What are your favorite regional U.S. foods?
Jan 15th, 2011, 08:53 AM
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What are your favorite regional U.S. foods?
I'm working on a section about food for the next edition of the Fodor's USA guide, and I'd like to get some input from the forums. Specifically, what are your favorite regional foods?
This is what I mean by "regional foods": dishes or types of cuisine that are strongly associated with a place -- foods you'd make a point to seek out when you visit a particular city or a region. Examples that spring to mind are lobster rolls in Maine, cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, mufaletta in New Orleans. (I have sandwiches on the brain at the moment. Lunchtime is on the horizon....)
Alternatively, if there's a particular regional food that you think is overrated -- that you sought out but were disappointed by -- I'd be interested in hearing that too.
Thanks for your help!
This is what I mean by "regional foods": dishes or types of cuisine that are strongly associated with a place -- foods you'd make a point to seek out when you visit a particular city or a region. Examples that spring to mind are lobster rolls in Maine, cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, mufaletta in New Orleans. (I have sandwiches on the brain at the moment. Lunchtime is on the horizon....)
Alternatively, if there's a particular regional food that you think is overrated -- that you sought out but were disappointed by -- I'd be interested in hearing that too.
Thanks for your help!
Jan 15th, 2011, 09:02 AM
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Thanks, bigtyke.
I should add to my original post that it helps if you specify what place you associate the food with. I'm not sure, for instance, where I'd go to get Indian fry bread.
I should add to my original post that it helps if you specify what place you associate the food with. I'm not sure, for instance, where I'd go to get Indian fry bread.
Jan 15th, 2011, 09:14 AM
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New Mexico is all about chile (not chili); in fact, it's one of our state vegetables. "Red or green?" is New Mexico's official state question, and "Christmas" (some of both) is the official state answer. 
Hatch green chile is one of the best things you can put in your mouth, whether it's on a green chile cheeseburger or featured in green chile stew. Some of it is pretty spicy, but you can ask for mild chile on the side if you're concerned about heat levels.
Ripe red chiles are cooked, pureed, and seasoned into pure ambrosia. We add it to beans, used to marinate pork for fabulous carne adovada, and posole (a stew with dried hominy) wouldn't be the same without it.
Lee Ann
Hatch green chile is one of the best things you can put in your mouth, whether it's on a green chile cheeseburger or featured in green chile stew. Some of it is pretty spicy, but you can ask for mild chile on the side if you're concerned about heat levels.
Ripe red chiles are cooked, pureed, and seasoned into pure ambrosia. We add it to beans, used to marinate pork for fabulous carne adovada, and posole (a stew with dried hominy) wouldn't be the same without it.
Lee Ann
Jan 15th, 2011, 09:20 AM
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Indian fry bread is associated with the Native American reservations in the Four Corners area of the Southwest. It's somewhat controversial for some Native Americans, who see it as a symbol of oppression from the time when they were forced to leave their lands and eat Anglo foods. Others embrace it as a symbol of their ability to adapt to changing times.
It's not the healthiest food you can eat, but it's absolutely delicious with stew, as the basis for a "Navajo" taco (fry bread topped with beans, meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and green or red chile), or drizzled with honey.
In my earlier post, I should have mentioned sopapillas. The dough is similar to fry bread, but it's rolled out and cut into squares, then deep fried. They are served with New Mexican food - break it open, add honey, and enjoy. Besides being tasty, the sweetness helps calm your mouth when you're eating chile.
Lee Ann
It's not the healthiest food you can eat, but it's absolutely delicious with stew, as the basis for a "Navajo" taco (fry bread topped with beans, meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and green or red chile), or drizzled with honey.
In my earlier post, I should have mentioned sopapillas. The dough is similar to fry bread, but it's rolled out and cut into squares, then deep fried. They are served with New Mexican food - break it open, add honey, and enjoy. Besides being tasty, the sweetness helps calm your mouth when you're eating chile.
Lee Ann
Jan 15th, 2011, 10:53 AM
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So Cal....(It has been years but )Roscoe's House of Fried Chicken & Waffles
http://roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/
http://roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/
Jan 15th, 2011, 11:02 AM
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Also for NYC - a real bagel and lox breakfast (not the fake Wonder bread bagels available in most of the country - but real bagels that are chewy and almost tough)
Also an egg cream - although there are few places to get them
For you in other parts of the country who think they are eating in New York delis - real delis - do not put butter or mayo on a sandwich, never serve chips (steak fries only) and always have real kosher pickles for free
Also an egg cream - although there are few places to get them
For you in other parts of the country who think they are eating in New York delis - real delis - do not put butter or mayo on a sandwich, never serve chips (steak fries only) and always have real kosher pickles for free
Jan 15th, 2011, 11:26 AM
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There's nothing like Buffalo Wings from Buffalo and a lesser know Beef on Kummelwick sandwich...
The Kummelwick or Kimmelwick roll is a Kaiser roll with Pretzel Salt and Caraway Seeds on top ... inside is filled with hand sliced roast beef and often seasoned with Horseradish.... the sandwich was developed in the taverns near the heavy industries in Buffalo for steel, paper and factory workers who often only had a brief lunch break...
the abundant salt replenished the sodium lost through sweat on the lines, the caraway seasoned the beef and the beef filled the workers hardy apetite... the bartenders kept a large roast in a warmer behind the bar and sliced off the sandwiches in what would be considered one of the earliest "fast foods"... most often the sandwich was washed down with a cold beer or two or three in a matter of minutes as the workers cycled through on their breaks... today the sandwich survives as a local favorite and an homage to the industrial past of the Rust Belt worker... So good...
The Kummelwick or Kimmelwick roll is a Kaiser roll with Pretzel Salt and Caraway Seeds on top ... inside is filled with hand sliced roast beef and often seasoned with Horseradish.... the sandwich was developed in the taverns near the heavy industries in Buffalo for steel, paper and factory workers who often only had a brief lunch break...
the abundant salt replenished the sodium lost through sweat on the lines, the caraway seasoned the beef and the beef filled the workers hardy apetite... the bartenders kept a large roast in a warmer behind the bar and sliced off the sandwiches in what would be considered one of the earliest "fast foods"... most often the sandwich was washed down with a cold beer or two or three in a matter of minutes as the workers cycled through on their breaks... today the sandwich survives as a local favorite and an homage to the industrial past of the Rust Belt worker... So good...
Jan 15th, 2011, 11:36 AM
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and always have real kosher pickles for free
But nyt, pickles don't grow on trees!
"Everyone's like 'Would it kill you to put a bowl of pickles on the table?' and I'm like, I don't see why I should have to give them away. We make them ourselves, and if people understood the time, patience, and skill it takes to make these things, they wouldn't complain that there's no pickles on the table. They'd understand why we charge six or seven dollars for a plate of assorted pickles."
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/0..._on_trees.html
Ah, the new New York... sigh.
But nyt, pickles don't grow on trees!
"Everyone's like 'Would it kill you to put a bowl of pickles on the table?' and I'm like, I don't see why I should have to give them away. We make them ourselves, and if people understood the time, patience, and skill it takes to make these things, they wouldn't complain that there's no pickles on the table. They'd understand why we charge six or seven dollars for a plate of assorted pickles."
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/0..._on_trees.html
Ah, the new New York... sigh.
Jan 15th, 2011, 12:05 PM
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Fried mullet - Upper Gulf Coast (Pensacola, FL/Mobile, AL)
Oysters (Apalachicola, FL)
Boiled peanuts - Deep South
Greens (turnip or collard or mustard) and peas (black-eyed or field peas) and cornbread - Deep South (especially for New Year's Day)
Steamers (whole clams steamed in the shell) - New England coast
(You can also get whole clams fried, as opposed to just clam strips)
Indian pudding (made with corn meal and molasses) and Grape Nut pudding - New England
Pizza actually has quite a bit of regional variety (at local pizza joints, not national chains) - New England style is different from New York style is different from Chicago style
Fish tacos - San Diego
Oysters (Apalachicola, FL)
Boiled peanuts - Deep South
Greens (turnip or collard or mustard) and peas (black-eyed or field peas) and cornbread - Deep South (especially for New Year's Day)
Steamers (whole clams steamed in the shell) - New England coast
(You can also get whole clams fried, as opposed to just clam strips)
Indian pudding (made with corn meal and molasses) and Grape Nut pudding - New England
Pizza actually has quite a bit of regional variety (at local pizza joints, not national chains) - New England style is different from New York style is different from Chicago style
Fish tacos - San Diego
