Thursday, December 18, 2008

Ethnic Food

Yesterday I had the privilege of eating lunch with two friends - Sneha, from India, and Laura, from Mexico. Sneha had invited Laura and me over the week before for authentic Indian home cookin'.

And let me tell you, it was delicious. Sneha spoiled us rotten with four courses! I don't remember names, but it was all incredible - and very different from the types of dishes I usually make at home! We're talking soups and rice dishes and a variety of different sauces, and then sweet tapioca-like stuff for dessert. MM MM MM. What a treat! They pretty much had to roll me out of her apartment when we were done.



I'd soon like to return the treat, and have them both over for American food sometime.

But really, what IS classic American food? Don't we just borrow from everyone else? We eat a lot of tacos and pasta around our house! I asked Sneha and Laura what they'd like, and they requested mashed potatoes and apple pie. Those things I can do, thankfully! I'm thinking of doing a classic post-church Sunday dinner with a roast, applesauce, and vegetables.

(Is that just a Dutch-American thing to do for lunch on Sunday? Or is that a traditional Sunday lunch all across America? It was the thing to do on both sides of my family.)

But back to my question - what IS classic American food? Here is what I've come up with, with a little help from friends:

Mac n' cheese
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Apple Pie
Fried Chicken

What AM I missing?  There have got to be more options!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Your Indian meal sounded delightful and delicious.
Not sure what one would add to your
"american" list. Maybe breakfast stuff, like pancakes, bacon and eggs, toast, orange juice, and then there's other pies, like cherry and pumpkin. And things made with lots of cheese. Like grill cheese sandwiches. :)

Chrispy Critter said...

Unfortunately,it is probably cheeseburgers, french fries and ice cream!

Anonymous said...

Well, since both sides of your family are Dutch I think it's likely a dutch thing. We always caledl it "dutch Sunday dinner" anyway.

Jenni S. said...

Oh the Indian food sounds awesome - better than the restaurant here? I'm not sure about the American thing - that's a question for Food Network. It seems as if we're such a melting pot, there would be very little "American" food. Everything seems to have it's roots somewhere else.

Lynn said...

I LOVE Indian food!!! YUM!