This Should Be Alabama's Official Food, According To Reddit
Just as every state across the U.S. has a state bird, a state flower, and even state quarters, each state also has its own signature food (via State Symbols USA). Yet, the actual foods that officially represent states tend to be far from what it should really be, according to Redditors. And Alabama is definitely one such state. However, you might have trouble choosing between the three options that Alabama deems official foods.
According to The Daily Meal, Alabama has declared pecans as the state nut, peaches as the official tree fruit, and blackberries as the official berry of the state. But none of those items actually show up in the dish that Redditors believe should be Alabama's official food. Instead, the dish that locals think is most representative of the southern state is actually something of a full meal. Based on the Reddit thread's comments, most people think that smoked chicken with white sauce should be Alabama's true state food (via Food & Wine).
This is what the dish entails
According to Meat Wave, making Alabama-style smoked chicken with white sauce means it starts out by brining a whole chicken in an apple juice- and molasses-based brine to give the meat a hint of sweetness. The chicken then gets a barbecue rub that's packed with zingy spices, too. The whole chicken is then lightly smoked as it cooks on a grill while it gets slathered in white barbecue sauce made with mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and pepper, among other ingredients. This recipe is definitely not your typical roasted chicken or a usual barbecue recipe, either.
Fortunately, if you don't want to go through the trouble of recreating that entire dish to get a taste of Alabama, there was a runner-up food that is far more accessible. According to Food & Wine, the runner-up official food of Alabama should be MoonPies. Even though MoonPie hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Alabama locals must eat enough of them to want to make them the state food.