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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Dakota do Sul
Cubes of meat — traditionally lamb or mutton — fried or grilled, seasoned with salt or garlic salt and served on skewers with saltine crackers. Brought by German-Russian immigrants in the 19th century, it has been South Dakota’s official nosh since 2018.
Traditional dish from Dakota do Sul
Also known as: chislick
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Chislic — Dakota do Sul, the United States
Chislic is South Dakota’s snack: small cubes of red meat, traditionally lamb or mutton and today also beef or venison, fried in oil or grilled on a skewer. They come out browned on the outside, seasoned with salt, garlic salt, or another house seasoning, and are served skewered on toothpicks with saltine crackers on the side.
The dish arrived in the southeastern part of the state with the German-Russian immigrants, settlers of German origin who had lived for generations near the Black Sea and emigrated to the American plains beginning in the 1870s. Local records attribute the introduction of chislic to John Hoellwarth, an immigrant from Crimea who settled in Hutchinson County. The name likely comes from shashlik, a Turkic word for meat skewers used in Russia.
The area around the town of Freeman in the southeast is called the chislic circle, and Freeman has held a festival dedicated to the dish since 2018. That year, the South Dakota Legislature passed the law that made chislic the state’s official nosh — a word there meaning snack. The state’s official tourism office says no dish is so closely associated with South Dakota. Chislic appears in bars, roadside restaurants, and celebrations across the state.
Dakota do Sul
A snack of the German-Russian community in southeastern South Dakota; the state’s official nosh since 2018.
Cubes of lamb, mutton, beef, or venison; oil for frying or charcoal for grilling; salt, garlic salt, or house seasoning; saltine crackers.
Skewered on toothpicks as a snack, served with saltine crackers; sometimes served with a sauce on the side.
Year-round, in bars and at gatherings; the Freeman festival takes place in summer.
Your questions
It is a South Dakota snack: cubes of meat, traditionally lamb or mutton, fried or grilled, seasoned with salt or garlic salt and served skewered with saltine crackers.
The dish arrived in southeastern South Dakota in the 1870s with German immigrants from Russia. The name likely comes from shashlik, a meat skewer.
'Nosh' means snack. In 2018, the state Legislature declared chislic the official snack of South Dakota.
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