The first reviewed article was titled Red, White, and Blueberry. This article was very interesting; its focus was to pinpoint what is American cuisine. The author, Joan Nathan, points out that there are strict rules for other cuisines (such as French) that make those cuisines unmistakable. However, for American cuisine, other than barbeque and a Thanksgiving turkey, it did not seem so easy to define. In an attempt to define American cuisine, Nathan traveled the country while doing research for her latest cookbook. In her travels she has “I have found a cuisine in a perpetual state of flux, marked by a collaborative spirit that's been around for centuries.” From this epiphany, Nathan takes her reader on a little history trip. According to Nathan, this collaboration began with the English settlers (Pilgrims) and the Indians. This collaboration included the introduction and use of local ingredients such as corn, bean, and squash. Fast forwarding to more modern times, the 1950s, American food was rather bland and meals were defined by the day of the week on which it was served. Moving on to the 1960s, American food began to take on new attributes. This revitalization was inspired by extensive immigration reform which allowed other cultures to introduce new dishes into American cuisine. This tradition has continued into the present day. Americans now eat a variety of foods including, Thai, Japanese, and Mexican. Another current trend in American cuisine is the use of farm fresh ingredients. Many American restaurants are using food items that were obtained in the morning for the food service in the evening. The new American cuisine can be defined as an amalgamation of many different ingredients with influence from all over the world. However, with the ever-complex choice in ingredients, good American food is simple and strongly connected with the dishes the Pilgrims once made.
The second reviewed article was written by Amanda Spake and is titled Utopia in a Cereal Bowl. This article focuses on the introduction of health-food to American cuisine. It seems as if the heath food crazy was introduced by accident. This crazy was started by John Kellogg and Keith Kellogg. The Kellogg brothers were attempting to concoct a new breakfast food for the clients at their health spa. The accident occurred when a pot of boiled wheat was left to soak overnight. This error resulted in the finding that the wheat came out in large thin flakes. Quite surprisingly, the health clubs clientele liked it. The Kellogg brothers set out to improve on their discovery by using corn to produce a crisp, maltflavored cereal called cornflakes. The public loved it. The real story behind cornflakes is rooted in the health-reform movement. The reformers searched for a diet free of disease, pure, and a life as bountiful and simple as the Garden of Eden. Of course, this utopian idea was contrasted with the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution introduced an obscene amount of immigrants flowing into towns without sewage treatment or water purification. This brings us back to the 1830s when a Presbyterian minister, Sylvester Graham, was searching for a way to control sexual urges through diet. This resulted in the Graham cracker which was one of the fist health foods. John Kellogg was aware of Graham’s writings on the subject from his medical school days. The main idea was to produce a high fiber diet. Kellogg wanted to continue in the foot steps of Graham. He did so by developing and/or popularizing such foods as yogurt, peanut butter, and the first meat substitute. This quirky diet of fruit vegetables and whole grains of a century ago coincide with the believed healthy eating practices of today.
The third article reviewed was titled Don’t Read This over Dinner. The article was written by Justin Ewers. This article focuses on the meatpacking industry. Ewer recounts the grim tails of Upton Sinclair’s novel titled The Jungle. The beginning of the tail is engulfed with the slaughter practices of the chophouse and the plight of the workers. The exposure of the amount of tainted meat reaching the dinner table even got the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt. This was due to the fierce competition between small circles of meatpackers. Due to this competition workers were forced to produce quickly and did not have time to worry about sanitation. This lack of time resulted in meat storage areas infested with rats. On occasion rats were shoveled up with the meat, but that was not a problem, it would just be used to make sausage. At the grocer the solution was to treat the meat to reconstitute a savory color. Sick cattle were welcomed, especially with Tuberculosis, because it produced a more robust cow. In addition to the mishandling of the meat products, the workers also endured mistreatment. Beef-boners lost use of their thumbs due to excessive knife wounds, pluckers had their fingers slowly burned off by acid-treated wool, and some workers would fall into vats of lard not to be seen again until their bones resurfaced. After government regulators confirmed The Jungle’s accuracy the Pure Food and Drug Act was legislated. It was a rough road in the few years after the passing of this Act, but it would eventually lead to a safer American food industry.
The final article reviewed was written by Thomas Hayden and is titled A National Treasure. This article is focused on American fast food and the obsession with the hamburger. The hamburger is so popular that is has risen to the status of being an American icon. Surprisingly, the history of the hamburger is somewhat mysterious. The hamburger has been linked to Genghis Khan’s Mongolian warriors of the 13th century, but most food historians attribute the founding of the hamburger to Germany based on a seasoned ground beef dish that was popular since the 1800s. However, America is where the burger first made its way onto a bun. This history is even a little uncertain. The first hamburger (burger and bun) has been traced to multiple states including Connecticut, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Texas. One this that seems to be undisputed is the time when the hamburger reached national prominence – the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. This new popularity was met with suspicion due to spoilage problems. However, these concerns dissipated in 1921 with the opening of White Castle’s. This was the first hamburger chain and it was devoted to a safe a nutritious hamburger. The hamburger became a national obsession because; with the addition of lettuce, tomatoes, and other toppings it is a meal in a wrapper. Our nation’s insatiable taste for meat and habit of eating on-the-run makes the fast food hamburger a match made in heaven. In fact, the toppings make the hamburger a culinary marvel; a hamburger can come in several thousand varieties.
