What is chislic? Why cubes of meat became a South Dakota food favorite
Makenzie Huber
This article is about one of 18 South Dakota food favorites. For the complete list, go here.
Chislic: Salted cubes of meat — ranging from mutton to beef to venison to goat — deep fat fried or grilled; served skewered or on toothpicks with a side of crackers or dipping sauces.
South Dakota stands at the epicenter of the chislic revolution.
Freeman, a town with just over 1,200 people, is credited as the chislic capital of America after German-Russian immigrants settled in the southeastern part of South Dakota and brought the food with them.
Chislic's influence is spreading from Freeman to the rest of South Dakota and surrounding states. It's been christened South Dakota's state nosh and the annual chislic festival in Freeman is drawing huge crowds.
The town was only estimating about 2,000 people for the festival last year, but they ended up with 8,000 to 10,000 people vying for the cubes of meat, said Marnette Hofer, director of Heritage Hall Museum and Archives in Freeman
"It's where it all began," Hofer said. "Then it began rippling further and further out until you have this chislic festival. Now, you find it all over Sioux Falls. The circle keeps widening. Most West River folks still don't know what it is, but ever since this whole state nosh business, they're figuring it out."
John Hoellwarth, a German Russian from the Crimea region, brought the dish with him when he immigrated to Hutchinson County in the 1870s, according to historical records. It's unclear why Hoellwarth and not the hundreds of other German Russian immigrants is credited with bringing chislic to South Dakota.
More:Chislic: A history of South Dakota's iconic dish
Chislic likely derives from the Turkic word shashlyk or shashlik. When the dish arrived in the United States, the name was most likely anglicized to chislic, as were many foreign surnames.
According to Hofer, it was common for Russians to treat the food as a social event and go "shashliking" together — gathering wood and grilling the skewered meat.
That social element is still present in chislic, Hofer said. Whenever she gets together with her family or friends, they'll eat chislic.
"When immigrants brought the food to South Dakota, we didn't have access to trees like they did in Russia. They were in a treeless prairie," Hofer said. "Instead of grilling meats, we cooked it in lard and oil. We had to adapt, but I think it still remains a social thing."
It wasn't until the 1930s that chislic began to gain regional fame. Now, it's made the state stage.
More:Who makes the best chislic in Sioux Falls? This man is on a quest to find out.
State Sen. Stace Nelson led the charge to establish chislic as the state nosh during the 2018 legislative session. He said it deserved the honor because it "tips the hat to South Dakota's unique culture."
"I've traveled all over the United States and the world. There's different types of dishes throughout the world that are similar, but because of the way it's prepared and its name, it's distinctly South Dakotan," Nelson said. "It's just another one of those unique South Dakota-isms we all get to celebrate."