The host of Travel Channel's most popular show explains how iconic American foods have captured our culinary imaginations--nobody will look at a bagel the same way again. In America the Edible, Travel Channel host Adam Richman tackles the ins and outs of American cuisine, demonstrating his own unique brand of culinary anthropology. Believing that regional cuisine reveals far more than just our taste for chicken fried steak or 3-way chili, Richman explores the ethnic, economic, and cultural factors that shape the way we eat--and how food, in turn, reflects who we are as a nation. Richman uses his signature wit and casual charm to take readers on a tour around the country, explaining such curiosities as why bagels are shaped like circles, why fried chicken is so popular in the South, and how some of the most iconic American foods--hot dogs, fries, and soda--are not really American at all. Writing with passion, curiosity, and a desire to render his knowledge accessible to all, he includes recipes, secret addresses for fun and tasty finds, and tips on how to eat like a local from coast to coast.

Part travelogue, part fun fact book, part serious culinary journalism, Richman's America the Edible illuminates the food map in a way nobody has before.