Favorite US States by Cuisine?

[GreenTeaHarbor1297]

Made a thread like this before for countries - So I decided to now make one for US states, since the US is very diverse when it comes to cuisine.
What are your favorite US states when it comes to cuisine.
Here are my Top 5;

5. Tennessee

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Don't care too much for Tennessee whiskey, but I love me some Nashville hot chicken and some Memphis barbecue... Especially the Memphis pulled pork sandwich.

4. Massachusetts

Seafood chowder... Nuff said... Oh, and lobster rolls... and lobster mac and cheese... No state does seafood better than the Bay State... Except for one...

3. Louisiana

I visited New Orleans in October 2022 - The food was something I could never get enough of. Especially spicy Cajun shrimp... and shrimp gumbo... and the Po'boys... and lets not forget the beignets....

2. New Mexico

Highly underrated. Highlight of this state's cuisine is the red and green chile - especially on a smothered burrito. Visited Santa Fe in 2018 and had breakfast at The Pantry Rio - Best breakfast I ever had in my life. Red and green chile also go delicious with cheeseburgers, chile rellenos, tamales, or in a bowl of pork stew, with a flour tortilla for dipping. Highly underrated, and a hidden gem of a state honestly when it comes to great cuisine.

1. Texas

I mean, it pretty much had to be Texas, because it has the most diverse quantity of cuisine, ranging from Tex Mex, Texas barbecue, Texas chili, peanut butter pie, and even some cajun influences in eastern Houston. It's also right between New Mexico and Louisiana, which I ranked second and third, and even though quality wise I do think those two have better highlights than Texas does, a lot of their cuisine influences do bleed into Texas since it's right next door to both of them, and quantity wise, the Lone Star State cannot be beat.

 

[nightglow]

Hmm, I'm not sure I know American cuisine by State, but one of my favorite American foods is fried catfish. I'm not sure what state is most prominent with catfish, maybe Mississippi? Corn meal is used for breading and you can spice it up if you want with Cajun which I think is more of a Louisiana thing. I recently learned that not many people on a global scale eats catfish or likes catfish which I thought was interesting.

 

[Neb]

Hawaii. I love Hawaiin food so much, especially their style of teriyaki chicken, kalua pork, and macaroni salad.