Vocabulary notes

Designate-назначенный

per year-в год

feast-праздник, пир

pageantry-великолепие, пышная церемония

merriment-веселье

grave-могила

lay a wreath-возлагать венок

rifle-ружье

prayer-молитва

reflection-размышления

respectively-соответственно

holy-святой

subvert-искажать

outrageous-возмутительный

evil spirits-злые духи

Witch-ведьма

Broomstick-метла

Miser-скряга

Lantern-фонарик

Carve-вырезать

Scary-страшный, жуткий

Turnip-репа

Beets-свекла

Pumpkin-тыква

Dissenting-несогласие

Rough-трудный

Harvest-урожай

Sacrifice-жертвовать

Blessings-благословения

Commemorate-увековечивать

Anniversary-годовщина

Dying-окрашивание

Shamrock-клевер

Cuisine

Because the United States has long attracted immigrants from a wide variety of nations and cultures the cuisine of the United States is extremely diverse and difficult to define. One way of describing American cuisine is a synthesis of cuisines from around the world, a style of cooking that takes something from each immigrant community. On the other hand, American cooks have exported a great variety of dishes around the world, and in many ways American cuisine is just as recognisable and as popular as French, Chinese, or Indian.

Problems with defining American cuisine

The cheeseburger may seem a quintessentially American food, but similar foods are made in Germany and were likely brought across to the United States by German immigrants.

The cuisine of the Native Americans was of course the first American cooking style, and it lent a great deal not only to subsequent American cooking but also to culinary styles around the world. Turkey, corn (maize), beans, sunflowers, potatoes, peppers, and various forms of squash (including pumpkins) are among the Native American foods now widely consumed elsewhere. Superimposed on this original native diet is the massive contribution of the various immigrant groups; many dishes considered quintessentially American are in fact based upon the cooking traditions of other countries. For example, apple pies, pizza, runzas, chowder, and hamburgers are all either identical to, or derived from, European dishes. Burritos and tacos similarly have their origins in Mexico.

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.

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.

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.

Particular American foods

Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important. Fried chicken, which combines Scottish and African American culinary traditions, is a national favorite. Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, pizza, and hamburgers derive from the recipes of various European immigrants. So-called French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.

Americans generally prefer coffee to tea. American liquors include bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, applejack, and Puerto Rican rum. The martini is the characteristic American cocktail.The average American consumes 81.6 liters of beer per year. American-style lagers, typified by the leading Budweiser brand, are light in body and flavor .In recent decades, wine production and consumption has increased substantially, with winemaking now a leading industry in California. Wine is often drunk before meals, substituting for cocktails. Aside from coffee, orange juice and homogenized, often fat-reduced cow's milk are typical breakfast beverages. Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular. Leading soft-drink producer Coca-Cola is the most recognized brand in the world, just ahead of McDonald's.