Special report
December 17, 2021 1 p.m.
What Makes a Dish Really Iconic? Does it just have to be popular from coast to coast? Does it have to have a long, illustrious history? Or does it have to say something important about how we as Americans dined and have eaten in the past? In our opinion, the most iconic foods tick all of these boxes.
Spend enough time touring the country and you will find that each state has plenty of iconic foods to call their own. Alaska has its King Crab Legs, Illinois its Deep Dish Pizza, and Indiana its Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie. Some of these foods are popular nationwide, but many remain local secrets. Learn about the most iconic foods in each state here.
And just like state food, many cities have their own culinary icons. In Cincinnati, for example, it’s spaghetti with meat sauce (called “chili,” but not like anything a Texan would recognize) and grated cheese; Cleveland’s Polish Boy combines kielbasa with coleslaw, french fries, and barbecue sauce; and in Milwaukee, fresh curd is whipped and deep fried until golden brown and melting. (These are typical dishes from 50 American cities.)
Click here for a list of America’s most famous dishes
Many of America’s most famous dishes began as regional or local specialties, some of hotly contested origins, others invented by a single spark of inspiration, and many began as “foreign” dishes that have become standard American cuisine and truly reflect the American melting pot .
Regardless of how they first hit the market, these foods have become an indelible, integral part of the American culinary landscape, and we simply cannot imagine life without them.