Special Report
The Strangest Food From Every State
August 30, 2019 10:48 pm
Last Updated: February 17, 2020 1:31 pm
Hawaii
> Weird food: Spam musubi
Hawaiians consume about 7 million cans of Spam a year and host the world’s largest Spam festival. One popular way of eating it is in the form of musubi, a variation on Japanese onigiri, in which grilled Spam is enclosed in a square of sushi rice and wrapped in nori seaweed.
Idaho
> Weird food: Finger steaks
No, we’re not talking Hannibal Lecter here. Considered Idaho’s signature food, these are simply strips of buttermilk-marinated steak breaded and deep-fried, then served with barbecue or cocktail sauce.
Illinois
> Weird food: Spaghetti pizza
Spaghetti is good. Pizza is good. Are the two together double-good? A lot of people apparently think so. Angelo’s Pizzeria, which has three locations west of Chicago, claims credit for the invention. Sausage and mozzarella are also involved.
Indiana
> Weird food: Sauerkraut balls
Fermented cabbage isn’t the first thing you’d think of deep frying — unless you were a Hoosier. Associated with the state fair and with the Indianapolis 500, these are a mix of sauerkraut, pork sausage, and cream cheese, with mustard added, formed into spheres, breaded, and plunged into boiling oil until crisp and brown.
Iowa
> Weird food: Kumla
These heavy Norwegian ham-and-potato dumplings are a specialty of Story City, north of Des Moines. They’ve been described as “Norwegian sinkers,” and one fan, who claims to be able to eat no more than three at a sitting, notes that 10 of them would make competitive eating champ Joe Chestnut throw up.