Fifty States. Fifty deliciously iconic foods.
image via mapbox screen capture
Growing up in Minnesota, I could have easily told you our state bird (the humble Loon), our state motto (“L'Étoile du Nord”), and even who designed our state’s domed capital building (legendary architect Cass Gilbert). I was a walking, talking, fountain of North Star trivia. But, had you asked me what type of food sets Minnesota apart, well, I would have been at something of a loss. There are plenty of meals I’d grown up associating with my home state—hot dish, walleye, various things on a stick—but to pick just one would have been next to impossible.
Fortunately, for those of us in search of edible geographic bragging rights, there’s this: A fully interactive map of America’s most popular tastes, broken down state by state.
Created by the personalized search-and-discovery app Foursquare, along with cartographic software developers Mapbox, the map was built using data points from out of Foursquare’s 70 million global tips, and 65 million venues worldwide. Based on that data, you can not only explore each state’s defining food, but where in the state the best options for that food are.
Check it out:
Per the map’s website:
Foursquare’s data science team identified the singular tastes of all 50 states and D.C., using a mix of data sets (menus, tips, ratings, and more) and normalizing for size against other states. Then the editorial team reviewed the data and selected the winning taste that is most special and unique to each state. The percentage equals the affinity for that taste over the national average. Also included are the 50 best places in each state for that taste.
Can you say “Ultimate Edible Road Trip”?
Just remember, though: If you plan on eating local, you’d better plan on drinking local, too.
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