I gotta preface this with the fact that pretty much all American food is based on layers of blending of multiple sources. It's a lot less distinct than some national or regional cuisines elsewhere in the world, and many expressions of things can be American without having originated inside america.

So, with that in mind, I gotta say pit smoked southern pork BBQ. The history of it is very much american, despite it being a fairly universal cooking method. People have been smoking meats in a contained way for thousands of years all over the world. But the particular expression of it that arose in the south is incredible.

For one thing, it's delicious. Hot, tender, smoky pork. How can that go wrong?

There's regional sauces for it too. Mustard based, vinegar based, tomato based, coke/cola based, plus more; and blends of those. I favor a vinegar based sauce personally, but don't turn my nose up at any of them.

But it can serve as a unifier as well. Even BBQ joints tend to have become a sort of neutral ground that can bridge communities that otherwise don't interact much. But when someone goes whole hog on their own, that's a big undertaking, and it takes help to achieve. That help, and the nature of cooking an entire pig, also mean that communities will gather. You don't pit smoke 200 pounds of meat just for a handful of people. It's an event.

And that's what really makes it something indispensable for me. It's a cultural hallmark shared across religious lines, across neighborhood lines, and even racial lines. That kind of BBQ is a southern thang, and it's a thang we tend to let go of the bullshit that divides a community at least long enough to fill bellies.

You go to a whole hog party, and you'll see Methodists and baptists agreeing that, damn this pig is good. You'll see that old black guy and the old white guy swapping BBQ lore. You can end up with family rifts and neighbor disputes settled, or at least set aside for a night because ain't nobody got time to fuss until after they've had some Q, and after they've had it, they ain't got no energy to argue because the itis done crept up on em.

Long as you keep an eyeball on the beer supply, won't be fights or much of anything other than bulging bellies and folks wondering how much they can carry home.

I ain't saying a good smoked pig will fix the world's ills. I'm just saying that it shifts the bullshit down the priority list for a while.

And holy hell, it is yummy.