My youngest has just finished fourth grade, which seems to be the universal (country-versal??) time to study the United States and learn their capitals. I thought it would be fun to make a food that is popular in each state as we read a little here and there and do state crosswords over the summer, especially as we approach the country’s 250th birthday!
And yes, this is my author Substack. So, what does this have to do with writing?
It seems I’m always researching the settings that appear in my stories. A quick look back over my previous posts here will show that. In fact, the reason I discovered and first made fry sauce is because I’ve been writing about characters who live in Idaho, and fry sauce is a thing in the Utah/Idaho area. It’s basically a mixture of ketchup and mayo with some seasonings added in. Oh, and a touch of sugar. Stirring the granules into the mayo did it in for my fourteen-year-old. But the rest of us are fans.
We’ve discovered some interesting foods: Delaware slippery dumplings. Hartford Connecticut’s apizza, apparently pronounced “a-beetz,” I imagine with a dramatic Italian hand motion (we put clams on ours). Hoosier cream pie from Indiana still failed to teach us where the word “Hoosier” actually originated. An orange meringue pie from a 1920s Micanopy resident’s recipe was a fun one from Florida. Iowa is apparently well-known for their fried pork tenderloin sandwiches. I’ve gone through more butter in the past few weeks than Paula Deen at a Christmas cookie swap.
And some of the stranger but yummy findings:
Chili with cinnamon rolls. Apparently some Kansas public school systems in the 1980s served this combination for school lunches so often that it became associated with the state. Oddly good together, like a cold winter comfort food.
Sonoran dogs, popular in Arizona. It’s like American-Mexican fusion. Named for the Sonoran region of Mexico, these are hot dogs wrapped in bacon, grilled, and topped like tacos: refried beans, tomato, avocado, cotija, cilantro, and homemade crema.
We also made Navajo tacos on Indian frybread, and now I know why it’s worth $8 per person to enter the Four Corners Monument on the Navajo Reservation: they make and sell it in there, to rave reviews. I can’t find the recipe we used, but the dough was very basic: flour, water, salt, baking powder, if I remember correctly. Thanks to my friend Becca in Arizona from my writing critique group for pointing me towards these two foods!
Alabama’s recipe was Lane Cake, made popular by Southern Living magazine and also mentioned in To Kill a Mockingbird, which my fourteen-year-old was just finishing when we baked this cake with its bourbon-infused golden raisin custard filling and meringue frosting.
We live in Georgia, so we went with something we’ve never had before: a Coca-cola cake. Note how in the URL it’s a “cokecola” cake. Yep, here in Georgia, all soft drinks are just called “coke.” We also bought a watermelon from a farmer who brings a trailer-load of them up here from Cordele (the watermelon Capital of the World) every summer and some boiled peanuts from the guy set up next to him in the Aldi parking lot. This photo includes a nod to my writer friend’s first novel: Heart by Jacqueline Lucca. You can read my review of it here.
Of course, we made fry sauce for Idaho and had it with finger steaks. Marinated overnight in buttermilk and steak seasoning, these sirloin strips are then breaded, frozen, and fried. Like chicken fingers, but finger steaks… ? And for dessert…
Ice Cream Potatoes. Idaho, living up to their potato-loving stereotype. I also found a recipe for a BPLT Spud-marine Sandwich. It’s basically a baked potato, halved, with hash browns, lettuce, and tomato inside it, eaten like a submarine sandwich. I opted not to overdo the potato intake with that one, although I had a mind-blown moment as I stood in the grocery store and stared at that famous brand of frozen spuds: Ore-Ida. Like… Oregon-Idaho. Whoa!!! 🤯
All the Ice Cream Potato is made from is a wad of vanilla ice cream hand-formed into a potato-like shape, then rolled in cocoa powder and frozen. Some places will add shredded coconut dyed orange as “cheese” and green sprinkles as “chives” along with the “sour cream” whipped cream, but hey, let’s not get too crazy.
Besides, the diner that is most known for these things just dumps crumbled Oreos on top and calls it dirt. Which is what we did. The Westside Drive In also makes finger steaks and fry sauce and was featured on Guy Fieri’s show (I always end up calling him Guy Ferrari).
We have made it through Louisiana (jambalaya, of course!). I’m getting ideas from a United States kids cookbook a friend picked up for me at a homeschool used curriculum sale (we found a Kentucky Burgoo recipe in there!). Any readers here from one of the many M or N states? I need ideas for next week’s menu!
Like certain landmarks or expressions, adding common regional foods and recipes to a novel adds some local color. Story settings can be more immersive with a little research or by making a visit.
Speaking of… I’ll be in St. Louis, MO and Boise, ID in late September! I’ll have to check out some of my book settings in the latter. While I’ve never set a story in St. Louis, a writer friend of mine, Kelsey, has a new novel, Astonished, coming out soon which is set in the St. Louis area, so check that out if you like historical fiction. And I do think it would be cool to write something with the construction of the Gateway Arch as a background event! Hmmm…
Drop me a comment with your home state and food or recipe it’s known for!
Until next time,
Erin
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