Chicken Nuggets and Potato Skins: The American Foods

People love to talk about different 'American' foods such as Apple pie and hamburgers when it comes to cuisine that should be seen as a part of the culture of the United States. However, while these foods are very delicious and are eaten by people in the United States all the time, I am afraid to say it is dishonest to call these foods 'American' as if they have any origins in the USA. Apple pie is a food that was invented by the British, not by people from the United States, so this food is about as American as Big Ben or the British monarchy. Hamburgers come from Germany and are thus not a food of the United States. That being said, there are a bunch of different foods that were invented in the US and could be seen as being as 'American' as the Constitution and bald eagles!

One of the foods that are actually a staple of the culture of the United States of America is the simple chicken nugget. Chicken nuggets are a very delicious but simple food. According to Collins Dictionary, chicken nuggets are nothing more than small pieces of chicken fried in batter, yet this very simplistic food has been able to catch the United States and the rest of the world by storm with its creation!

Chicken nuggets were created back in the nineteen fifties and were invented by a man named Robert C. Baker. This food was created with the simple goal of producing a food that could clump a type of meat (like chicken) together with a breaded coating without the skin becoming detached. Baker - who was working as a food science professor at Cornell University at the time - discovered a way to make this particular type of food a reality. He solved this issue in food production by first coating chicken meat in vinegar, salt, grains, and milk powder to make the ground bits of chicken hold together. Then, he used an egg and grain-based batter that would be fried as the coating for the chicken ball. With this particular discovery and a new method for holding ground chicken and other forms of ground meat together, the chicken nugget was born in the US and a new type of food was added to American culture!

Chicken nuggets have become very popular as a staple in fast foods and homemade food for years. Heck, chicken nuggets have become so popular at this point that there are versions of chicken nuggets that can be found being served in gourmet restaurants, making them a part of high-class dining too and something all kinds of people of all social classes can partake in! Chicken nuggets can also be bought in stores where they are packaged, frozen, and prepared to be shipped to stores around the planet.

Another food that has its origins in the US is potato skins - also known as potato jackets. This food was made as an appetizer created from unpeeled baked potato halves with some kind of filling placed in the halves. This food has been around since at least the nineteen seventies and has been documented as being served to people as early as the year 1974.

TGI Fridays is a restaurant that claims to be the first to create the dish. However, other restaurants like Prime Rib Restaurant and RJ Grunts also claim to be the first establishment to serve potato skins to the public. No matter which of these tales on the invention of potato skins is correct, these three restaurants were able to make potato skins into a household name and a well-known American cuisine. Potato skins are now being served in restaurants and pubs, in grocery stores, and are also made as snacks in American homes. Not to mention, many publications like the New York Times news site have their own recipes for potato skins that allow anyone to learn how to bake this delicacy in their own kitchen!

So yeah, potato skins and chicken nuggets are two American foods invented in the USA. So from now on, you can say that something is as American as potato skins and chicken nuggets!

Citations:

- Carman, Tim (September 22, 2017). "You can order a flight of chicken nuggets at the world's first nugget tasting room". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.

- Collins, R.D., Karen (March 24, 2006). "Chicken nuggets -- good idea gone bad?". Nutrition Notes. NBC News.

- "What's Really In That Chicken Nugget?". The National Chicken Council.

- Odiorne, Don. "History of Potato Skins on the Menu". Idaho Potato Commission.