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The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 149  1995: 535-553). Even so, the popularity of ethnic foods has done so little in fostering ethnic understanding. They only inspire few Americans to learn more about ethnic cultures (Barbas, 2003: 669). According to Barbas , restaurants are the starting points of mass acculturation among host consumers. The popularity of pasta, bagels, or fajitas was sparked by the availability in numerous restaurants. Yet, the real acculturation begins only if the dishes are served at home. Bailey and Tian (2002: 58-65) believe that ethnic cooking is quite different from the norm; yet, a consumer’s attempt to replicate ethnic food at home demonstrates cultural appreciation and willingness to be the medium for further acculturation. Since a person rarely forsakes his own culture, when he learns a new culture, he normally manages acceptable and unacceptable aspects and integrates both cultures in his own unique way (Davies, Fitchett, 2004: 315). For example, a tourist may try cooking American dishes at home, but his cooking tends to be neither that of American nor native foods. That is to say, it is his understanding of American culture, or how he chooses to acculturate with the culture. American cuisine and Americanization America is a great country without a national cuisine (Gabaccia, 1998; Mintz, 2002: 23-33). Homogeneous food, such as hamburger, french fries, hotdog, and pizza, cannot be considered a cuisine. Even so, newcomers or visitors perceive them as stereotypically American food. Regional and ethnic foods, such as Pennsylvania Dutch, Native American, Louisiana Creole, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Thai foods are parts of diversity. Separately, the homogeneity, the diversity, and even the foods served at American restaurants cannot be called American cuisine since they cannot entirely represent diverse cultures in America (Mintz, 2002). In culinary history, radical food varied regionally due to the ancestral patterns of land settlement (Jekanowski, Binkley, 2000: 38) and geographic characteristics (Levenstein, 2002: 75-89). Initially, American food was a concoction of cuisines from the three legacies: the early European settlers, native Indians, and slaves from Africa. Later, it was shaped by regionalism when territorial expansion offered plentiful resources (Gabaccia, 1998; Lockwood, Long, 2009: 92). In recent history, the “New American cuisine” started in the 1970s by a chef in California, who incorporated his Ratiwan Watanasin