Typical American dish?

[Pierre]

Next Saturday the church is doing the Presentation of Nations (or something like that) and I'm in it. Each of us is supposed to tell about his country (I know the basics, but I'm apparently supposed to tell some church statistics which I don't know), wear the typical clothes (I suppose what I usually wear is as typical American as anything - except in summer when I wore shorts from Brazil), and bring a dish typical of that country. It has been at least 20 years since I ate anything resembling the SAD, so I was stumped. I asked one of the pastors, who suggested a vegetable platter with dip. I know the typical veggies for this, but the dips served with it generally contain HFCS, processed milk, or other things that I avoid. I don't dip veggies anyway. Any ideas? I'm also thinking of bringing some pecans, which are native to this country (at least the species name C. illinoinensis implies it).

[Sharon in Colorado]

Why not just bring the native produce from your country? Whatever is naturally growing there?

[girlsmiley]

What about Alissa's Onion or Cucumber dip to use with the veggies ... those are two dips I haven't made, yet I plan to make and bring them to the family Christmas get-together.

What could be more "American" than Apple Pie ... ? :rolleyes:

[juliebove]

You could make the American nut cheese and serve it undehydrated as a dip.

[RawNut]

How about a Raw cheese log with flax crackers? It seems pretty American to me. I don't have a recipe for it but Juliebove made me think of the typical non-raw version.

Craig

[rawpriestess]

North American, well corn, was a transplant, but tobaco is native, how about orange juice? you know, from California to Florida?

I think I'd bring that, they never have enough beverages at any social gathering as far as I'm concerned.

[Pierre]

Sounds good! I'll buy a bag of oranges, peel them, and put them in the Vita-Mix. Of course orange juice is just as typical of Brazil, and the fruit and its name are of Indo-Iranian origin ;) so I'll still bring the pecans.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Sounds good! I'll buy a bag of oranges, peel them, and put them in the Vita-Mix. Of course orange juice is just as typical of Brazil, and the fruit and its name are of Indo-Iranian origin ;) so I'll still bring the pecans.


Well, there's an origin for practically everything here. We're the big melting pot.

[Pierre]

I just got back and it didn't go that well. The big hit at my table was the mangu from the Dominican Republic, which is made with cheese, so I didn't have any. (Ellen White said "Cheese should never enter the stomach." (from memory; I'm not sure where I put the book)) Lots of people ate a pecan or two or some veggies, but they didn't like the dip. Perhaps dipping vegetables is as foreign to them as it is to me. The oranges I had left in the freezer, so the smoothie is still partly frozen.

Anyway, here's the recipe for what I did:
100 g olives, which were supposed to be pitted, but there was a pit in there
100 ml water
10 g sesame seeds
1 small Cambray onion (almost a green onion, but with slight bulb)
Toss in the Vita-Mix and blend.

[Ariannah]

To be honest, the dip doesn't sound like something I would have eaten. Did you like the taste of it? Well, every move you make in the right direction is a good step, even if it doesn't go as well as anticipated.

I really love stuff like cashew dips, and I also remember a spinach dip with avocado, spinach and seasonings. Experiment a bit, and perhaps you can take what you like best to the next potluck or food gathering.

You're SDA as well? I grew up SDA and occasionally attend church.

[Pierre]

I started attending the church when it was just around the corner from me. We now meet 8.6 km from where I live, and I usually bike there (but today I didn't because I had to bring the Vita-Mix, the banjo, and the food).

The church is Hispanic. Whether I'm Hispanic is debatable; my mother is from El Salvador, but her ancestors were French, so by the US definition she is, but by the definition used in Latin America, she isn't. I don't consider myself Hispanic; I speak Spanish fairly well, but sometimes mix French with it. Can I call myself general Latino?

[Bobbie]

I didn't read this until it was too late :(

I would have said -
aren't burgers the classic american dish?
or sloppy joes
I would have taken a burger on a bun with all the extras, or pumpkin pie or apple pie.

[Pierre]

I don't like burgers or pies, and have no clue how to make a raw version of either, or whether anyone else would have recognized it. Carrot sticks and celery sticks are commonly eaten raw at parties in America, so they seemed appropriate to me.

[madmel]

Pierre,

next time you might check out the numerous recipes on this and other raw food sites for a good dip ;) The one you made does sound a bit, well, interesting :D

If you are looking for a clue of how to make raw versions of burgers, dips, meatloafs or other (maybe) typical American dishes, I would recommend the same procedure, there are so many great recipes out here that are not only resembling SAD versions but taste way better!

Honestly, first I thought your dip sounded like an olive tapenade but then with the water and the sesame I imagined it to taste a bit awkward. Haven't tried it though ;)

cheers,
madmel