and by the ingredients
locally available. New England, which is the northeastern part of the U.S., is renowned
for hearty dishes brought by British colonists and for its cold-water seafood, harvested
locally. This is the land of Yankee pot roast, Boston baked beans, Maine lobster, and New
England clam chowder. Clam chowder is a cream-based soup with potatoes, onion, and clams; oyster
crackers, which are small salted crackers, are often served with it. If you visit the
Southern US to sample home cooking, you'll find farm-style cuisine with fried foods,
heavy sauces, and sweet desserts. Be sure to taste chicken-fried steak, which is a deep-fried
beef cutlet, served with a thick white sauce called home-style gravy. Southerners also
love barbecue, especially well spiced or marinated pork slowly cooked over glowing coals. Collard
greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread are common side dishes. Pecan pie, banana pudding
and sweet potato pie are some favorite Southern desserts. The Cajun food of Louisiana was
created by the mingling of the food traditions of French settlers with those of Caribbean,
Spanish and African immigrants. These dishes typically include game meats served with a
rich, spicy sauce over rice and feature vegetables commonly grown in the south, such as okra.
Cuisine in the Southwestern states has been influenced by Native Americans, early Spanish
settlers and the foods of neighboring Mexico. Southwestern American cuisine includes a variety
of dishes prepared with local ingredients and liberally sprinkled with Mexican spices.
Tex-Mex cuisine is a variant of Southwestern cooking that is most popular in Texas and
along the Mexican border. Popular dishes include chili, a made-in-American creation of meat
with beans and chili spices that is so popular that many places have annual chili festivals
with prizes for the best recipes. It is also home to salsa, nachos, tacos and burritos.
Some of the most popular dishes in the western U.S., especially in California, were influenced
by the many immigrants from Asia. Chop suey, for example, is the creation of Chinese-Americans
constrained by the lack of available Asian vegetables in California in the early 1900s.
Chop suey, which in Cantonese means "miscellaneous pieces," includes bean sprouts, bamboo shoots,
water chestnuts, mushrooms, chicken, soy sauce, and rice. Visitors to America are sure to
find something to suit their taste buds, especially if they are willing to try new things!