The foods we identify as American come with cultural baggage, but that’s just fine.

Burgers, hot dogs and barbecue are as American as apple pie.

Of course, there’s a caveat to the litany of this nation’s culinary staples. The hamburg steak came to the new world by way of Germany, for instance. And as for apple pie, we have the British to thank.

Granted, there are American favorites not common elsewhere – the banana split and corn on the cob come to mind – as well as dishes that cast a light on particular regions. Look beyond brisket in Texas and you’ll find that chicken fried steak is almost routine. Yet the belt-widening dish is an adaptation of schnitzel.

“We’ve claimed them,” says Joleen Green, owner of Pacific Grove’s popular Lucy’s on Lighthouse about American fare. “We put our own spin on them.”

Scholars attempting to address the matter of American foods agree with Green, right down to the European origins of the hot dogs served at Lucy’s. Adrian Miller, author of Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, among others, describes a process of many cultural contacts, of borrowing ideas and substituting for what was available in the new land. Even some of the ingredients rooted in Southern cooking, such as okra and yams, were introduced to the New World by immigrants, willing or forced.

As Ruth Tobias explains in a Tasting Table essay, “The only definition I can come up with is a paradox: American food is foreign food until it isn’t.”

And yet, most of us can easily identify the dishes that are particularly American – particularly those associated with the summer holidays.

“I usually grill up hot dogs and hamburgers,” says Kevin Phillips, owner of four restaurants, Abalonetti Bar & Grill, Rockfish Harbor Grill and Whaling Station Steakhouse in Monterey, as well as Beach House in Pacific Grove. “They seem to taste best this time of year.”

Lucy’s on Lighthouse draws regular weekend crowds, in part for the casual picnic bench vibe. But Green observes that hot dog sales spike on Memorial Day weekend and the Fourth of July.

“I think that’s where their brain goes,” she says.

Naturally there are items that were first created in the U.S. Tater Tots were invented by Theodore and Nephi Grigg of Ore-Ida in the 1950s as a way to package French fry scraps that otherwise were dumped in the livestock bins. Potato chips date back a century earlier, when it is said that Saratoga, New York chef George Crum decided to punish a snooty customer for sending his order of fries back to the kitchen three times. In both cases, however, a European dish (fries are claimed by both the Belgians and French) served as the catalyst.

“American food is foreign food until it isn’t.”

According to Tobias, there are two general methods by which dishes from other cultures become American. One is the simple adaptation of old traditions to the new setting – spaghetti and meatballs, orange chicken, fajitas or corned beef and cabbage are examples. The other involves borrowing from different cultures to forge a new style of cooking. What we know as soul food, Miller points out, takes from African, European and Native traditions.

Despite the complicated origins (or accidental – the chimichanga reportedly came about when a cook dropped a burrito into hot oil) of popular American foods, it is possible to identify them as peculiar to this country.

“When you are described as an American food restaurant, you serve burgers, pizza, mac and cheese – comfort food,” explains Gina Phinny, owner of Baja Cantina and Grill in Carmel Valley and Turn 12 in Monterey. “If you don’t have a good selection of burgers, you can’t call yourself an American restaurant.”

Turn 12 features an approachable menu of comfort favorites, including several burgers. Phillips points out that a cheeseburger created on a prime beef, hand-ground whim at Whaling Station turned out to be in such high demand they added it to the menu.

So hamburgers, hot dogs, pepperoni pizza, macaroni and cheese, apple pie – these can be claimed by Americans and celebrated on summer holidays.

But Phillips is eager to add a local spin to the star-spangled pantheon.

“Calamari is the fastest-growing protein on menus across the U.S.,” he points out. “It has that universal appeal.”