american regional cuisine
Welcome to foods of the American Region at Brookline High School. American cuisine finds its identity in the diversity of its origins. The blending of indigenous ingredients with those of a constant flow of explorers, conquerors, and immigrants has led to the development of a cuisine that shows the imprint of many cultures. For culinary purposes, it’s helpful to view the United States regionally, and to take into account the different cultures and ethnicities of each area. During your experience, you will begin a journey that will explore popular food dishes from 8 main regions of the country. These 8 regions are New England, Mid Atlantic, Southeastern and the Gulf Coast cuisine which includes Cajun/Creole Cooking of the South, Midwest and Southwest regions also known as the “heartland of America”, Nouveau Style Cuisine of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii. While exploring these food regions we will touch upon most of the major cooking techniques such as braising, boiling, poaching, roasting, baking, sauté, and frying. Although this semester is planned out with regards to what we are cooking, if there is something specific that you are interested in making let me know and I’ll try to fit it into the semester. Lastly we will touch upon basic cooking vocabulary and measurement equations that focus primarily on kitchen equipment and production procedures in a professional kitchen. Please be aware, that, on occasion, there are projects that will take more than one day so please do not plan your eating habits around this course. Remember, the main purpose of the course is to introduce and expand your appetite to foods you would not normally be accustomed to.
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