Inspired by California
THE MEAL
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California is the most populated of the United States, with almost 39 million people, and is the third-largest state geographically. It was culturally diverse even before European expansion, then the Gold Rush happened, and now it’s the seat of Hollywood, continuing to draw people from all over the world. So it’s no surprise that there have been a LOT of foods either originating in or adopted by California, and it was hard to narrow it down for a single meal! Some honorable mentions: fortune cookies, green goddess dressing, taquitos, Monterey jack cheese, French dip sandwiches, and Baskin Robbins!
California Burrito
Since California was a territory of Spanish and Mexico until the mid-1800s and still borders Mexico on the south, there’s a large Mexican population and a lot of Mexican influence in the local cuisine. One of the best-known Cali-Mex foods is the California burrito, which contains carne asada, guacamole, and, bizarrely, french fries instead of rice and beans! It originated in the San Diego area in the late 1980s, and is said to be especially popular with surfers.
It seemed a little weird to put fries in a burrito, but after putting fries in salad for the Pennsylvania meal, I was game to give it a try. And in hindsight, it’s not much different than having potatoes in a breakfast burrito or something. With carne asada, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream, the burrito held so many of my favorite Mexican-food flavors. I still probably prefer rice and beans instead of french fries, but this was undeniably delicious.
Cobb Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing
One thing my mind always goes to when thinking of California food is salad, probably because there’s such a prominent diet/wellness culture there, and they grow like half of the United States’ produce.
As with so many other great dishes I’ve made for this challenge, the story is that a weary chef just threw together whatever was on hand at the end of a long day and discovered something delicious. In this case, it was Robert H. Cobb of the Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Now, Cobb salads are one of the most common salad types you’d find in any restaurant in the States.
Traditionally, Cobb salads include hard-boiled egg, bacon, avocado, tomato, and blue cheese. I threw in cucumbers because I love cucumbers, and I left the egg in despite always asking them to leave it out if I order a salad in a restaurant. Cobb salads usually have chicken too, but I had enough meat for this meal so didn’t bother. That’s the beauty of salads—you can put in or leave out whatever you want! Aside from the egg, I loved everything about this combination.
This salad was especially good because I made the ranch dressing from scratch. Which was super easy, by the way, and tasted just as good as anything store-bought—better because it was so fresh!
Ranch dressing was invented in California by a man named Steven Henson, who owned a ranch near Santa Barbara called Hidden Valley Ranch (hence the name). The dressing he served on his guest ranch became so popular that even when the ranch itself failed, the dressing business boomed, and Henson built a factory to produce more of it. It’s now the best-selling dressing in the United States, commonly eaten with salad, buffalo wings, and sometimes pizza. It’s also my favorite flavor of Doritos.
I’ll still probably just buy ranch dressing the next time I need it, but making it was really easy and tasted way better than I expected, and I liked being able to decide how thick to make it. Definitely give it a shot if you have the ingredients on hand!
Hawaiian Punch
I chose Hawaiian Punch as the drink for my California meal because it was invented in Fullerton, California, in the 1930s. It was made from fruit juices imported from Hawaii: orange, passion fruit, guava, papaya, and pineapple, and started out as an ice cream topping! It’s very fruity, and I’m sure most would say it’s one of the worst juices out there because it contains red dye, but it was nostalgic to buy a carton and be reminded of the flavors of childhood sleepovers past.
Rocky Road Ice Cream
As previously mentioned, there were so many desserts to choose from for a California meal. Like with the Cobb salad, though, I felt like rocky road ice cream was one of those things that became so popular throughout the United States, I had to highlight it.
There are a few disputed stories of how rocky road ice cream came to be, but two of them were in Oakland, California, with the best-known story being that William Dryer invented it and called it “Rocky Road” as a way to cheer people up during the Great Depression. The flavor uses chocolate ice cream as the base, with nuts and marshmallows mixed in. Originally, it was walnuts, but nowadays it’s most commonly almonds. Fun fact: California produces 80% of all almonds in the world, and is the only place in the United States that grows them commercially! And though less-known for it than, say, Wisconsin or Oregon, California is the lead producer of dairy in the United States, so it makes sense that they have a lot of ice cream.
I actually don’t generally crave nuts or marshmallows, but rocky road is my grandpa’s favorite ice cream flavor, so I have a fondness for it. I was worried that this wouldn’t turn out very good without an ice cream machine, but the no-churn version was still super creamy! It was extremely rich and I added way too many almonds and marshmallows, but it was a delicious experiment.
Only two more states to go!! Next stop: Nevada. Thank you for reading!