Food. Every locality I've ever lived has certain kinds of food it's more known for. In Tennessee, they fry everything. (As they do all over the South.) In New England, sea food is high on the list. (I never thought lobster rolls at McDonald's odd until someone - from Tennessee - asked about it.) In Texas, there's a lot of Tex-Mex, which I grew to like quite a bit. And in Indiana...well, what else do you have but corn? And now living in Minnesota, I am learning what they eat.
I wouldn't say that it's anything particularly unusual. One of the things they have is wild rice. It grows wild up here and I'm told they go out in the bogs and beat it into baskets with sticks. It's dark in color and you have to soak and cook it for quite a while. (It doesn't come in "instant".) Apparently, it has a nutty flavor. I was given some for my birthday, but I haven't tried it yet. First I want to try it plain. Then I want to try it in a soup which I hear is really, really good.
The heritage of the people up here is Scandinavian, Swedish and some German tossed in. (I'm thinking the ones that got kicked out of Wisconsin for some reason.) With that background, I am told the food can be rather bland with lots of meat and potatoes with beer on the side. Despite my 1/4 German blood, I don't eat a lot of meat, I eat even fewer potatoes and I have never drank beer and am not about to start. (Why would I put something that smells that horrible in my mouth?) And after three years of Tex-Mex, my tastes are anything but bland. Not sure how I'm going to fit into that.
I got to try it out last week when Carmen (the registrar who's job I am taking) took me to a local cafe which serves German food on Wednesdays. Thankfully, the menu explained what it was although a few of them I knew. I had bratwurst with sauerkraut and spaetzle, which are small dumplings topped with burnt butter. I think you can put them in stews. Personally, I kept thinking they needed a little cinnamon and sugar. While I need much spicier mustard for my bratwurst. Not to mention how many carbs I was stuffing my body with...but it was good.
While at the cafe, I looked at their pie list as they are known for their pies. One thing I have learned is that custard-based pies with mounds of meringue on top is popular. Most of them I knew. One I did not: sour cream raisin. Carmen was surprised I had never heard of it before in my life, but she couldn't tell me much about it as she hates raisins. I asked Lisa (women's ministries at camp) about it later. She said some people use sour cream but actually it's whipping cream soured a bit with vinegar or lemon juice. Then it has sugar and spices in it along with the raisins and is topped with meringue. I'm not sure if I want to try it or not...maybe a sliver.
Tomorrow for lunch is a potluck for Carmen. I'm not sure I'll learn any dishes or not, but we'll see. Whatever people bring, I know it will be good and there will be plenty of it.
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