Food & Cooking
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Book from creator of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ highlights the stories behind America’s favorite dishes

Bertie A. Kinser

The book answers questions like “What is American cuisine?” and “What national menu do we share?” #newdaynw

When you hear “American food” what do you think of? It’s likely you’ll come up with dishes that had origins elsewhere. “Food Americana” by David Page takes a deep dive into the stories behind American cuisine.

Page joins New Day NW to talk about the book.

David Page changed the world of food television by creating, developing, and executive-producing the groundbreaking show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now from the two-time Emmy winner David Page comes the book “Food Americana,” an entertaining mix of food culture, pop culture, nostalgia, and everything new on the American plate.

The remarkable history of American food. What is American cuisine? What national menu do we share? What dishes have we chosen, how did they become “American,” and how are they likely to evolve from here? David Page

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Food & Cooking
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how your favorite foods were named

Bertie A. Kinser

What’s in a name?

There are some foods that are such a part of our culinary fabric – and so well-loved – that their names pass our lips as easily as they do. But many of our favorite and everyday foods are hiding fascinating tales behind their monikers. From chop suey to Spam and spaghetti bolognese, here are some of the most surprising stories about how these top foods got their names.




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Spam

For such a well-known (and divisive) food, the truth about how Spam got its name is actually something of a mystery. One theory suggests it’s an acronym for Scientifically Processed Animal Matter, with Spam obviously being a little snappier. Jay Hormel, who invented the iconic canned pork in 1937, has apparently claimed it’s

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Food & Cooking
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A history of America’s favorite Asian takeout dishes

Bertie A. Kinser

Kung pao chicken, General Tso’s chicken, pad thai, sushi, banh mi, chicken tikka masala — dishes that are rooted in Asia and the Asian diaspora are now firmly a part of America’s multicultural cuisine. But how did that come to be the case?

“Asian American food is as complicated and diverse as Asian American people because the category itself, Asian American, is very broad,” said Robert Ji-Song Ku, associate professor of Asian and Asian American Studies at Binghamton University. “It’s hard to generalize about Asian Americans and how different cuisines become mainstream because they really all had different processes and different developments.”

No story can be told about Asian food in America without acknowledging the influence that Chinese immigrants and their descendants had, not just on Chinese American food, but on American food. Consider the fact that people of Chinese descent currently make up about 1.6% of the

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Food & Cooking
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5 of Anthony Bourdain’s favorite hidden NYC restaurants

Bertie A. Kinser

Anthony Bourdain was many things: a chef, a writer, a traveler. But his star shined the brightest when it came to eating.

The prolific foodie died by suicide in 2018 at age 61, but his new posthumous book, “World Travel: An Irreverent Guide,” (Ecco) comes out Tuesday. It highlights his favorite travel spots and is already a best seller on Amazon.

Written by Bourdain and Laurie Woolever, a food writer who spent more than a decade working as his assistant, the book is a compilation of interviews and quotes from his time on television, in shows such as “Parts Unknown” and “No Reservations.” Interspersed with essays honoring him from friends and family, the collection is a handheld directory to Bourdain’s oeuvre.

In addition to must-eat joints in Finland and Malaysia, the book devotes ample space to Bourdain’s backyard, New York City. While mainstream classics such as Katz’s Deli, Russ &

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