American cuisine is a fascinating mix of culinary traditions brought by immigrants from around the world and adapted in the New World. From the hamburger to the California sushi burrito, US food is not afraid to blend influences. The icon of American cuisine is the hamburger — the name comes from German immigrants from Hamburg who sold "hamburg steak" at 19th-century New York fairs. The hot dog descends from the German frankfurter — today sold from carts in every American city. Cheeseburger, BLT, Reuben sandwich and pastrami on rye from New York are fast-food classics the world imitates. The American South is a barbecue paradise — slow-cooking meat over charcoal for hours. South Carolina specializes in pulled pork with mustard sauce, Texas in beef brisket with a dry rub, Kansas City in sweet ribs, Memphis in dry ribs with paprika rub. Louisiana gives us Cajun and Creole cuisine — jambalaya, gumbo, po'boy sandwich, crawfish étouffée. Soul food of the Southern states is fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, cornbread and sweet potato pie. Tex-Mex and California's Cal-Mex are borderland cuisines — chili con carne, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, guacamole. Today they are among the most beloved styles in the USA. New York pizza — thin, folded in half — competes with Chicago deep-dish pizza (thick crust, sauce on top). Wheat-flour bagels boiled before baking, New York style cheesecake and pastrami sandwiches from Katz's Delicatessen are the pride of the Big Apple. American breakfasts are hearty: pancakes with maple syrup, waffles, biscuits and gravy, grits (corn porridge), French toast, omelets and steak-and-eggs. The diner — a 24-hour highway restaurant with chrome stools — is an American institution of the 1950s. Drinks: Coca-Cola invented in Atlanta in 1886 by pharmacist John Pemberton, Pepsi from North Carolina, Dr Pepper from Texas. Bourbon whiskey from Kentucky (95% of world bourbon production), craft beer (over 9,000 microbreweries), Napa Valley and Sonoma wines rivaling the French. Contemporary American cuisine includes farm-to-table (Alice Waters in Berkeley), food truck culture (Korean-Mexican tacos of Roy Choi in Los Angeles), Michelin-starred restaurants (The French Laundry in Napa, Alinea in Chicago, Per Se in New York). Culinary holidays: Thanksgiving with roast turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie; July 4th with BBQ and potato salad; Super Bowl Sunday with chicken wings, nachos and dips. American cuisine is not a single tradition but a joyous abundance of many.