US State Foods

Taste the States: 50 Iconic American Foods From A to Z

November 6, 2012

US State Foods

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Tonight will bring discourse about battleground counties and swing states. But when it comes to food, we declare: there are no red states or blue states — only epicurean states!

Despite the growing number of chain restaurants across America, regional cuisine remains as vast as our continent is wide. Some may travel far distances just for a taste of authentic, iconic state dishes, but to know the history behind their creation is another story. For instance, do you know who invented the first Philly cheesesteak? How about the California Cobb salad? We've gathered 50 dishes from 50 states to prime you about the dishes you love. Be forewarned: this slideshow will make you hungry.

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by Anna Monette Roberts 30

Tonight will bring discourse about battleground counties and swing states. But when it comes to food, we declare: there are no red states or blue states — only epicurean states!

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30 Comments

Craig2936494 46 weeks

@Susannah Chen Oh Susannah! (Don't you cry for me...like I'm sure you have NEVER heard that before! ;) Torch Lake is AWESOME! I have never seen bluer water in my life! Not only do famous people have houses there (Kid Rock and Bob Seger to name a few) There's wonderful views and a great beach. I DJ'ed a private party there once (I'm a radio DJ) and it was phenomenal! And the whole Northern Lower Michigan area is like that...plus the food! From the Mackinac Bridge to Manistee, hug the Lakeshore and eat your whole way down!

Susannah Chen 46 weeks

@Craig2936494 I've been to Torch Lake in the Summer...it IS lovely. I'm so bummed I haven't made it to Traverse City yet!

Craig2936494 46 weeks

@Susannah Chen It's one of the prettiest places on Earth Susannah. In Summer or Winter...watching the blue blue water on West Traverse Bay, the smell of cherry pie wafting through the air...feeling the cool Lake breezes. I lived and worked in the region 3 different times and the thought of the area never fails to put a smile on my face. Cape Cod, Vail, San Diego are all nice, but Northern Michigan does it for me.

Susannah Chen 47 weeks

@Craig2936494 It's on my bucket list!

Craig2936494 48 weeks

@Susannah Chen and quite the festival it is! 500,00 invade a city of 15,000 for 10 days of cherries, a weekend airshow, music fireworks and 80% of the cherry events are totally free! Put on by thousands of volunteers...quite the spectacle.

Susannah Chen 48 weeks

@Craig2936494 Craig2936494 — Noted. Makes sense, given the fact that the National Cherry Festival is in Traverse City.

Susannah Chen 48 weeks

Craig2936494 — Noted. Makes sense, given National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.

Craig2936494 48 weeks

Hate to break the news to you, but no cherries are grown IN Montmorency County, Michigan. Montmorency cherrise ARE grown in Michigan, but the cherries are grown closer to Lake Michigan. Most cherries are grown in the Grand Traverse/Leelanau country area. %75 of the tart cherries in the US are grown there, not in Montmorency County.

Scott2929771 48 weeks

Your friends and family are defective. @Nellie2902885

wyldstallyns 49 weeks

Not everyone in Massachusetts/Boston has an accent. No one calls it "Beantown" and many locals don't call it "chow-dah"...

Brant2914882 49 weeks

I have to agree with cheesedipguy. I grew up in Hot Springs Arkansas, and cheese dip was always available... Superbowl, Thanksgiving, Christmas... didn't matter. Not sure how chicken and dumplings got picked, but I would have gone with cheese dip.

deanscabbage 49 weeks

This post makes want to visit all 50 states and eat them up! For Florida, I would have picked Key lime pie, but I like the Cuban too. :)

cheesedipguy 49 weeks

As an Arkansan who is a big fan of chicken and dumplings, I don't recall hearing that it has any kind of connection to the state. Now, on the other hand, Arkansas is the home to the ultimate comfort food, cheese dip and even celebrate it with the World Cheese Dip Championship. There is also a documentary that can be found online called In Queso Fever- A Movie about Cheese Dip. It's quite entertaining and educational. haha The pic of the chicken and dumplings did look tremendous though. Thanks

Sarah2909679 49 weeks

Oh, and thumbs up on the sugar cream pie for Indiana!! A Hoosier specialty for sure.

Sarah2909679 49 weeks

Love this post but...you call those Maryland crab cakes?? I don't think so. Those are what a restaurant in Ohio or North Dakota would call Maryland crab cakes.

Sharon2909152 49 weeks

Usually the iconic Utah food is considered to be fry sauce. Agreed on pork roll for New Jersey. I suppose you could have buffalo wings for New York. You could also have Rochester white hot dogs, the Nick Tahou garbage plate, or the spiedie. Rhode Island, I usually think of their clear clam chowder, as opposed to the cream-based New England one.

denm7510 49 weeks

@Grinnifer I have several groups of friends and family that have moved to other parts of the country and I have to regularly overnight them chilled boxes of jersey goodies that you can't get anywhere else and those boxes always contain pork roll...it's all made in Trenton and you really can't find it anywhere else on the planet, lol. I'm probably moving to Florida in a few months and am still trying to figure out who I'm going to get to go thru all the trouble of sending me a care package once in a while with some pork roll in it, haha.

denm7510 49 weeks

@HoneyBrown1976 ...And Tomatoes

denm7510 49 weeks

Since when is Alaska and it's delicious king crab legs and the "Most dangerous profession; crab fishing"....IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN?????? According to the writers of this article, Sarah Palin can no longer see Russia from her home, but she can see parts of Scandinavia at this point.

Jerrod2907907 49 weeks

Uh, no. I've lived in Tennessee all my life and have never heard of Mountain Stack Cake. Try Memphis style barbecue or even fried catfish.

HoneyBrown1976 49 weeks

@Grinnifer Thank you!

Grinnifer 49 weeks

Hoagies are from Phili, subs are from NJ. An even more iconic NJ food is pork roll. A spiced ham sausage roll, sliced and fried in a pan, topped with white american cheese and served on a kaiser roll with yellow mustard. I have never seen it anywhere but in NJ. It's awesome!

Nellie2902885 49 weeks

Maple syrup on snow?? Nope, sorry. I have lived in New England all my life (Massachusetts and New Hampshire) and I have never had this. I asked my friends and family and most of them never heard of it, and none had tried it, lol! What NH does have a ton of in the fall is apples! Apple cider, cider doughnuts and the best of all.......warm apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. omg.....so good. Apple crisp is what New Hampshire should be known for.

moserary 49 weeks

AS IF Las Vegas is all there is to Nevada?!?!?! What about the regional Basque specialties throughout Northern Nevada? Talk about food, mmmmmmmmmmm!

HoneyBrown1976 50 weeks

...and salt water taffy.