California Cuisine:

Food of the U.S.A: California Cuisine

The great coastal state of California carries some of the richest aspects of American culture, from the pioneers to the gold rush to unique, quality cuisine. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and the Baja peninsula, classic California food can take on many forms. The original cuisine of California is earmarked by a tradition of freshness and home grown quality, bringing forth to mind fresh leafy green salads, fruit, and organic just-about-anything.

California is a major agricultural center of the United States of A. The state of California, as one of the nation's top producers of fresh produce, has a copious abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. When it comes to food in California, a lot of the focus is shifted to quality and nutritional value rather than cost or taste. While this does not necessarily mean that California cuisine lacks taste and flavor, it is certainly not for everyone. Those who prefer a heavier, fried, or battered food would have better luck sampling some other type of American cuisine.

Fruits and nuts account for at least a quarter of California's agricultural income, and fruits and vegetables account for another 25 percent. This includes the famous grapes, oranges, peaches, nectarines, and avocados that California is famous for producing, as well as almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. Organic food, which is grown without the aid of pesticides, insecticides, and other harmful additives, is also an extremely popular aspect of California cuisine.

Don't get confused, however; contrary to popular belief, California food is not all about grapes, nuts, yogurt, and organic orange juice.

The taste of California is, of course, highly accented by its major influence from the south, Mexico. Tex-Mex or Baja-style cooking plays an integral role in good old fashioned California Cuisine. Mexican food is part of the way of life in California; with the dense Mexican-American population (about 34.3 percent of the total number of California residents), a great California chef can put a south of the border twist on just about anything. El Pollo Loco is a fast-food restaurant commonly seen in California. El Pollo Loco, which translates into The Crazy Chicken, specializes in marinated, grilled chicken in tacos, burritos, or alone. El Pollo Loco is an excellent example of southern California's obsession with Baja-style "Mexican" food.

Some restaurants in California make no bones about it and boast to serve the "classic Californian cuisine." The California Pizza Kitchen is a primary example of this type of restaurant. The California Pizza Kitchen has more than 180 locations all over the United States, as well as the world -- on July 5, the company opened a CPK in Shanghai, China.

The Pizza Kitchen specializes in healthier foods; they mainly serve different kinds of salad and health conscious pizza. All of their pizzas are specially prepared in an open flame pizza oven, conforming to the California trend of healthier meal preparation.