Problems with defining American cuisine
One important characteristic of American cooking is the fusion of multiple ethnic or regional approaches into completely new cooking styles. The cuisine of the South, for example, has been heavily influenced by immigrants from Africa, France, and Mexico, among others. Asian cooking has played a particularly large role in American fusion cuisine.
Similarly, while some dishes considered typically American may have their origins in other countries, American cooks and chefs have substantially altered them over the years, to the degree that the dish as now enjoyed the world over may even be considered archetypically American. Hot dogs and hamburgers are both based on traditional German dishes, brought over to America by German immigrants to the United States, but in their modern, popular form they are so altered that they can be reasonably considered American dishes.
Given the United States' large size it is not surprising that its cuisine is typified by distinct regional variations. The cuisine of the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, for example, makes use of fish and seafood to much greater degree than that of the Midwest, where corn and beef were long more readily available. To some degree, easy transportation of perishable foodstuffs has diminished these regional differences in recent years, but many Americans still associate certain foods with specific places, such as steak with Omaha; lobster with Maine; salmon with the Pacific Northwest; and crab and crabcake with Maryland.
American cooking has been widely exported beyond its borders. Tex-Mex, Creole, and barbecue restaurants can be found in cities all around the world, while fast-food burger bars and pizzerias are even more popular.

The origins of American cuisine
Though American cuisine has much regional variation, it is sometimes said . This has led to some controversy with the global spread of such chains, as perceived Americanization of cuisine in other countries is sometimes described with derogatory terms like McDonaldization.

Perceptions of American cuisine

American Chinese cuisine
Barbecue
California cuisine
Euro-Asian cuisine, a kind of fusion cuisine
Fast food
Floribbean
Cuisine of Kentucky
Hawaiian cuisine
Italian American cuisine
Midwestern cuisine

• Chicago
  Native American cuisine
  New England cuisine
  New York City cuisine
  Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine
  Philadelphia cuisine
  Puerto Rican cuisine
  Southern cuisine
  
  
  
  • Cajun cuisine
    Louisiana Creole cuisine
    Soul food
    Southwestern cuisine
    
    
    
    • New Mexican
      Tex-Mex American regional and fusion cuisines
      
      American Parfait
      Amish Friendship Bread
      Animal Crackers
      Boston baked beans
      Brownies
      Buffalo meat (steaks and burgers)
      Beignet
      Buffalo Wings
      Cheeseburger
      Cheesesteak
      Chicago-style hot dog
      Chicago-style pizza
      Chicken pot pie
      Chili con carne
      Chocolate chip cookies
      Chop suey
      Cincinnati chili
      Cioppino
      Clam Chowder
      Cornbread
      Corn dog
      Corn chowder
      Cotton Candy
      Crabcake
      Corn on the cob
      Cream cheese
      Doughnuts
      Dirty rice
      Eskimo pie
      Fortune cookies
      Fried chicken
      Fudge
      Garbage Plate
      General Tso's Chicken
      Goetta
      Grits
      Grilled pizza
      Gumbo
      Hamburgers
      Hoagie
      Hot dish
      Hot dogs
      Hot fudge
      Hotcakes
      Hush puppies
      Ice cream cone
      Ice cream pop
      Jambalaya
      Luther Burger
      Macaroni and cheese
      Moon Pie
      Muffuletta sandwich
      Onion Rings
      Pancake
      Peanut butter
      
      
      
      • Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
        Pecan pie
        Pecan pralines
        Po' Boy sandwich
        Popcorn
        Popsicle
        Potato Chips
        Pumpkin pie
        San Francisco Sourdough
        Scrapple
        Shrimp & Grits
        Shrimp Creole
        Shoo-fly pie
        Sloppy joe
        SPAM
        Spiedie
        Sweet potato pie
        Thanksgiving Dinner (Roast Turkey, Cranberry sauce, etc.)
        Twinkie
        Whoopie pies Particular American foods
        Whatever the definition of American cuisine, American chefs have been influential both in the food industry and in popular culture. American cooking has been exported around the world, both through the global expansion of restaurant chains such as T.G.I. Friday's and McDonalds and the efforts of individual restaurateurs such as Bob Payton, credited with bringing American-style pizza to the UK.
        The first generation of television chefs such as Robert Carrier and Julia Child tended to concentrate on cooking based primarily on European, especially French and Italian, cuisines. Only during the 1970s and 80s did television chefs such as James Beard and Jeff Smith shift the focus towards home-grown cooking styles, particularly those of the different ethnic groups within the nation. Contemporary television cooks like Rachael Ray and chefs like Anthony Bourdain now cover a variety of cuisines and styles, both home-grown and foreign, reflecting the increasingly adventurous palate of the modern American. In the catering industry, notable American restaurant chefs include Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, and Alfred Portale.
        
        Further reading
        
        Native American cuisine
        Cuisines of other countries
        Cuisine of the Southern United States
        Cuisine of the Southwestern United States
        Christmas food in the United States
        New England cuisine
        Cuisine of the Midwestern United States
        Cuisine of the Northeastern United States