Today, Chris and I are headed to another state as we attempt to see every state in the country, and this time, it’s Minnesota. It’s the 37th state I’ve visited, and I think Chris is around the same number, plus or minus one or two. Off the top of my head, I have visited Arkansas and he hasn’t; he has visited New Mexico and Indiana, and I have not. For those who haven’t done much Minnesota research, the things that people generally know about it is that it is the home of the Mall of America, generally is a swing state, and has the largest and most popular state fair in the country. We’re visiting during the state fair time, so of course, we are planning to go there tomorrow to indulge in the Americana life of fried food and all things on a stick, as well as seeing live animals, which Chris just cannot wait for (actually, he hates animals unless they are on his plate). Also on my list are representative foods of the area, including Scandinavian, Vietnamese, Hmong, and “local” new American places such as Piccolo.

Based on what we have read so far, the culture of Minneapolis and St. Paul feel a lot like that of Milwaukee in Wisconsin. There’s a big culture of locavore eating as well as microbreweries and micro distilleries. The very first sake brewery in the United States called Moto-i opened right here in Minneapolis and has been an active brew pub since 2008. After visiting Gekkeikan in Kyoto during our Japan visit and being exposed to a number of different types of sake, we’re still in Japan withdrawal and hope to get exposed to other types of sake during this visit. People grow maple trees and sell maple syrup that is local to Minnesota here, and also similar to Wisconsin, they have their own cheese culture here that is just less well known than Wisconsin’s. I love visiting places where local food is highly valued and there’s a culture of supporting other local foods and businesses.