The Strangest Food From Every State

Tiny cubes of meat — traditionally lamb or mutton, but sometimes beef or venison (or other game meats) — are deep fried until crispy, flavored with garlic salt or other seasoning, then popped by the handful or dipped into ranch dressing or other condiments. Sometimes the meat is marinated first and/or battered before frying.

The late great Presley is honored (dissed?) all over America with renditions of his purported favorite sandwich — lots of peanut butter and mashed bananas on white bread, sometimes dubbed the Fat Elvis. (Some versions add bacon.) Tennessee, the home of Elvis’s famed mansion Graceland, has a particular claim on it, though, and it is widely sold in the neighborhood.

This is one of those curiosities that’s really very good. In its purest form, it’s just a bag of Fritos corn chips (invented in Texas) — one of those metallic-lined bags, not the plastic kind — into which are spooned chili (no beans) and grated cheese. There are more elaborate versions, but that’s the pure Texas way and it’s hard to beat.

This Utah specialty is said to have been invented at the SunGlow Family Restaurant & Motel in Bicknell, in the south-central portion of the state. It’s just what its name suggests: chopped sweet pickles flavored with cinnamon and allspice and baked into a pie crust. The filling is said to resemble tangy mincemeat

There are only two ingredients in this wintertime dessert: fresh-fallen clean snow and maple syrup, ladled over it. It’s a Vermonter’s sno-cone.