This coming October St. Louis is going to play host to an event called Flavored Nation, what’s certain to be the most talked about food event experience since the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The festivities will highlight the signature tastes from every state in the country, and it’s my job to identify Ohio’s defining flavor.
Last month I narrowed it down to a top five out of 15+ suggestions through social media:
- Chili
- Ice cream
- The buckeye (i.e. chocolate + peanut butter)
- Bacon
- Donuts
Ohio is difficult to pin down because there are big metropolitan areas mixed with plenty of rural spots, with different national and cultural traditions. We also don’t have famous dishes that have been around for decades, like Carolina BBQ or New York style pizza. But my pick for the signature taste of Ohio (in case you couldn’t tell from the photos):
ICE CREAM
Why ice cream? Because our state produces a lot of dairy from farms large and small, and consequently we make a lot of tasty ice cream. Just look at some of the celebrated ice cream spots state-wide:
- Jeni’s Ice Creams in Columbus (People magazine just named their Mango Buttermilk a top flavor of summer)
- Graeter’s Ice Cream in Cincinnati and Columbus (that black raspberry chip…)
- Diamonds Ice Cream (Columbus)
- Johnson’s Real Ice Cream (Bexley, Dublin)
- Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl (Zanesville)
- Taggarts (Canton)
- Velvet Ice Cream (Utica)
- Mitchell’s (Cleveland)
- Toft’s (Sandusky, Port Clinton)
- Whit’s Frozen Custard (it’s custard, but I count it)
- Handel’s Ice Cream (all over)
- Young’s Jersey Dairy (Yellow Springs)
- And that’s just scratching the surface! We love our ice cream in Ohio, and we do it very, very well.
What do you think? Do you have a favorite spot for ice cream in Ohio?
Flavored Nation is working to figure out the signature flavors from each state, from pizza to BBQ to desserts to sandwiches to appetizers and beyond, and the event in St. Louis this October will bring them all together.
You can even take a quiz to discover what type of foodie you are! I took it and learned I’m a Stadium Food Foodie. Sounds good to me! I’m a fan of hearty dishes like Chicago deep dish pizza, coney island dogs, and burnt ends.
Take the quiz and share your results! Tag your posts on social media with #FlavoredNation, and follow Flavored Nation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Flavored Nation. Opinions are my own.