The New York Times has a fascinating info animation (and a related story) that shows the variations in food preferences at Thanksgiving around the county. I have recently thought that America was getting more and more homogenized in our food preferences, but perhaps this is not the case.

From the article:

The fact that cooks in the Southeast rarely look up crust recipes could mean that they are not interested in pies or that they bake so many that no one needs to be told how to do it. And what of all the searches for “cheese ball” in the Midwest? Do people in Indiana just forget how to make it each year, or are cheese balls winning new converts?

We may never know why cooks in North Carolina show more interest in sweet potatoes, their most-queried side dish, than people in any other state. Or why a broccoli casserole belt extends through Appalachia and ends in Florida.