Stuffing: A Thanksgiving side dish staple through and through, spanning generations, states, and tables across the United States.
But what about dressing? More specifically -- "sage dressing?" Apparently, the dish may show up at your Illinois Thanksgiving table this year, according to a map released Wednesday from Google Trends.
According to Google, the map marks out some of the most "uniquely" searched stuffings by state. In Washington, that's "stuffing with apples," in Kentucky, it's "soul food stuffing," in North Dakota, it's "keto cauliflower stuffing," and in Vermont -- and Illinois -- it's "sage dressing."
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Yes, dressing. Sage dressing.
According to Dictionary.com, "stuffing and dressing are commonly used as different names for the same thing — a dish consisting of bits of bread." But still, they aren't quite interchangeable.
"When it’s cooked separately, some people insist that it should be called dressing instead of stuffing," the entry reads. "Still others insist on one of these names regardless of how it’s been made — a preference that varies by region."
However, it's unclear which region both the Midwestern and Northeastern states fall into.
According to the map, several other states also refer to "stuffing" as "dressing" -- including "cornmeal dressing" in Minnesota, "cornbread dressing" in Oregon, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, and "French dressing" in Rhode Island.
One Serious Eats recipe, with 27 reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars, waltzes into the age old debate through a "Classic Sage and Sausage Stuffing (Dressing) Recipe."
"I'm not going to come down on either side of the whole stuffing-versus-dressing debate, except to say that three reputable sources give three different answers," the post reads, before it cites The Oxford English Dictionary, The Joy of Cooking and The Food Lover's Companion -- all of which, in fact, offer different definitions of the two.
Alternatively, one "Sage Dressing" recipe from The Food Network fends off all debate with a pointy celery stick, displaying only the recipe and ingredients for the dish, which includes dense, country white bread, leeks, eggs, and, of course, sage, two ways -- dry and fresh.
So, which is it? Dressing, or stuffing?
At the end of the day, on Thanksgiving, it's all gravy.
