W4- American Food

Deciding what quintessential American food actually is is a hard task to do. When taking out burgers, fries, and pizza the job becomes even harder to decide. If I were to say there is an "American food" it would have to be a collection of all cultures foods. This may kind of seem like a cop out, but this is the best thing I can think of to symbolize the melting pot that is America. There are far too many different meals and traditions in America to make this the basis for a short post though.

My belief of "American Food" is too large a topic so I will focus on a few dishes that I assume are customs that are only here in America. So if I were opening an American restaurant in Russia I feel it would definitely have to have burgers and fries, but there would be plenty other foods. Seafood I feel like would be a major contribution in the American restaurant. Lobster, shrimp, crab cakes, clam chowder, all those amazing New England type of meals. Of course the restaurant would not have burgers in fries if it were a seafood place because that would cause a strange identity crisis. Seafood I feel would be something that would work well in Russia, I'm not sure why (possible the cold of New England), but I feel a connection between NE and Russia making some weird connection I would feel confident about in opening a seafood restaurant there.

Another American food I think of is very close to the last, but has a major difference in the taste. Seafood from the South, like Cajun still foods from the Louisiana region of the country. Since the base food is the same between the first idea and this one the restaurant could be opened with both Cajun and New England still seafood on the menu. I haven't really got to eat much Southern seafood in my life, but from what I have it is really good and could spice of the Russian people's lives while living in a cold country. I'm thinking about maybe adding foods like gator tail to the menu, but I'm not sure how much it would cost to import this food. I guess the tails could be imported from India, it would be a long distance but well worth the cost's of importing. Wait...are there gators in India or just Croc's...there would need to be research.

Since I've already accounted for 2 major producers of seafood in America I might as well pick up the California species of fish too. After doing some research I've food that they're are many species of fish and crustaceans that only are found in the Pacific ocean and on the California Coast. These fish would be on the menu, but there are other fish that are found in the area that could be included. Salmon, perch, walleye, and other fresh water fish could be on the menu, but I feel like these fish would already be available in Russia. Maybe if they were in Russia these fish species could be something familiar that the people are comfortable with and eventually move toward the American exclusives. Well that would be my restaurant...makes me sound like a slaughterer if fish.