All-American eats

What are you eating on Independence Day? Is it American? Are you sure? In these troubled times, we like to show our patriotism by eating “native.” Not faux foods like “freedom fries” (which may be banned if Obama wins the election), but foods that were, as Bruce Springsteen puts it, born in the USA.

It’s not as easy as it seems. Did you know ice cream comes from Italy, hot dogs and hamburgers from Germany, apple pie — Elizabethan England? If you’re not careful, your July 4th meal will be a mix of European imports. Not to worry. It might be particularly cool to make tomorrow an indigenous-dinner day, but if you can’t, you can make up for it by eating out later this summer at one of the local restaurants specializing in American recipes.

One example: Dish in La Cañada Flintridge. It touts itself as a restaurant that serves “hand-crafted American food.” Frankly, I don’t think some of their menu items (e.g., linguini with kalamata olives and goat cheese or their ginger chicken salad) qualify, but sprinkled here and there in the midday and evening menus are New World dishes like gumbo and BLTs with avocado, etc.

If you really, really want to dine American, try Dish’s Salisbury steak, named after the 19th-century doctor who recommended chopped beefsteak for Civil War soldiers suffering intestinal problems (Honest!). Or go for breakfast and try Dish’s cornmeal johnnycakes, which may predate the pilgrims, with a side of brown-sugar-cured ham and some warm maple syrup. You can’t get more native than that!

There's plenty of “colonial” food around, but eating roast beef or trifle or even layer cake wouldn’t be right so close to the holiday that celebrates our separation from England. For real independence, it might be better to seek out one of the most indigenous of cuisines — that of the South.

Several restaurants in our area specialize in Southern cooking in its various guises. Larkin’s in Eagle Rock and Big Mama’s Rib Shack in Pasadena do soul food, a bit of barbecue and a smattering of Cajun/creole. The most important dish on their menus for a gal like me who was raised on the Delmarva Peninsula is the fried chicken. I can’t get enough of the stuff. (Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, by the way, is another place whose chicken is up to snuff and — a big bonus — they serve grits.)

Larkin’s recipes are creative riffs on traditional Southern dishes: fried okra tossed with heirloom tomatoes in vinaigrette; collards sautéed with tomatoes, peppers, garlic and cayenne; fried mac&cheese balls and salmon cakes with cheese topped with homemade garlic mayo. Corn is roasted in the husk, banana pudding tops the dessert list, and they make their own lemonade.

Big Mama’s has a huge menu with about 20 sides, including fried okra, all kinds of beans and lentils and candied yams. On weekends, you can get chitterlings or pig’s feet. Ox-tail is available anytime.

And now that Monrovia’s Cajun Cafe is defunct, Big Mama’s is THE place for Louisiana fare like jambalaya, gumbo, blackened fish or po’ boys. And those desserts: pecan or sweet potato pie, cobblers and red velvet cake. Keep still, my beating heart!

If barbecue (but not necessarily Southern barbecue) is what you crave, there are at least four choices in addition to Big Mama’s. Hutch’s Barbecue has hung on for forever while newer surrounding structures tried to squeeze it out. It still serves basic barbecue with a Jamaican twist to regulars who swear by it. It gets my award for perseverance in the face of adversity and serves a mighty-fine pulled-pork sandwich.

Gus’s Barbecue, also an oldie but goodie, recently re-opened after a long hiatus to become a newie and goodie. Lots of interesting stuff in addition to barbecue: e.g., clam chowder (only on Friday) made with Fat Tire ale, a mac&cheese with Ortega chilies and applewood-smoked bacon, and fried chicken with apple-cider dipping sauce.

And then there is Robin’s Woodfire BBQ & Grill. He’s been working with smoke and mirrors and other ingredients, doing barbecue magic for many years. With four different sauces (including the irresistible “smokin’ spicy mad dog”) and a huge variety of meats, his is the place I gravitate to when I really want to get down and dirty with a wood-fired pig. My real addiction is Robin’s unsauced rib tips — magnificent even naked and very, very American.

Zeke’s in Montrose is another winner. (I’m always drawn to restaurants named after animals, and the naming of this place is a real shaggy dog tale told on the first page of the menu.) Like Robin’s, their barbecue is eclectic, with Carolina, Texas, Memphis and Kansas City all represented. Three sauces and a great “frito misto” (very cute, guys!) starter of hush puppies with honey butter, fried onion rings and sweet potato fries.

Finally, if you want to celebrate being (and eating) American with a little night music, then redwhite+bluezz is the place to go. It provides some of the best live all-American jazz and blues in our area and a menu sprinkled with jazzed-up, down-home dishes.

On the bill of fare: Maryland blue crab cakes with tropical salsa, corn-flake-crusted mac&cheese with sun-dried tomato béchamel, and black mushroom-crusted salmon with quinoa. Desserts include hand-made chocolate truffles with raspberries and blueberries. What can I say but three cheers for the redwhite+bluezz!