Oregon hazelnuts.
There’s an emblematic herb grown here, but a few other states have it as well.
Anybody can grow and sell Walla Walla Sweet onions, but Vidalia onions and carrots must be grown there. You can buy the Granex onion seeds they plant in Vidalia, and sell the onions, but you can’t call 'em Vidalias.
Anybody can make Bourbon whiskey (some of it is made here in Indiana,) but Kentucky Bourbon is only from there. In other words, if the producers can arrange a protective law, then it’s limited.
Sometimes, it’s coincidence that puts a food in one spot. Nearly all the mint in the US is grown in the muck land around North Judson, IN. Nearly all the white button mushrooms come from Amish country in Pennsylvania. Garlic will grow anywhere, but almost all of it comes from Gilroy, CA.
There’s also Rhode Island clam chowder (distinguished by its clear broth base) and johnny cakes (debatable, but Rhode Islanders claim they originated there and that the only true johnnycakes are made with Kenyon’s corn meal, made at the Kenyon grist mill in Usquepaug, RI).
Texas shrimp and oysters. Although I’m not sure that’s true anymore, especially the shrimp. There used to be such rich shrimp beds off the coast, I remember in childhood going down to the marina in the morning and buying the fattest, sweetest shrimp literally right off the boat for like a dollar fifty a pound. I don’t think there’s a single shrimper left in the harbor today, it’s been so overfished.
I always associate oysters with Apalachicola, even though they produce my least favorite oysters.
Virginia ham.
And I’ve always been curious: does “Virginia peanuts” mean anything to anyone outside Virginia? They’re sure as hell heralded from the rooftops here, but I’ve always been a bit :dubious: that anyone else thought they were anything to write home about.
We used to get a huge tin of Hubs every year at Christmas, but I think Georgia is probably better known for peanuts.
Virginia boiled peanuts–oh, yes.
Alaskan king crab
Michigan is also King of tart cherries.
Texas brisket.
Did I miss Idaho potatoes somewhere?
I think of Wyoming for beef cattle.
Colorado - Rocky Mountain Oysters.
Michigan - Walleye (fish)
Isn’t much different from NH or Maine syrup.
Again, outdone by Georgia.
Queensland pineapples
Maryland crabs.
I’ve been eating a lot of canned pineapple lately and they all say Product of the Philippines.
Not a state but a country…
New Zealand
Pavlova
Lemon & Paeroa
Singapore
Chili Crab
JohnT was right about Texas brisket.
I would add Chicken Fried Steak. That with cream gravy is Texas. If I ever went to a place that billed itself as “Ye Downe Home Old Towne Texas Eatatorium” and they didn’t even have a Chicken Fried Steak or even worse, had a breaded meat patty, well, those would be some very evil reviews.
(My god, what must Australians think of Outback?)
My Fella (who lived in Singapore for work for years) would ABSOLUTELY agree about Chili Crab.
That’s the flavor of Singapore for him.
I had never heard of Virginia peanuts until I moved there, but yes - a superior peanut!