Missouri Favorite Foods (St. Louis, Springfield, Louisiana: mortgage, live, restaurants)

[Northwoods Voyager]

While traveling in the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia states, noticed that the folk there had their favorite recipes and that certain foods were indigenous to those areas. Do you have any foods or recipes that you consider Missouri favorites?

[ajf131]

I would assume foods that St. Louis came up with might be popular in Missouri...I know they are popular throughout the Midwest...gooey butter cake and toasted ravioli are two that come to mind.

[GraniteStater]

Favorite Midwest Foods:
Any Hotdish
Lutefisk
Pasties
Salt and Vinegar Chips
Sweet and Sour Pork
Sweet Corn

[slahgirl]

In My Area:
goulash
juicyburgers
fried taters
bratwuurst
homemade ice cream
kettle beef
kettle korn

[2beamissourian]

what is kettle beef?

and what is
lutefisk??


Im going to say Ooey goey butter cakes , fried fish, fried chicken, .. I am closer to St. Louis so those are pretty much the favs...

[firebll31]

In SW MO:

Chicken fried steak with cream gravy
Babe's hamburgers
Taco Town(greasy pseudo-Mexican,local icon)
catfish,bass,crappie
venison jerky or summer sausage
anything buffet
Cashew chicken
Biscuits and sausage gravy
Shake's custard concrete
homegrown veggies

[Lake Junkie]

One of my favorite subjects...food.

We have to add biscuits 'n gravy to the list.
Only place I've ever lived that had biscuits 'n gravy everywhere...even the Chinese buffet.
And speaking of Chinese buffets...no discussion of local cuisine would be complete without a discussion of Cashew Chicken!

If you've ever lived anywhere else, and are familiar with this savory dish of cashews & stir fry poultry...you will be amazed the first time you order the above mentioned delicacy in SW MO.

My sis and I did just that about a month after our moving vans were unloaded...and what greeted us was a plate brimming with something like chicken nuggets...covered with gravy and sprinkled with toasted cashews. This, dear reader, is Springfield-style Cashew Chicken.

The story, as I hastened to uncover, goes like this.
Get comfortable.
About 40 years ago, an enterprizing fellow named Leong looked around Springberg, MO and realized that opportunity yawned.
No chinese restaurants.

So he (and I think a brother or more was in on it) took out a mortgage on a piece of dirt on Sunshine just west of Campbell, filled it with red paper lanterns & savory smells, and hung out the OPEN sign.
It bombed.
The locals turned up their conservative midwest noses at the odd, unfamiliar offerings and said, "Nuh Uh."
So the Leong fellows, being of a creative and clever lineage, put their heads together and came up with a more palatable, Americanized version of the most common of Asian foods.
Instead of stir fry, the chicken was breaded.
The sauce...er...gravy...was ladeled on...
A dusting of the old familiar Cashew Nut applied...
You got it.
Cashew Chicken!
Now you will see this on menus far and wide throughout the central and upper Midwest: Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken.
It's become a staple.
It is, of course, delicious.
After all...it's fried chicken!

And now you know...the rest of the story.

[Northwoods Voyager]

As always LJ, so full of information. Thank you, Paul Harvey, stand in..

Yes, around these parts: biscuits 'n' gravy. But, the gravy has to have bits of Sausage mixed in it!!!

[zeldaII]

Don't forget the fried okra!

fried chicken
chicken and dumplings
bbq
baked steak
homemade strawberry shortcake
and vine-ripened tomatoes

[bentaxlecrew]

I know you've heard of hushpuppies right? There's a restaurant out here that started in Louisiana and they make some good hushpuppies. BBQ brisket, links and chicken. "woodies" Its pretty good. I hear the mention of hushpuppies in country songs and wondered how popular they were.
Sweet tea also. I grew up on sweet tea. Grandparents were from Illinois, and my other , Grandmother from Great Brittian. I gots to have my tea.