This entertaining and informative encyclopedia examines American regional foods, using cuisine as an engaging lens through which readers can deepen their study of American geography in addition to their understanding of America's collective cultures.Many of the foods we eat every day are unique to the regions of the United States in which we live. New Englanders enjoy coffee milk and whoopie pies, while Mid-Westerners indulge in deep dish pizza and Cincinnati chili. Some dishes popular in one region may even be unheard of in another region. This fascinating encyclopedia examines over 100 foods that are unique to the United States as well as dishes found only in specific American regions and individual states.Written by an established food scholar, We Eat What? A Cultural Encyclopedia of Bizarre and Strange Foods in the United States covers unusual regional foods and dishes such as hoppin' Johns, hush puppies, shoofly pie, and turducken. Readers will get the inside scoop on each food's origins and history, details on how each food is prepared and eaten, and insights into why and how each food is celebrated in American culture. In addition, readers can follow the recipes in the book's recipe appendix to test out some of the dishes for themselves. Appropriate for lay readers as well as high school students and undergraduates, this work is engagingly written and can be used to learn more about United States geography.

PrefaceIntroductionAkutaqAlligatorAnadama BreadArmadilloBarbacoaBean-Hole BeansBearBergersBialyBloodBoiled PeanutsBone MarrowBooyahBoudin Blanc and NoirBrainsBread-and-Butter PicklesBrunswick StewBuffaloBurgooCactusCannabisCape May Salt OystersCatfish and WafflesChaudinCheese BallCheese CurdsCheesesteakCherry PieChicken FeetChicken-Fried SteakChicory CoffeeChislicChow-ChowCincinnati ChiliCoddiesCoffee MilkDeep-Dish PizzaDeep-Fried Fair FoodsDorothy LynchDundas Sheep StewEelEmuFastnachtFluffernutterFoie GrasFried Green TomatoesFrito PieFrog Eye SaladFry SauceFrybreadFunnel CakeGarbage PlateGeoduckGoatGoettaGooey Butter CakeGritsGumboHalf-SmokeHoagieHoppin' JohnHorseshoe SandwichHot DishHuckleberry Ice CreamHush PuppiesInsectsIntestinesJambalayaKentucky Hot BrownKing CakeKishkeKombuchaKoolicklesLivermushLoco MocoLoose Meat SandwichLutefiskMapleMuffulettaMuskratOlive LoafPeepsPemmicanPig's EarsPig's Snout and TailPittsburgh SandwichPoiPokePolish Boy SandwichPork RollPoticaPoutine RâpéeRâpée PieRed-Eye GravyRoadkillRoot Beer and Birch BeerSalt PorkScrappleShoofly PieSlingerSnakeSon-of-a-B-tch StewSonoran Hot DogSpamSpiediesSquirrelSteamed CheeseburgersSuccotashTesticlesTurduckenTurtleWalrus FlipperWatergate SaladWhoopie PieSelected BibliographyAbout the Editor and ContributorsIndex