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Michigan Foods
Wednesday, September 21, 2005

My home state of Michigan has a few distinctive foods, some of which have become household names across the country and others that have remained close to home. Follow me on a short but tasty tour of Michigan.

One beverage that began in Michigan is Faygo. This line of sodas and juices features an array of fun flavors from the basic Red Pop to Ohana fruit punch to Rock'n'Rye. Faygo is usually slightly cheaper than the big names like Coke and Pepsi, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good drink. While I don't believe Faygo is available everywhere in the United States, I do know that it has spread extensively. One dubious Faygo claim to fame is that it is the preferred drink of the rap group ICP, and they'll throw it into the crowd at concerts.

Now a different pop that was born in Michigan that not everyone knows about is Vernors. Vernors is a ginger ale that is only available in regular and diet. No other flavors, just the basic ginger ale, but that was enough. It was created in the Flint area where I grew up, so it was an especially big deal for most people I knew. For instance, when a Vernors-related mural was going to be destroyed in downtown Flint, the community rallied to see it preserved.

The topic of Flint leads to another Flint-area staple, the Koegel hot dog and its related product, the coney dog. Koegels are simply the best, highest-quality hot dogs available. A coney dog is a bit like a chili dog, but it's made with its own unique coney sauce that isn't meaty. Coney dogs also typically come with mustard and onions. I'm not sure how widely available they are, but I'm fairly certain they've made it out of the state. I once heard of a company in the Flint area selling a "Taste of Flint" package or something to that effect. The box contained Vernors, Koegel hot dogs and coney sauce.

Michigan is also the home of Gerber baby food and Kellogg's cereal. Now these products I know without a doubt have spread throughout the country and even around the world. But they both began with humble Michigan roots.

One Michigan-based food product that doesn't have a name brand behind it is the pasty (pronounced PASS-tee). Pasties were originally created in England, but were brought to Michigan's Upper Peninsula by miners. A pasty is a pastry shell, much like a folded over piecrust, filled with meat and vegetables. You can dip it in gravy or ketchup, and it's a portable meal, or at least that was the original idea back in the days of mining. While pasties are still most popular in the Upper Peninsula, sold in small shops and restaurants, they're also shipped to grocery stores throughout the state, so these same companies could ship them to your state if you wanted to give them a try.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about a few Michigan-based foods. The next time you pick up a new food, take a few minutes to think about where it came from and enjoy it even more knowing a bit of its history.

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