Saturday, August 2, 2008

Midwestern food identity



A few weeks ago, the Indianapolis Star's Taste section had a spread on New York style foods that you could enjoy in Indianapolis. That got us to wondering, what foods are New York residents craving from the Midwest? We went to AskANewYorker.com and the results were pretty bleak. "Brats, cheese curds, and custard" was the answer from a New Yorker who visits in-laws in Wisconsin. We also heard "real BBQ", "Dairy Queen", and "Chick-fil-a". YIKES! So, aside from the tenderloin and corn, what is Indiana's food identity? We are thinking that fresh food should be the star, especially in this day and age of people starting to become aware that it might not be the best idea to eat food that has been trucked in from far off places. Thoughts?

6 comments:

Kirsten said...

Pie is also a midwestern tradition. A great place for sussing out Indiana food identity is the Indiana Foodways Alliance. They also have some awesome little food tours up there.

I think that the Alliance needs to ask you guys to do a tour of hometown ice cream joints.

WYA! said...

Mmmmm, pie. We will check that site out. Thanks Kirsten!

Unknown said...

It's a little strange and not "fresh food" per se, but Evansville if nationally famous for its brain sandwicheslsc

WYA! said...

It is such a coincidence that you mention brain sandwiches because we had heard rumors that New Bethel Ordinary restaurant had those but they weren't on the menu when we were there. We are up for trying them AND we have never been to Evansville before so we'll have to plan a trip. Thanks so much for the tip.

Anonymous said...

one thing i always associate with indiana summers: zucchini. fried zucchini, zucchini bread, pickled zucchini. the dish was ubiquitous on family and friends tables growing up.

WYA! said...

Oh yes, Mr. WYA!'s Mom makes a killer zucchini bread.