To Robert

“What kind of foods are there in America?”

her note said, the Roman letters surrounded by hand drawn flowers, delivered beneath the flapping wings of a geometrically folded bird- the gift of origami.

How could I possibly respond to such a letter! Beyond its presentation, I have long wrestled with the definition of American cuisine, a bit jaded in my youth feeling that much like our language, we’ve taken everybody else’s and made it our own- and to a degree we have. How can I squeeze that into a letter? But as I’ve grown, and seen a bit- well tasted a bit more- of the world, I recognize the things you can only find in America.

We’ll dive into this a bit more throughout the week as we near perhaps one of the most American holidays.

In the meantime, you may remember me asking you to help me write this letter, making sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Well, here’s what we ended up with.

Kokona,

In America, there are many kinds of foods. There are foods from all over the world, because Americans are from all over the world- even Japan!. Sometimes we eat sushi 🍣 in the USA! We eat lots of pizza and fried food like chicken🍗 and potatoes. 🍟But, some famous foods in America are hamburgers 🍔(like the one I made for your dad), hot dogs, and chili.

There’s also plenty barbecue, seafood, and desserts.

My favorite American food is very simple. It is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It is sweet, salty, and delicious.
Right now, the most food I miss most is pancakes with eggs and bacon 🍳 for breakfast! One day, I will make pancakes for the Sasaki family.

–ロバート