Signature Indiana (or Indianapolis) dishes

[chappie]

I just quizzed a co-worker from Indiana first on defining characteristics of Indianapolis (beside the car race) and secondly what the city (or state's) cliched "signature" dishes are. You know, Baltimore and its crabs (even though you can get far better an hour east), New England clam chowder, Texas (or Carolina, or Memphis, etc.) barbecue.

He has no idea.

Can anyone help here?

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm not from Indiana, but my wife is. Corn on the cob is definitely up there. Hoosiers consider their corn to be the absolute best.

I enjoyed this ear, which was dunked in a vat of melted butter before being served . . .

. . . this past summer at the County fair in my wife's hometown.

And pork tenderloin sandwiches, like this one . . .

. . . are very popular throughout the state, although they very well may have originated in Iowa.

There have to be more, right?

=R=

[gfron1]

I'll second the pork tenderloin sandwich!

[A Patric]

I have family that grew up in Indiana, and in addition to the fresh sweet corn and pork tenderloin sandwhiches, they also traditionally ate fried mush and dried sweet corn like John Cope's brand.

[Ktepi]

The summer I moved to Indiana, even McDonald's had a pork tenderloin sandwich (and it wasn't bad).

The food I always associate with Indiana is actually jowl bacon, because I can never find it anywhere else -- but even most Hoosiers didn't seem familiar with it, and I don't know if it's a more generally Midwestern thing. Best bacon around, though.

[ronnie_suburban]

The food I always associate with Indiana is actually jowl bacon, because I can never find it anywhere else -- but even most Hoosiers didn't seem familiar with it, and I don't know if it's a more generally Midwestern thing.  Best bacon around, though.

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LOL, you're so right! I always try to pickup a pound or two when I go visit my MIL. And becaue I love it so much, I've even made my own on a couple of occasions.

=R=

[Dave the Cook]

Pork tenderloin sandwiches are definitely an Indiana thing, which is not to say that they can't be a thing elsewhere, too. Likewise sweet corn. A handful of other likewises:

- Thin pork chops, floured and fried.

- Fresh tomatoes in August . . . with sugar.

- Oyster stew and scalloped oysters. In the late 19th to early 20th century, oysters were the only "fresh" seafood available in the part of the midwest that doesn't serve as shoreline for the Great Lakes. My grandparents would order a barrel of bivalves in mid-October, and it would arrive in early November. The barrel went into the darkest, coolest part of the cellar. Grandma doled them out over the next couple of months, the culmination being scalloped oysters at Christmas dinner, made with the last of the barrel -- leftovers from the traditional Christmas Eve stew.

[sparrowgrass]

Persimmon pudding. There is an annual Persimmon Festival in Mitchell, Indiana, home of Gus Grissom, and a persimmon pudding contest.

[ronnie_suburban]

Persimmon pudding.  There is an annual Persimmon Festival in Mitchell, Indiana, home of Gus Grissom, and a persimmon pudding contest.

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I was just coming back to post this as well, after talking with my wife about the topic, although she couldn't remember the town.

=R=

[chappie]

In the late 19th to early 20th century, oysters were the only "fresh" seafood available in the part of the midwest that doesn't serve as shoreline for the Great Lakes. My grandparents would order a barrel of bivalves in mid-October, and it would arrive in early November. The barrel went into the darkest, coolest part of the cellar. Grandma doled them out over the next couple of months...

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Were they packed in a heavy brine? I can't imagine non-preserved oysters funking around in their own juices for "the next couple of months" in a barrel in the basement. Surely they were preserved somehow.

[Ktepi]

Persimmon fudge, too. I discovered four or five farmstands I didn't know were there, once they put out their big PERSIMMON FUDGE signs.

Is raisin pie an Indiana thing, an Amish (or Mennonite?) thing, or a Midwest thing? Before moving to Indiana, I'd seen it once or twice in peoples' homes -- once I got there, it seemed to be in every farmstand. (Gray Brothers Cafeteria near Indianapolis has very nice raisin pie, though it's very sweet.)

[Davydd]

Definitely the pork tenderloin sandwich. It's origins may very well be in Indiana unless someone can present documented proof that they predate Nick's Kitchen in Huntington, IN circa 1904-1908. They are very popular in Iowa and outstate Illinois as well. You will find them in the bordering states to those three and then they die out completely with the exception of a few novelty presentations and expatriots of those three "I" states opening restaurants elsewhere.

Here are some tasty examples...

Nick's Kitchen, Huntington, IN

The Red Onion, Sheridan, IN

Muldoon's, Carmel, IN

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, Davydd!

I knew we had a member around here who was completely obsessed with pork tenderloin sandwiches but I couldn't remember who it was.

I'm glad you found the thread.

=R=

[gfron1]

OMG! I can't believe I forgot the sugar cream pie! This stuff will kill you but it is so amazingly good.

Pic

[Fat Guy]

Van . . . Camp's . . . Pork . . . and . . . Beans!

Indianapolis, 1861

[gfron1]

Now I'm heading down memory lane...

Up in W. Lafayette we used to get apple butter pizza at Brunos. Apple butter with provolone!

[Fat Guy]

Here's a piece on Indiana food brands. Several significant ones including Clabber Girl and Sechler's.

[Fat Guy]

Sugar cream pie, which I've seen called Hoosier sugar cream pie or Indiana sugar cream pie or just "Hoosier pie" in cafeterias in the Midwest, originated, at least according to this source, in the Shaker community in the 19th Century. It also seems to be a popular Pennsylvania/Ohio Amish item.

[jadenegro]

Pork tenderloin sandwiches

Also the only place I have seen broasted potatoes is in northeast Indiana -- I don't know if that's original to IN or not though.

[ludja]

OMG!  I can't believe I forgot the sugar cream pie!  This stuff will kill you but it is so amazingly good.

Pic

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I've been intrigued by this pie ever since I've heard of it.

For those that have made them, does this recipe look like a good one? sugar cream pie

[rlibkind]

In the late 19th to early 20th century, oysters were the only "fresh" seafood available in the part of the midwest that doesn't serve as shoreline for the Great Lakes. My grandparents would order a barrel of bivalves in mid-October, and it would arrive in early November. The barrel went into the darkest, coolest part of the cellar. Grandma doled them out over the next couple of months...

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Were they packed in a heavy brine? I can't imagine non-preserved oysters funking around in their own juices for "the next couple of months" in a barrel in the basement. Surely they were preserved somehow.

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Kept suitably cool and unopened, oysters have a pretty remarkable shelf life. Even before the advent of railroads (and refrigerated transport) there were shipments by Great Lakes vessels and carts of New England and Mid-Atlantic oysters to the Midwest.

[gfron1]

OMG!  I can't believe I forgot the sugar cream pie!  This stuff will kill you but it is so amazingly good.

Pic

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I've been intrigued by this pie ever since I've heard of it.

For those that have made them, does this recipe look like a good one? sugar cream pie

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I don't have my recipe in front of me, but it sure looks like the beast itself!

[maggiethecat]

Quelle coincidence. I was looking through Marcia Adams's terrific Heartland tonight and read about Indianapolis's native Bard, James Whitcomb Riley -- Mr. "Frost is on the Pumpkin."

Snickerdoodles were his favorite cookie, and to this day on his birthday (October 7th) they are served to visitors at his house on Lockerbie Street in Indianapolis. Maybe this makes it Indy food , maybe not, but Snickerdoodles are an Indiana Amish specialty.

[Kent D]

I was beginning my preparations for my Super Bowl party, and I always try to "theme food" it, so with the Colts making the game I was worried about "what do they EAT in Indiana?". I was really hoping New Orleans would beat Chicago, because Mardi Gras food trumps deep-dish pizza and Chicago dogs.

Don't know if I can pull off the pork sandwiches in a party atmosphere, but I could probably make a nice Amish pie to go with the deep pizza pie. My family is pretty forgiving where the Super Bowl menu is concerned, so long as there's plenty to eat.

[Davydd]

This is the third board the subject of Superbowl food came up representative of the teams.

My suggestion is mini breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches served more as finger food or appetizers instead of making full fledged sandwiches. What I would do is take the tenderloin and cross slice it about 1/4" thick and pound to about no more than a 3" patty. Bread it and fry it and serve with those mini heat and serve dinner rolls. The idea first came to me last month when I went to a new restaurant in Excelsior, MN, Jake O'Connor's Irish Pub. They served a platter of beef tenderloins sliced thin and served on mini buns. My first thought was why not do this with pork tenderloins.

Yeah, I might do it myself.