When most people think of Memorial Day they think of long weekends, remembering those who fought for our country and the beginning of summer. While those things are also on my mind, to me Memorial Day equals hotdish.

 

Hotdish is what the rest of the country calls casserole, and here in Minnesota it’s a staple on the supper table. Most consist of a protein, usually hamburger, chicken or tuna, a vegetable, often canned, a starch, typically macaroni but rice is also common, a sauce, usually cream of something soup, and a topping, such as cheese, tator tots, French fried onions or crushed potato chips.

 

Like a casserole, a hotdish can be created with basically anything, and is a classic comfort food. Some people think they’re just leftovers covered under a layer of cheese or mixed with canned soup, but there are actually endless varieties; the hotdish universe is quite wide and diverse.

 

Like most Minnesotans I grew up with hotdish, from tomato, hamburger and elbow macaroni to tuna, canned soup and egg noodles. When I moved out of my parent’s home they were one of the first foods I learned how to make. 

 

My kids grew up with hotdish. When our daughter comes home from college she asks for tator tot hotdish. Another daughter lists tuna hotdish as one of her favorite foods.

 

The summer after I graduated high school I worked in Colorado for a couple months. After a few weeks of eating out I was longing for a home-cooked meal.

 

One morning I was complaining of the lack of home cooking to my co-workers, who were all from Colorado, and told them I just wanted a good old hotdish. They had no idea what I meant.

 

I tried explaining what a hotdish was, finally telling them, “You know, like a casserole.” Bingo. They figured out what I was talking about. They’d never heard the term before.

 

Although the rest of the country may not know what they are, hotdishes are popular throughout the Midwest, from the dinner table to various church and community gatherings. You’ll find recipes for them in every Minnesota church cookbook ever printed, in fact the first recorded recipe for one was in the 1930 Grace Lutheran Church Ladies Aid Cookbook from Mankato. It called for hamburger, elbow macaroni and canned peas.

 

Hotdish started on the path to becoming an icon in the 1930s when farmwives were looking for simple, cost-effectives ways to feed their families. Campbell’s debuted its condensed cream soups during the same time period, and cream of mushroom soup became the quintessential hotdish sauce.

 

There are songs, books and documentaries written about hotdish. You can eat hotdish on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair. 

 

Hotdish is even popular at the government level, with the Minnesota congressional delegation holding an annual hotdish-making competition before the start of the legislative session.

 

Hotdish is easy to make, easy to clean up, and easy to transport. That last goes back to why Memorial Day reminds me of hotdish. In my hometown of Wendell, after the outdoor Memorial Day portion of the service with the reading of veterans’ names, 21-gun salute and playing of Taps, everyone troops back to the fire hall and shares in a big potluck lunch.

 

The most common food brought to the Memorial Day potluck? Hotdish, of course. The counters are crammed with nearly every variety known to man. It’s a hotdish lover’s paradise.

 

To many people hotdish brings a sense of nostalgia. It’s homey and full of memories. It’s family meals together each night, it’s visiting grandma and grandpa, and it’s dinners in the church basement.

 

It’s hot. It’s in a dish. It’s delicious.