A CULINARY JOURNEY 

The best of American regional cuisine.  Dining American plans to explore the vast array of foods,flavors, tastes that comprise the American culinary experience.

American cuisine is original and innovative. Regional recipes developed as local housewives and cooks blended "new" country ingredients with many of the homeland favorite dishes  brought to these shores by the immigrants who, for over 400 years, have been responsible for creating the "melting pot" cuisine  we now enjoy. From the first colonies of Jamestown in Virginia (1607)  to the Dutch settlers of Nieuw Amsterdam (New York City) and the Hudson Valley in 1614, onto Plymouth, Massachusetts settlement by the Pilgrims in 1620, to the frontier cooking of Midwest farmlands, follow the wagon trains to Texas, ending the journey in the fertile Western states of California, Washington and Oregon. Americans loved their kitchens. Heirloom recipes passed on from generation to generation and perhaps changing a bit with each generation's ideas. What once was considered 'good ole down-home cooking' has become haute cuisine. American chefs transform  American basic dishes with their imaginative and creative use of spices and local ingredients. The vast variety of regional specialties and artisan foods available today offer unlimited choices to be enjoyed at home or at your favorite restaurant.