Forget corn: tourists wanting to try something authentically Indiana can choose from foods including pork tenderloin, gummy bears and sugar cream pie.
A group of Ball State University Business Fellows began working last semester with Indiana Foodways Alliance, a non-profit group that promotes culinary tourism around the state.
Susan Haller, executive director of Indiana Foodways Alliance, said the I-69 Cultural Corridor Association approached her after it conducted a feasibility study.
She said the study intended to figure out the best way to lure people off of the interstate to explore towns in Northeast Indiana.
The association and Haller decided culinary tourism, which promotes local restaurants and manufacturers, would attract the most visitors, she said.
"I think it's one of those things where the time is exactly right," Haller said, referring to the Business Fellows' involvement with the alliance.
"When I moved here four years ago, there were not many chefs' school programs, there was not a lot of interest in the 'buy local, buy fresh' movement," she said. "I think those things have become national trends, and we're very well-placed to help a lot of businesses in Indiana to capture that market."
Faculty mentor Sheryl Swingley said teams of students had built a Web site, created newsletters and produced maps of culinary trails, or listings of eateries and businesses selling certain items.
Students also helped the alliance establish a marketing theme; the Web site background and newsletter Relish use a red and white checked pattern, reminiscent of an old-fashioned tablecloth.
Swingley said Indiana Foodways Alliance used the largest number of students of any Business Fellows project this year.
Nineteen students encompassing 12 majors in five colleges have worked with the alliance, she said.
Haller said the alliance had a number of different focuses, including food history, tourism and media.
"We actually have been able to involve quite a few disciplines," she said.
According to the Indiana Foodways Alliance Web site, attractions in Delaware County include Concannon's Pastry Shop, Burkie's Drive Inn and Eva's Pancake House, among others.
Haller said the mission of the alliance is to identify, preserve and promote food lore and the traditional food ways of Indiana; the Web site will list culinary tourism sites for counties throughout the state by the end of summer.
She said the alliance had discovered sugar cream pie, which is made with cream, eggs, sugar and sometimes nutmeg, was an iconic Indiana food.
"You don't find it too many places outside of Indiana," Haller said. "There are lots of recipes, but they all require incredibly fresh ingredients. It's a farm recipe that came to us early in our statehood from German or Quaker immigration."
Haller said the alliance would work to promote the name "Hoosier Pie" for the dish, as well as to make it the state's official pie.
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