Redditor emilou09 asked, "I’m cooking one meal from every state in the United States, what meal best represents your state?" It's an ongoing project for her that you can follow at Instagram, where she is so far only in the states that begin with A. The response has been overwhelming, with thousands of suggestions. But life's not fair: there are dozens of iconic dishes from Louisiana and all are correct, while no one seems to know what they eat in Connecticut. Meanwhile, I had to keep checking Wikipedia for food terms that are new to me.
Laulau (Hawaii)
In old Hawaii laulau was assembled by taking a few luau leaves and placing a few pieces of fish and pork in the center. In modern times, the dish uses taro leaves, salted butterfish, and either pork, beef, or chicken and is usually steamed on the stove. Laulau is a typical plate lunch dish and is usually served with a side of rice and macaroni salad.[1]
Jojos (Oregon)
Jojos are potato wedges fried in the same vat as chicken and usually eaten plain alongside fried chicken, coleslaw, and baked beans.[2]
Tri-tip (California)
The tri-tip is a triangular cut of beef from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut, consisting of the tensor fasciae latae muscle. Untrimmed, the tri-tip weighs around 5 pounds.[1]
Sometimes labeled "Santa Maria steak," the roast is quite popular in the Central Valley regions and the Central Coast of California.[10] Along with top sirloin, tri-tip is considered central to Santa Maria-style barbecue. In central California, the fat is left on the outside of the cut to enhance flavor when grilling, while butchers elsewhere trim the fat side for aesthetic purposes.
Runza (Nebraska)
A runza (also called a bierock, krautburger, fleischkuche, or kraut pirok) is a yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, cabbage or sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings.
Knoephla (North Dakota)
Traditional knoephla soup is a thick chicken and potato soup, almost to the point of being a stew. It is particularly common in the U.S. states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, where there was significant settlement of German emigrants from the Russian Empire.
Mofongo (Puerto Rico)
Mofongo (Spanish pronunciation: [moˈfoŋɡo]) is a Puerto Rican dish with fried plantains as its main ingredient.[1] Plantains are picked green and fried, then mashed with salt, garlic, and oil in a wooden pilón (mortar and pestle).[2][3] The goal is to produce a tight ball of mashed plantains that will absorb the attending condiments and have either pork cracklings (Chicharrón) or bits of bacon inside. Most dressings and mixtures include broth, garlic, and olive oil. It is traditionally served with fried meat and chicken broth soup.[4] Particular flavors result from variations that include vegetables, chicken, shrimp, beef, or octopus packed inside or around the plantain orb.
Chislic (South Dakota)
Chislic (or sometimes chislick) is a traditional dish of cubed red meat most commonly localized to the state of South Dakota (United States). Traditionally made from mutton or lamb, but has also been associated with wild game, deer and venison mostly, and even cubed beef steak depending on preparation.
You may want to peruse the many responses at reddit, and in the discussion at Metafilter, but be aware that they will make you hungry at some point.