There are regional US foods. There are, for example, many regional kinds of barbecue, including two varieties of pulled pork in North Carolina (eastern Carolin

There are regional US foods. There are, for example, many regional kinds of barbecue, including two varieties of pulled pork in North Carolina (eastern Carolina barbecue with a vinegar-pepper sauce, and western or Lexington barbecue that adds tomato and sometimes sugar), Texas brisket, and many others. Likewise there are Surrey hams (nothing like so-called "Virginia" ham despite representing colonial-era Virginian ham smoking and curing recipes), red-eye country hams, city hams (the so-called "Virginia" ham), spam, etc. There are Virginia peanuts that are larger and crispier than any others you'll find, but in Louisiana you'll find boiled peanuts instead. Kentucky has its juleps and Derby (or "May Day") pies as well as hot-browns. Florida serves key lime pie, mojitos, Cuban sandwiches (really invented in Tampa and blending Cuban and Italian deli traditions) and Cuban coffee. Hawaii has poké, which is now spreading everywhere. There are authentic regional foods in the United States, some with roots going back to the colonial era, some more modern. It would be politically incorrect to protect those with a European-style system of regional designations, however. On the right, regulations, especially those creating the potential (or certainty of) cartel pricing, are unwelcome. On the center and moderate left, there is little desire to promote regionalism over a national picture that emphasizes a common "America" that all citizens share. On the far left, you find the absolute denial that America (or more specifically white America) has any sort of culture of its own. The federal United States is not quite set up for regional distinctions the same way that the EU, as a much looser set of sovereign nations, is.