Friends, Cassis has inspired me. Yes, though his name may sound foreign, his ideals were true. They were American, and to not highlight the delicacies of the food itself would do injustice to the effect it inspires in its consumer.  Since the beginning of time, our need for sustenance has governed and dictated the course of human civilization.  Tribes would track migrating herds, cities were built to allow agriculture, even wars have been fought to emphasize what Thomas Malthus described as the one inexorable truth of governing philosophy: people must eat. In such a spirit do I begin a new chapter in chicken and rice, my life, and the history of mankind.

When George Mallory was asked why he strove to climb Mount Everest, he uttered, “Because it is there.” Four simple words, which symbolize the determination, the strength of resolve of humanity to reach beyond the accepted boundaries of understanding and possibility just to see if it can.  As such, I pose a similar challenge to myself. I will visit every state in the United States of America.  I will do so, and sample what each state considers to be its most delicious meal–the product of millenia of human struggle, of a delicious fusion of cultures of melting pot America.   I will savor the soul of its greatness, its reason for existence, and I will document my travels as they occur.  Why go to such lengths? Why indeed.