Regional things...let's share...

[caledesi]

Growing up in New England (Newport, RI). we had a lot of "regional" expressions for food. How about you?

Grinders - also know as hoagies, torpedoes, subs in other states. But, in RI, grinders were what we called them.

Frappes - We were accustomed to going to something called a "creamery" and there you could get a "frappé." Kinda like a milkshake, but w/ ice ice cream.

Johny Cakes - These were "pancakes" that were made from cornmeal. Usually served at finer restaurants as an appetizer.

Coffee Milk - Forget chocolate milk....we LOVED coffee milk, usually made w/ "Eclipse" coffee syrup.

And oh, if you ordered a "regular coffee" it consisted on hot coffee, milk and sugar. That was a "regular." EVERYONE knew what a regular coffee was.

What was a "regional" food in your area?

[Bok_Tukalo]

1. Southeast Oklahoma - All sodas were cokes.

"Want a coke?"

"Sure."

"What kind?"

"Dr Pepper."

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. That extends down here too.

I think it's a central southwest thing.

[Bok_Tukalo]

6. I hadn't noticed it as much since I moved to Texas

"Soda" is what I hear a lot.

[fudge stripe cookays]

13. pssst!

Those are the northern transplants you been talking to! ;-)

Seriously, everybody I know (even my DH, who is Canadian and has always said "pop"), says Coke, then explains what kind. I've been here for 34 years.

[Bok_Tukalo]

14. Must be the transplants.

Now that I think about it, my best friend is from Brooklyn.

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. Well there ya go!

I was right!

[Dervill Crow]

16. North Carolina, too.

Wow, that brings back a memory. When my mom's brothers and their wives were visiting Oregon we took them out sightseeing, and at Multnomah Falls my Uncle Rickey sat on a bench eating sardines from a can he had in his pocket while my Uncle George tried to explain to the gal at the snack stand that he wanted a "cocola," which meant Coca Cola, which really meant RC or Dr. Pepper or something other than Coca Cola. Uncle Rickey ate that whole can of sardines before the language barrier was broken and Uncle George got his pop.

[yellowdogintexas]

18. it is a totally Southen thing..

orange co'cola

heard that many a time

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Amy's Ice Cream!

Homemade and QUITE scrumptious! (Austin)

Barbeque, of course.

Amazing chili. The Chilympiad is a big deal every year.

Killer Mexican restaurants. Chuy's is decadently fattening-- covered in cheese and sour cream. Their enchiladas verdes are enough calories to keep me going for 6 months or so. But DAMN are they good!

[GOPisEvil]

4. Oh God...Amy's Ice Cream is to die for!

:9:9:9

[fudge stripe cookays]

11. I miss my Grasshopper...

and my Sweet Cream! I'm dying for some RIGHT NOW.

:9

[GOPisEvil]

12. I was at Waterloo today...and I thought about it...

But I resisted the siren's song! Too f'in cold today.

[steely]

5. This one's easy...

around Philly we have...
Hoagies - akin to your grinder - but "down the shore" in AC, grinders were long sandwiches that were heated in the pizza oven.

Steak sammiches - chopped thin sliced steak meat grill fried with fried onions and topped with melted cheese.

Scrapple - some kind of meat mush, purchased in a brick (my word) (habersetts brand), sliced and fried - some people say you don't want to know what it's made of.

Soft Pretzels, sold on the corner for over 40 years.

Ice cream - we use jimmies, not sprinkles - even tho they're the same thing.

[Bok_Tukalo]

7. Scrapple? Sounds like solidified potted meat.

<eom>

[Reverend_Smitty]

20. Can't forget Tastykakes!!!

We have all of those good things growing up in Jersey plus pork roll on a kaiser...quite possibly the best food to eat after a night of drinking.

[driver8]

39. A friend of mine from Philly went to North Carolina on vacation...

...he was a teenager and was there with his family. He told me that one day he is walking down the beach and he sees a sub shop. He goes in and the conversation goes something like this:

friend: "Hey, how's it goin'? I'd like a cheese steak.."

sub shop guy: " A what??"

friend: "A cheese steak."

sub shop guy: "Uhm, I don't think we have that. What is it?"

friend: "A cheese steak!! You take some steak, cut it thin, some fried onions, some cheese...a cheese steak."

sub shop guy: "I never heard of a cheese steak."

friend: "You mean to tell me, that you work at a sub shop and you never heard of a cheese steak? What kind of sub shop is this? You never heard of a cheese steak? "

sub shop guy: "No, I haven't."

My friend then leaves the sub shop muttering under his breath about how effed up North Carolina is that they never heard of a effin' cheese steak.

I don't know why, but this story kills me everytime my friend tells it. Maybe it is his Philly accent that does it, I don't know.

[xmas74]

8. KC BBQ

from Arthur Bryants or Gates. Pork burgers, goober burgers, freezer slaw.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

9. Florida Keys...

key lime pie, gator bites, conch (pronounced conk), dolphin (the fish, not Flipper), plantain chips with a Cuban (not a person, a sandwich), stone crabs, spanish limes (like leechee nuts), fish and grits (or grunts and grits) for breakfast, mangoes, rum runners.

[RagingInMiami]

40. Yes, all that goes for Miami as well. Great food.

Dolphin is known as Mahi Mahi to the rest of the US.

[loudestchick]

10. Does everybody have burnt ends? or corn dogs? or funnel cakes?

Dixon's chili? It has no beans, no tomatoes, and hardly any spice cause you add what you want.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. funnel cakes are a staple at every festival, street fest or

fair around here. They were a staple in southern Indiana too.

corndogs are an official Texas state fair food.

What are burnt ends, though?

[loudestchick]

25. Barbeque term--describes the small end of a beef brisket that may become

a bit "burnt" during the cooking. They're served either, chopped w/ sauce and trimmed fat on a bun OR cut into chunks and served in sauce w/ a side of bread. YUM!

[loudestchick]

26. sorry, dupe!

[Dervill Crow]

17. Mo's clam chowder.

[phusion]

19. Red? Green? Christmas?

Green and red chiles are big here in New Mexico...

Texas has their CHILI, w/ meat and sauce or whatever. But we have CHILE, which is a pepper that is grown in southern NM. Every year around Sept/Oct the chile roasters come out and you can buy a large fresh roasted bag for about $20. The roasting smells heavenly.

So, in restaurants, people ask if you want green or red chile on your plate...Or a mix -- Christmas.

You can get green chile on anything from McD's burgers to pizza hut pizza here...All locally grown.

And "cokes" are sodas around here, too.

Oh, and "poppers" which are cheese-stuffed jalapenos that are deep-fried and breaded. These have kind of taken off around the country I think, but man they are delicious. Yum...

[yellowdogintexas]

22. Hatch chiles!! I love September at Central market, because

they sell the roasted chiles bagged, and the fresh chiles too. Plus they put the chiles in damn near everything: chile cheese scones,, hatch chile hamburgers, and buns! Hatch chile pesto sauce, hatch chile sausages fresh made in the butcher shop.

I usually put a couple of pounds in my freezer every fall, bagged up in the right amount for a good batch of chile verde so I can have it whenever I get the craving. I use them in other things from time to time but the main reason I get them is to make chile verde.

I love poppers too.

[phusion]

24. Sweet...

We've made it a family tradition to peel, bag and freeze fresh chile every year. Good memories...

[fnottr]

37. of course you can't forget the dishes themselves...

Fajitas, tostadas, rellenos, posole, menudo, chimichangas, carne adovada, and the list goes on and on.

And I bet some of you here thought all we eat are tacos and burritos....and, well, we eat those too:D

[RagingInMiami]

38. I love new mexican food

I spent 18 months there and at first, I use to always say red because I was told it was spicier. But after a few months, I tasted the green chile and I realized it was much better tasting.
I still buy canned green chiles to make quesadillas and burritos.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. regional differences in barbecue just amaze me: In Kentucky,

Tennessee, and the Carolinas, barbecue is pork, slow cooked over aromatic smoke, with a thin hot and vinegary sauce, and the meat is pulled apart. If chicken is also being prepared, it is barbecued chicken by name.

in Connecticut, barbecue is cooking out on the grill.

In Texas, it is beef brisket, ribs (pork or beef), and sausage (sometimes chicken)

In Evansville,IN and Owensboro KY, they will barbecue anything that moves, and the sauce is thicker and tomatoey.

What about other areas, how is the barbecue done? What are the predominant meats? Types of sauce?

[ChaoticSilly]

28. Memphis & Mississippi delta barbeque

It's always pork shoulder or pork ribs either grilled or smoked, but always dry and pulled apart (ribs are seasoned with dry spices & sauce added right before taking off the grill). The sauce is tomatoes, vinegar, spices & sometimes molasses or brown sugar and added after cooking. And, yes, we put coleslaw on our bbq sandwiches! Potato salad is optional, but baked beans cooked with some of the sauce & meat are a must.

I remember ordering a bbq sandwich when I was travelling in East TN and was horrifed when it came with the meat cooked in the sauce and served with lettuce, tomato and pickles.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. oh yeah, forgot the coleslaw ON the sandwich!!!!

I love the Red Hot & Blue chain, we have one here in town and when I get a craving, I can go there and get satisfaction. The slaw is on the sandwich unless you specify otherwise, the potato salad is the finest I have ever eaten and the BBQ is fabulous. Sweet tea, too.


In my little tiny home town, there was an old lady who made barbecue of the Gods, with this unbelievable sauce. She took the recipe to her grave, it was her great grandfather's recipe, and he was a slave in the Carolinas, or Tennessee I think. My uncle begged her to just will it to him so he could at least make it for personal consumption. We always had a bottle of her hot and her regular sauce in the refrigerator for marinating chicken, pork loins, etc to oven roast. Oh the good ole days.

[driver8]

35. I love my slaw on the sandwich...

I used to go to this place when I lived in Virginia that served these barbeque sandwiches with the slaw on top. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

[alarimer]

32. I ate at the Rendezvous last summer

best pork ribs I have ever had. No sauce, just a dry rub and slow cooked for hours.

[freebird1]

27. "Brunswick Stew"

Damn I miss Georgia and all you can eat fried Catfish and Hush-puppies! :cry:

[NewHampshireDem]

29. Another RI/Southern NE thing ...

Clam fritters! You can't really get them here in NH ... but Bob's Clam Shack in Kittery usually has them around this time of year for Lent. Great for dipping in chowdah! :)

The fish 'n' chips you get in RI are superior to anything anywhere else, too. I love the really cripsy batter, like the kind you get at Old English in Woonsocket ... well, at least like I think you can get there--I haven't been in about 20 years. :(

[no name no slogan]

31. We have "hotdish" in Minnesota

...which some folk may incorrectly call "casserole" in other parts of the country.

Basically, it consists of:
* 1 can of Campbell's condensed Cream of Mushroom/Brocolli/Celery/something soup;

* 1 pound of some sort of pulverized meat (frozen hamburger and/or canned tuna are typical choices);

* 1 or 2 cups of some sort of frozen or canned vegetable (peas, corn, or even "mixed vegetables" for the truly adventurous);

* 1 can of those toasted onion rings, or some chunky cracker crumbs (saltines work best).

Put this conglomeration into a large bowl, put your onion rings or cracker crumbs on the top, and heat in the oven at 350° for a half-hour, and voila, dinner is served.

Mmmmm.....hotdish!

[politicat]

33. sugar-cream pie, breaded tenderloin, beef and noodles, scalloped corn

Among others, here in indiana. I'll be posting recipes in Cooking and Baking late next week, but all are very tasty and likely to give an Atkins afficianado a sugar coma.

I've been enjoying them. Colorado has some interesting cuisine, but it's not Indiana.

Pcat

[yewberry]

34. Coffee Milk! I'd forgotten that.

I used to work at a "Deering" restaurant (regional version of "Friendly's") in NH and remember the coffee milk.

Frappes galore there--it was always funny to have the tourists order "frap-pays." Chocolate sprinkles were jimmies here, too.

We used to serve grilled bagels and muffins-is that a NE thing?

What else...? We call soda "tonic" and put cheddar cheese on hot apple pie. And in the summer, even McDonald's sells lobster rolls.

And I can't be the only one who ate brown bread as a child...you know, the stuff in the cans?

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. Michigan-White Castle=Sliders Wisconsin=we have a thing for raw beef and

onions, especially come holiday time. :hi:

[RagingInMiami]

41. Nothing like a grilled Cuban sandwich at 4 a.m. after a night of partying

[driver8]

42. In Western New York...

Besides the obvious Buffalo Wings (which are not barbeque or honey glazed or any other effed up thing that people do to them), they also have a thing called a "Beef on weck". This is thinly sliced roast beef served with a gravy on a roll that is covered with salt. I never liked them because I don't like the salt, but a lot of people love them!

[mcscajun]

43. The Bronx, NYC

NYC in the 50's and early 60's was about limited ethnic choices in food: Cantonese take-out, Kosher delis for pickles and pastrami, Italian neighborhoods for good, crusty bread and great salami, and ices.

I lived at the edge of The Bronx's own "Little Italy" and had a Jewish grocer on the corner of my street. We had a number of candy stores or bakeries that that made their own, fresh every damned day, Genuine Italian Ices. Cherry was good, Chocolate was great, but on a hot summer day, nothing beat that real Lemon Ice. Wow. Nothing in the freezer now purporting to be 'Italian Ice' can hold a candle to the stuff of my Bronx childhood. Never. One soda shop in out Little Italy made their own ice cream: it wasn't perfect; there were always small bits of ice in the scoops, but it was fresh and tasty.

The Egg Cream: Brooklyn and The Bronx both claim it for their own; I'm willing to share credit with Brooklyn. U-Bet Chocolate syrup pumped down the sides of the glass first, a big splash of milk from the container kept in the ice cream freezer case (but never for very long), add a big pull from the seltzer fountain while stirring, then top off with one more seltzer splash and a final stir. Heaven in a glass. A Vanilla Egg Cream wasn't bad, either, but was a clear second choice.

Three things I cannot get right outside of NYC, now that I live in NJ: The 'hard roll', a decent slice of pizza, or a bagel. All three rely on NYC water for their true essence; without it, it's never right. And nobody seems to be able to get the NYC 'hard roll' right at all. It's supposed to be crusty but not brittle on the outside, well sprinkled with poppy seed, slightly rubbery to the tooth on that first bite, and so very tender within. Kaiser rolls don't come close; they're just soft inside and out. Supermarket rolls that look right are usually stale on the outside and have no character at all inside. Pizza crusts have lost the 'bubbles' in the edge crust and the burnt tops of those bubbles leave you wanting that slight charcoal 'edge' that good pizza should have. Bagels are a lost cause altogether; somebody decided they had to go super-size and are now mostly mutants.

We called 'em "heros" instead of subs or grinders or hoagies.
We only said Coke for Coca-Cola, Pepsi for Pepsi-Cola, and everything else was 'soda', not pop.
Milkshake instead of Frappe or Cabinet...add Malted Milk Powder and it was a Malted. Black and Whites were the best; Vanilla ice cream with Chocolate Syrup. There's also a NYC thing that has traveled somewhat: the Black and White Cookie. A soft cake really, turned bottom up and half frosted with a thick chocolate icing, the other half with vanilla fondant. A real treat.

And "Regular" coffee was a NYC Staple, too. Two Sugars, milk. Anything different had to be spelled out...twice.

/end nostalgia
/end rant