America''s Favorite Foods
Hot Dog
A hot dog is usually made from
pork, the meat of a pig. Or it is made from beef, the meat of a cow. Another version is made from turkey. A vegetarian version of a hot dog has no meat at all. It often contains tofu, made from soy plants. The hot dog is shaped like a tube. Many people say it looks like a Dachshund dog. It is served between two shaped pieces of bread called a bun. Americans often say they especially like hot dogs cooked over a hot fire in the open air. People at sports events buy plenty of hot dogs. For many people, it is not just the meat that tastes so good. These people enjoy colorful and tasty additions. For example, they include a yellow or yellow-brown thickened liquid called mustard. They may also put red catsup and pieces of a white or red, strong-smelling vegetable called onion on their hot dogs.Hot dog eaters often add pickle, a salty green vegetable. Some people place barbecue sauce on top of all this. Or they use a spice called horseradish. It gives the hot dog a pleasant bite.A hot dog is also known as a frankfurter or frank. That is because the city of Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany is often said to be the birthplace of this sausage. But the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says there are other ideas about where the hot dog began.
Hamburgers
Americans also eat lots of hamburgers. This ground meat comes from beef. It can be cooked in many ways. Like hot dogs, hamburgers are a favorite picnic food. Many public eating places in the United States say hamburgers are their most popular foods. People often eat them in places that serve quickly prepared, moderately priced food. Like hot dog experts, hamburger historians disagree about how their subject got started. Things like mustard, catsup, horseradish, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, onion and perhaps a pickle.A hamburger with cheese melted on it is called a cheeseburger. Cooks make a “Sloppy Joe” by combining hamburger meat with tomato sauce. Many people eat the Sloppy Joe mixture on a bun. Without a bun, they may get more of the loose meat on them than inside them.For many people, eating both hot dogs and hamburgers does not seem right without potatoes. They eat French fries and potato chips with these meats. French fries are strips, or pieces, of potato cooked in oil. Potato chips are extremely thin, cooled pieces of potato. They usually are also cooked in oil.
Pizza
Americans also buy or make large amounts of pizza. A basic pizza contains tomato sauce or cheese, or both, on a bread-like material. Food writer Linda Stradley tells about the history of pizza on her computer Web site, “What’s Cooking America.” Miz Stradley says it could have been the Phoenicians, Greeks or Romans who invented pizza. Or, it could have been anyone who mixed flour with water and cooked it on a hot stone. Italians probably brought pizza to the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century. In nineteen-oh-five, Gennaro Lombardi reportedly opened the first pizza store in New York City. In the nineteen thirties, he added tables to his pizza place. Lombardi also began serving spaghetti. Spaghetti is a traditional Italian favorite that also has become an American favorite. It is made from flour and water and sometimes eggs. This dough is pulled into lengths and boiled.All kinds of foods can be added to both pizza and spaghetti to add to their taste. For example, people like these foods with different meats on top. Or they like toppings of small fish called anchovies, or vegetables called mushrooms. Some people like all the additions at once.
Hot Soups Pie Like people in many parts of the world, Americans love pie. These sweet dishes have fruit, nuts or some other filling in a crust. Some people say pies are the best comfort food ever. That can be debated.Pie can be the most inviting food ever. A red strawberry pie or a yellow Key lime pie can defeat the strongest resolution of people trying to lose weight. But apple pie may be a top American favorite. Over time, this dish has come to be strongly linked to the United States. When someone or something seems especially American, people say it is “as American as apple pie.”