Keller @ Large: How Food Defines Us

BOSTON (CBS) - We had some fun Thursday night on the 11 o'clock news with Republican presidential candidate John Kasich and his close encounter with a slice of pizza in New York City the other day.

Kasich took some brisk ribbing for eating it with a knife and fork (which is considered a minor faux pas in some New York circles) saying later that his campaign will work hard to "overcome" that image, and I think he's going to be OK.

But the episode got me thinking about how important food is in defining who we are, and in helping us define others.

For instance, I found a web site that lists the most disproportionately popular food in every state.

In Maine, of course, it's lobster.

We're not as hardy in Massachusetts. We prefer lobster rolls, where someone else does the work.

Guess what the most uniquely popular food in New York state is? Something called avocado toast.

Think that's weird? In New Jersey it's pork roll. In Tennessee, banana pudding.

And in Wyoming, of course, it's elk.

Does that taste anything like chicken?

I'm not sure what all that means, but it's fascinating.

And it's one of the great things about New England that you can have a frappe, then drive just a few minutes away and the same drink is a cabinet, which you can use to wash down the clam cakes you can't get back home.

That concludes this commentary. I now have to work out for 45 minutes to burn the calories I just mentally consumed.

Listen to Jon's commentary: