Food

The Food Truck Offering a Taste of Indigenous Cuisine

Tribal flags proudly mounted atop a decoratively wrapped food truck represent just a few of the tribes of North America’s Indigenous peoples, and are switched out periodically to represent and honor those working in the truck. This diversity is also reflected in the cultural origins of each dish served, from Navajo frybread to Northwestern Indigenous food platters.

A Taste of Central Asia in Central U.S.A.

On a sweltering summer afternoon, I want nothing more than a hot bowl of laghman noodles to slurp and savor; to chew through endless noodles and wash it down with spicy broth; to chase the broth with a glass of ice-cold kompot; to inhale the deep fragrance of cumin sticking to my clothes and to smell like it for hours – I want it all.

Hooked on Seafood, the Midwest Is Balancing Quality and Sustainability

Since 1989, Bill Dugan has been running one of two freestanding fish markets in Chicago.   The Fishguy Market aims to provide fresh seafood to the...

The Mystery of Blue Moon Ice Cream

Blue moon ice cream, identifiable by its tongue-staining, Smurf-blue hue, is nothing if not a mystery.  “It seemed so strange,” Nara Schoenberg, the journalist who...

Tomato Juice: An Ode to Ohio’s (Controversial) State Beverage

It may come as a surprise that a little over half of U.S. states have designated a state beverage. The state hospitality beverage of South Carolina is SC-grown tea. Florida honors its iconic oranges.

From Survival Food to Family Heirloom: The Story of the Pie

It's a cool Sunday evening in late 1960s Chicago. Catherine Lambrecht and her sisters race up the stairs to their grandmother's apartment. Their first...

The Quiet Rise of Detroit-style Pizza

New York and Chicago pizza may be more famous, but behind the lesser-known Detroit-style is a complex narrative genuine and authentic to the city...

Midwest Meets the World: The Complexities of International Food Aisles

Where can you find Pocky sticks five steps away from tikka masala sauce? Across much of the U.S., products hailing from across the globe find themselves crammed side by side in the international food aisle. While international food aisles can be controversial (What counts as international, or American for that matter?), they hold a special significance in the Midwest, where access to ethnic ingredients can be sparse.

The Rise of Pandemic Ghost Kitchens

As the pandemic closed dine-in opportunities and accelerated a rise in online ordering, restaurant owners throughout the Midwest adapted. Graze! Shared Kitchen in Toledo and Crafty Cow in Milwaukee were two restaurants to open “ghost kitchen” concepts in their spaces.

African Cuisine Can Be Hard to Find in the Midwest. Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Changing That.

After Esther Ajiboye was laid off from her banking job amid the Great Recession of 2008, she decided to try her hand outside of...

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