Minnesota Has The ‘Hotdish’; What’s Your State Famous For? [Survey]

ACROSS AMERICA — The Minnesota “hotdish” is having a moment in the “political silly season,” that time before Labor Day when people traditionally are too busy squeezing in fun to think seriously about the presidential election.

It turns out people outside of Minnesota were clueless about the state’s go-to meal in a pinch until Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dished on it in a recent campaign video. The Democratic presidential nominee wanted to know of her No. 2 pick, does he add flavorings to his 2016 award-winning Turkey Taco Tots in the Minnesota congressional delegation’s annual competition called the “Hotdish Off”?

“Black pepper is the top of the spice level in Minnesota,” Walz explained.

Stirring things up on social media, some of Walz’s detractors claimed he’d lied about his creation, overstating its spiciness. Silly people. Everyone, unless they’re brand new to the state or have been living off the grid in the Up North woods, knows this culinary archetype earned its name because it’s served right out of the oven, not because it’s fire-alarm spicy. Instead, a hotdish is so typically easy on the gastrointestinal tract that it’s practically the “Minensota nice” of casseroles.

This same meal-stretching mixture of ground beef and cheese that has, a staple on Americans’ dinner tables since the Great Depression, might be called a casserole just south of Minnesota in Iowa, or a covered dish even farther south in Missouri. Regardless of the regional name, it’s a variation of the same

• Read more: Non-Minnesotans Are Hopelessly Lost On What A ‘Hot Dish’ Is

And because there are still a few days of summer before things get really real, we’ll meet the Minnesota hotdish and raise it with a pan of Delaware scrapple, whatever that is.

What food or food tradition in your state or region would people be clueless about in other parts of the country? Just fill out the informal survey below and tell us why you love it, or why you think your state’s culinary contribution should be something else, and if so, make a case for it.

Silliness is encouraged. And don’t worry, we don’t collect email addresses.

Editor’s note: This survey closed on Aug. 28.