For such a small state, Rhode Island packs a lot in, particularly on the local-foods front. Coffee milk? New York system wieners? Stuffies? The quirky names belie the serious food heritage found in Rhode Island, where the major culinary influences come via the Portuguese and Italian who settled there, the Native Americans who preceded them, and of course, the bountiful coast—this is the Ocean State, after all.
Some of the state’s traditional eats are shared with the rest of New England, but most of them are Rhody through and through, and actually pretty hard to find elsewhere. Time to take advantage!