Are there any recent additions to classic food?

[nancylebov]

The past twenty years or so have been a period of food creativity in the US, but I can't think of much that's been added to the canon that wasn't part of ethnic cuisine elsewhere. I love Pad Thai, but afaik it wasn't invented by a celebrity chef. For all I know, it's as American as General Tso's Chicken.[1]

The only genuinely new thing I can think of is putting cream cheese in maki. It's an abomination I don't like it, but it *is* new, and seems to be popular.

Have I missed something? Is there somehow a lack of a conveyor belt from inventive chefs to the popular market? Is so much getting invented that it's too hard to identify potential classics?

I recently had a dessert which I think has classic potential-- blueberries and strawberries with whipped cream that had cinnamon mixed in. I've never had or thought of cinnamon with berries before, but it's very nice.

[1]From The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: General Tso's Chicken is unknown in China, and has a number of features which are American rather than Chinese-- undifferentiated chunks of meat (Chinese people prefer meat near the bone to improve the flavor and aren't squeamish about knowing their meat came from an animal), deep frying, very sweet sauce, and broccoli. On the other hand, I wonder if the author's efforts to find General Tso's Chicken in China may result in a Chinese version of the dish.

Comments

[thespian.livejournal.com]

Chicken McNuggets.

they were introduced in the early 80s. Before that the idea them was nearly non-existent; people generally cooked larger pieces of chicken. Then later in the 80s, american chefs started to make *much better* ones, and it became possible to buy them in the grocery store, etc. (the rise in the 80s of boneless/skinless chicken breast, originally aimed at dieters/health conscious but really a pretty handy thing to keep in the kitchen, helped this.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Sidetrack: my impression is that McNuggets are made of chicken composite--mostly chicken scraps held together with I don't know what. Do you know whether I'm right?

[thespian.livejournal.com]

the chicken mcnuggets, yes. in point the mcnugget itself, as presented by McDonald's, is only about 50% chicken. Which is probably why the chefs started reclaiming it ;-)

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I've gotten what turned out to be chicken composite at Au Bon Pain, too. Feh.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I made a blueberry cobbler-type dessert probably 35-40 years ago that had cinnamon in it, and the idea wasn't new then.

[landley.livejournal.com]

Think of french toast. People have been putting fruit, cinnamon, and whipped cream together in that context for decades. The new thing seems to have been removing the french toast.

Rob

[madfilkentist]

About 10 or 15 years ago, all the Chinese restaurants started adding scrambled egg to fried rice. Since I love fried rice but hate scrambled eggs, I find this annoying.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

I grew up in the DC area, and in my whole life fried rice w/out eggs has been the exception, not the norm.

[lysystratae.livejournal.com]

Which is weird, since I was raised in Baltimore and spent summers in Philly with my aunts, and fried rice always had egg in it. I think the first time I had fried rice that didn't have egg in it, it was a chain restaurant that I thought was pretty lame overall. I'm 44, and I've been eating chinese for a looooong time, lol... maybe it's regional?

Wraps? Smoothies? Fajitas? Grilled Veggies?

[sgsguru.livejournal.com]

I don't remember any of these from very long ago.

Re: Wraps? Smoothies? Fajitas? Grilled Veggies?

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Fajitas: the original skirt steak fajita goes back to the 30s, though the name is more recent.

It wouldn't surprise me if wraps were developed during one of the Atkins crazes.

Smoothies go back to the 30s.

You might be right about the grilled veggies.