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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
MAINE | ICONIC FLAVORS
GETTY IMAGES
Maine Ingredients Authentic flavors you should try on your next visit By Allison Tibaldi
L
OBSTER IS A MAINE culinary
hallmark, but there’s a windfall of flavors to explore when you visit New England’s easternmost state. An abundance of high-integrity ingredients from fertile farms and salty seas emphasize primary materials rather than elaborate technique. Life in Maine moves at a pace set by wind,
weather and tides, as it has for centuries. This throwback quality is evident on the plate, so expect simple, authentic foods that recall yesteryear. Although Portland is the current gastronomic darling, look on a map for remote wisps of land stretching into the Atlantic. Venture down one and find tastes that USA TODAY’s 10Best suggests to satisfy your every craving.
WILD BLUEBERRIES Unlike their cultivated cousins, wild blueberries are not pumped with water, giving them more concentrated flavor. The bountiful summer season usually starts in July and lasts for a few weeks, when dozens of roadside stands pepper the landscape. These luscious lavender-blue beauties are the star of many a cobbler, pie, crumble, buckle and jam jar.
