Michigan - "The Great Lakes State"

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States. The name Michigan is driven from Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". Native Americans in the area speak the dialects of Ojibwe mainly in Canada and in the United States, from Michigan through Wisconsin and Minnesota, with a number of communities in North Dakota and Montana. The capital of Michigan is Lansing, and the largest city is Detroit.

Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km) channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge.

Though Michigan has come to develop a diverse economy, it is widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, being home to the country's three major automobile companies whose headquarters are all located within the Detroit metropolitan area. While sparsely populated, the Upper Peninsula is economically important due to its status as a tourist destination as well as its abundance of natural resources, while the Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, services, and high-tech industry.

Michigan is a large producer of asparagus a vegetable crop widespread in Spring. Western and northern Michigan are notable in the production of apples, blueberries, and cherries. The Northwestern region of Michigan's Lower Peninsula accounts for approximately 75 percent of the U.S. crop of tart cherries, usually about 250 million pounds. A popular dish, Michigan Chicken Salad, includes cherries and often apples. Fruit salsas are also popular with cherry salsa being especially prominent.
One of Michigan's signature dish among a few is a Coney Island Hot Dog or Coney Dog or Coney which is a hot dog in a bun topped with raw onion, mustard, and Coney sauce, a type of chili. Cheese may be added as well and variations are found throughout the state, with each city claiming theirs is the best. It is often offered as part of a menu in Coney Island restaurants which is a type of diner originating with Greek immigrants in Detroit in early 1900s and are fairly common throughout the state of Michigan.  Most Coney Islands are open 24 hours and also a popular place to get a late or early coffee.

Detroit transplant David Najor runs Detroit Coney Grills in Tempe, AZ where they make Coney of a natural-casing dog, and even offers a selection of Motor City favorite Faygo soda to wash it down. This little restaurant was chosen as TOP 100 Best Restaurants in America, has set up shop on the corner of Broadway and Hardy,  bringing the robust flavors of the "D" to the "Valley of the Sun".

 

 

 

Iowa - "The Hawkeye State"

Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States, a region sometimes called the "American Heartland". Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west; it is the only U.S. state whose eastern and western borders are formed entirely by rivers. Iowa is bordered by Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the west and north, and Minnesota to the north. In colonial times, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana; its current state flag is patterned after the flag of France. Its capital and largest city is Des Moines.

Manufacturing, agriculture and food processing have been major components of Iowa economy. Besides processed food, industrial outputs include machinery, electric equipment, chemical products, and primary metals. Companies with direct or indirect processing facilities in Iowa include ConAgra Foods, Wells Blue Bunny, Barilla, Heinz, Tone's Spices, General Mills, and Quaker Oats. Meatpacker Tyson Foods has 11 locations, second only to its headquarter state Arkansas. 

An interesting point of attraction in state of Iowa is the city of Strawberry Point. This small city with a population close to 1500 people, is the technical champion of the World's Largest Strawberry title. The 15-ft. tall painted sculpture is on a post in front of City Hall. It's fiberglass, designed by a local ad agency, and was dedicated in the late 1960s.

Iowa is well know for a few signature dishes. The cuisine of Iowa includes the pork tenderloin sandwich, consisting of a lean section of boneless pork loin that is pounded flat, breaded, and deep fried before being served on a seeded hamburger bun with any or all of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and dill pickle slices.
Iowa is also the center for loose-meat sandwiches, also called tavern sandwiches and appearing on many menus by each restaurant's unique name for them. They were popularized by Maid-Rite which now has franchises in other mid-western states. This sandwich is a ground beef simmered with onions and seasonings until the liquid cooks away, served in a bun with pickles and maybe a little mustard or ketchup. Where one can find this sandwich in state of AZ? That would be Iowa Café in Mesa, AZ. Iowa café offers home-made Iowa cooking including but not limited to Breaded Pork Tenderloin, Loose Meat Sandwich, Midwest Steerburgers, Meatloaf, Four-Egg Omelets and other favorites. It is indeed a friendly atmosphere with good service and reasonable price.