A Historical Perspective Of American Cuisine and The Blend-in Of Asian Dining (4/6)

New flavors began finding their way into our restaurants: noodle-based dishes like the Vietnamese beef soup - and tamarind-spiked pad Thai, deep-fried spiced potato-stuffed samosas from India, and preserved Korean vegetables called kimchi. Some of these immigrant imports have gone mainstream. "Ten years ago, sushi was like, 'Eew, raw fish!' " says Ed Schoenfeld, a Chinese-food expert who specializes in new restaurants. "Now, everyone's eating it." Latin American food, particularly Mexican dishes, has made even greater inroads into the American diet through chains like Taco Bell. But Mexican cuisine doesn't have the same allure as Asian. "Latino food is tainted as low class," says Krishnendu Ray, professor of liberal arts at the Culinary Institute of America. He believes the socioeconomic background of immigrants from a particular country plays a role in the eagerness with which America embraces their foods. For example, even though the number of immigrants from India has been small relative to other groups, their cuisine is widely available and admired. That's no surprise, says Ray, since nearly 60 percent of Indian immigrants are professionals. Americanized Version of Immigrant Food As more Americans travel overseas, people are no longer satisfied with an Americanized version of immigrant food. "We fall in love with Thai food, then we want to come home and re-create it," says Karen Page, the author, with husband Andrew Dornenburg, of The New American Chef , a tour of global techniques and ingredients. At the same time, modern transport and technology make for easy export of native ingredients. "Now, what you get in a Korean restaurant in New York and Los Angeles is very close to what you get in Seoul," says David Rosengarten, author of It ' s All American Food. Asianized American Food The hamburger is thought to be an American icon. Burger's supremacy is also because of its twofold portability. With meat, lettuce, and tomatoes encased in a bun, "it's a meal that comes in its own wrapper." And it's uncomplicated, allowing for cultural portability as well. Another is its convertibility, which explains the emergence of the various kinds of Asianized Sandwiches. While the sandwiches have been found traditionally in restaurants with Westernized names, this delicate increasingly are found in Asian Restaurants. Asian restaurateurs across the country are exploring ways to upgrade the traditional American sandwich. Some are predicting that the next sandwich craze is waiting in the wings in Vietnamese neighborhoods across the country. Banh mi sandwiche is a classic Vietnamese combination of paté, ham, sausages or headcheese, topped with pickled carrots, cucumbers, daikon, fresh cilantro and jalape?os on a French baguette. A banh mi can offer numerous choices to enrich customers’ dietary experience. Some use Asian-style barbecued pork, lemongrass chicken and other hot options as well, and most banh mi shops allow guests to customize their orders. 21th Century: Foods Representing Healthy Celebrity ? 1901 Satori Kato invents instant coffee. (It be-comes popular only after the Nescafé brand of freeze-dried crystals is introduced in 1938, however.) ? 1902 Horn & Hardart opens the first Automat in Philadelphia. For a couple of coins, patrons can open a slot and grab a freshly made hot meal. ? 1902 The Kellogg brothers push boiled wheat through a roller and bake the thin flakes. Looking for a tastier version, they switch the base ingredient, and cornflakes are born. ? 1905 Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson leaves a stick in a cup of soda outside overnight, accidentally inventing the Popsicle. ? 1918 Having gone from 200 pounds to 150, Lulu Peters writes the first diet book to endorse caloriecounting—and sells 2 million copies. ? 1920-1933 Prohibition ? 1922 Stephen Poplawski puts a spinning blade on the bottom of a container, inventing the blender.