American cuisine is a comparatively recent cuisine which is currently in a process of redefining itself. French cooks were preparing elaborate banquets for their kings and princes and laying the foundation for French haute cuisine centuries before the United States even became a country. America therefore does not have the same age-old tradition of fine dining as the French do. What has been happening over the past few decades, though, is that chefs and cooks are putting together a new cuisine that encapsulates all the great food that is enjoyed by diverse Americans today. This includes regional American fare like New England seafood, soul food from the South, and Cajun cooking from Louisiana; dishes that were adapted from old world traditions many years ago, like spaghetti and meatballs; and dishes from other cuisines that more recent immigrant groups are bringing to this country, everything from tacos, to Indian curries, to Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches.