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The folks over at Deadspin recently compiled a ranked list of each state’s regional specialty. They then created a nicely illustrated map of what they’re calling “The Great American Menu.” We’re not at all surprised that we got credited with the deep-fried burrito creation called the chimichanga (remember that campaign to make the dish our official state food last year)?
So what’s really important here is seeing where said dish ranks in comparison to other state’s foods such as Illinois’ Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and Pennsylvania’s scrapple.
See also: Macayo’s and Others Make Deep-Fried Push for Chimichanga as State Food
Unfortunately, our chimichanga didn’t make it into Deadspin’s “greats” category with the aforementioned Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, South Carolina’s shrimp and grits, Mission-style burritos from California, Maryland crab cakes, peach pie and cobbler from Georgia, gumbo from Louisiana, key lime pie from Florida, and Alabama-raised fried green tomatoes.
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Instead, we fell in the “good” category at a respectable number 18. Just one spot below the West Virginia slaw dog and one above frozen custard from Delaware.
From the list:
Somebody dropped a burrito into a deep-fryer and out came Arizona’s signature food, which no one in Arizona eats, because half the people in Arizona are too old for solid foods, and the rest are on the run from white-supremacist paramilitary border militias.
At the very end of the batch, ranked behind “getting hit by a car,” you’ll find poor old Cincinnati-style chili from Ohio. The dish is a “regional style of chili con carne characterized by the use of seasonings such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice or chocolate . . . commonly served over spaghetti or as a hot dog sauce.”
Deadspin says it’s also “the worst, saddest, most depressing goddamn thing in the world.” We’ll let you decide.
