American food has had a bad rap for years, perhaps not without good reason. First, it sorely lacks an identity. This huge nation, with as many growing regions as ethnicities, can`t (and perhaps shouldn`t) articulate itself in any unified culinary language. Pockets of wonderful cooking have always existed. There are the regional specialties of the South, addictive green chiles in the Southwest, solid German and Scandinavian "real-food" of the Midwest, and corn bread and sweet baked beans from New England. As Americans became more exposed to and comfortable with the European tradition of cooking as an art (which, according to James Beard, happened after enough men and women returned home from service in World War II with a belly-full of Continental cuisine), American chefs blossomed. Inspired by the traditions of more ancient cooking cultures, while working in kitchens free from the restrictions of those cultures, chefs let their imaginations run. The diversity of regional cuisines and the plethora of local ingredients have become the genius of American cooking (like that of Larry Forgione, David Burke, Anne Rosenzweig, and Waldy Malouf). Immigrant America, too, by preserving old ways and introducing new flavors, provides endless inspiration for the American palate. It creates a demand for unusual produce and imported specialties, which in turn add their charms to this country`s skillet. So, California sunshine and produce revivify French cooking, while Asian and Indian ingredients spice up the mix. And, in the last ten years, the simple home-cooked "American meal" has been raised to a high art. "Old-fashioned" (read, British nursery) foods such as macaroni and cheese, cod cakes, mashed potatoes, and rice pudding have become chic treats. American haute cuisine has become an exuberant hybrid, fishing all the best tid bits out of the melting pot and re-creating them in ever-changing ways.