A national study on takeout said the most popular to-go item in Rhode Island is (wait for it) Buffalo cauliflower.

I found that news nugget in my email, and I just couldn’t believe it.

Without having a newsroom of colleagues to turn to and say “What?” I did the next best thing. I tweeted out the news on social media.

And the darnedest conversation ensued, with people telling me about their favorite restaurant versions of Buffalo or other spicy cauliflower in R.I.

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So many people said Rasoi restaurant in Pawtucket has the best spicy cauliflower appetizer. Cauliflower 65 is sweet, spicy and golden fried, says the menu. It’s also on the menu at owner Sanjiv Dhar’s other restaurants including RASA in East Greenwich and Kabob & Curry in Providence.

I also heard how good Buffalo cauliflower is at the Tavern in the Square in Cranston, Back 40 in North Kingstown, Black Oak in Coventry, Blue Water Bar & Grille in Barrington, Eli’s Kitchen in Warren, and The Grange in Providence. Chef Christopher Champagne weighed to say how popular it was at his 84 Aleworks Brewing & Tavern in Westerly.

It wasn’t what I expected.

I thought people would say, what about pizza?

Isn’t that the most popular takeout just about everywhere? Especially in R.I., where we run the gamut from pizza strips to Sicilian pan pizza to thin New York- style pies.

Only one of the 50 states put pizza at the top of the takeout list, in Connecticut.

I asked about the methodology and was able to review the raw data from simplethriftyliving.com. It’s a San Francisco-based site that writes about “the best ways to save money when shopping, traveling, or doing any of your everyday tasks.”

The idea for their survey was part of a larger story prompted by all the takeout and delivery going on during the coronavirus crisis.

To determine the most beloved types of takeout food by state, they used Google Trends and searched over the past 30 days, using keywords of specific dishes and general takeout types that were included in both GrubHub and Doordash’s 2019 “Year in Food Delivery" reports.

They used 29 dishe,s ranging from detox drinks to baklava to search and determine the most searches.

In Rhode Island there were 81 hits for Buffalo cauliflower to be awarded the winner. But the next highest was 67 for Chicken Parmesan, 59 for Chicken Tikka Masala, 57 for burrito bowls, 46 for baklava and 44 for bacon cheeseburger.

They didn’t search for pizza, but for “make your own pizza.”

Seriously?

I feel vindicated for asking the question.

I also feel happy to know about all these spicy cauliflower dishes.

I’m also amused that my tweet inspired chef Nick Rabar at The Pantry at Avenue N in Rumford, from which they are serving takeout during the shutdown. He said he jumped on the bandwagon to offer a beautiful cauliflower dish, “lightly battered and tossed in North Carolina BBQ Sauce served with Cheesy Grits and topped with Crushed Potato Chips.”

That does sound good -- just like a hot cheese pizza.

And if you want some interesting reading, check out the tips on saving money on takeout, and read about each state’s fave dishes at simplethriftyliving.com/takeout-food-costs/

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On Twitter: @gailciampa