The French are famous for their sauces, the Italians are praised for their pasta, and the Germans are celebrated for their sausages. The United States is a vast country influenced by many cultures and climates, and the traditional food of one area is often totally unlike that of another. The intermingling of cultures is evident in the food of New Mexico. Many recipes also contain pinon, or pine nuts, the small sweet seeds of the southwestern pine tree, once a staple food in the Pueblo diet. Thry are prepared much as they were made in the kitchens of seventeenth-century Spain for the Christmas feast. The New England kitchen gives off the aromas of soups and stews and of meat that is roasted for hours in the oven. Whereas beef and chicken appear in many New Mexican recipes, in Massachusetts fish is very popular because of the nearby seacoast. Each region of the United States is unique. Louisiana has a French influence. Many Germans populate the Midwest. In traveling around America, a tourist has the opportunity not only to visit a variety of places and see diverse landscapes, but to taste a variety of foods as well. Some may be very different. Others will taste just like home.