American cuisine History

American cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from the United States of America. European colonization of the Americas yielded the introduction of a number of ingredients and cooking styles to the latter. The various styles continued expanding well in to the 19th and 20th centuries, proportional to the influx of immigrants from many foreign nations; such influx developed a rich diversity in food preparation throughout the country.

Fruits included strawberries which Europeans named the Virginia strawberry due to being larger than the European dwarf mountain strawberry, as well as huckleberries,blueberries, cherries, currants, gooseberries, plums, raspberries, sumac berries, juniper berries, hackberries, elderberries, hawthorne fruit, pitaya, white evening primrose fruit, Nuts proliferated. Animals included rabbit, raccoon, Virginia Opossum, squirrel, wood rat, chipmunk, ground hog, peccary, prairie dog, skunk, badger, beaver, and porcupine. Game birds included turkey, partridge, quail, pigeon, plover, lark and osprey. 

Water fowl was quite abundant and varied, particularly on the coasts such as ducks, geese,swans, crane and sea crane. Other aqueous proteins included alligators and frogs, from which the legs were enjoyed, especially bullfrogs. Snail meat was also enjoyed, along with various turtles such as the painted turtle, wood turtle, and snapping turtle along with their eggs. In addition the sea turtle and green turtle, endangered today were considered an important spiritual protein by the American Indians.