Periodically, I like to write a fun article for our readers. The following are four of the best Pennsylvania foods, according to Taste Atlas. I highlighted the town they are famous from and a small amount of what was said about each dish. There are 44 dishes listed in the article at tasteatlas.com/best-rated-dishes-in-pennsylvania.

Sticky buns or cinnamon buns are a classic Philadelphia staple that evolved from German snail pastry (shnecken). The pastry was brought to Philadelphia by English and German immigrants in the 18th century.

The sticky buns are made with a combination of milk, yeast, flour, salt, sugar, eggs, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts. The dough has to rise twice, and the process is labor intensive. If properly prepared, the result is a brioche-like cinnamon roll that’s slightly crispy on the exterior and tender on the inside. There should be enough sugar, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts between the dough layers.

Before baking, these buns are covered with a mixture of brown sugar and butter, giving them their sticky nomenclature. The sticky buns are served warm, ideally with a cup of coffee on the side.

Originally brought to the Pennsylvania region by immigrants from eastern Europe, pierogies have become a unique staple dish, both in the city of Pittsburgh and all over western Pennsylvania. Pierogies are soft, semicircular dumplings that are traditionally filled with potatoes or cheese, but the number of fillings is virtually countless and limited only by imagination.

In Poland, pierogies have been made since the 13th century, and they had been brought to the United States during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, when Pittsburgh experienced a population boom during the Great Migration. As pierogies are inexpensive and portable, they were a common meal in the lunch boxes of numerous mill workers during the Industrial Age.

Today, the dish is served both in upscale restaurants and in the kitchens of Polish descendants throughout the region. Their popularity even gave birth to the Great Pierogie Race (a mascot race of six contestants in giant pierogi costumes) during the baseball game of the local sports team called the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Roast pork sandwiches are a staple of numerous sandwich shops throughout Philadelphia. The bread roll is typically topped with sesame seeds and loaded with a generous spoonful of pork juices. It is then stuffed with either sliced pork roast, roast pork chunks or pulled pork, along with broccoli rabe or spinach and melted cheese such as provolone. The condiments are optional, and every customer can choose some of them according to personal preferences.

These succulent sandwiches are popular in Philadelphia due to their simplicity and nice balance of flavors.

The Philadelphia-area icon known as Philly cheesesteak is an extremely popular sandwich consisting of thinly sliced pieces of steak and tender, melting cheese in a long and crusty hoagie roll. It was invented in the 1930s in what is now called Pat’s King of Steaks.

Pat’s started as a regular hot dog stand in south Philadelphia, and one day Pat had decided to make himself a sandwich consisting of thinly sliced rib-eye steak and cooked onions placed into an Italian roll. When a hungry cab driver stopped by and smelled the beef, he forgot about the hot dogs, and the Philly steak sandwich was born. Originally, the sandwich was made without cheese, which only started to be added during the 1960s.

Some claim that the cheese (ideally, Cheez Whiz or provolone) was added by Pat’s friendly rival Joey Vento, the owner of Geno’s Steaks, located across the street from Pat’s. Today, it is one of the most popular fast foods in Philadelphia, ready to satiate even the hungriest customers, with additional toppings such as sautéed mushrooms, ketchup and hot or sweet peppers.