The Midwest: As with other regions of the United States, the Midwest’s culinary history begins with Native Americans and their subsequent contact with Old World immigrants. Out on the central plains, Native Americans hunted bison and harvested sunflower seeds. Along the shores of Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes, they gathered wild rice (not really rice at all). In the Midwest, French trappers and fur traders traversed the river ways, fishing and hunting game. Early immigrants learned to plant corn, hunt local game and forage for wild rice. Even today, hunting and fishing remain popular pursuits for Midwestern sportsmen and women. Common on the menu here is roast pheasant, baked parmesan perch and stuffed boneless quail with wild rice and sage.
The Southwest: It’s a parched place, but with the spicy foods get your juices flowing. Under the umbrella of Southwestern regional cuisine Mexican, Spanish and Native American heritage finds shelter. Tex-Mex (beef fajitas), Sonoran-style (the chimichanga), Cal-Mex (fish tacos) and New Mexican-style (green chile stew and rellenos casserole prove the sun isn’t the only thing giving off heat here.
More than 200 varieties of chiles add fire to Southwestern food. Chiles come fresh or dried. Often they are roasted or smoked, and sometimes packed in adobo sauce. Chiles can be mild, like the Anaheim; medium, like the dark green poblano (perfect for rellenos); or super-hot, like the habanero.
The Northwest: The best chefs in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States — principally the states of Washington and Oregon — stress the use of fresh local ingredients. Vegetables, fruits and berries from the region’s vast agricultural areas, its great wealth of distinctive seafood, and its vital wines, all play a part in the cuisine.
The region is also an active part of the food culture of the Pacific Rim and looks to Asia for many culinary influences.  Salmon is the ingredient that comes to mind most readily, and with good reason; the several varieties of local salmon are relatively easy to prepare and have good reputations as healthy protein sources. Many restaurants plank roast salmon in the tradition of several of the coastal Native American tribes of the region.
– written by Carol Lynn Jackson