Seeking comfort in food has been the modus operandi for humankind for centuries, and 2020 is a great example of that. What are the foods that we devoured this past year to make ourselves feel better about the world order? Apparently, most Americans migrated towards grilled cheese—at least according to a new set of data released by e-conoglight.
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The lighting company set out to find out "which dishes give the most people joy by looking at the most popular recipes" around. To do so, the team first selected 100 foods that people usually classify as "comfort food" and then used Google Trends to figure out which selections were the most popular across each state based on 2020 search volume.
The results speak clearly: grilled cheese reigns supreme, the top pick across six states in total (California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia). Fried chicken comes in second place, chosen by the likes of Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Chicken and waffles, chili and pot roast tied at number three, followed by baked potato soup, chicken and dumplings, chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes, strawberry shortcake and stuffing at number four.
Some unconventional recipes also made the list, including the Swedish pancakes that seem to be Washington's predilection, but what really surprised us is that jambalaya made the top of the ranking in Mississippi... but not in Louisiana.
Below, check out a state-by-state breakdown. Fair warning, though: you might get very hungry.
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