I'm not a gourmet. A passionate amateur gourmet I know once bitterly criticized American taste buds: "They have a narrow range of taste. They like burgers and chickens. Salads for some. Most of them don't really enjoy the taste of Sushi. They just like it because it's exotic and hip." My uncle, who captivated me with his lecture on culinary anthropology over a dinner one day, said that America doesn't have a cuisine. He said that when he was taken to one high-end restaurant, he saw the high class people ordering a simple steak with infinite complexity on how its cooked, specifying the temperature, juiciness, et cetera. His argument was that such niceties rise from the need for something artistic, gourmet, and high-end. The American traditional food does not have much diversity or art in them, and the tradition is at best relatively short. One cannot contend that the South's soul food, pilgrim's turkey, and hamburgers have recipes more complex than those of French or Italians. It's historical significance is another story.

The thin menu book of American cuisine and tradition was replaced by what is perhaps one of the most American ideas, along with liberty and freedom and consumerism: Diversity! The lack of "America" is just not a problem now. You can get assortments of Western Europe to the Far East. That's America. Some of them are as they are originally (or at least they try to be), like spaghetti or sushi. Some have just turned into their own thing: American Chinese food is not Chinese, nor is American Mexican food Mexican. (Don't get me wrong. I love General Tso's Chicken, Chicken Biryani, and Taco Bell.) Some more exotic ones, like that of African or Eastern European nations, did not enter our Saturday-family-dinner options because people of such nationalities immigrated to America much less. But I assume some global entrepreneurs will soon serve it to our dinner tables, just seasoned to fit the American taste buds.

I presume that, the more such "Americanization" of various dishes, the stronger grows the satisfaction from, and attachment to, the "oh we're a melting pot" idea. Many American's don't really think about other culture, other countries, let alone admire them. On the other hand, the developing world aims for the American life. African TV broadcasts Snoop Dogg and his Cadillac. Asian people started to go grab coffee every morning and every time else they don't have anything to do. See The Closing of American Mind by Allan Bloom. See Linear Theory of Development or something. Narrow, narrow taste buds.

It's easy to criticize a nation of people, and generalization is obviously in part. But little vignettes sometimes ring true, and conclusions from little samples are sometimes more accurate beyond one's immediate disagreement. It has some truth, and sometimes it's influencing us beyond our conscious opinions. The criticism may be true. I noticed it luckily, due to having lived in two different countries. Some Americans notice it by studying history. But there is, by and large, no nutritional value or prescription from this criticism, though. It's like, "so what?" Enjoy what you eat. Don't get fat. And travel more if you can, I guess.