As American as… apple pie and tacos?

People might as well start saying "as American as salsa" -- since it is the No. 1 selling condiment in the nation.

Perceptions of American food have changed over time depending on immigration and eating habits, said Penelope Bingham, a food historian.

Bingham, who has more than 2,000 cookbooks in her Chicago apartment, will talk more about the definition of American food Tuesday in Elk Grove Village.

Bingham is an Illinois Humanities Council road scholar who travels around sharing a talk on America's "Founding Food," using historic cookbooks as a food timeline.

It's a notion that is in flux.

"I think we're in a period in the heaviest rate of immigration since the turn of the last century: a time when we thought a lot about Americanization … the melting pot," she said.

People regularly incorporate "taco night" at home, making it part of our American dinner tables.

Similarly, she said Americans' ideas about Italian food changed during World War I, when Italian ways of eating fit into the nation's restrictions on meat.

Since Italy was an ally, Bingham said it became patriotic to eat Italian food. By the 1920s, brands like Franco-American and Chef Boyardee gave people an introduction to Italian food.

Despite the cultural differences in the United States, there remains a constant, she said.

"We all eat, and food tends to be important to everyone in the world," Bingham said. "It's a good way to connect to another -- just like we sit around a table."

If you go…

What: Talk on how the concept of what's American food changes over time

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Al Hattendorf Center, 225 E. Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove Village

Details:Registration is recommended; for more information or to register, please contact the Farmhouse Museum at (847) 690-1440