Mississippi - "The Magnolia State"

Mississippi is a southern U.S. state with the Mississippi River to its west, bordered by Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana to the south and Arkansas and Louisiana to the west. Jackson is the capital and most populous city of Mississippi. The state consist of a lot of forest outside the Mississippi Delta area. Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo- Mississippi Delta, is a section in Northwest of Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region is known as "The Most Southern Place on Earth", in sense of its unique culture, music and culture. It is considered the birthplace of blues music. 

Mississippi River, the second largest river in US meets Yazoo River at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Mississippi River is the home of catfish. Three main family of catfish such as Blue, flathead and channel catfish are found in Mississippi River. The state of Mississippi produces over 50 percent of catfish production. 

Mississippi is nicknamed the "Magnolia State" because of it beautiful Magnolia trees. Mississippi residents are sometimes called "Mudcats", after the catfish found in the state's streams. 

As mentioned earlier Mississippi produces half of the nation's farmed catfish, so it should come as no surprise they know how to fry it. Fried catfish is a staple of Southern soul food. The family owned and operated restaurant in Phoenix, AZ, Mandy's Fish & Chips was chosen in this Journey to try the Southern style catfish. 

Fried Catfish

3 PC. Catfish, 3 PC. Shrimp & Chips with side of Fried Okra

Thank you! 

Oklahoma - "The Sooner State"

Oklahoma is a mid-western U.S. state whose diverse landscape includes the Great Plains, hills lakes and forests. Oklahoma City, the capital, is home to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, recognizing the state’s pioneer history, and the Bricktown entertainment district, popular for dining and nightlife.
Oklahoma's nickname is "The Sooner State". This is the name first applied about six months after the Land Run of 1889 to people who entered the Oklahoma District (Unassigned Lands) before the designated time. The term derived from a section in the Indian Appropriation Act of March 2, 1889. Thousands of people lined up on the border and, when the signal was given, they raced into the territory to claim their land. Some people went in early to claim their land. They became known as Sooners.
Oklahoma has an extensive cuisine that reflects the state's historic and present-day agriculture and the cultural backgrounds of Oklahoma residents. The official state meal consists of fried food, barbecue meat, many grain and bean based dishes such as cornbread and biscuits and gravy which are very popular items in Oklahoma.
Texas claims to be the birthplace of chicken fried steak, and they might be right, but the dish is no less reversed on the other side of the border, there it is the number 1 in the "Official State Meal". Chicken fried steak is a favorite meal loved by almost all Oklahomans. Many even assert that when evaluating a restaurant/café, they try the chicken fried steak, and if it passes muster, they move on to sample other menu items. However, if the chicken friends steak is not up to par, they remove the establishment from their dining list.
Every eating establishment in Oklahoma prepare the dish in the same basic way. A piece of round steak, cut thin is tenderized by pounding it with hammer, or soft drink bottle or even the edge of a saucer will do the job. In more advanced establishment, they run it through an electric tenderizer.
Next the meat is battered by dipping it into a milk and egg mixture and then dredging it through a combination of flour, baking powder, salt and pepper before frying it in oil in skillet over medium heat until the crust is crisp and golden brown. After the steak is removed, most of the grease is poured out of the pan, leaving the little crisps from the crust. Flour, milk salt and pepper are added to this residue and stirred until a whitish or brownish gravy is produced. The dish is served with the gravy on the steak or on the side, along with mashed potatoes and another vegetable. Of course, there are scores of variation on this process, such as double battering the meat, varying the cut of the steak, or changing the seasoning mixtures, but the process remains essentially the same.
Ranch House Grille,  a family owned restaurant in Phoenix, AZ, serving south and mid-western comfort food made with fresh and high quality ingredients. This restaurant has addressed the concerns of the modern heath conscious consumers by offering both a regular and a light Chicken Fried Steak. Reassure they are both the same steak, but the light version comes with a smaller side. Their hearty breakfast fare, huge portions, friendly staff and old fashioned prices, this places definitely attracts a lot of locals.





Chicken Fried Steak

Tennessee - "The Volunteer State"

 

Tennessee is a landlocked state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi to the South and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The capital, centrally located Nashville, is the heart of the country-music scene, with the long-running Grade Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and a legendary stretch of honkytonks and dance halls. Memphis, in the far southwest, is the home of Elvis Presley's Graceland, rock and roll pioneering Sun Studio and blues clubs of Beale Street.

 

Tennessee has had several nicknames, but the most popular is "The Volunteer State". The nickname originated during the War of 1812, in which the volunteer soldiers from Tennessee, serving  under General Andrew Jackson, displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans. This reputation for volunteering was reinforced during Mexican War when the secretary of state asked for 2,800 Tennessee volunteers and got 30,000 respondents.

 

Famous Tennessee dishes include barbecue, country ham, flaky biscuits and fried chicken. Memphis is known for several famous barbecue restaurants and a major barbecue cooking competition held in May. Memphis barbecue is primarily two different dishes; ribs, which come "wet" and "dry", and barbecue sandwiches. Wet ribs are brushed with sauce before and after cooking, and dry ribs are seasoned with a dry rub. Barbecue sandwiches are typically chopped pork served on a simple bun and topped with barbecue sauce and cole slaw. What is interesting is Memphians to put this chopped port on many non-traditional dishes, such as spaghetti, pizza or nachos.

 

On the other hand, Nashville's hot chicken brings a rash of chile-induced seizure to the Valley with its hot-sauce-drenched chicken. Current reputation aside, however, not all of Tennessee's friend chicken is measure in Scoville unit. The Scoville unit (SHU) is a measurement of the pungency (spicy heat) of chili peppers, such as jalapeno, the ghost pepper, and the world's current hottest pepper.

 

The Bumblebee at Welcome Diner in Phoenix, Arizona is definitely a great fried chicken to try, hot and juicy and stacked on a biscuit with honey, mustard and pickles. Welcome Diner is a local restaurant in a residential area of Phoenix, the kind of place that hotel concierge is likely will not recommend and a friend who lives in other parts of town isn't likely to know about it. This is restaurant is indeed a 4.5 star diner with excellent food, service and yes they serve spirits too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Bumblebee Fried Chicken



 

Fried Chicken with Bacon

 

 

 

 

Beignets

 

 

Oregon - "The Beaver State"

Oregon is a coastal state in the Pacific Northwest known for its diverse landscape of forests, mountains, farms and beaches. Oregon is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Washington, on the south by California, on the east by Idaho and on the Southeast by Nevada. It's largest city, Portland is home for the iconic coffee shops, boutiques, farm to table restaurants and microbreweries. Highlights include the Native American art in the Portland Art Museum, the Japanese Garden and the Lan Su Chinese Garden. The capital of Oregon is Salem. Oregon is the home of the deepest lake in America. With a depth of 1932 feet, Crater Lake is a sight not to be missed.

Oregon's unofficial nickname is The Beaver State, originating in the early 19th century when the fur hats were fashionable and Oregon streams were an important source of beaver pelts. The trapping route were used by early mountain men later became known as The Oregon Trail, traveled by thousand of pioneers in the 1840s. The beaver is also Oregon's official state animal and appears on the state flag.

The cuisine of Oregon reflects the ethnic makeup of the region with noticeable influence of Asian and Native American Tradition. In the larger cities of Portland, Eugene and Salem, food carts with various ethnic fusion cuisine such as bulgogi burritos (bulgogi is a Korean dish that usually consists of marinated beef), deep fried sushi rolls and Japanese style hot dogs are popular.

Oregon is the home of Marionberry. The Marion cultivar or Marion Blackberry, marketed as Marionberrry is an indigenous blackberry developed by the USDA ARS breeding program in cooperation with Oregon State University. It is a cross between "Chehalem" and "Olallie" Blackberries. This was first originated in Marion County, Oregon in 1956.  

Marrionberries make for an exceptional pie filling. Mamma Toledo's The Pie Hole, owned by Tonya Saidi, a self thought pie baking specialist, is a cozy little shop located in the heart of Phoenix, AZ.  The shop serves delicious pies, pastries and gourmet coffee and one can definitely find the delicious Marionberry Pie baked fresh at the shop. This place is definitely worth the trip.

 



Marionberry Pie









Connecticut - "The Constitution State"

Connecticut is a small state, though most rigorously independent and productive since Dutch explorer Adriaen Block discovery of the Connecticut River in 1614. It is the southernmost state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Connecticut is also often grouped along with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-State Area. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west and Long Island to the South. Its capital city is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport.  The state is named for the Connecticut River, a major U.S river that approximately bisects the state.

Connecticut was designated the Constitution State by the General Assembly in 1959. As early as the 19th century, John Fiske, a popular historian from Connecticut made the claim that the fundamental orders of 1638/1639 were the first written constitution in history.
Connecticut is home to the oldest U.S newspaper still being published: The Hartfort Courant, established in 1764. Connecticut is also know to be the pioneer of few eatable items in US, such as lollipops and hamburgers. The state claims the world first lollipop was made in New Haven in 1908. Hamburger was probably made and sold in the state for the first time as well. Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut advertises itself as the first restaurant to serve hamburgers and as the oldest hamburger restaurant still operating in U.S. According to Louis' Lunch, the hamburger was created in 1900 in response to a customer's hurried request for lunch to go, simply by asking to put the steak in between two pieces of bread.
Either there aren't a lot of Connecticut expats in Phoenix, or those who do reside in Phoenix are suffering since New Haven clam pizza and Connecticut style steamed cheeseburgers, the two Connecticut-inspired dishes are seemingly no where to be found in Phoenix. Therefore, Italian Grinder is an alternative option chosen in line for having a taste of Connecticut's cuisine while living in Arizona, though the natives of Connecticut is still debating on how to serve a grinder, hot or cold. Italian Grinders also known as Submarine, wedge, sub, hoagine or hero sandwiches is the type of a sandwich that consists of length of bread or roll split lengthwise and filled with a variety of meals, cheese, vegetables and condiments. One theory has the name coming from Italian-American slang for a dock worker, among whom the sandwich was popular. Others say it was called a grinder because it took a lot of chewing to eat the hard crust of the bread used. Niccoli's Deli located in Phoenix, AZ makes a great sandwich that, if not precisely a Connecticut-style grinder, boasts a crusty roll, a pile of Italian cold cuts, and enough shredded iceberg lettuce and olive oil to make any Nutmegger happy. Nutmegger is a nick name for native residents in state of Connecticut.

Italian Grinder (Served Hot)

Italian Grinder (Served Cold)

Meatball Grinder