You can bet things are about to get weird when the “best of” list you’ve just clicked on comes with a disclaimer up top — seems the decision makers behind CNN Travel’s new collection of the absolute best eats in the US of A could smell a controversy cooking from a mile away.
“Americans have come up with a lot of incredible foods. Does this list satisfy your appetite? Or have we frankly left out one of your favorites?”
The apparent swipe at the hot dog — which is not included in the frequently baffling selection of supposedly legendary dishes — gives you a glimpse at where we’re headed.
Fry bread, a survival food with a poignant backstory that seems to be pushed forward by well-meaning food scribes more frequently than it is actually consumed outside of the Southwest — earns a seat at the elite table.
But no pizza, a fave in all fifty states and most likely all of the territories, too? Disgraziad!
Mission burritos, an obscure drunk food beloved mostly by people who do a lot of drinking in San Francisco and environs — they’re praised to the skies.
Tex-Mex, or even tacos? Nowhere to be found. Talk about loco.
“America is called a melting pot – and that’s certainly true of its food,” the list’s brief introduction explains helpfully, for those in the back who weren’t paying attention.
We’re told that to be included, Americans didn’t have to have come up with the actual dish, a qualifier that might have helped explain the absence of the aforementioned iconic eats.
But no — in fact, readers are assured that this list celebrates our capacity for turning favorites from other countries into our own, often sending the “reformulated food back out into the wider world.”
That’s certainly the case for American barbecue, something that landed on these shores in colonial times — and has been evolving ever since.
So why is that the first food on the list — while fried chicken, another thing we’ve more than made our own, is nowhere to be found?
Perhaps the author found it more interesting to include something like General Tso’s Chicken, which became an NYC takeout staple after chefs visiting Taiwan in the 1970s first tried it, the explanation reads.
“But their version — delicious, lightly battered chunks of dark chicken fried in a sweet-and-sour sauce — appealed to that American penchant for anything fried and sweet.”
Other head-scratchers include the peanut butter & jelly sandwich — but no lobster roll, no Hot Brown, no Pimento cheese sandwich, chopped cheese, Philly cheese steak, Cuban, po’ boy or muffaletta.
But, speaking of New Orleans, the author did manage to include two other Big Easy staples that feel like repeats, given that there were only twenty slots on the list and scores of dishes to choose from — red beans and rice, a Monday favorite, and gumbo, a Louisiana stew staple.
Both of those, but no pizza? At least we have spaghetti and meatballs as a consolation prize.
The author calls the Italian-American staple “a nostalgic treat.”
Us unsophisticated New Yorkers call it “dinner.”
Here’s the complete list — what do you think is missing?
American food: The 20 greatest dishes, according to CNN
- Barbecue
- Fried okra
- Cobb salad
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- Fry bread
- Red beans and rice
- Hamburger
- Apple pie
- Poke
- Chili
- Clam chowder
- General Tso’s chicken
- Reuben sandwich
- Grits
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Gumbo
- Mission burrito
- Banana pudding
- Spaghetti and meatballs
- Eggs Benedict
Readers were quick to post their own critiques of the arbitrary collection — with one calling the awards “flabbergastingly incomplete” and many offering their own ideas for inclusion.
“Hotdogs, Cole slaw, Pizza, Fried Chicken, Philly Cheesesteak, Club Sandwich, Pecan Pie, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Nachos are just a few,” said one avid eater.
“Of all the hundreds of absolutely amazing food dishes that could represent America and Americans you picked “Fried Okra” as one of the 20 greatest. Well, bless your heart!” sniped another.
“Any [list]…that does not include Philly Cheese Steak, well, just ain’t right,” one apparent Mid-Atlantic dweller chided.
Others were more gentle in their criticism.
“As a Marylander, sad Crab Cakes didn’t make this list,” said one Old Liner.
“But I can’t complain about what is on it…I’d devour it all!”
