Editing American cuisine (section)

====Florida cuisine====
{{see|Floribbean cuisine}}
{{More citations needed|1=section|date=March 2023}}
Certain portions of the South often have their own distinct subtypes of cuisine owing to local history and landscape. Floridian cuisine, for example, has a distinct way of cooking that includes different ingredients, especially south of Tampa and Orlando.

Spain had control of the state until the early 19th century and used the southern tip as an outpost to guard the [[Spanish Main]] beginning in the 1500s, but Florida kept and still maintains ties with the [[Caribbean Sea]], including the [[Bahamas]], [[Haiti]], [[Cuba]], [[Puerto Rico]], the [[Dominican Republic]], and [[Jamaica]].

South of Tampa, there are and have been for a long time many speakers of [[Caribbean Spanish]], [[Haitian French]], [[Jamaican Patois]], and [[Haitian Creole]] and each Caribbean culture has a strong hold on cooking methods and spices in Florida. In turn, each mixes and matches with the [[foodways]] of the Seminole tribe and Anglophone settlers. Thus, for almost 200 years, Floridian cooking has had a more tropical flavor than any other Southern state.

[[Allspice]], a spice originally from [[Jamaica]], is an ingredient found in spice mixes in summer barbecues along with [[ginger]], [[garlic]], [[scotch bonnet peppers]], sea salt, and nutmeg; in Floridian cooking this is often a variant of [[Jamaican jerk]] spice. Coconuts are grown in the areas surrounding Miami and are shipped in daily through its port for consumption of the milk, meat, and water of the coconut.

Bananas are not just the yellow Cavendish variety found in supermarkets across America: in Florida they are available as ''bananitos'', ''colorados'', ''[[Cooking banana|plátanos]]'', and ''maduros''. The first of these is a tiny miniature banana only about 4–5 inches (10–13&nbsp;cm) in length and it is sweet. The second has a red peel and an apple-like aftertaste, and the third and fourth are used as a starch on nearly every Caribbean island as a side dish, baked or fried: all of the above are a staple of Florida outdoor markets when in season and all have been grown in the Caribbean for almost 400 years.

[[Mango]]es are grown as a backyard plant in Southern Florida and otherwise are a favorite treat coming in many different shapes in sizes from ''[[Nam Doc Mai]]'', brought to Florida after the Vietnam War, to ''Madame Francis'', a mango from Haiti. [[Sweetsop]] and [[soursop]] are popular around Miami, but nearly unheard of in other areas of the South.

[[Citrus]] is a major crop of Florida, and features at many breakfast tables and many markets, with the height of the season near the first week of January. Hamlin [[Orange (fruit)|oranges]] are the main cultivar planted, and from this crop the rest of the United States and to a lesser extent Europe gets [[orange juice]]. Other plantings include [[grapefruit]]s, [[tangerine]]s, [[clementine]]s, [[Lime (fruit)|limes]], and even a few more rare ones, like [[Cara Cara navel orange]]s, [[tangelo]]s, and the Jamaican [[Ugli fruit]]. [[Tomato]]es, [[bell pepper]]s, [[habanero pepper]]s, and [[Ficus|figs]], especially taken from the [[Florida strangler fig]], complete the produce menu.

[[Blue crab]], [[Queen conch|conch]], [[Florida stone crab]], [[red drum]], [[common dolphinfish|dorado]], and [[marlin]]s tend to be local favorite ingredients. Dairy is available in this region, but it is less emphasized due to the year round warmth.

[[File:Key lime pie with whipped cream and lime decoration, March 2009.jpg|thumb|left|[[Key lime pie]]]]
Traditional [[key lime pie]], a dessert from the islands off the coast of Miami, is made with [[condensed milk]] to form the custard with the eye wateringly tart limes native to the [[Florida Keys]] in part because milk would spoil in an age before refrigeration.

Pork in this region tends to be roasted in methods similar to those found in Puerto Rico and Cuba, owing to mass emigration from those countries in the 20th century, especially in the counties surrounding Miami.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://southfloridagaynews.com/outEATS/pernil-al-horno-roasted-pork-shoulder.html|title=Pernil Al Horno (Roasted Pork Shoulder)|first=Jay|last=Rinaldi|work=South Florida Gay News|access-date=January 16, 2015|archive-date=December 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227145547/http://southfloridagaynews.com/outEATS/pernil-al-horno-roasted-pork-shoulder.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Orange blossom honey is a specialty of the state, and is widely available in farmer's markets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thomashoney.com/honey.html|title=Honey – from Thomas Honey Company|website=Thomashoney.com|access-date=January 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231063142/http://www.thomashoney.com/honey.html|archive-date=December 31, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Panulirus argus|Caribbean lobster]] is a favorite special meal eagerly sought after by Floridians as it is found as far north as [[Fort Myers]]: spear diving and collecting them from reefs in the [[Florida Keys]] and near rocky shoals is a common practice of local scuba divers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scubadiving.com/bagging-bug-how-to-have-successful-lobster-hunting-season|title=Bagging the Bug: How to Have A Successful Lobster-Hunting Season|website=Scuba Diving|language=en|access-date=January 21, 2019|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004011358/http://www.scubadiving.com/bagging-bug-how-to-have-successful-lobster-hunting-season|url-status=live}}</ref>