Foods By State - Additional Information

I had never heard of some of the foods listed on yesterday's post. Some sounded good, and others were just unusual. A couple gave me ideas for dinners. Choosing to ignore the question of whether the choices best match the states, here are descriptions of some foods you may not know:

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Skyline Chili (Ohio): The original "Cincinnati Chili".

• Two-way chili is served over spaghetti.
• Three-way chili is served over spaghetti with Cheddar cheese on top.
• Four-way chili is also topped with either onions or red kidney beans.
• Five-way chili is topped with onions and red kidney beans.

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Toasted Ravioli (Missouri): The ravioli is breaded and deep-fried, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and served with marinara sauce for dipping.

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Pasties (Michigan): Pasties are made with a pastry shell resembling pie crust, folded over meat and vegetables and baked in portion sizes easily held in one hand. Cornish miners valued pasties because they were so portable, therefore easy to take to work for lunch. A fresh-baked pasty would stay warm for hours, even deep in the copper and tin mines.

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Loose Meat Sandwiches (Iowa): The sandwich is described as a sloppy Joe without the slop, or a hamburger that falls apart. In Iowa, even national chains such as Dairy Queen serve loose meat sandwiches.

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Benne Wafers (South Carolina): Benne is a Bantu word meaning sesame. Sesame was brought from East Africa by slaves and planted in South Carolina, where it flourished. Benne wafers is a term used to refer to both sweet cookies and savory crackers, depending on the recipe used.

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Chislic (South Dakota): Chislic is deep-fried meat served on a skewer or toothpick. The meat can be beef, mutton, venison, or other game meat. The reason this dish is not well known outside of South Dakota may be because other regions call it shish kebab.