local cuisine

Non-Phish General
#1

Every geographical area has food/drink items that are native to them and you can only find there. Here in Central NY, we have a large Italian population as our foundation, so we pride ourselves as having some of the best Italian food you can get. Our local specialties are all within that cultural domain.

  1. Chicken riggies - A “pink” sauce (creamy tomato sauce) with chunks of chicken, hot and sweet peppers, and onions mixed with rigatoni. That is the basic description, but every restaurant is a little different. They may have mushrooms or olives as well and the sauce can range all the way from red to white, but pink is most common.

  2. Tomato pie - Hard to really get the idea across of how great this is to people who have never heard of it. It is like a pizza, but it is room temp with only dough and sauce and a little Romano cheese sprinkled on top. The dough is thicker and softer with crispy edges and the sauce is thick and red and tomatoey. Again, it varies slightly among it’s makers. It is a Utica/CNY staple and been around forever. You can almost be guaranteed that if you are attending a party or gathering of some sort here, tomato pie will be on the menu.

  3. Greens - Escarole sauteed with some sort of meat, usually pork, such as ham, proscuitto, salami, etc., hot peppers (mostly cherry) and garlic, topped with breadcrumbs and grated cheese.

  4. Rolls - Like a stromboli or calzone, but made in jelly roll form w/mozzarella and no sauce inside. Most common would be sausage and spinach, but there are a bunch of varieties. Also a party staple.

There are more, but those four are the big ones. Please share your local favorites.

#2

The Saskatchewan seafood dinner:

LOL. No one actually eats it like that, but hot dogs and kraft dinner were a staple of every saskatchewan kids diet growing up.

Regina, and Saskatchewan as a whole, has a large Ukrainian population, so it’s always lots of Perogies, cabbage rolls, Kobasa, etc, at every wedding/function.

#3

I can’t think of any foods which are unique to Vermont, but we have the largest number of craft breweries per capita!

for craft breweries we gots; Harpoon, Long Trail, Magic Hat, Otter Creek, Rock Art, Switchback, Trout River,

and brewpubs; Alchemist Pub and Brewery, Bobcat Cafe and Brewery, Jasper Murdock’s Ale House, Madison Brewing Company Pub, Maple Leaf Malt and Brewing, McNeil’s Brewery, The Shed, Thirsty Bull Brew Pub, Three Needs, Vermont Pub and Brewery, Zero Gravity Brewing.

the ones in bold are in Burlington.

#4

:think: hmmm… that was a huge staple in our house too… & as i made that for my son’s lunch yesterday i guess it lives on lol

here in cincinnati, we have an absurd obsession with chili. all kinds, thick spicy chili, runny dessert chili. we use it as a condiment (as jay would say), which might not be completely false. We put it on hotdogs, spaghetti, fries, nachos, pizza, you know… any kind of startch we can find lol.


Also, being a city rich in german heritage, seeing many types of wursts & krauts isn’t anything uncommon… Oktoberfest is almost here!!!

#5

Well, in Alabama growing up, I would say one of the staples was always barbecue. Chopped pork BBQ to be exact, and in AL, we love our white BBQ sauce. It’s made with mayo, vinegar, salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and it is absolutely phenomenal. Apparently it was invented in Alabama, and my mom makes the best white BBQ sauce I have ever tasted.

Another great local food tradition is the “meat and three” restaurants that are everywhere in Birmingham. I have not found a good meat and three since I moved to NC, and it sucks. It’s just what it sounds like: pick a meat and three vegetables. Comes with a roll or cornbread as well. Usually the meat choices consist of fried or baked chicken, catfish, meatloaf, you know, comfort food. Veggies include mac and cheese (not really a veggie, but always on the menu), collard greens, green beans, black eyed peas, squash, lima beans, etc. It’s always served cafeteria style, and it’s the quintessential Southern dish.

That’s a small cross-section of the cafeteria line at a meat and three, usually it goes on like that for a good 10 yards. Really great stuff. And of course, it must be eaten with sweet tea. :thumbup:

#6

Chicago prides itself on so many differnet food items, but mostly the following

  1. Deep dish (also called “stuffed”) pizza- Ginos East, Giordanos, UNO etc.

  2. Italian Beef- try Al’s, Jay’s or even the smallest little stand on the street corner–usually has a dank beef!

  3. Chicago Style Dogs-usually served with onions, relish, peppers, pickles, tomatoes, celery salt, mustard–BUT NEVER KETCHUP!–Try a Red Hot

#7

#8

Cleveland is a mutt as far as ethnicity goes.

We have big portions of Italian, Greek, Polish, German, Lithuanian, Croation, etc. etc. ::insert other European country here::

I saw a few years back that Cleveland supposedly has a “pizza of their own”, much like Chicago or New York style (obviously not anywhere near as “big” as those)… the secret is provolone cheese. I grew up on it, so I never realized it was “local” until that TV show.

#9

Ha, I do that to hotdogs all the time. But I used catsup for the eyes. My son (2 years) likes to bite the octopus’ head off first.

Katiemay what about the “Garbage Plate” in Rochester? Or the world famous buffalo wings (which I guess isn’t local anymore). Does the mini hotdog w/meat sauce count as local. I grew up with them in western MA, it’s also big in the Albany area. The meat sauce is hamburger in a brown gravy ish sauce.

Also, is this the place to start the “Soda” or “Pop” argument?

#10

Nothing like a taco from a truck full of Mexicans. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, baby. :thumbup:

#11

Pop.

Soda = Soda Water

#12

Oh yes, the food trucks are infiltrating the area as well…

Dim & Den Sum is awesome!

#13

ed you missed something. THE ALABAMA STAPLE FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

among many other fried goods!

#14

^^Yeah, the gourmet food trucks are good, too. We’ve got a million of them around nowadays with everything from chicken and waffles to asian fusion. It’s great for lunch, since you just look up what’s near you on truxmap.com and can usually try something new.

That said, the decades old, straight-up Mexican run taco trucks still have all the new guys beat by a mile, IMO.

#15

Great thread, Katie :slight_smile:

SE Michigan has the largest Arab-American population in the country, and half of my family is Lebanese (can’t you tell by my pale skin, red hair, and green eyes?) so a lot of my favorite local food is Middle Eastern dishes. Hushweh, tabbouli, shawarma, kibbeh, hummus, kebabs, tawook, Syrian rice…mmm. I think I know what I’m doing for lunch today.

Will post some pics and descriptions of some dishes soon.

#16

When I lived in far western north carolina you could get BOILED PEANUTS at just about every gas station and road side eatery.

Also, that was the first place I had a Fried Pickle. Mmmmm Fried pickle.

(and I call it soda. Soda to me is a drink made with soda water and flavor)

#17

This is very true, have had lots of great Indian food in Detroit!

#18

I always assumed it was a bad idea to eat anything out of a food truck. Of course, the only food trucks I’ve ever seen have been in truly middle-of-nowhere backwoods towns, so those probably weren’t safe.

^^ Regarding boiled peanuts, anytime you are in a rural area in the South, you can usually find boiled peanuts with little to no effort. In cities it gets harder to find them though. Cajun boiled peanuts are the best!

And I call it soda. Pop is just goofy, upper-Midwest jargon to me. In fact, I’ve known two guys who called it that (that I can remember), and they were from Michigan and Wisconsin.

#19

:thumbup:

also, idk when this craze for sweet tea crossed the great Ohio river… but the south can have it back at any time :sick:

#20

Yeah… I like good ole unsweetened tea… you know iced tea.

So when I order iced tea, if it comes with sugar, or fruit flavoring… I may throw it in your face.