Regional Cuisine in America: From Underrated to Evolving Identity

Regional Cuisine Puts American Cooking On the Map (October 1997)

The Emergence and Acceptance of Regional American Cuisine

  • Chef Rick Bayless and Zinfandel:

    • Three years prior to the article's publication, Chef Rick Bayless opened Zinfandel in Chicago with the concept of showcasing the diversity and richness of American cuisine.

    • Initially, the concept received mixed reactions: both criticized and applauded.

    • Initial Challenges: Customers, like a man upset about not getting his Scotch, didn't understand the execution of the concept that prioritized small American distillers and wineries.

    • Current Model: Zinfandel now features a different American regional cuisine each month, such as Hawaiian soul food (e.g., "Kailua Pig with Hoisin Glaze," traditional "Ahi Poke") in August, Midwest in the fall, and Pennsylvania Dutch in December.

    • Growing Acceptance: Bayless notes that regional cooking has become more accepted in Chicago and nationally, with more restaurants focusing on specific regional flairs.

  • Wider Trend: Regional restaurants are proliferating across the country, moving beyond traditional Southern and Southwestern cuisines to embrace emerging areas like the Pacific Northwest and Florida's Panhandle.

  • Challenges to Acceptance: The acceptance of regional American cuisine has been slow and difficult, as has the understanding of its implications for the national culinary consciousness.

Historical Underrating and Public Perception of American Cuisine

  • Long-standing Disregard: For most of its history, American cooking was ignored domestically and ridiculed internationally.

    • Foreign Criticism: Twenty years prior to the article, foreign chefs like Emeril Lagasse observed, American chefs were mocked, stereotyped as only knowing "macaroni-and-cheese and hamburgers."

    • Domestic Buy-in: In the 1970s and early 1980s, even American culinary professionals and critics believed French cuisine was superior, often stating there was no such thing as American cooking, according to Tim Ryan of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

    • Public Insecurity: In the 1960s and early 1970s, the American public felt insecure about their own cuisine, equating fine dining with French fare like "Crepes Suzette" and "Cherries Jubilee," often accompanied by "Blue Nun" wine, as noted by Keith Keogh.

    • Lingering Perceptions: Even after professionals began recognizing American cuisine, public skepticism persisted. French, and later Italian, restaurants continued to symbolize culinary "class."

    • Diner vs. Fine Dining: Bayless highlights the difficulty in getting Americans to take regional cooking seriously, often associating it with 1950s diner food rather than high-style dining.

Factors in the Rediscovery and Rise of Regional Cuisine

  • Pioneer of New Trend: Paul Prudhomme is credited by many, including Keith Keogh, with starting the modern trend in regional cuisines with Cajun cooking.

    • Prudhomme demonstrated that fine American cuisine could command a premium price.

    • His Acadian cuisine at Commander's Palace in New Orleans served as a "wake-up call" for chefs to utilize local, indigenous products.

  • Seminal Moment: Mark Miller, chef/owner of Coyote Cafe and Red Sage, calls the recognition of great American products by chefs a "seminal moment" that propelled regional cuisine forward.

  • Four Components of a Nation's Cuisine (Tim Ryan, CIA):

    • Indigenous ingredients

    • Regional preferences

    • Ethnic influences

    • Historical currents and traditions

    • These are identified as the "powerful forces in a cuisine's evolution."

  • Chef and Consumer Recognition of Ingredients: The rediscovery began with chefs and consumers acknowledging the wealth of indigenous ingredients, followed by an exploration of the culinary history tied to them.

  • Sophistication of the Dining Public: Mark Miller suggests a "breakthrough" came with the increased sophistication of the American dining public, which matured significantly in "just one generation."

    • Evolution in Preferences: This maturation is evidenced by the shift from generic Chinese or Italian-American cuisine to specific regional variations (e.g., Hunan, Szechuan; Northern Italian, Tuscan, Florentine).

    • Changing Role Models: Julia Child, once focused on French chefs, now works with American chefs.

    • Demand for Specificity: Consumers are now sophisticated enough to seek out a broader range of ingredients and culinary histories.

Defining Regional Cooking: Traditional vs. Modern Incarnation

  • Traditional Regional Cooking:

    • Rooted in farm or home cooking, developed from a close relationship with the land, seasonal products, and cultural influences of immigrant settlers.

    • Examples: Cajun cuisine from Acadians discovering crawfish in New Orleans; Basque traditions with sheep herding and potatoes in Idaho.

    • Consistency: Basic ingredients remained similar within a region, despite variations from farm to farm or home to home (e.g., Southern groundnut soup with peanuts, oysters, hot peppers; Connecticut chowder with stewed tomatoes and cod/haddock).

    • Folk Art: Considered a type of folk art, reflecting a community's cooking, with subtle differences often indiscernible to outsiders.

  • Modern Regional Cooking:

    • Not a mere rediscovery of folk cooking: Today's consumers and chefs seek food with a recognizable "signature."

    • Memorializes and Adapts: "Memorializes traditional techniques and tastes," using folk cooking as a "template" from which chefs create, allowing for significant innovation within that framework.

    • Example: Miller's distinct mole at Coyote Cafe; Lagasse's unique gumbo, distinct from traditional farm kitchen versions.

    • Contemporary Nature: This modern incarnation combines traditional techniques with modern aesthetics, offering culinary rewards but also creating confusion in defining regional cuisine and differentiating it from contemporary cooking.

    • Overlap with Contemporary: Regional food can be contemporary. Emeril Lagasse emphasizes that for restaurants to succeed, regional food often needs to be contemporary. His food is modern, but its foundation is solid Creole and Cajun cooking, always respecting tradition.

    • Distinction from "Fun with Ingredients": Simply taking traditional ingredients and experimenting with them is not regional cooking.

The American Evolution: Sub-Regions and Future Trends

  • Tracing the Trend: The recent rise of regional cuisine can be traced back to Paul Prudhomme.

  • Move to Smaller Sub-Regions: In the year prior to the article, there was a pronounced shift towards smaller, more distinct sub-regions, mirroring the demand for specific Chinese cuisines.

    • Examples: Chefs are specializing in coastal South Carolina's low-country cuisine, rediscovering Maryland's Eastern Shore cuisine (terrapin soup, stuffed ham), and investigating Florida's Cracker Islands' cuisines.

    • This reflects a demand for greater integrity and specificity in regional foods.

  • Continued Popularity of Major Regions: Large regional cuisines like Cajun, Creole, Southwestern, and Southern continue to grow in popularity.

  • Hot New Regions: Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest are emerging as popular new regional cuisines.

  • Constant Evolution: These regional foods are not static, centuries-old relics, but "vibrant cuisines undergoing constant evolution and change."

    • Keith Keogh states, "Food is constant evolution." He notes that as more products and ingredients are defined and rediscovered, those flavors integrate into existing foods.

    • Never Reaches Fulfilment: Regional cuisine will never reach its "fullest enunciation" because new immigrants and generations will continuously rediscover and renew American cuisine, making it an exciting and dynamic field.