What is "American food," exactly? Edward Lee, the chef behind 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky., wants you to know it's so much more than hamburgers and hot dogs. In this video from Mind of a Chef, Lee waxes poetically on the subject, explaining how this nation's cuisine knows no bounds.
"American food is anything that happens in this country, by any chef who has ever asked himself the question, or asked herself the question, 'What am I cooking?'" Lee says in the video. "That's the beauty of American food, is that it is limitless."
Lee goes on to detail how cooks and chefs in other countries don't have to think to much about their respective cuisines, because so many come from a singular culinary tradition. But in America, the homegrown tradition is to take food from everywhere and make it our own.
"We are an amalgam of hundreds, if not thousands, of different influences all just crammed up against each other," Lee says. "And then you shake the box and see what comes out."
• American Food is Limitless with Chef Edward Lee [YouTube]
• All Video Interludes [E]
