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cuisine of the Midwestern United States

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Midwestern cuisine is a regional cuisine of the American Midwest. It draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe.

Midwestern cuisine generally showcases simple but hearty dishes. Many people consider its culinary profiles synonymous with "American food."[unverified]

Characteristics[edit]

Sometimes called "the breadbasket of America," the Midwest serves as a center for grain production, particularly wheat, corn and soybeans. Midwestern states also produce most of the country's wild rice.

Beef and pork processing always have been important Midwestern industries, with a strong role in regional diets. Chicago and Kansas City have been traditional stockyard and processing centers of the beef trade, while Iowa remains the center of pork production in the U.S.

Far from the oceans, Midwesterners historically ate little seafood, relying on local freshwater fish, such as perch and trout, supplemented by canned tuna and canned or cured salmon and herring, although modern air shipping of ocean seafood has been increasing Midwesterners' taste for fish.

Dairy products, especially cheese, form an important group of regional ingredients, with Wisconsin traditionally known as "America's Dairy Capital," although other Midwest states make cheese as well.

The upper Midwest, a prime fruit-growing region, sees the extensive use of apples, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, peaches and other cold-climate fruit in its cuisine.

As with many American regional cuisines, Midwestern cooking has been heavily influenced by immigrant groups. Strong Scandinavian influences exist in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Throughout the northern Midwest, Northern European immigrant groups predominated, so Swedish pancakes and Polish pierogi are common. Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois were destinations for many ethnic German immigrants, so pork sausages and potatoes are prevalent. In the Rust Belt, many Greeks and Greek Macedonians became restaurateurs, imparting a Mediterranean influence to corner diners. Native American influences show up in the uses of corn and wild rice.

Traditional Midwestern cooks typically used a light hand with seasonings, preferring sage, dill, caraway, mustard and parsley to hot, bold and spicy flavors. With new waves of immigrants from Latin America moving into the region, these tastes are changing.

This section of the country is also headquarters for several seminal hamburger chains, notably McDonald's in Oak Brook, Illinois (founded in California, but turned into the iconic franchise by Ray Kroc beginning with a still-standing store in Des Plaines, Illinois). The Midwest is also home to Culver's in Sauk City, Wisconsin; Steak n Shake, founded in Normal, Illinois, and now based in Indianapolis; Wendy's in Dublin, Ohio; and White Castle in Columbus, Ohio.

Urban centers[edit]

Major urban areas in the Midwest often have distinctive cuisines that can be very different from those of the region's rural areas.

Chicago[edit]

Chicago has a distinctive cuisine featuring many restaurant foods exclusive to the area, like Italian beef, the Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago-style pizza, chicken Vesuvio and the jibarito, as well as a large number of steakhouses.

The Windy City also boasts many gourmet restaurants, as well as a wide variety of ethnic food stores and eateries, especially Mexican, Polish, Italian, Greek and Asian, often clustered in ethnic neighborhoods. Many of these cuisines have evolved differently in Chicago than in other areas of the US. For example, Saganaki was first flambéed at the table in Greektown.

The Midwest is often thought to be behind the coasts in culinary trends, yet, perhaps ironically, Chicago is now the country's leading center of molecular gastronomy.

As a major rail hub, Chicago historically had access to a broad range of the country's foodstuffs, so even in the 19th century, Chicagoans could easily buy items like live oysters[1] and reasonably fresh shrimp. Chicago's oldest signature dish, shrimp de Jonghe, was invented around the turn of the 20th century. Today, O'Hare Airport brings Chicago fresh food from all over the world.

Cincinnati[edit]

The Queen City is known for its namesake Greek-influenced chili, piled onto spaghetti. Goetta, a sausage made from pork and oats, often eaten at breakfast, and opera cream chocolates are less-famous local specialties.

Detroit[edit]

Motor City specialties include a style of hot dog known as a Coney Island hot dog, found at hundreds of unaffiliated "Coney Island" restaurants. Famous examples include Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island which stand next to each other serving Coneys all night in downtown Detroit.

Detroit also has its own style of pizza, a thick-crusted, Sicilian-influenced, rectangular type called square pizza. Other Detroit foods include zip sauce, served on steaks; the triple-decker Dinty Moore sandwich; and a Chinese-American dish called warr shu gai or almond boneless chicken.

The Detroit area (particularly the city of Dearborn) has many large groups of immigrants, most notably the largest Arabic-speaking population outside of the Middle East and the most Lebanese storefronts outside of Lebanon. It also has a substantial number of Greek restaurateurs. Thus, numerous Mediterranean restaurants dot the region and typical foods such as gyros, hummus and falafel can be found in many run-of-the-mill grocery stores and restaurants.

Polish food is also prominent in the city, consisting of popular dishes such as sauerkraut, pierogies and borscht. The Polish paczki is also celebrated in the Detroit area, especially on Fat Tuesday. Polish bakeries concentrated in the Polish enclave of Hamtramck, Michigan, a suburb within the city, sell a selection of paczkis whose ingredients have diverged slightly from the original.

Kansas City[edit]

Kansas City is an important barbecue and meat processing center with a distinctive style. The Kansas City metropolitan area has more than 100 barbecue restaurants and proclaims itself to be the "world's barbecue capital."

Milwaukee[edit]

The Cream City known for its strong German influences is most closely associated with Bratwurst and beer, both of which are especially visible at Brewers games.

Milwaukee's downtown has a diverse selection of ethnic restaurants. These include (but are not limited to) African, Cuban, Greek, Irish, Italian and Middle-Eastern eateries. In addition, Milwaukee is home to numerous Mexican and Soul Food restaurants in the heart of its Hispanic and African-American communities.

Minneapolis and Saint Paul[edit]

Despite being major food producing cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul are not widely known for any unique dishes, instead sharing many tastes with the rest of Minnesota.

The Twin Cities share the obscure distinction (along with Green Bay, Wisconsin) of being associated with the neighborhood booya, a sort of mixture of cuisine and cultural event. Also, because of the strong influx of Asian immigrants over the past few decades, a form which combines traditional Midwestern dishes with Asian techniques and spices is developing.

The Twin Cities-based University of Minnesota has been a strong location in food research in recent years, such inventions as the Honeycrisp apple have come from the "U of M." Additionally, many important agricultural conglomerates including General Mills and Cargill make their home in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

Although not specifically associated with the Twin Cities, the all-American corn dog probably made its first appearance there, as did the ubiquitous Betty Crocker.

One dish associated with the Twin Cities is the Jucy Lucy (or "Juicy Lucy"), a hamburger with a core of melted cheese.

Twin Cities residents eat more ice cream per capita than in any other region of the country[unverified] (despite the area's notoriously long and cold winter), and most neighborhoods have at least one and often many ice cream parlors, each with its own house style of ice cream.

Omaha[edit]

Omaha is well-known for its unique steakhouses, several of which are Sicilian in origin or adjacent to the Omaha stockyards. In addition, both Central European and Southern influence can be seen in the local popularity of carp and South 24th Street contains a multitude of Mexican restaurants. Omaha also has its own barbecue.

Bronco's, Godfather's Pizza, and the Garden Cafe are chain restaurants that originated in Omaha.

St. Louis[edit]

St. Louis, reflecting its varied immigrant influences, is known for dishes such as "toasted" ravioli (which is breaded and fried), frozen custard, gooey butter cake (a rich, soft-centered coffee cake), and for popularizing the ice cream cone.

St. Louis-style barbecue competes with the nearby Kansas City style in popularity. St. Louis, however, is the world leader in per-capita consumption of barbecue sauce[unverified].

St. Louis-style pizza has a crispy thin crust and is usually made with Provel cheese instead of traditional mozzarella cheese.

The large number of German immigrants have made "beer and brats" (bratwurst) the standby at baseball games and street festivals. Neighborhoods like The Hill have many Italian restaurants.

A St. Paul sandwich is a unique St. Louis treat available in Chinese-American restaurants.

Regional specialties[edit]

Indiana[edit]

A popular dish seen almost exclusively in Indiana is sugar cream pie, which most likely originated in the state's Amish community.

Iowa[edit]

The country's major pork-producing region, Iowa is also known for its signature pork tenderloin sandwich.

Distinctive cuisine of Iowa includes the pork tenderloin sandwich, consisting of a lean, tenderloin-cut pork chop which is pounded flat, breaded, and deep fried before being served on a seeded hamburger bun with ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and a dill pickle slice. The main ingredient of this dish bears a striking similarity to schnitzel and as such, may be related to the large population of German immigrants that originally populated central Iowa.


Iowa is the center for loose-meat sandwiches, such as those popularized by Maid-Rite, although they can also be found in western Illinois, Indiana[2] and Nebraska.[3]

Michigan[edit]

Western and northern Michigan are notable fruit-growing and wine-making regions.

Miners looking for a convenient meal to bring to work popularized the pasty, which is now the iconic dish of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Minnesota[edit]

Wisconsin[edit]

The Friday night fish fry, typically fried perch, is ubiquitous throughout southern Wisconsin, while farther north, the Door County fish boil holds sway.

Besides beer, Wisconsinites drink huge quantities of brandy,[4] often mixed into the unique Badger libation, the "brandy old fashioned sweet."

Seymour, Wisconsin, claims to be the birthplace of the modern hamburger, although several other locations make similar claims. The southern Wisconsin town of Racine is known for its Danish kringle.

Wisconsin is home to numerous Frozen Custard stands, particuarly in cities and towns along the Lake Michigan corridor.

Dishes[edit]

These dishes, while not all exclusively Midwestern, are commonly thought of as typical Midwestern fare. Many are shared with Southern cuisine and other regions.

Serving[edit]

In the home, Midwesterners traditionally serve meals family-style or as a smorgasbord, rather than in set courses.

Language[edit]

Most Midwesterners refer to carbonated beverages as "pop." However, "soda" is more common in Milwaukee, St. Louis and the surrounding areas.[6]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20010323/ai_n13895232
  2. ↑ lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9469
  3. ↑ www.beerorkid.com/Lincoln/tastees/tastee%20inn.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.onmilwaukee.com/bars/articles/brandy.html
  5. ↑ http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/64176/50c/2/
  6. ↑ http://www.popvssoda.com
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