American food is no longer just mashed potatoes and roast beef. For over two hundred years, American dinner tables have welcomed the ethnic, regional, and home-style fare of many different places and people. Some of these dishes -- Ravioli, Beef Tacos, Swedish Meatballs, Beef Stroganoff, Potato Salad -- have been around so long they seem as American as anything else. We've also greedily appropriated all kinds of regional specialties, dishes like New England Clam Chowder, Gumbo, Cornbread, and Texas Barbecued Brisket. And then there are the home classics that seem to come from everybody's grandmother's kitchen. As David Rosengarten makes deliciously clear in It's All American Food, these foods have become American, and together they form an exciting and unique American cuisine.
The author of the bestselling Dean and DeLuca Cookbook, David brings together all the wonderfully diverse foods that we love to eat: the best ethnic dishes, the best regional dishes, and the best classic American home cooking. Only here will you find the most authentic Cajun recipes side by side with thrilling Chinese-American dishes you can cook at home, the timeless Brooklyn-Italian meals alongside the sizzling Cuban specialties of Miami… not to mention that essential centerpiece of mashed potatoes and pot roast you once looked forward to every Sunday.