The USA doesn’t have an official national dish. As a country so large and so diverse in its population, it is really a melting pot of cultures and ‘national dish’ varies state to state. Texas claims the chilli as its dish, New York lays claim to the bagel, and Chicago has the deep dish pizza, and Louisiana has Gumbo. When I googled Ohio, the dish at the top of the list was ‘Buckeyes’; and I’m not up for a bush tucker trial at the moment. Turns out they’re peanut butter fudge balls, partially covered in chocolate. They even named their state football team after them. I might try the recipe after all.

For today’s dinner I didn’t cook what the RAF book suggested, I simply didn’t fancy it. It contained green peppers and we are not friends. Too bitter for me, which is odd, because I like black coffee, tonic, and dark chocolate. 

One thing that seems to be universally American is the good old Hamburger. We do enjoy a burger occasionally, so I will buy good ones, or make them myself. This time I bought them, and here’s a tip of something I always do which for me was a game changer.

You know when you cook your burgers, they start out nice and round, but by the time they’re cooked, they’ve contracted into quite a small oval shape. They’re also a lot smaller than the bun you’ve got to put it in, and if you want to be really indulgent and have 2 burgers, you literally can’t get your mouth round it in a dignified way once it’s all put together.

So, get a couple of bits of baking paper, or cling film, and sandwich your burger between two layers and simply roll the burgers flatter. Be mindful of your bun size and roll the burgers to be a bit bigger, they still contract. They cook quicker, so you can get a really nice colour on them without worrying about burning them to get the centres fully cooked, and as you turn them to cook the uncooked size, you can put cheese on at that point, stick a lid on and a couple of minutes later the burgers are cooked through, the cheese is melted, and they’re ready to be served. 

I used proper brioche buns this time, which I did toast beforehand, and it does make a difference, but it’s not wholly necessary. So hamburgers, thank you America. And yes, arguably the sandwich was ‘invented’ by some British posho playing cards, it could also potentially be traced back to Roman times.