You Are Here: 21st Century Regional American Cuisine

STAYING PUT OR BRANCHING OUT?

Loco moco and Spam sandwiches in Hawaii, Kentucky burgoo and Hot Brown sandwiches, scrapple in Pennsylvania Dutch country: None of these has achieved much breakout success, either. But again, many chefs question why they should have to. “What’s regional tends to stay regional,” says Michael Morrison, president and senior executive chef, FlavorChefs LLC, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. “I don’t expect to go to L.A. and see Floribbean cuisine there.” And that, he believes, is the beauty of it. “You can count on going to different parts of the country to experience that regional cuisine.”

And as for those cuisines that do achieve broader traction, what’s their secret? For barbecue, it “comes down to finding the most-accepted barbecue profile out there,” Morrison says, pointing to Corky’s, a Memphis joint that’s been pleasing crowds for years—something that has widespread appeal. “Corky’s is a mild, red, smoky, tomato-based barbecue sauce—you’ve got your brown sugar, some molasses in there, some seasonings and spices,” he says. “It’s what consumers outside of a barbecue region accept and like.”

Another regional-goes-national success story involves Cajun and Creole cuisines of New Orleans. “Gumbo is probably one of the most-recognized items out there,” Morrison points out. A couple decades ago, this simply wasn’t so. What’s more, he says, “in the past three to five years, it’s started to show up in the frozen sections in the supermarkets.” He credits manufacturers like Zatarain’s with putting blackened chicken with yellow rice and sausage-and-chicken gumbo on shoppers’ radars, while he thanks Paul Prudhomme and Magic Seasoning for elevating prepared Cajun and Creole foods.

TAILORING TO TASTES

But barbecue and spicy Cajun shrimp are comparatively easy sells. Perhaps some foods are so highly specialized that they will remain relegated to regional borders—at least for the time being.