What is "New York Food"

If you walked down 5th Avenue in Manhattan and asked a hundred people to define "New York Food"  I am quite certain you would receive a hundred different answers.  With that in mind I thought it might be useful to provide my own definition of "New York Food" which will help frame any future posts.

At a high level I believe New York food to be a regional American cuisine.  The notion of any American food being identified as a unique regional cuisine is highly debatable.  This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of American foods are actually derivatives of ethnic foods brought to America by immigrants.

My own justification for defining New York food as a regional American cuisine is that the food I identify most with being from New York has been altered so much from their original state that they no longer resemble the imported version.  For example I challenge you to find a Chicken Parmesan Hero in Italy.  So in my mind, this is what makes the notion of New York regional cuisine so amazing.  Basically it is a hotchpotch of mutated or evolved ethnic foods from all over the world seamlessly blending into one new regional cuisine.  So what are those mutated or evolved ethnic foods?  Here is a partial list.

• Italian Food:  New York Style Pizza (and specifically sold by the slice), Chicken Parmesan (Hero or on a Plate), Cannolis,  Italian Delis with Sandwiches made to order with just about any combination of meat and cheese on great bread and always to large to fit in your mouth
• Jewish Food:Bagels, Rye bread, Dill Pickles, matzah Ball Soup, Pastrami, Corned Beef, Bialy, challah, blintzes, Knishes.
• Chinese Food: Fried Wonton Skin Crisps (always on the table), duck sauce, spare ribs, Chop Suey

For more information on American and Northeast regional cuisine you can look at these Wikipedia articles.

Wikipedia - Cuisine of the United States

Wikipedia - Cuisine of the Northeastern United States