America has some genuinely terrible food. It also has some of the best

How is this country so maligned, you have to wonder, as you tear into a hunk of juicy brisket, the spice rub set into the perfectly blackened bark, the meat inside still pink and tender. Hours of love and care have gone into this delicacy, this beef cooked low and slow in a smoker, the pork spare ribs slathered in sweet, rich barbecue sauce, the slaw and the potato salad providing a cooling crunch.

A clam shack, Key West, Florida.Credit: iStock

And people think of this place as a culinary backwater? As foodie hell?

To the uninitiated, food in the US has a bad name. It’s all burgers and fries, gigantic portions of main meals people insist on calling entrees, sloppy pizzas and takeout junk.

And yeah, let’s be real here: that is American food. But that’s just a small part of American food, particularly if you know where to go and what to order. This is the country of White Castle and Carl’s Jnr, but it’s also the country of gumbo and jambalaya, of shrimp and grits and cherry pie, of Philly cheesesteak and bagels with a schmear, of New England clam chowder and the New York slice.

Some of the world’s best beer is brewed in the US. Some of the world’s best (and worst) coffee is served in the US. Some of the world’s best wine is produced in the US, and some of the world’s best whisky is distilled in the US.

And we haven’t even touched on the availability in the US of the cuisines of Mexico, China, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cuba, Korea, Japan, India, Pakistan and so many more, dished up by migrant communities and fusion-inspired chefs.

Chow down on a pulled pork sandwich – this one in Oregon.Credit: iStock

So set aside your Panda Express loyalty card for a second and come with us on a journey.

There are obvious locations to enjoy the best of US gastronomy. If you’re into food you’re probably going to call through New York City, with its incredible array of local and imported cuisines. You might make a stop in Los Angeles for the same reason, with the added bonus of the city’s proximity to Mexico, and its thriving food truck scene.

But how about the Pacific Northwest, the region that takes in the likes of Oregon and Washington State, of Seattle, Portland and Willamette Valley?

Seattle is a surprise winner, with a cuisine based largely around ingredients native to the Puget Sound, upon whose shores the city sits. This is oyster country, though you’ll also find Dungeness crabs, geoduck clams, prawns, abalone, salmon and herring.

The city’s dining scene doesn’t begin and end, however, with seafood. At Beast and Cleaver, chef Kevin Smith runs a whole-beast butcher shop that morphs into a whole-beast restaurant on weekends. At Sophon, Karuna Long serves up Cambodian Khmer cuisine. At The Walrus and the Carpenter, star chef Renee Erikson takes much of what makes Seattle great – the fresh seafood, the high-quality meat, the experimental flare – and turns it into something even more beautiful.

Oh, and then there’s Portland, in Oregon, with its incredible array of craft breweries, its diverse range of South-East Asian eateries, and its wine bars specialising in the fruits of the Willamette Valley, possibly the best wine region in the US, just an hour down the road.

Let’s continue the gastronomic adventure. Let’s go to Las Vegas, of all places, a city in a desert, but a magnet for celebrity chefs drawn by the riches of the famous Strip.

Weekend brunch at Esther’s Kitchen, Las Vegas.

The truly great food here, however, is served up in the suburbs, away from that neon catwalk. At Esther’s Kitchen, chef James Trees serves up classic Italian soul food that’s been tweaked for modern audiences. At the Golden Steer, meanwhile, they’re char-grilling artisanal steaks in a historic location on an old strip mall. And Tacos el Gordo does some of the best Mexican food north of the border.

There are more foodie destinations around the country. New Orleans is a justifiably famous hub for Cajun and Creole cuisines, though there’s also great Italian-American food here, and wine-matched fine-dining at the likes of Saint-Germain. Chicago – known around the world now thanks to cheffy TV series The Bear – has a food scene to back up its new-found fame, with everything from Michelin stars to down-home deep-dish pizza.

Honolulu is another crowd pleaser, the home of the poke bowl, among plenty of delicacies native to the state, served up in appropriately relaxed surrounds. And there’s Austin, Texas, a sure-fire winner thanks to its deeply ingrained culture of barbecue and Tex-Mex cuisine.

Steak from the Golden Steer, Las Vegas.

Many of these cities specialise in a certain cuisine, or are known for a certain dish. Though sometimes, it’s the dish that earns the fame, and which is adapted and copied throughout the country. In fact, in many states, you will find regionally specific versions of certain foods that are often very different to their counterparts in other states.

Pizza is one. There’s the famed New York slice, a huge pizza with a base that’s thin and pliable enough to require folding in half when you pick it up (mostly to prevent it from drooping and dropping all your pepperoni on the floor).

But then there’s New Haven-style pizza, thinner and more heavily charred than its NYC cousin. There’s Detroit-style pizza, rectangular, thick and doughy. Chicago has its famed deep-dish pizza, which is a cheese-lover’s dream (and a dieter’s nightmare). And in St Louis they have thin, round pizzas cut into square slices.

Burgers are another specialty with regional variations: the Frita Cubana in Florida, with crispy potato strings piled up inside; the Juicy Lucy in Minnesota, with cheese stuffed into the meat patty; the Oklahoma-style onion burger; and New Mexico’s green chile cheeseburger, to name a few.

Then you have lobster rolls (different in Maine to Massachusetts), and clam chowder (different in Manhattan to Boston).

The fabled lobster roll, this time with garlic mayonnaise.Credit: iStock

And finally there’s barbecue, surely their greatest gift to the culinary world, a seemingly simple practice of smoking or grilling meat, though one that will be subtly different in every state you visit, with different cuts of meat, different cooking techniques, different sauces and different sides.

Enjoy pulled pork sandwiches in Memphis, Tennessee; pork ribs slathered in thick, sweet sauce in Kansas City; whole-beast cookery in North Carolina; vinegar-based sauces in South Carolina; and juicy, smoked brisket in Texas, where powerfully flavoured sauces are considered almost sacrilege, because meat is king.

Is this the stuff, you have to ask, of a culinary wasteland? Does this sound like foodie hell? Not quite.

Five dishes you have to eat in the US

New Orleans-style seafood gumbo.

Gumbo, Louisiana
This is the classic Creole stew, a hearty mix of meat, sausage and shellfish, bathing in a heavily flavoured broth. That soup is thickened with a rich roux that’s made from either okra or file (dried and ground sassafras roots), the choice of which will be determined by where in Louisiana you happen to find yourself. Regardless, the gumbo will be served on rice, and it will be robust and delicious.

Pizza, everywhere
Pizza is Italian, of course. But it’s also American. Think of the classic takeout pizza chains – they’re all American. And there are distinctly American styles of pizza too, from the gigantic, floppy New York slice to the Chicago deep-dish, all slathered in sweet, oregano-rich tomato sauce and oddly yellow mozzarella. Wherever you are in the US, pizza is always a good option.

Barbecue, everywhere
Here’s another nationwide cuisine that is rich in variation and local pride. Almost every US state has its own style of barbecue – some with tomato-based sauces, some vinegar-based; some focused on cuts of beef, others pork – and they’re all good for their own reasons. This sort of slow, patient gastronomy promotes the idea of community, not to mention passionate cookery, and should be on everyone’s hit list.

Lobster roll, New England
The attraction here doesn’t require a lot of explanation: you take your lobster meat, you put it in a soft roll. Keen? Course you are. Lobster rolls, in the north-eastern states that make up New England, are a classic that make use of a readily available though still luxurious ingredient. The only question is, do you prefer yours drowned in butter, or slathered with mayo?

Shrimp and grits, South Carolina
Here’s another classic soul food dish of the south, this one native to the Carolinas and Georgia. Shrimp and grits is a traditional breakfast dish – the grits are dried ground corn cooked in chicken stock and then mixed with cheese, topped with grilled prawns and often sauteed mushrooms. And your day is off to a good start.

The writer has travelled frequently to the US at his own expense and as guest of various operators. See visittheusa.com.au