chgoeditor

The New York Times published an article, "The United States of Thanksgiving," saying, "We’ve scoured the nation for recipes that evoke each of the 50 states (and D.C. and Puerto Rico). These are our picks for the feast. Dig in, then tell us yours." And boy, did it piss people off...but one state in particular got madder than the rest: Minnesota. The comments on the NYTs Facebook page are funny because they're outraged by the decision to include "Grape Salad" as the state's representative dish.

Personally, I thought Illinois's dish (pumpkin soup with ancho and apple, courtesy of Rick Bayless) was a bit out there, but given Rick's point that Illinois is the leading producer of canned pumpkin makes it acceptable in my mind. Plus he's a local celeb. Virginia, New Jersey and Missouri actually had dishes that I associate with the state, even if they're not on the menu for most Thanksgiving dinners.

Did the NYTs nail your state or miss by a mile?

VickiSoCal

The California stuffing looks yummy, but sherry is not an ingredient I have laying around.

pinniped

Would have expected lefse to be involved in the Minnesota one, but I guess most of the dishes listed are intended to be a bit more substantial than that. (We've done 6 or 7 Thanksgivings in Minnesota over the years and I don't think I've ever even seen grape salad or heard anyone talk about it as a Minnesota delicacy.)

chgoeditor

North Dakota got lefse.

pseudoswede

Colorado's is a travesty.

chgoeditor

Amusing NPR article on the topic. Favorite quote:
And this one:

iff

No surprise there! I would have expected wild rice stuffing or a wild rice salad, but grape salad--what were they thinking?

missydarlin

Agreed. I had to look at that one twice to make sure I was reading it correctly.

Washington's is ... meh.

I'm half Asian and we've never had bok choy at Thanksgiving. Egg rolls, yes. Inari sushi, yes. Bok choy, no.

I would have expected to see something with chanterelles or seafood.

I want to have Thanksgiving in Nebraska. Beef > Turkey

Buster

Agreed. It felt like a cop-out...stoner food? Seriously?

I liked the OR cranberry sauce recipe. I thought the CA stuffing looked good also, but we're locked into a family favorite. There might be uproar if I changed now. I'm inclined to make the IL Rick Bayless soup but not for Thanksgiving. His recipes are generally quite good.

essxjay

Oregon: Cranberry Sauce w/Pinot Noir. I can live with that, though I think something like Pumpkin Ale would've been a tad more representative.

Didn't know Alabama contributed oyster stuffing to the national table. I'll have to try that recipe. ^

kale73

Shrimp mirliton sounds right for Louisiana. I also remember seafood gumbo as an integral part of the Thanksgiving meal.

silverthief2

It looks like they took many traditional local ingredients and did very unfortunate things with them. Yes, we use chiles regularly in AZ and NM, but not in the ways described. Carne advoada with turkey is weird, and chile cranberry sauce is just gross.

chgoeditor

In my family (and many others in the northeast, I think), a holiday isn't complete with what we call scalloped oysters or oyster casserole. It's different than the cornbread-based oyster stuffing, but no less delicious. Our recipe is similar to this one, but omits the onion and celery salt. My Mom would also emphasize that the oysters need to be small. If your quart of shucked oysters contains just three or four oysters, they're far too large. (Though I'm happy cutting them up, she prefers they be small and intact.)

kellio33

Growing up in MN, I've never even heard of grape salad. Lefse and lutefisk were always on the menu, but no one ate the lutefisk but my mother.

iff

I once encountered it some 30 years ago in a Sunday brunch buffet at a "nice" restaurant in small-town Minnesota but would never consider it representative of a Minnesota Thanksgiving dinner dish.

I have, however, seen green bean casserole grace many a Minnesota holiday table...