Enjoyable read. Very time driven though so I do see it being dated with Al the references it makes at some point in the future. Educational and well researched but more of an encyclopedia than a story.

My Interest

This sounded like a fun, foodie treat! It was available in audio on Net Galley so I took it.
The Story

Food-TV personality Dave Page takes us on a culinary tour of America’s favorite foods. Barbecue, burgers, sushi, Chinese food, ice cream, pizza, and more–all the stuff Americans love to stuff our faces with on a regular basis. The chapters end with a recipe, but along the way, we meet local personalities who dominate the market with their food. From a shack barbecue joint to a lobster truck to Ben & Jerry, we meet a colorful cast of food-loving entrepreneurs, food producers, fishermen, chefs, and more. We come to know a brief history of the food, how it has evolved, and who does it well. From a Purdue University favorite burger place with peanut butter and pickles atop the patty, to the best Po Boy shop in New Orleans–and I’d love to road trip ’em all! (Bow could he pick that Purdue place [asks the IU grad, child of two Purdue grads] and IGNORE The Working Man’s Friend in Indianapolis in the burger chapter? How? IU gets in the story with an amazing Chinese restaurant selling both American and “Chinese-Chinese” food).

My Thoughts

There were a few curious omissions though–especially in the last chapter on ice cream. No mentions of the frozen custard or soft serve industry and no mention of either Howard Johnson’s or Baskin Robbins. My Dad once ran an ice cream and milk plant for a dairy company in the years Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s were getting into our bloodstream. He also sold ice cream mix to Dairy Queens and similar outfits. These were curious omissions. Root Beer Stands were another curious omission or even just drive-ins. I suppose he covered those enough on tv?

Bagels and sushi were great additions to the lineup, I love both, but how could he have omitted the great American steak and steak houses? That is almost a sacrilegious omission! No mention of a nice thick, rare steak, baked potato with butter and sour cream, and a wedge salad with blue cheese dressing? No Heinz vs A-1 vs no sauce? Or, no today’s version with hot rolls slathered in cinnamon butter and the potato loaded to the gills with bacon, cheddar, and green onions (if desired)? (But, thankfully, no praise for the modern obsession with creamed spinach as a steak side dish!) No pan-seared versus open flame-grilled? No seasoned vs plain old butter? Lowry's famous seasoned salt vs in-house seasoning blend? Fried chicken and chicken wings both get their own chapter but nary a hotdog or a bratwurst to be found! And, here I was listening in baseball season!! No onions and mustard vs straight ketchup? Not a string of kraut or a scoop of chili? And, where was chili?? And chocolate chip cookies? Nowhere. Nada on muffins, too. These were puzzling.

There was no wrap-up at the end–it just ended after the ice cream recipe. In spite of this and the steak omission, this was a fun book, its story well told in entertaining prose that kept my attention throughout. I listened to the audio version which was great.

Food Americana: he Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America’s Favorite Dishes by David Page.

This was a great listen! I really enjoyed the narrator and the book content. I learned so much about the history of various foods.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was terrific. I love the subject matter, I love what the author chose to include in his survey, and I love the writing style. The easy-going, conversational style is very readable and I quite enjoyed it. I learned a lot as well, which is always a plus for me! The narration was well done as well, making this an easy recommendation.

This was a fun, wide ranging survey of the history and transformation of some of the USA's best-loved foods. Old favorites like you'd expect (Hamburgers, Ice Cream, BBQ), foods adapted from other cultures more recently (sushi, Mexican-American, Chinese, bagels), and fish (lobster rolls, oysters) and fowl (fried chicken and wings).

Each chapter followed generally the same trajectory: a discussion of how popular the food is; its history; ways in which it manifests in cuisine today both high and low; and unique artisanal creators. After a while the rhythm gives the book a bit of a feeling of sameness, but there are tidbits in there that are fun and surprising (sushi is the only food on the list that started out elite and spread everywhere; one reason that Ben & Jerry's ice cream is so rich is because Ben Cohen has no sense of smell!). There also were sections that were just lists (types of BBQ; regional variations of pizza), that were a lot to take in but did spark my interest into learning more (I would actually love a book on regional pizzas like the amazing Detroit pizza). And there were some ridiculous moments too (the development of the foodie hamburger and the race have "the most expensive burger anywhere" is a synecdoche for crass opulence gone wild).

On the whole an enjoyable read, and a nice reminder of the depth of the fun (if not always healthy) foods we enjoy.

I really enjoyed this. I love books with food and about food and its history so this book was right up my alley! I can not say how much fun this book was. I felt like I was learning so much about the food I know and love. It was just fantastic!

I'm a big foodie and I also enjoy history, especially lesser known histories, so I was excited to get an advanced audiobook recording from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book as it was a cross between Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and Diner, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I watched Taste the Nation last year and there was some overlap in the "American" foods that were explored in this book as from the first season of that show. However, there are also some different foods featured and also some different perspectives on even the foods they both profiled. It's very interesting to learn more about the origins of the foods that have now become ubiquitous in America and also seeing how these foods continue to evolve. I would definitely recommend this to any fellow foodies!

This book covers the evolution of certain foods or food types in the US. The chapters are broken up by food type, such as chapters on pizza, barbeque, the burger, ice cream, and bagels. The end of each chapter showcases a recipe from one of the restaurants visited in the chapter. It was interesting to learn about the history of certain foods in the US. My favorite chapter was probably on the bagel.

The author is the creator and former producer of Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives and this book carried the shows vibe throughout it, as he hops to several different places in each chapter across the US.

I received an audio book copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review,

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* I loved reading this book and wouldnt mind owning a copy! never knew the olive burger was native to my state (pros bc i dont like olives lmao)

Food Americana is a romp through a handful of popular American foodstuffs. We have chapters on pizza, hamburgers, barbecue, sushi, Chinese-American food, lobster & oysters, fried chicken, and ice cream. These are all foods that may have roots elsewhere on the globe, but that have found themselves becoming some of the most popular foods in the USA. In each chapter, the author takes us through the history of the food in America, its impact on pop culture and America's dining habits.

I like food writing and this was an interesting and entertaining collection of short micro-histories about American food. I listened to it on audio and the narrator was enthusiastic and engaging. This was a pretty quick listen and a great way to keep myself entertained while doing chores. :)

This book is exactly the kind of thing I am drawn to -- histories of food and examinations of how it reflects culture. Unfortunately, because I have already read a fair amount on this topic, this book didn't really tell me much that I didn't already know. It also didn't make any overarching points about American food as a whole -- I felt the book really could have used a concluding chapter to tie it all together. Overall, the book was fine and included some interesting tidbits but is unlikely to leave a lasting impression.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free download of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good microhistory book, and a microhistory book about food is even better! When I first read the description for this book I thought it was going to focus more on American home cooking cuisine but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that each chapter covered a different type of restaurant type dishes that have become staples across the country. Some examples of dishes that are explored are bagels, sushi, Americanized Mexican food, BBQ, and many others. Each chapter begins by delving into the historical roots of the dish, how it became popular in the United States, how it's changed over the years, and what innovations and creative directions the food it being taken in at the moment. Did you know that currently there is such a thing as duck fat ice cream? Because I certainly did not.

Most of the foods originally come from other countries, and that truly reflects that the United States is a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. Something that is sadly being forgotten in recent times. Another theme is how foods and cuisines brought to the United States slowly begin to evolve into something completely different than the original inspiration. I could see Page being able to do a sequel to this book exploring things such as Cajun food, apple pie, Americanized Indian food, poke, Thanksgiving Turkey, grits, brunch staples, and cheesecake. This book is such a great beginning but it only scratches the surface of what I believe could become an anthology of what has developed into the American cuisine overtime.

If other microhistories such as A History of the World in 6 Glasses have interested you in the past, or you're curious as to how American cuisine developed and what direction it's going towards today then I highly recommend this book. It's filled with history, interesting facts, trivia, restaurant recommendations, and interviews with pioneers in their field.

5 out of 5 stars and one of my favorite reads in 2021.

The perfect audiobook to listen to during a commute, running errands or house projects and I listened to this during all of those activities - although an audiobook with its sole focus on food, did make me hungry quite a few times! From pizza to ice cream to Americanized foods that came with people from mexican to chinese, this book gave a great broad and look at how these American foods came to be and what aided in their rise to popularity. If you are a fan of those food shows on the history channel like me and my husband, then you will love this book and maybe even see some overlapping information from the book to some of the shows!

Food Americana is a creative telling of the ways groups of foods have become popularized in America today. With a research base of where the food originated, the book acts as a history of American food but with interesting and even comical at times, commentary. The book is broken up into chapters about specific food groups with some broad (e.g., Mexican-American) and some more specific (e.g., Chicken Sandwiches). Award winning and/or popular restaurants in America are discussed throughout and I found myself taking notes on restaurants I would like to visit someday. I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator to be enthusiastic and entertaining. I would definitely recommend this book to food lovers everywhere.

I received an advance review audiobook copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Food Americana is an interesting look at how food culture in the United States had been influenced by other cultures. I found it slightly dry and plodding at times and using too many quotes, but the information was still interesting and informative.

Short but interesting look into how we've incorporated other countries' food into our own lives and told in a very entertaining way.

I received a copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#FoodAmericana #NetGalley