Pour Heinz Ketchup, the quintessential American condiment on anything and it becomes the quintessential American meal.

I agree with the turkey and trimmings but even with that meal there are so many regional differences...stuffing vs. dressing, bread vs. cornbread. I serve a cornbread dressing with crawfish. When I was an exchange student 20 yrs ago it was something I really missed on Thanksgiving Day was turkey.

Hotdogs or burgers (cheeseburgers) on the grill and fries

or

meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas

And definitely apple pie a la mode for desert!

WHAT???? Nobody has mentioned Jello!! Or the salads made with Jello and cool whip or Miracle Whip.

Typical growing up: Steak, Baked Potato, overcooked green beans and JELLO

Typical now: Gardenburger, pasta salad, fresh cherries

I think the idea is to come up with what is the most representative national food, not regional food. As a Canadian (now living in the US) I'd have to agree that the hamburger, fries and coke combination would be widely recognized to outsiders as an American meal. I would add beer and jello or a twinkie for dessert to complete the truly American menu.

<I never had BBQ until I went to the midwest - and frankly, it's not my favorite.>

That's because Texas has the best BBQ!

While not necessarily quintessential American style, I do believe on thing that sets American food apart from many other places is in the world is quantity of food served and consumed.

If you want to give visitors a sense of what many Americans eat I think you hit on the operative word "feast". You could serve them one of these choices as well:

1. all you can eat buffet (chinese, homestyle, or other)
2. IHOP breakfast - 3 eggs, 4 pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes...
3. heaping plate of overcooked pasta - preferably ziti covered in melted cheese
4. >1/2lb hamburger + fries, with cheese and bacon, of course
5. an entire bucket of KFC (now with 0g transfat!!)
6. monster plate of nachos, covered in gooey pseudo-cheese substance, just as an appetizer, of course.

With unlimited refills of coke, pepsi, or any other favorite sugar syrup.

Being from New England (RI to be exact), I would choose either a hot lobster roll or whole belly fried clams with a side of fries, cole slaw, and a nice cold beer to wash it down!

Fortunately, for us, USNR has it exactly right..the French consider ANY corn on the cob as "horse food."

Thus as consumers of horse meat, they are secondary consumers of corn on the cob.

Basball, hot dogs, apple pie & Chevrolet as the song goes.... At first thought, I would say either cheeseburger & fries or steak, baked potatoe and salad.

Someone finally mentioned jello salads! A few years back we had our neighbors, who are British, over for Thanksgiving. The thing that totally baffled them was a jello mold (you know, orange jello, cream cheese, pineapple) that I had made. I realized that that was the type of food that is typically only made in a home. You could live in the US for decades, eating at restaurants frequently and unless you went to a church pot-luck, you'd likely never encounter a jello mold. (I will say that Neiman Marcus' Zodiac Room serves a mandarin orange jello mold with their chicken salad.)

Smom,

The thing about Turkey and Thanksgiving, is that even the regionalism or variations is a celebration of what America is. When new immigrants come to the country and celebrate their first Thanksgiving, they may go traditional, or they may adjust it to their respective ethnicity. Instead of a roast turkey, they may have turkey curry or turkey burritos or a turkey stir-fry. The thing is, the turkey as part of the Thanksgiving meal represents a cultural and historical legacy that ties us back to the first colonialists. The important thing is that it's a shared meal with elements that are common across Americans despite our many variations - cultural or ethnic.

I have to agree that it's the 'quantity' on the plates which make an American meal, different - everything you eat we eat here (UK) too - even popcorn!! :) I think burger/fries and coke is the 'quintessential', if there is such a thing. I make a Thanksgiving meal every other year or so (I live in Plymouth and we actually celebrate it here (we raise the Stars 'n' Stripes outside the Guildhall anyhow!) and it's a good excuse for a family get-together (not that any of us are American!). I do make it, but I still can't get to grips with your mashed potato with the turkey. It's a bit sickly for my palate - much better roast potatoes!
Who are the British neighbours who've never heard of a jello mold???? (Although we call it jelly - which is what you call jam!)
Actually, if I had to plump for one thing which I would say is 'American' it's your deli sandwiches! We just don't do them like that in Europe. They are YUMMY!! I remember ordering an egg mayonnaise sandwich in San Francisco - I expected a few slices of egg and the girl was shovelling in dollop after dollop, until it oozed out the sides and was about a mile thick!!

I think I remember a post on the European board where somebody went to various European-language travel websites to see what kind of restaurants they visited when they came to the U.S.

The recurring theme was Denny's, and in particular the Grand Slam Breakfast. They couldn't believe all the food you get for the equivalent of several euros.

When you rule out the regional favorites that vary widely across the U.S., you come to the 3 true contenders. Two have been mentioned, but one is conspicuously absent! 1. Turkey Dinner (in all it's wonderful manifestations). 2. Burgers and Fries (or possibly potato salad or slaw if you're grilling them at home).

AND . . .

3. Pizza! It's another of the few foods that nearly all Americans like and that unites us from sea to shining sea. (Who cares what it's origins are; as a new country, we have to co-opt nearly everything from others anyway.)

1. Turkey dinner- roasted, with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, home made biscuits, cranberry salad, multitudes of vegetables (NOT canned) etc. - plus pumpkin pie /whipped creme dessert- all home made from scratch.

2. A great steak dinner- 12 to 16 oz T-bone or prime rib with all its mushroom/onion or potato choice accompanying detail- plus a top notch Caesar or quality mix/home made dressing salad.

3. BBQ- massive in its quality and quantity. There are all kinds of bbq- but ribs, chops, and pulled pork choices abounding with great corn on the cob. And a side of home fried chicken. The American cook out.

And as a person who has relatives in 3 different European countries, I can tell you that their corn is NOTHING like ours, and that when they come here and taste mine they absolutely hum like an electrical wire. It melts in your mouth.

I had "peaches & cream" variety last night and cooked 6 ears and guess what was left. ZERO. That and the great tomatoes just picked with salt/pepper. My 60 year old man's favorite dinner. And we didn't even get to the cucumber salad or the fresh roasted peppers yet.

Wildblueyonder - anything but mashed potatoes with Thanksgiving dinner will not be tolerated!!! Blasphemy even! I can't understand your revulsion - you did have pan-dripping gravy with them, no? Mmmmm. Is it Thanksgiving yet?! (I'm lucky - being from Canada and living in the US I get to celebrate two Thanksgivings!)

Our relatives in Denmark and Germany love the ribs in Chicago, the fabulous steaks (particularly beef tenderloin) and.....the salads! They just don't do "fancy" green salads there like we do.

But I think if you asked them what was really different about eating here is that we eat a lot of foods with our hands. Hamburgers (they eat theirs with a fork and knife), pizza (ditto), fried chicken (ditto), shrimp cocktail (same), hot dogs (they eat a million kinds of sausages, none on a bun), corn on the cob (never had before), and their favorite, bbq ribs, which they all took pictures of themselves eating in a restaurant wearing plastic bibs. They thought it was hilarious.

savages.
We're just savages.