Food is art (the USA)

The United States is a rich and varied blend of peoples, religions and cultures, and this diversity is reflected in its cuisine. Succeeding waves of immigrants, including those arriving on the United States' shores today, have brought new culinary traditions and adapted them to the ingredients, kitchens, and customs they found in their new homeland — ever expanding what is called "American food".     

Despite the rise in popularity of many other ethnic cuisines, it is Chinese and Italian restaurants that dominate this field.

A bit later came the big one: Italian-American food. The real triumph of the cuisine is in the US’s home - where pizza, lasagna, manicotti, meatballs, veal parmigiana play a tremendously vital role in the everyday fare of American citizens.   

When Americans were asked to choose typically national food of their country, hamburgers and cheeseburgers (29%), apple pie (20%) and hot dogs (13%) topped the list. The only other two foods mentioned by significant numbers were barbecue (9%) and fried chicken (7%).

A whole new year of food holidays means more than 365 days of different food festivities. Each month has foods with entire dedicating feasting months, plus foods with special feasting weeks. For instance, there are

Bread Machine Baking Month

National Candy Month

National Egg Month

National Hot Tea Month

National Meat Month

National Oatmeal Month

National Soup Month

National Wheat Bread Month

Prune Breakfast Month

Sounds like a culinary poem, doesn’t it?

Other exciting events are  National Pizza Week (the second week of the month), National Meat Week (the fourth week), and National Irish Coffee Week (also the fourth week). And if you didn’t have enough pale gold Champagne on December 31, start the New Year with something bright and colorful:

January 1 is  Bloody Mary Day and also  Apple Gifting Day,

January 2 is National Cream Puff Day,

January 3 is Chocolate-Filled Cherry Day,

January 4 is National Spaghetti Day,

January 5 is National Whipped Cream Day,

January 6 is Bean Day,

January 6 is National Shortbread Day,

January 7 is National Tempura Day,

January 8 is English Toffee Day,January 9 is National Apricot Day,

January 9 is National Apricot Day,

January 10 is Bittersweet Chocolate Day,

January 11 is Milk Day.

Thanksgiving Day

The event that some Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

To sum up, Americans take the food for a solid joy. Every day is a culinary festivity for them. Moreover, the most important day of the USA history cannot be imagine without a good meal with a rich turkey. It is wonderful to enjoy workaday things!

 Many a little make a mickle (Australia)

Australian cuisine

Australian cuisine consists of Indigenous Australians’ cuisine and cuisines of first immigrants who came from east (Asian cuisine) and west (Britain cuisine). There you can meet meal from deferent countries, like American fast food or Britain porridge. 

 Indigenous Australians’ cuisine is based on using a lot of different natural spices which are made from plants growing on Australian territory.

Australian tries to eat natural products which are low in fat and salts. They usually eat vegetables, fruits, seafood, kangaroo meat.

Bushfood

Bushfood – bush tucker in Australia. It traditionally relates to any food native to Australia and is used for culinary purposes by Australian Aborigines. Examples of Australian native animal foods (meats) include kangaroo, ostrich emu and crocodile. Kangaroo is more common and it can be found in supermarkets cheaper than beef. Other animals, for instance goanna and grubs were eaten by aborigines of Australia.

Also there are plenty examples of Australian native fruits such as quandong, kutjera, muntries, riberry, finger lime.

                                                         quandong                                                              kutjera                                                      muntries

                                                                                                                                   riberry                                                       finger lime

Aboriginal use

 Many foods are also baked in the hot campfire coals, or baked in ground ovens for several hours. There are a lot of toxic seeds but after removing the toxins it becomes safe to eat. Bush bread was made by women using many types of seeds, nuts and corns to process a flour or dough to make bread. From immigration in 1788 the introduction of non-native foods to aborigines of Australia has resulted in an almost complete abandonment of native foods by aborigines.

Colonial use

 Of course immigrants preferred eating familiar food, but they ate bush foods too as extra meal, not as primary one. Immigrants just were not fond of strong flavor meal. However, strong flavors are now highly regarded for culinary use. Immigrants grow their native vegetables, fruits, animals to eat.

Nowadays use

 In the 1970s non-indigenous Australians began to recognize native Australian foods and in the end of 1970s farmers started to assess native food-plants for commercial use and cultivation. In 1980 meat of kangaroo was legalized as human food. Different analysis and tests showed that some kinds of native Australian food were exceptionally nutritious. In the middle of 1980s Australian restaurants began using native spices to add the special flavor for their meal.

Drinks

 Billy tea is the drink prepared by boiling water for tea over a camp fire and adding a gum leaf for flavoring and remains an iconic traditional Australian method for preparing tea, whic was a staple drink of the Australian colonial period. 

The Australian Wine Industry is the 4th largest exporter of wine in the world with 760 million litres a year to a large international export market. Australians consuming nearly 500 million liters of wine per year in the beginning of 21st Century.

Breakfast

The breakfast frequently resembles breakfast in many Western countries. In warmer areas, breakfast is generally light. In colder seasons, porridge or a full English breakfast may be consumed. The light breakfast commonly consists of breakfast cereal, toast, and fruit. 

Dinner

 The evening meal is the main meal of the day for most Australians. Common choices would be roast meat and vegetables, pasta, pizza, casseroles, barbecued meat, fish and seafood, vegetables, salad, soup, curries and stir-fries.

Iconic Australian foods

The Australian hamburger is, at its simplest, a fried beef patty, served with shredded lettuce and sliced tomato in a bread roll, usually toasted. Tomato sauce (similar to ketchup but made with real tomatoes and less sugar with a more liquid texture) or barbecue sauce are almost always included. Beetroot, pineapple and fried onions are also extremely common additions.

ANZAC biscuits  and the pavlova are considered by some to be Australian national foods, although while the oldest known named recipe for pavlova is from New Zealand, its often said in the Australian history that the dessert took its name from Anna Pavlova at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth during a tour of the state where she danced "as light as air" in reference to the light meringue. 

Kangaroo meat is widely available in Australia although it is not among the most commonly eaten meats. In old fashioned colonial recipes, it was treated much like ox tail and braised until tender forming rich gravy. It is available today in various cuts and sausages. Also eaten (in specialist restaurants) is emu meat, crocodile meat and occasionally (although rarely) wombat.Damper is traditional Australian soda bread prepared by swagmen, drovers and other travelers. It is wheat flour based bread, traditionally baked in the coals of a campfire.      

As we see, Australian cuisine is quite rich and even multi-cultural. Also Australian food looks appetizing, doesn’t it?

By Valentin Alexeev

the student of class 10A,

 Xenia Protasova

the student of class 7A