The food is not what it seems

February 26, 2024 4:14 AM

While Minnesota sushi can ostensibly be found in restaurants, and has appeared on television, its origins are both obscure and humble. The "Minnesota" part of the claim is, however, base calumny. The European mode is another variant. The dish may share some DNA, cultural or otherwise, with molded salmon mousse. Could it be traced back to the Roman tradition of "concealed food?" Probably knot, that would be stretching it. Order falls, chaos reigns.

Bonus round: Is "Minnesota sushi" actually a sandwich? Check the sandwich alignment chart. The sandwich alignment chart has appeared here previously.

posted by cupcakeninja (31 comments total)

Speaking as a native Michigander, I can tell you this is a pinwheel. When I was a kid, they were ubiquitous at parties, and I am pretty sure no one at those parties had ever heard of sushi.
posted by pangolin party at 4:30 AM on February 26 [15 favorites]

pangolin party, I’m with you. I burst out laughing when I saw this dish described this way, had to share. (Most of my people are from or passed through the Upper Midwest, and I’d never heard this name.)
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:36 AM on February 26

tell me your region is filled with Scandinavians without telling me your region is filled with Scandinavians
posted by chavenet at 4:38 AM on February 26 [9 favorites]

MN-raised, and I didn't see many of these in the 70s or 80s. I always assumed they were an Eisenhower-era thing. And this name is news to me.

As a counter-point, I now live in Rhode island, and have eaten them at family-type parties plenty in the last few years. There's no denying how amazing they are if you prefer your treats savory (as I do) to sweet!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:30 AM on February 26 [4 favorites]

tell me your region is filled with Scandinavians without telling me your region is filled with Scandinavians

We would, dear, but no one likes a braggart, and Midwesterners are nothing if not polite. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 5:31 AM on February 26 [12 favorites]

Better is is pickle spears and long thin pencils of swiss cheese wrapped in ham and then dipped in mayo and mustard. The swiss adds an earthy tanginess that boosts it out of the park.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:43 AM on February 26 [2 favorites]

tell me your region is filled with Scandinavians without telling me your region is filled with Scandinavians

I dunno. I've lived in Scandinavia and found the food there to be much less weird than food in the upper midwest of the US, with lots more flavor and texture. Maybe there was something that happened in the translation to the new world, with people using new ingredients but trying to stay within a fairly bland taste spectrum?
posted by Dip Flash at 5:57 AM on February 26 [2 favorites]

Bear in mind that the upper midwest didn't have good produce distribution until the mid-late twentieth century! We are in the middle of the country. It gets very cold and there's a limit on the fun foods you can grow here. I grew up outside Chicago, and even there, up through the early nineties the widely available and affordable selection of food was pretty limited compared to today - and Chicago is on a railroad hub. It helps, when distributing diverse food, to have a lot of fairly large settlements to sell to.

We discuss food choices as though they are primarily moral when they're really social - oh why why did people in an area with poor produce distribution, relatively scattered population and very cold winters not eat a lot of fresh, interesting food? Must because because they are comically or sinfully incurious, etc.
posted by Frowner at 7:03 AM on February 26 [29 favorites]

As I think about this, I am reminded just how, um, not large citied the upper midwest is. If you're on the coasts, you have large cities up and down the coasts with dense populations to support sales of less universal items, you can distribute by boat and of course you have people from all over the world in fairly close proximity. And because the coasts run north-south, you can easily distribute at least the more portable produce from the south up to the cities in the north.

In the upper midwest, you have...Omaha.

I mean, actually Minneapolis has flourished because we're the node for all kinds of stuff - there aren't a lot of large cities, so anything that requires density or banking connections, etc has to be here. But it was really in the eighties that the twin cities as cities started to sprawl out and develop large suburbs, etc.

God knows there are many things wrong with the upper midwest, and many things wrong with Minneapolis in specific (St. Paul is much better run - if you are thinking of moving here, St Paul has less police violence, better governance in general, some rent stabilization things etc that our fucking mayor has voted down here.)

But as far as food goes, honestly, I think we do pretty well right now given the upper midwest of it all.

I have also been at many events with fairly sophisticated people who have lived elsewhere and pride themselves on their fooderie and an awful lot of those "ew it's so midwestern and unspiced" snacks and desserts absolutely vanish from the platters. They are non-spicy, simple junk food, yes, sure, but they're no more non-spicy junk food than french fries or chicken nuggets.
posted by Frowner at 7:34 AM on February 26 [6 favorites]

I've been on a fried pickle kick and the best one I've had so far, hands down, was an appetizer at the Toasted Frog in Fargo ND.

A whole dill pickle spear combined with Havarti cheese and fried in a wonton wrapper. Sooooo good.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:36 AM on February 26 [7 favorites]

To Dip Flash's point, I've had conversations a few times over the years with Scandinavians visiting or temporarily resident in the U.S., puzzled why Scandinavian-Americans are still eating various foods that aren't popular in Scandinavia and haven't been for decades or longer. We generally talk about things like food supply, migration across the continent, and what constitutes ethnic identity when you're no longer living in the country of your ancestors. They say "OK, but really?!? You don't have to soak fish in lye anymore?" I say "it's complicated."
posted by cupcakeninja at 8:22 AM on February 26 [4 favorites]

Yeah, this is Not My Heritage but I'm Southern and thus have some experience with things reflexively dismissed as trashy. (Oddly, not so much anymore -- but definitely 20 years ago, when I was growing up.) As with Rocky Mountain Oysters, the name is....cheeky, and fun, and guaranteed to reflexively horrify anyone who enjoys regular sushi. (It's also pretty funny that there are plenty of popular sushi rolls that incorporate cream cheese, so that's not the problem!) I had a moment of horror when I first saw the pic, but on consideration I think I'd like it if you subbed a cornichon (for crunch) in for the spear. Not traveling much for the last few years has actually reduced the amount of cream cheese I eat by a lot, and now I'm kind of craving it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:04 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

As I think about this, I am reminded just how, um, not large citied the upper midwest is. If you're on the coasts, you have large cities up and down the coasts with dense populations to support sales of less universal items, you can distribute by boat and of course you have people from all over the world in fairly close proximity. And because the coasts run north-south, you can easily distribute at least the more portable produce from the south up to the cities in the north.

At the risk of nitpicking, a glance at a population density map of the US does not support this. Yes, the midwest is less densely populated than the eastern seaboard, but in turn it's much more densely settled than the western coastal states, and with a lot more cities (all of which have been well-connected by railroad and shipping routes for a long time).
posted by Dip Flash at 9:26 AM on February 26

My dad is from Iowa, and when I was a kid, for a while at holiday gatherings with his side of the family, my cousins and siblings and I were on a Monopoly kick. We played with very laissez-faire rules, where dealmaking was not restricted to Monopoly money and properties. Stuff like selling a property for $400 of Monopoly money plus $5 of real money, or sweetening a trade offer by throwing in a multi-use rent waiver, was totally legit. It was still talked about for years afterwards when when one Christmas, one of my cousins got up from the game, went to the kitchen, grabbed the 5 remaining pickle rollups, and dangled them to extort trades. Pickle rollups are serious business.
posted by bassooner at 9:53 AM on February 26 [2 favorites]

At the risk of nitpicking, a glance at a population density map of the US does not support this. Yes, the midwest is less densely populated than the eastern seaboard, but in turn it's much more densely settled than the western coastal states, and with a lot more cities (all of which have been well-connected by railroad and shipping routes for a long time).

But first, we're not really talking 2024 settlements - we're talking 1980 or earlier, because that's how food traditions happen. If you look around the Twin Cities metro area now - or even if you were looking around in 2000 - you wouldn't have a New York foodie experience, but there are/were plenty of restaurants that would be good and a few even very good no matter where they were in the US.

If you look at census maps from earlier in the 20th century, it's very clear that the upper midwest is thinly settled with few big cities (even now, seriously, Omaha-Iowa City-Minneapolis really isn't the same as Sacramento-San Francisco-San Jose). And at that same time, both coasts have big cities, much much bigger than the MPLS metro area of the time, all up and down the water. Even the Chicago metro area is huge compared to us, and of course when you're on the Great Lakes there's easy industrial shipping from the coast.

What's more, as far as the west coast is concerned, you have much, much stronger connections to Asia, and of course if you're in Texas or elsewhere in the central or western south, you have stronger connections to Mexico. Whereas even the really populous parts of Canada are east or west of Minnesota and even North Dakota is mostly east of densely settled areas.

The thing about food cultures is that if you have one sort of big isolated place, versus a large area that is thinly settled except for a number of large cities fairly close together, all of which have at least some sea or land access to other regions, the food culture in the latter is going to be much richer than in the former. The west coast's food culture is entirely about the confluence of great produce, lots of people, and people coming from other parts of the world, especially Asia and Mexico. It doesn't really matter that there's lots of California that is thinly settled, because the metro areas are so dense.

I assure you that if you have a few months to take extended exploratory trips around California and Nebraska/Minnesota/the Dakotas/Iowa, you really really will see that there is an enormous difference.
posted by Frowner at 10:29 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

The name is news to me, and I like it. Growing up in the Midwest, the word sushi did not exist until probably the 80s or later. Now there are talented Japanese sushi makers in the most unlikely grocery stores. I like chipped beef filled with cream cheese, and I'm sure there's a way to male something even more sushi-like with delicious dried, smoky beef, sliced thin, and cream cheese. Maybe roll it like sushi, with some kimchi, too.

The Midwest has lots of cities. Akron, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, DesMoines, Omaha. They don't have the same feel at New York, but, then, neither does Los Angeles. And lots of them, like Dayton, Ohio, died when their large industries left, so housing is cheap albeit run down, and they feel very different.
posted by theora55 at 10:45 AM on February 26

I love the pickle cream cheese meat thing! My belated aunt from Indiana used to use salami instead of ham and I remember eating probably a dozen when I was first introduced as a kid. Omg salt umani heaven!
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:49 AM on February 26 [2 favorites]

I'm too lazy to make an FPP about Sauerkraut Balls, so I'll add them here. I love them, and there are lots of fine variations, notably corned beef instead of sausage, and Russian dressing instead of ranch. I make a point of having them frequently when I visit family in Columbus, Ohio. They are often served in craft beer breweries, so it's hard to have a bad time.
posted by theora55 at 10:54 AM on February 26 [3 favorites]

Is "Minnesota sushi" actually a sandwich?

Given the context, shouldn't we be asking if sandwiches are a kind of sushi?
posted by jomato at 11:51 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

> I dunno. I've lived in Scandinavia and found the food there to be much less weird than food in the upper midwest of the US, with lots more flavor and texture. Maybe there was something that happened in the translation to the new world, with people using new ingredients but trying to stay within a fairly bland taste spectrum?

My current hypothesis is that taking people from a culture that historically did a lot of ocean fishing and hunting and foraging in forests and sending them to the middle of a vast plains a thousand miles from any ocean really messes with people's foodways.
posted by Zalzidrax at 12:34 PM on February 26

aww geez, I had Minnesota sushi described to me once and what I am learning here is that I pictured it all wrong because I thought they were being cute about stuffed pickles.
posted by seraphine at 12:35 PM on February 26

Oh man, sauerkraut balls are the best thing ever. EVAR. They are A Thing here in Akron. Most bars and restaurants around here have their own version, and we can buy them frozen at the local Acme. My sister and I have talked about doing a sauerkraut ball party, where everyone brings a dozen of their favorite. Maybe I should take up the mantle on that FPP?

But back on topic, my wife grew up in northern central Iowa, and yeah, I was just eating some of these while were we out there for Christmas. Calling them sushi makes me want to dip one in tempura batter and deep fry the fucker.
posted by slogger at 1:07 PM on February 26 [3 favorites]

Would love to read a FPP about sauerkraut balls. Back when I lived in Columbus, many moons ago, I ate a few myself.
posted by cupcakeninja at 1:15 PM on February 26 [2 favorites]

I'm a big fan of these pickle roll up things in most of their varieties. Growing up in MN they were a staple at gatherings and parties. I learned how local they were when we served them to people at Fort Riley, Kansas. People from all over the place all thought we were weird.

It was only a few years ago that I first heard them called Minnesota Sushi by my sister-in-law who is from Virginia by way of Idaho but claims we're wrong and they're definitely called MN Sushi. Call them what you want, just make extra for me.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 1:26 PM on February 26

If you look at census maps from earlier in the 20th century, it's very clear that the upper midwest is thinly settled with few big cities (even now, seriously, Omaha-Iowa City-Minneapolis really isn't the same as Sacramento-San Francisco-San Jose). And at that same time, both coasts have big cities, much much bigger than the MPLS metro area of the time, all up and down the water. Even the Chicago metro area is huge compared to us, and of course when you're on the Great Lakes there's easy industrial shipping from the coast.

I'm fine agreeing to disagree, and this is something that would be fun to discuss over coffee or beer, but you are both overstating west coast urbanization and understating the much earlier and denser development of both cities and transportation networks throughout the midwest. The difference is more pronounced the further back in time you look. (Like, even today, there are only five or arguably six conurbations on the entire west coast between Canada and Mexico.)

Equally, the eastern seaboard is going to show much higher densities and networks throughout the history of settlement. It's been a consistent pattern from the beginning.

Having said all that, I'd be down for trying Minnesota sushi any time, though I agree with the comment that subbing in a cornichon sounds tasty.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:47 PM on February 26

OK, I'm glad I have resolution on this.

When "St Louis Sushi" popped up in an episode of Somebody Somewhere, as a person who grew up in St Louis Missouri, I wondered how my town was getting pinned for this. Now I understand; it was that other St Louis.
posted by neuracnu at 1:52 PM on February 26

Oh my god that “St Louis Sushi” scene from Somebody Somewhere (one of my favourite shows ever) is exactly what popped into my head when I read the post title. Yeesh. That scene is not for the faint hearted!

(Minnesota sushi is totally fine. I ate it at many a childhood potluck in Western Canada, since Minnesota is the Western Canada of America.)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:47 PM on February 26 [2 favorites]

New Zealand's offering is Southland sushi.
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 6:44 PM on February 26

Replace the pickle with a green onion, make the slices about an inch long and stick a toothpick in each one and you have a ham roll-up. A staple at the Michigan holidays I've attended, which are numerous.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:31 PM on February 26

>Pittsburgh

There may be several Pittsburgs in the Midwest, but the only Pittsburgh with an H at the end is the one in Pennsylvania. We are Mid-Atlantic or Appalachian, not Midwestern.
posted by Easy problem of consciousness at 7:13 AM on February 27

i think this article is the first time i've ever heard these referred to as 'minnesota sushi'--the rest of the article has terms i'm more familiar with, like roll-ups or pinwheels.

but it's interesting how the meaning of the word has basically got transferred to a different item when it was borrowed into english; "sushi" refers to the vinegared rice, not the rolls that seem to be synonymous now here
posted by i used to be someone else at 9:29 AM on February 27