Traditional Delaware State Foods
I have discovered that the traditional Delaware foods typically came from the English with some German influences. Delaware is of course nicknamed "The First State' as it was the first to ratify the Constitution; but another not well known nickname is 'The Blue Hen State' named for the fighting 'Blue Hen' Cocks that were carried with the Delaware Revolutionary War Soldiers for entertainment during cockfights. Because of the historic nature of this bird, even though it is not a recognized breed, work has been done to develop a strain of blue chickens that are now served as broilers. (Delaware Blue Hen)
Official State Foods
Delaware State has several "official" state foods. These are voted on/approved by the state's lawmakers in New Castle.
- State Fruit: Peaches
- State Bird: Blue Hen
- State Fish: Weakfish
- State Beverage: Milk
- Agriculture -- Broilers (Chicken), Soybeans, Corn & Milk.
- Fishing Industry -- Crabs & Clams
Delaware also has several popular foods associated with the state. Some of the most famous are:
- Broiled Chicken with sour-milk biscuits
- Fried Chicken
- Crab Cakes
- Dilly Crab Dip
- Oysters
Lesser known foods
- Potatoes
- Apples
- Pancakes
- Shrimp steamed over a pan of spiced vinegar
- Cauliflower with a custard sauce
- Creamed-Corn pudding
- Fish stew, called Muddle
- Lemon butter and lemon jelly are used as sandwich fillings
- Steamed Crabs are cooked at beach picnics
- Smoked Ham
(If anyone knows of a regional food for this state that I have missed please let me know chstress1@verizon.net)
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Comments: 17
I never knew ANY of this about Delaware. I learned something new today!
cool that should be a challenge post to write cool fact on your state,,,,
thanks for sharing. didn't know all of that.
Nice summary. I'd love for you to post recipes for muddle, crab cakes, corn pudding, cauliflower with custard sauce and other DE dishes to my group Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.
Dorine, OVer the next week or so I certainly will post these recipes with my own commentary too, as the recipes are not original to me but have been handed down , and I don't change the ingredients as that would defeat the purpose of thes traditional dishes.
That's pretty interesting!
Interesting info on Deleware!
I wonder what Weakfish tastes' like...
I wonder what it looks like. I wonder what it smells like! Talks like! I wonder what a Weakfish does for a living...
Google here I come:)
The head and back of this fish are dark brown in color with a greenish tinge. The sides have a faint silvery hue with dusky specks, and the belly is white. The origin of its name is based on the weakness of the mouth muscles, which often cause a hook to tear free, allowing the fish to escape.
Oh my. Weakfish is a sea trout that on average is 3 feet long.
I think Weakfish might scare me... eek!
Tidal stream transport of weakfish larvae in
Delaware Bay.
thanks for the neat info. I've never heard of a weakfish
Lemon butter and lemon jelly are used as sandwich fillings -- cool :)
Great article. I had never heard of a weakfish either.
You got me wanting some steamed or stuff crabs!!! My family lives in Maryland around Chesapeake Bay and I remember the crab boils so this article make me reminisce about family I dont see much anymore. Neat info on the Blue Hens! I wasnt aware of that so again I will thank you for the trivia added to my memory banks!