Maine food is basically famous for its seafood related dishes, although there are several other kinds of foods popular in this state, located in the New England area of the North Eastern part of United States. Among seafood, clams and lobsters are the most common ones which are consumed in abundance.
History of Maine Cuisine
The history of the cuisine of Maine can be traced back to a number of years, when the state was inhabited by various colonists, where the first establishment was the European settlers, followed by English settlement by Popham Colony in the year 1607, which was eventually followed by various other British and European establishments. The cookery style of Maine has its origin from the colonial roots, when one pot style of cooking, which is popular as American Indian cooking style, was highly popular, hence resulting in preparation of dishes such as baked beans (bean based dish which is baked or stewed in sauce), chowder (cream based vegetable and seafood stew) and succotash (a dish made up of lima beans and corns).
Commonly Used Ingredients and Cooking Methods of Maine Cuisine
Ingredients
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One of the integral ingredients in Maine food preparation includes lobster, which is native to Maine’s shore.
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Other normally used ingredients in cuisine of Maine consist of neck clams, blue mussels, sea scallops, oysters, razor shell clams, and soft shell clams.
Cooking Methods
Baking and stewing are the two most commonly used methods for preparing Maini food, with both the methods having huge prominence all through New England and US.
Popular Foods of Maine Cuisine
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Grapes of Vitis labrusca variety are very popular in the cuisine of Maine. This grape is popularly used in preparing grape juice and high quality wines.
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Apple pie, which is considered to be the iconic food in American cuisine, is a very famous Maine food item which refers to a pie with apple as the main filling ingredient, where the pie is usually served with ice cream or whipped cream on the top.
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Pease Porridge is also a daily food in Maine, which is basically a boiled vegetable food item, which includes Carlin or split yellow peas, salt, spices, and water as the vital ingredients, which are cooked along with ham joint or bacon.
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Thanksgiving Turkey is the tender and juice butterball turkey, which is one of the vital foods items in the cuisine of Maine and all over US, which is popularly served in Thanksgiving celebrations.
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Seafood dishes are the main attractions of Maine, which is very closely linked to picturesque water bodies, with clams and lobster based dishes being most prominent.
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Baked beans is considered to be an everyday Maine Food item which is normally prepared by stewing (despite the baking process as the name of the dish implies, which is only followed sometimes) beans in tomato based sauce. However, molasses and pork can also be used to prepare the sauce.