Hawaiian Salad And Snickers Salad Make The Infamous Grape Salad Look OK
By Melissa McEwen in Food on Nov 26, 2014 5:35PM
When the New York Times offended the Midwest by choosing a bizarre grape salad as a Thanksgiving recipe that evoked Minnesota, who knew our true distinguishing dishes would be so much more horrifying? The Times partnered with Google to analyze what dishes people in different states searched for during the week of Thanksgiving and then presented the ones most distinct versus the rest of the country. Illinois was tagged with "Hawaiian Salad," a so-called salad that varies but often contains tropical fruits and marshmallows.
Indiana gets persimmon pudding which sounds pretty good and Minnesotans love their wild rice casserole. (Editor's Note: growing up in Indiana, we had a persimmon tree in our front yard but I never once saw persimmon pudding on any holiday tables. We did however, enjoy Hawaiian Salad. -Lisa) Wisconsin gets Brownberry stuffing and Michigan gets cheesy potatoes, which all sound delicious.
But probably the most horrifying revelation is Snickers salads, which pop up on various Midwestern state lists and top the lists for states like Nebraska and Iowa. Surely it is just a cutesy name and people aren't actually making a salad with Snickers candy bars? Sadly they are- chopping them up and mixing with apples and whipped topping. Given that it's #2 on the Minnesota list with them searching for it thirteen times as much as the rest of the country, maybe they should have stuck with the grape salad.
But actually it's probably good, and I can't judge because my Illinois grandmother made green jello filled with marshmallows, canned fruit, chocolate, and pretzels, which I always thought was delicious.