Sunday, February 25, 2007

Midwestern Strata?

Today, I decided to make some Wild Rice Hotdish. My girlfriend had it on her list of food requests for a little while now and, with the rainy season upon us, I figured that it was the perfect time to make it.

The funny thing is that within a two hour span today, I was twice questioned whether or not this delicious dish was truly a hotdish. Both my sister and my friend Terence asked me the exact same two questions: (1) Did I cover it with Tater Tots? (2) Did I use cream of mushroom soup? Having answered in the negative to both questions, I was accused of fraudulently passing off a non-hotdish item as a true Minnesotan hotdish. Terence, whose experience in Minnesotan cuisine comes solely from his experience with the Marriott industrial food service professionals during his college years in Northfield, went so far to say that what I was making was, in fact, not hotdish, but merely some sort of Midwestern strata.

Tater Tots? What happened to French fried onion rings?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It may not be hotdish but it is still good!

Anonymous said...

Loren,

I feel obligated to state that my experience in Minnesota cuisine came from other sources besides the dining Hall.

Who could forget the famous fried cheese curds of Division Street, to say nothing of the delicacies purveyed by the Rueb N Stein. No, my friend. My baptism of fire extended well beyond the horrors extruded wetly from the Saga caverns.

Anonymous said...

Who cares what it's called, you neglected to mention that the main ingredient is Colombian white gold. And if it isn't, why the hell do I find myself wistfully thinking about it!?

Loren said...

Uh, if you look at recipe, you'll see that the "Colombian white gold" is really just sour cream...