This is not good........

[BSB]

"I would argue that we have more cultural ties to Germany."

Ah huh, if you live in Wisconsin.

As for the DNA, RD, that only speaks to the routes humans took out of Africa. When you move from west to east you're moving back against the tide of human expansion. A lot of native Americans who lived in the far west are related DNA wise to the original people of the Afghanistan area because they went up from there and across over to the land bridge they took to north America. But that doesn't make them culturally attached to the people of Pakistan, or Afghanistan.

Face it, England is the mother country, not Germany, or any other place.



BSB

[Amianthus]

"I would argue that we have more cultural ties to Germany."

Ah huh, if you live in Wisconsin.

Or New York. Or New Jersey. Or Maryland. Or Pennsylvania. Or the Carolinas. Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, etc.

I mean, most of the food that Americans eat is derived from German food, not British.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The main foods Americans eat with every meal are potatoes and corn. Corn is native to North America, potatoes to Peru and Bolivia. Tomatoes are also native to Mexico. I think peanuts are of African origin.

=American food is neither very British or very German. You could argue that the German influence is greater, I suppose, but really, we do not eat sausages or cabbage as much as the Germans do.

[BSB]

Yeah, the Germans are known for their baked beans, corn bread, and salted Cod.

As XO pointed out, we ate what was here, and learned how to cook a lot of it from the Native Americans. Boston Baked Beans comes from a Native American recipe.


BSB

[Plane]

The main foods Americans eat with every meal are potatoes and corn. Corn is native to North America, potatoes to Peru and Bolivia. Tomatoes are also native to Mexico. I think peanuts are of African origin.

=American food is neither very British or very German. You could argue that the German influence is greater, I suppose, but really, we do not eat sausages or cabbage as much as the Germans do.

I think Peanuts are American too.

There isn't a lot of recognition of the improvement in diet the old world acheived with the new worlds plants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a species in the legume or "bean" family (Fabaceae), so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru.

The arrival of the peanut in Africa supported a population boom, just in time to support a slave trade boom.

[Amianthus]

but really, we do not eat sausages or cabbage as much as the Germans do.

The Germans don't eat sausage and cabbage as much as the Americans assume they do.

Actually, a German / Austrian diet is heavily slanted towards tubers (the native varieties have been supplanted by potatoes in the last couple of centuries), aliums (onions, leeks, etc), wild greens, pork, veal, and venison. I *might* have eaten sausage and cabbage once a week growing up. Pork roast and veal or pork cutlets were the most common entrees, served with whatever greens were in season. In the winter, soups, stews, and goulashes were common.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I like most German and English food, I just don't think that  American food resembles either very much. My mother loved England, and went to the small village of Bacup in Lancashire, where her ancestors left for America in 1830. She made some friends there and they compared recipes, none of which were identical. She mentioned that we were fond of corn on the cob, and a British friend of hers decided to have a go at it. She could only find dried corn and of course could not make it edible on the cob, even when the pressure-cooked it. My mother neglected to tell her that the corn had to be a variety of corn unavailable in England, where corn on the cob is only available as cattle feed: she thought that this was obvious.

[kimba1]

I recently eat at a german pub and loves pig knuckles. I see no connection from this to america.

[Xavier_Onassis]

You won't find pig's knuckles at Denny's or Friday's, that is for sure.

The Czechoslovakian-American club here in Miami will stuff you full of Czech food, which is very much like German food, for $10 any Sunday.

[kimba1]

Dammit!!!

All this talk of cabbage and sausage is distracting. Can keep my mind off it.


Gonna get me a big ass pot put a ton carrots,potato cornbeef & CORN on the cob. Boil thr crap out of then cabbage . If needed some slice spam for flavor

[Xavier_Onassis]

I like to take frozen stir fry Thai veggies, add some chopped celery and carrots and some sort of meat (chicken  or sausage) to Udon noodles. I cook it in  the microwave and it is good for three or four meals. This works with Ramen as well, but I had some Udon noodles in a cheapo place in Honolulu and decided I like them better. I use Garcia's smoked pork and beef sausage rather than Spam, but I imagine that Spam would also be okay.

They just started selling canned  Macademia and Spam. It is very expensive.

[kimba1]

Udon makes great quick spighetti noodles. If you not into waiting use that with ragu.

[Amianthus]

I like most German and English food, I just don't think that  American food resembles either very much.

http://germanfood.about.com/od/middaymealmittagessen/a/germenu.htm

A typical German meal. Meatballs with a white wine sauce, potatoes, green beans, cucumber salad, and a yogurt and fruit dessert.

I don't see how that is not similar to meals served throughout the US. Replace the yogurt dessert with a traditional German Apfelstrudel (apple pie), and it's as American as can be.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I agree that SOME American meals are like German meals, others resemble British, French, Italian and Irish cuisine. But there is much that is uniquely American.

Compare the menu at Deny's with that of any large German restaurant chain. Some things are similar, many are not.

 

[Amianthus]

Lets see, what else do Americans eat? Pancakes? In Germany they're called Schmarrn, the difference being that when prepared in Germany or Austria, the cook will tear up the pancakes into bite sized pieces before serving, and they are usually served with fruit instead of syrup (which occurs in the US as well, just not as commonly). They are served for any meal, not just breakfast.

Typical breakfast of eggs / bacon or sausage / cooked potatoes / some kind of bread - same as in Germany (except that many will wash it down with a beer instead of coffee).

Typical lunches in Germany are sandwiches of some form or another, usually sliced meats and cheeses, sometimes served with a salad or soup. Same as the US.

Let's see, what else? Bagels? Yup, they're from Austria. Almost all of the common desserts in the US are also common in Austria and Germany (many were invented in Vienna, which was the culinary capital - as well as the music and art capital - of Europe for centuries).

Roasts? Yup, pork and beef roasts are common in German cooking. Crock pot dinners (also called "hot dish" or "casseroles") are also common German cooking. Kimba mentioned pork knuckles or pork feet - German in derivation, common in the US south. The "brown sauce" that is common as a dressing in the US is also derived from German sauces made from beef bones and stock. Horseradish is also a common dressing for meats and on sandwiches in both Germany and the US.

Matter of fact, pretty much the only thing mentioned that doesn't have a similar dish in Germany is salted cod, Germans prefer their fish fresh. But then again, I'd have to argue against salted cod even being common in the US - my wife loves it (having grown up on the coast) and has a hard time finding it anywhere away from the coast. Besides, that's just derived from Italian anchovies anyway, not American.

Hot dogs and hamburgers are German Wiener Wuerstchen and Frikadellen served on rolls so that plates are not needed. Roasted poultry of all forms are also common in German cooking as well as the US.

And to top it all off, whenever someone mentions cabbage, the first country's cuisine I think of is Ireland, not Germany. And then Korea next. Both the Irish and Koreans eat much more cabbage than Germans.