Regional Food That You Just Do Not Understand.

[Plai]

Never heard that it was Jamaican/African influence but French Canadian in the Arcadian that morph into Cajun.

Close. It’s Acadian (no “r”), Acadia was a colony of New France, which included parts of eastern Quebec and Maine, as well as Maritime provinces.

Here’s the Wiki on Acadia and Acadians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadians

The Acadians were expelled by the British from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island during the French and Indian War. They traveled to the other French Colony in French Louisiana. That group became part of the Cajuns we know today.

No dispute on the origins of the Cajuns as documented above.
That said, we're talking about food (and culture) in this thread...

red beans and rice - African/jamaican https://www.mccormick.com/zatarains/red-beans-and-rice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_beans_and_rice
Gumbo - seasoned with sassafras/file (native american)
Beignets- french donuts (acadian/french)
Voodoo (culture) - jamaican/african https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_New_Orleans
https://gonola.com/things-to-do-in-new-orleans/the-caribbean-connection-nola-meets-the-islands
https://www.myneworleans.com/jamaica-style/

 

[Marker]

Depends what you call “American” which is after all a fairly recent term (last couple of hundred years).

Turkey, cranberries, succotash, maple syrup, fry bread, cornbread, grits and just about everything else to do with corn are all from Native Americans, and at least as old as most European cuisine. Corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, wild rice, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, avocados, papayas, potatoes and chocolate are all indigenous to the “Americas.”

You beat me to this post! Don't forget vanilla and allspice, but I thought peanuts were from Africa.

Pretty much all foods we think of as American, Mexican, Cajun, etc. are a combination of New World foods with Old World techniques. Mole as most people know it was invented by Mexican nuns adapting from older recipes to please European tastes. Gumbo used a French roux. Chili is Old World beef meets New World chiles, tomatoes, and beans cooked like a stew. BBQ whatever is a combination effort. Crabs with Old Bay seasoning. Turkey and stuffing. No need to go further. There is plenty of great American food.

 

[Seldomski]

Gonna put that PB and miracle whip sandwich firmly in the NOPE column.

EDIT:
Also in that column, the cottage cheese + pace picante sauce my sister used to eat.

Speaking of -- anyone else have homemade lasagna where cottage cheese was substituted for ricotta? I didn't know cottage cheese was 'wrong' until adulthood ....

 

[dbostedo]

^^^
Not sure I follow... are you saying you had lasagna made with cottage cheese as a kid? Ricotta is never "wrong".

 

[Carolinacub]

Speaking of -- anyone else have homemade lasagna where cottage cheese was substituted for ricotta? I didn't know ricotta this was 'wrong' until adulthood ....

It's the only way my mom ever made lasagna when I was a kid growing up. But she was a child of the depression and pinched every penny till it hurt. I guarantee ricotta was not in her food budget.

 

[Seldomski]

^^^
Not sure I follow... are you saying you had lasagna made with cottage cheese as a kid? Ricotta is never "wrong".

Edited my post for clarity...

Yes I had lasagna that was made with cottage cheese.

 

[Uncle-A]

It's the only way my mom ever made lasagna when I was a kid growing up. But she was a child of the depression and pinched every penny till it hurt. I guarantee ricotta was not in her food budget.

My mother was a child of the depression also but she would never sub anything for ricotta in her lasagna.

 

[Tony S]

Chili and Sea Bass. I never understood that combination.

 

[Tony S]

Whoopie Pies. Yawn.

Real wild blueberries on the other hand ... Nothing finer.

 

[Bad Bob]

Whoopie Pies. Yawn.

Real wild blueberries on the other hand ... Nothing finer.

I will see your blueberries and raise you huckleberries! The unofficial delicacy of the Inland Northwest.

 

[Green08]

My mother was a child of the depression also but she would never sub anything for ricotta in her lasagna.

Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen does actually suggest small curd cottage cheese frequently in place of ricotta. They explain why every time I have seen it in a recipe. But it is never about cost b

 

[VickieH]

It makes lasagna a health food

 

[Marker]

My mom used cottage cheese in Texas in the 60's and 70's because you couldn't get ricotta, and I don't think folks really worried about such things back then. But she was a good cook and by my college days her stuffed manicotti were the bomb.

Thinking about all this regional food is bringing back memories. My Houston grandmother made a Gulf coast style baked redfish that I still remember to this day.

 

[bbinder]

The first person to eat a clam or an oyster. "I'm really hungry, and that otter hasn't died yet. I guess I'll try it."

I would argue that someone saw a clam that opened up and said Oh boy: some gum!

 

[David Chaus]

I will see your blueberries and raise you huckleberries! The unofficial delicacy of the Inland Northwest.

Shamora and I have many many huckleberry shrubs growing in our woods, BTW. Plus a couple in front of the house, not to mention a few thimbleberries, another NW native.

 

[Blue Streak]

I will see your blueberries and raise you huckleberries! The unofficial delicacy of the Inland Northwest.

Huckleberry pie - nothing better.
Yogi Bear approved!

 

[Carolinacub]

I will see your blueberries and raise you huckleberries! The unofficial delicacy of the Inland Northwest.

"who's your huckleberry"

 

[Carolinacub]

Thinking about all this regional food is bringing back memories.

Me too, Grandmas Julekage, and aebleskiver. Mom's Swedish meatballs, miracle whip and peanut butter sandwiches.(sorry I couldn't resist bringing it back up). etc etc

 

[Scruffy]

You beat me to this post! Don't forget vanilla and allspice, but I thought peanuts were from Africa.

Pretty much all foods we think of as American, Mexican, Cajun, etc. are a combination of New World foods with Old World techniques. Mole as most people know it was invented by Mexican nuns adapting from older recipes to please European tastes. Gumbo used a French roux. Chili is Old World beef meets New World chiles, tomatoes, and beans cooked like a stew. BBQ whatever is a combination effort. Crabs with Old Bay seasoning. Turkey and stuffing. No need to go further. There is plenty of great American food.

Don't tell that to a Texan; you'll most likely be shot. No tomatoes or beans in real chili

 

[Marker]

Don't tell that to a Texan; you'll most likely be shot. No tomatoes or beans in real chili

I am a Texan, but I've had to adapt or else no one will eat it outside of Texas!