It is easy to define some countries’ cuisines because the food and recipes are indigenous of the region, often derived out of necessity or a means for survival—the ingredients naturally coming from the local land or sea. However, since the U.S. is a country made up of cultures from many other countries and Indigenous peoples, it can be somewhat challenging to define its cuisine—what recipes are “American”?
The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures as a result of the many immigrants and enslaved people that came here from various other countries across the globe. A significant part of this equation, too, comes from the cultures of Indigenous peoples who lived on the land well before colonization.
