Ethnic may seem like solely the domain of foreign foods, but Technomic’s Darreen Tristano explains that America has a number of regionally ethnic cuisines finding their way to menus and grocery aisles.
When one thinks “ethnic,” it usually refers to international foods, not homegrown cuisines. But, the U.S. is an ethnic melting pot in its own right. There are plenty of American foods and flavors that have taken root regionally in the States and are now flourishing nationwide and driving menu trends around heritage, tradition, fusion and the appeal of home-style comfort foods.
Regional American ethnic foods are growing in popularity. One only has to consider the explosion of food trucks as an example—a concept and menu-positioning trend that was arguably kicked off by the neighborhood Mexican food carts and street-food taco vendors that populated east L.A. long before mobile brands were rolling around California.