"Chow Microclimates"

[Bob W.]

I think I have just stumbled upon, and named, a fascinating concept: the chow microclimate.

The chow in question that caused me to create this term is something called a "dynamite," which apparently is available only at certain eateries in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It's apparently some sort of spicy sloppy joe served on a sub roll. I discovered references to it on the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council web site.

Now, I consider myself pretty well versed in the foods of Rhode Island, but even having grown up just a few miles from Woonsocket, I had never until last week even heard of a "dynamite," much less tried one.

That led to my thinking up the term "chow microclimate," which would refer to a specific food available only within strictly defined boundaries, but at more than one eatery.

This definition would EXCLUDE localized names for more widely available foods, such as the use of the term "spukky" for a submarine sandwich in some parts of Boston.

Thoughts? Other examples? I see a book waiting to be written. I see major pub in the New Yorker.

[Ellen]

In western Maryland (Hagerstown/Cumberland) area there is something called "steamer," which sounds just like dynamite. The first time I ordered it I thought was getting clams (LOL). I think Roseanne called them loose meat sandwiches. I don't know if this is much different than the pop/soda or sub/hero/hoagie naming conventions. And of course there is a big difference between regional and subregional cuisines vs. the same item being called something different depending on where you eat it. And then there is the Philly cheesesteak, which is often imitated but never duplicated, even though you see the name used everywhere. But that is the subject for another book...

[Bob W.]

I've had loose meat sandwiches! They are also found in Iowa. An Iowa native moved to Gainesville FL and has been selling loose meat sandwiches to hungry students for years. His place is actually called Steamers!

And you're right, it sounds similar, but the loose meat I had didn't have any sauce. the meat was just mixed with whatever else you ordered -- hot peppers, onions, etc.

I'm sure there is a connection between the Western MD and Iowa steamers. There is certainly nothing like that around the DC area, the western edge of which is not all that far from Hagerstown.

[N Tocus]

1) Slippery Pot Pie in northern MD and southern PA; same locales, cold cottage cheese dribbled with apple butter.
2) Texas Hots and Dream Steak Sandwiches in Rochester NY.
3) Peaches in Wine at street fairs in New York City, outside Italian churches (you drink the wine then eat the sliced peaches).

[cfsmith]

There's a place in Butte, Montana that's well-known for its pork chop sandwiches -- a boneless pork chop (or maybe some kind of pressed pork) breaded and deep-fried, served on a hamburger bun. Don't know if they are found anywhere else.

[jilli42]

They are found at my house. One of my husbands most requested sandwiches. He loves them.

[Bob W.]

Slippery Pot Pie! My god, that is great. My wife and in-laws will love this one.

At Friendly Farm in Upperco, MD, which, not coincidentally is north of Baltimore just a few miles south of the PA line, all dinners come with a variety of relishes and other stuff, including cottage cheese and apple butter. My father-in-law always mixes the two together.

And this mess actually has a name!

[Ellen]

In addition to slippery pot pie and scrapple in the Amish/Mennonite areas of PA and MD, there is also puddin, which sort of looks like scrapple but I believe is made from corn meal cooked in pork juice of some kind.

[The Dairy Queen]

Hmmm...you don't describe what the loosemeat sandwich was, exactly, but yeah, we call them that in Iowa. Or sloppy Joes, and they are basically ground beef and onion simmered for a long time in catsup and brown sugar and all other kinds of things according to your family's secret recipe. Served up on a hamburger bun.

~TDQ

[Ellen]

I don't really know exactly what was in a steamer. It was kind of gray and the meat was minced pretty finely. I was told it had spices (in Hagerstown that could be salt and pepper). Sauteed onions would have blended right in too. Definitely no tomato sauce to be seen. As I recall, the loose meat sandwiches in Roseanne were grayish too.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh dear. Perhaps I've given away the family secret of catsup and brown sugar... ;-)

~TDQ

[Bobfrmia]

I've lived in Iowa my entire life (40something years)
and I never heard them referred to as "loose meat" sandwiches until Tom and Roseanne popularized them. I've always heard them called beefburgers. Some call them "maid rites" after the franchise that specializes in them.
My mom always made them just browning a couple pounds of ground beef, then stirring in a can of chili with some salt and pepper. Slap a slice of american cheese on a cheap hamburger bun with a little mustard and you had lunch.
I still have to have them once or twice a year.

[The Dairy Queen]

Weird. Maybe we've found another microregion, then. We called them loosemeats in Iowa when I was a kid and that was certainly pre-Roseanne. We were in Western Iowa, nearish to Sioux City.

And cheese and chili, my goodness! We would never put those things in or on our sloppy Joes. Must be your family's secret ingredients. ;-)

~TDQ

[Evil Ronnie]

...and don't forget Maryland crab soup!

[Ellen]

And Maryland crab cakes! They just are not the same anywhere else or using any crab but Chesapeake blues.

[elway007]

I grew up in Hagerstown and steamers were always served at the Little League Ball Park at the end of our street. Sure wish I had the recipe cause they were great . Not greasy or full of tomtoes.

[Mrs. Smith]

I have a couple of instances. The potica thread (in the Marth Stewart stollen thread below), is an example localized phenomenon in a few parts of the country where Slovenes, Serbs, Czechs, etc, have settled.

Also, a "pepper cheeseburger" -- which I've never seen it's like outside of Duluth, Minnesota. It's made from Heidleburger, which is a spiced combination of pork and beef ground up available only at a few selected butchers in Duluth. At certain restaurants it is made into a patty, covered with batter, deep fried, and served on a bun with pepper jack cheese. Totally unique, I've never seen it's like.

[Professor Salt]

Binghamton, NY is home to the spiedie, a kebab-like skewer of pork (sometimes chicken) marinated in an italian dressing type liquid. This is grilled and served with squishy white bread, folded over the meat to make a sandwich of sorts.

I've heard of but never tried Cincinatti chili, which is made with cinammon and served over spaghetti.

[Tongo Rad]

For more on Spiedies, and other regional fare, you should check out the "Sandwiches That You Will Like" documentary (sometimes shown on PBS) and its companion book- linked below.

Link: http://www.wqed.org/tv/natl/sandwiche...

[Ellen]

I've had the Cincinnati chili at one of their "must eat" places. It wasn's bad but once was enough.

[jackie]

Spiedies in our home (in Vestal) were always lamb, and the cubes of grilled meat were removed from the skewer by taking a piece of Italian bread in one hand, wrapping it around the meat and pulling the meat off the skewer using the bread, thereby forming the perfect sandwich that soaked up all the juices and marinade.

[malcarne]

Cincinnati chili(I'm sure much discussed)is the ultimate horror to a Texas chili aficianado. How is "chili" thought incomplete w/o a serving of rice or noodles? Cincinaati chili is more along the lines of what Northerners call chili soup. This
Ohio specialty is more akin to a chili sauce; the accompaniment used to cover a hotdog. Was Cincinnati chili a Depression-era invention?

[Bob W.]

My marginally educated guess is that a lot of these things were invented either during the Depression or other times of deprivation. Certainly the po-boy (AKA poor boy sandwich) was. You can still get a french-fry po-boy in New Orleans.

[--susan]

I've heard conflicting stories on the "invention" of the po-boy, but generally thought it was acknowledged that this sandwich predates the Depression...

[malcarne]

The po-boy in it's Coastal Southern incarnation was, I believe, created as portable sustenance for turn of the century subsistance farmers/fishermen in Louisiana/Mississippi.

[Aromatherapy]

Cincinnati chili has a Lebanese origin. The real mystery is why it was ever called chili.

[9lives]

great term...bbq might be very regionalized; SC, Eastern and Western NC, etc.

I recall seeing some kind of egg foo young sandwich; only served in St Louis..sort of a micro climate.

[p.j.]

St. Louis microclimate foods: Yes, a few restaurants still serve brain sandwiches (I think the Majestic at Euclid and Laclede in the Central West End is one of them).
The egg foo young patty on white bread with mayo, lettuce, and tomato is a staple at Chinese take-outs, especially in the African-American community. It is called (inexplicably to me, anyway), a "St. Paul sandwich."
"Toasted ravioli" is another local specialty that I think leaves a lot to be desired. It is deep fried ravioli (sometimes breaded, I believe) served as an appetizer with a side of marinara sauce for dipping.
"Imo's" pizza is unique to St. Louis, I hope. It has a cracker thin crust with provel and what appears to be American cheese. I think you had to be born here to like it. Is provel cheese unique to St. Louis? It is an almost flavorless processed cheese that has a bizarre way of sticking to your teeth.
Lastly, "gooey butter cake," which fresh from the oven is delicious. It is a plain coffee cake, made in a sheet cake pan, that is essentially a bit underbaked, and hence gooey in the middle with a nice crust around the edges.

[Tongo Rad]

My sister lived in StLou for a few years, so your post brought me back. I remember most of those things.

But I would also add Ted Drew's Concrete! Well...not the concept (soft serve iced custard with hunks of candy mixed in) but certainly the name.

So long as I'm reminiscing about that part of the country I just remembered an old Louisville, KY, favorite- the Butter Kuchen. It's a german coffee cake with a buttery filling- it may even be specific to the Germantown area. My mom grew up there and to this day our relatives must bring one up to us in NY when they visit. Of course, it's not at its best by the time it gets here so my wife still doesn't 'get it'.

She also doesn't 'get' Red Velvet Cake, which may be more of a general Southern thing than specific to a region.

[9lives]

I spent 4 collegeyears in St Louis..25 years ago. Never had the brain sandwich or the St Pauls (saw it on a food show) The toasted raviolis were a nice novelty item.

The Imos pizza was a shocker for a kid from NYC..but they grew on me. I have fond memories of Talaynas pizza; especially their NY style..which was nothing like the NY style I grew up with..I must have eaten hundreds of them.

[butterfly]

Talayna's was always my favorite of all the purveyors of STL pizza. As I said below, brain sandwiches were almost strictly a south St. Louis--scrubby dutch?--phenomenon when I was a kid. You usually found them in "taverns."

[9lives]

I remember a great roast beef sandwich at O'Connells Pub in South St Louis..but no brain sandwich.

[butterfly]

Precisely, unless you grew up in south STL, hung out in a lot of German corner taverns, or happened to find out about them haphazardly, it would be easy to miss the "brain sandwich" microclimate in St. Louis.

The only reason I knew about them was because my dad spent a small part of his youth in south St. Louis and had fond memories of the brain sandwiches (though not the neighborhood, it was rough growing up Jewish during WWII in a German neighborhood!).

In contrast, I think it would be hard to spend any significant time in the city and miss STL pizza, toasted ravioli and some of the widely accepted "macroclimate" foods that are part of the STL landscape.

[Pat Hammond]

I first saw a cut of meat called a "pork steak" in St. Louis. Very popular as an item to grill in the summer time. I have no idea what part of a hog produces this cut. I don't like it much either, but at many backyard parties, it was eat a bbq'd pork steak or nothin'!

About brain sandwiches, I frequented The Majestic for many years, and I'm pretty certain that I never saw one there. The place to score a brain sandwich, in my experience, was at taverns in South St. Louis. There's a particular one, but I'm darned if I can recall the name. I think their popularity fell off quite a bit after Mad Cow disease surfaced.

[9lives]

I remember that pork steak too...never saw it served anywhere but St Louis. Like you, I didn't care for it either but it was often the only thing to eat at a BBQ.I remember it as sort of a rib steak. Maybe the pig is butchered differently to leave the steak on the rib...instead of the usual way..a rack of ribs and a boneless roast?? any butchers able to solve the riddle?.:)

[StockClerk]

STL pork steaks are sliced pork butt. If you grew up listening to the Cardinals, all summer long the grocery stores would advertise "Whole pork butt, sliced into steaks." That phrase is implanted in my brain.

They're a staple of BBQs and any big gathering like a church supper. Usually lightly grilled, then heaped in a sheet pan with BBQ sauce (Maull's, of course!) or pepper-and-beer, and finished in the oven.

Other STL favorites escape me, besides mostaccioli, always pronounced musk-a-CHO-lee, which is a baked ziti and red sauce ubiquitious at weddings.

One last note to STL ex-pats. There has been a HUGE influx of, oddly, Serbians, into STL. I was back and noticed that a gas station in the county was surrounded by a veritable Little Armenia. Later read in the PD that some 90,000 Serbian refugees had been resettled by a charity. They are clustering together in the old German neighborhoods around Bevo and the South Side. Maybe in 20 years future hounds will be talking about the great regional European chow in STL....

Off to drink a Busch beer,

SC

[butterfly]

I wonder if anyone has turned the bosnians on to the brain sandwiches?

And, your pronounciation of mostaccioli is a bit different from the one that I grew up with--musk-uh-CHO-luh. Always a favorite, along with toasted rav-i-oh-luh.

[--susan]

We've got fried ravioli in Philly, too. They're on the takeout menu next to the fried mozzarella sticks. I always figured this was an Italian-carryout thing (everyone loves nibbling on fried stuff.)

[butterfly]

Though they lack a catchy name, I would nominate "brain sandwiches" from my hometown, St. Louis. When I was growing up, these were pretty much only available in the microclimate of south St. Louis. People across town mostly lived in ignorance to their existence.

[Bob W.]

hmmm, i wonder why those never caught on on a larger scale? LOL

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

We actually had something not much more appetizing in my hometown of Pawtucket RI: chow mein sandwiches. Gloopy chow mein on a hamburger bun for 15 cents. In retrospect, horrible. Not sure if anyone even sells them anymore.

[butterfly]

In a similar vein, in STL there are "St. Paul Sandwiches" available in almost any chinese take-out place, but also at certain corner stores. This is basically egg-foo-young slapped between two pieces of bread. I kind of miss them.

[N Tocus]

These sound related to the chop suey sandwiches at Salem Willows (ratty old amusement park) in Salem MA.

[sbp]

How about Beef on Weck -- the great Buffalo specialty that didn't catch on. With grated white horseradish, of course.

[SeaGal]

When my family moved from CA to Southern Oregon in the 70's, the local (Medford/Ashland) Chinese/American restaurants had an item we'd never heard of before, "Mar Far Chicken" which consisted of basically chicken breast strips deep fried and served with a sickly sweet, mayonnaise based sauce vaugely reminiscent of Thousand Island dressing with the addition of soy sauce.

I've never seen this elsewhere on the West Coast, though maybe others have? At any rate, this past year while in Ashland to catch a play at the Shakespeare Festival, I had a nostalgic yen for a combo dinner, and, lo and behold, there is was--"Mar Far chicken" complete with yucky sauce.

**I realize yucky is in the mouth of the eater--many at my small town high school would eat nothing else at a Chinese restaurant except Mar Far chicken and fried rice. Go figure!

[butterisbetter]

that sounds like an icky (yes I do see how it could be good, just hold on) version of Honey Walnut Prawns that tends to be served at upperscale (this is a relative term--I mean $10-$14 entrees in this case!) Chinese places that are one step away from being true Chinese American restaurants. HWP are lightly battered fried shrimp served on a bed of sauteed veggies (red peppers on the $14 end, shredded cabbage on the $10), then topped with candied walnuts, then dolloped with mayo. Delicious in a disgustingly-bad-for-you kind of way.

If Mar Far (BTW, that's now well on its way to becoming code language in our family for "food which has no shred of ethnic authenticity left but still purports to be ethnic") bears any relation in your mind to HWP, let me know, just curious.

[SeaGal]

Interesting comparison. I actually love Honey Walnut Prawns (and their cousins, Honey Pecan Prawns). They are widely available here in Seattle and in the SF Bay Area in many Cantonese-style restaurants, though I've only seen them on either shredded lettuce or cabbage, never over sauteed veggies. Oddly enough, when I lived in San Jose, I worked for people who were from Hong Kong and they always ordered these as part of a banquet meal. They don't seem "authentic", but they sure are good.

No, the dread Mar Far chicken has way less finesse and is more akin to deep fried chicken fingers served with a 1,000 Island dipping sauce--not sure what it was derived from. Even in my high-school days I thought it was way on the American side of Chinese/American, and went for the shrimp and pea pods with ginger instead.

LOL over your description of Mar Far code language. It's exactly the way I think of it!

[EMDB]

"Thoughts? Other examples? I see a book waiting to be written. I see major pub in the New Yorker."

Though it's not organized by such, the Sterns' Road Food pays especial attention to these regional specialties in their description of different eateries. I read about both spiedies and beef on weck in this book.

[Bob W.]

Yes, what I have in mind would be organized by "delicacy." There would be a description of the item -- say, mutton barbecue, plus some discussion of how it came to be popular in the particular area. There would then be reviews of some of the places where you can try the stuff. And of course pictures!

I am very pleased to see all the responses to this thread. Some intrepid chowhound could get a great start on the book just from these posts!

[malcarne]

The "horseshoe" in Springfield, IL(beef patty covered in toast, gravy, and cheese?) is possibly unique.

[Ann Fisher]

The Horseshoe is a great "microclimate" selection. It's actually your choice of hamburger, ham sandwich, turkey sandwich, or beef sandwich on white bread, covered with french fries and then doused with cheese sauce. A smaller version is called a ponyshoe.

[malcarne]

Yes, my s.o. would chide me for getting it wrong. I've yet to have the pleasure. Last time we were in Springfield the outlet famous for this concoction was closed.

[Ann Fisher]

Pleasure may be too strong a word, but let me assure you that it takes some work to avoid a place that serves them in Springfield. If my recollection is correct, you can even get them in the cafeteria in the basement of the capitol building

[Evil Ronnie]

Scrapple and egg sandwiches at some diners across Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

[Ann Fisher]

I have three nominees. In Detroit, the Coney Island sandwich--a loose hamburger on a hot dog bun with chili and onions on top. In the Upper Peninsula, the pasty--the Cornish favorite much improved by the Finns-- and cudighi--an Italian sausage available loose or in links.

[Mrs. Smith]

Ohhhhhh UP pasties! One of the favorite things of my youth! A couple of a times a year, my dad and brother and I (mom stayed at home on these forays -- she, for some reason, didn't like pasties!) would drive the 4+ hours from Duluth, Minnesota across the state of Wisconsin to the border of the UP, and go to Ironwood Michigan. There were (and still are) some really great antique stores in Ironwood that we'd frequent (finding such gems from Midwestern farmhouses as a beautiful blond bureau made from balsa wood, made in Sweden at the turn of the century and hand-painted -- and also a gorgeous Civil-War-Era mahogany mirror -- all of this cheap and in good condition, not sure why such good antiques in Ironwood, but that was the original draw for our family) and then follow up with Joe's Pasties. There was more than one pasty restaurant in town, but my father sternly informed me, from long experience (he had worked in the UP as a young man and had many friends there still) that the "Only pasty is from Joe's". Not the "only good" pasty -- he and his pals were so partisan as to think that the only food that could qualify as a pasty was from Joe's.

We'd eat our pasties at the restaurant -- a dinerish type place. My brother would have ketchup with his, but my dad and I were purists. Even though I was a little lass, I would always finish my man-sized pasty. I didn't eat that much at home, my dad always said, but I'd finish that gorgeous pastry (probably made with partial shortening, for this was the bad old days, but there was a definite taste of lard in it is that I loved. I couldn't identify the flavor, for my mother at home always made pastry with butter. This flexible, savory, incredibly flaky pastry was new to me!) filled with potatoes and onions -- and gently seasoned with salt, and some elusive flavor that I "think" is white pepper, but I don't know -- god it was good. So much more than the sum of it's parts. It was very good-sized -- about 8 inches long and full to the brim and very heavy. It's designed as a folded-over round, which, I was taught by Dad, was the shape of a Cornish miner's pocket (which is how this dish originated). It was baked in the morning by their wives, and put in their pockets for them to take as (an extremely substantial) lunch down in the mine.

This is truly one of my favorite childhood food memories. After our lunch, my dad would pick up his pre-phoned-in order of a couple of dozen frozen pasties. We'd then cart them in the cooler back to Duluth for the rest of the family (except, perversely, by my normally chowish mother) for easy dinners during the coming weeks. We'd just reheat them in the oven. They were almost as good as the ones fresh from the oven at the restaurant.

My mom would save one or two for me and when I was getting over the flu, once, that was the first solid food I ate after several days of being ill. I remember, vividly, lying in bed finishing the entire thing. As a kid I was normally not a particularly big eater, and had a tendency not to finish things on my plate. I always finished Joes -- - yum!

And look -- I've checked it out online and you can order the "real thing" Joe's pasties online! I'm ordering mine pretty soon -- after my baby is born next spring I'll be in need of some quick and easy dinners, and this will be perfect. Now I can introduce my California husband to the wonders of Joe's pasties!

Link: http://joes-pasty-shopp.bigstep.com/h...

[h2obemo]

Where I come from (Western PA), a steak salad comes with french fries in the salad. Usually it's lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, grated or cubed cheese, strips of steak (or chicken or battered cod) and french fries, all tossed together in your choice of dressing- usually sweet'n'sour. Pickled banana peppers on the side. There is no special name for this that I know of. We just call it a steak salad. I never had a salad of this style anywhere else though- are they out there in other places?

[Mrs. Smith]

That is without a doubt the weirdest thing I've heard yet in this thread. Were the french fries hot? I'm trying to imagine hot french fries tossed in a salad with dressing. I'm assuming it's good, but I must admit it's hard for me to imagine. Any particular dressing?

[h2obemo]

Yes, the fries are hot, as is the steak (or chicken or fish). The salad (cold) stuff is on the bottom, and the hot ingredients go on top, and the cheese melts from the fries and meat. You can get any dressing you like, but it's normally sweet'n'sour. It *is* good, really. Oh, I also left out another ingredient- hard boiled egg slices or quarters.

[julesrules]

sweet n sour salad dressing? Is this like "Chinese" sweet n sour red sauce? Or really a salad dressing?

[h2obemo]

It's really a salad dressing- not the red sauce.

[Melanie Wong]

This sounds like Peruvian lomo saltado, which I had recently served over dressed salad greens.

[fatboy]

This steak salad that you described sounds a lot like a Vietnamese dish called "Shaken Beef" or "Bo Luc Lac" which is usually served with a dressing similar to Italien dressing. The fries are optional- depends on where you go.

[h2obemo]

Hmmm, that sounds good too. But I can assure you that this steak salad has its origins in neither Vietnamese nor Peruvian roots. I don't know how it developed around here, but there is a restaurant in Pittsburgh (Primanti Brothers) that is known for its sandwiches with fries on them.

[Melanie Wong]

Actually, I'd bet both the Viet and Peruvian dishes have European roots - France or Spain - so they may indeed be related to what you've found in PA.

[fatboy]

You could be right because much of Vietnamese cuisine is influenced by the French.

[WellFedRed]

Great Thread!

Down in Tidewater Virginia and in the Outer Banks of North Carolina you'll find Hatteras clam chowder. Which has a broth and bacon base...no cream, no tomato. I always have to warn visitors.

Also I remember being on the edge of Ontario finding an items I think called spiced meat but it might have had another name...they even put it in their spaghetti sauce and it was horrible.

[butterisbetter]

Bob, a brilliant concept indeed. Thing is, after reading all these posts, some of the microclimate foods mentioned sound good (Peach wine, for instance) and some sound horrible (well, most of them). Is the "only a local could love it" criterion essential to your notion of the chow microclimate, or have I just unleashed a new debate?

One microclimate dish from Georgia is Brunswick Stew. You occasionally see this in SC, TN, or AL BBQ restaurants that are close to the border, but nowhere else outside the state. We have a big town here called Brunswick for those of you who don't know--one would assume there is a link but I've never looked into it.

Brunswick Stew is basically a stew made with all the leftovers from a BBQ meal; shredded chicken and pork, corn, tomatoes, lima beans, potatoes, okra sometimes, with a barbecue-sauce-tasting base. Served as a side dish or a "vegetable" at meat 'n threes. Oh, and my great- great- grandfather's recipe, from Rockmart GA circa 1890, was cooked in an iron kettle over a wood fire in the front yard, and called for squirrel too.

When I went off to CT to college in 1986, I made a visiting friend bring me a hot thermos full of Brunswick Stew (no squirrel in this version) from a restaurant called Dusty's in Atlanta, and all my snobby Northern roommates fell in love with it.

[wally]

Brunswick stew underwent a revival nationwide in the early 70's. It was in a lot of magazines. Maybe it has gone back to its origins.

[Aromatherapy]

Yeah, but no squirrel in the nouveau versions. It's the best thing to do with tough old squirrels and/or rabbits.

[butterisbetter]

why? because of the long stewing time?

is squirrel any good? ie, worth the effort if one is not a hunter?

[lm]

I once ate a fresh-killed (cooked) wild squirrel that my husband had shot. It was absolutely disgusting: dry, tough, stringy, flavorless (that last was probably a blessing). I think I ate two bites. Unfortunately, this was 10 yrs ago and I can't remember how it was cooked. Maybe we just did it wrong.

[claracamille]

Since I grew up in West Virginia, I'll start with two local sandwiches that I love. First, hot dogs with chili,onions, mustard & cole slaw. EVERYONE eats their hot dogs this way. Whenever I go back home, I head to for local bowling alley & have a couple of loaded hotdogs. The other sandwich is called a "Hot Balony". Thick sliced balony is fried in a sweet/spicy hot barbecue sauce, then served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, pickles & onions.

In Indiana, where I have spent the last 1/2 of my life, the breaded tenderloin is the sandwich of choice. Best ones are made with hand cut & hand breaded tenderloins that are so large that they hang out over the bun about 2-3 inches.

[Candy]

Bob, have you had the tenderloin at the Gnaw Bone Marathon Food and Fuel? The best! Worth a road trip.

[StockClerk]

I have no idea where it is you are discussing (Indiana?), but "Gnaw Bone Marathon Food and Fuel" might be the greatest restaurant/diner name I have ever heard. Ever.

SC

[Mike McElliott]

Amazing. I grew up in a small town in Iowa in the '50's that not only had the sandwich you're referring to, but it was at a restaurant called "Dynamite" (tho there might have been cute play on words--maybe dine-o-mite or some such). Maybe this "microclimate" was a far-flung archipelago? Maybe someone from Rhode Island emigrated to Manchester Iowa?

[johnnym]

I'm not sure, but it seems like bright red 'natural casing' franks are limited to the the Maine borders. Everywhere else I've traveled, you get a brown or pink hot dog. But everywhere in Maine, they are fire truck red. I think it's cause they are all from Jordan's in Portland.
They taste better than other dogs too, in my opinion. I am biased though, I guess.

[Candy]

In Clinton County New York, mainly around Plattsburgh, the Michigan Hot Dog. Itis served up on a bun that is split on top not the side you can have onions on the top or in the bottom of th ebun. A hot dog and then a very dense chikli sauce. The sauce is rather dry and has a fine crumb to it. a squiggle of yellow mustaed and that is it. Those of us who have moved away head for our favorite vendor first thing when visiting home.

[Sharuf]

What is "chikli" sauce?

[Candy]

chili sauce

[Sharuf]

"Joe's Special" in the SF area. Hamburger, egg, onion, and spinach all messed around together on a griddle behind the counter, while you watch.

[Bob W.]

Joe's Special has made its way into The Zone cookbook. We eat it all the time. Good stuff!

[Evil Ronnie]

Did Joe's Special ever contain potato?

[Sharuf]

Never a potato in Joe's Special. However Joe's Special Deluxe has mushrooms added for a buck more.

[butterisbetter]

is Joe Lebanese? it sounds like classic ingredients for those meatballs, sorry can't remember the name, just prepared and served in a different style.

[Ellen]

In trying to find out more about puddin', which I believe is different from scrapple and goetta, but maybe not, I came across this site by similarly obsessed people. It certainly fits with this discussion.

Link: http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic....

[josephsm]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned water ice yet. I've seen it only in Philadelphia and I miss it very much. It's related to, but definitely not the same as, Italian ices, snow cones or granitas. The texture is much finer. My favorite flavors are root beer and vanilla.

[Melanie Wong]

Thank you for providing this geographic frame of reference. I just came across the term (and the yummy product!) for the first time recently in Palo Alto (near San Francisco), and wondered about it.

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[josephsm]

Interesting, I have never seen anything that purports to be water ice outside of the Philly area. You need to come to Philly and try the real thing and see how it compares. And I need to escape this melting snow sludge and try the CA version.

[john clark]

Southern Maryland stuffed ham -- a whole country ham, stuffed with chopped kale and uh... Anyway it's very good.

Also, what's this I keep hearing about carne asada fries out in California?

[mouse]

In DC, I'd call halfsmokes a microclimate food. You would be hardpressed to find them "east of the park," with the exception of some street vendors. Same goes for wings with mambo sauce and the ubiquitous steak and cheese, though some of these foods may be making inroads into the suburbs.

I'm not too up on it, but would "pit beef" in Baltimore qualify? I think it is only found in certain parts of the city, but I could be wrong about this.

It's interesting, because most popular regional foods start out in a "microclimate" and then gain wider acceptance, while others thrive in their microclimate without expanding geographically.

[Bob W.]

I think pit beef would qualify. It's pretty much found only on the eastern side of Baltimore, mostly in the Pulaski Highway corridor.

Also, while barbecued beef is obviously widely available, it's different in Texas, etc.

[Evil Ronnie]

The charred salami sandwich, a charred slab of salami cut from a kosher style chub salami, on a submarine bun with various hot dog style toppings, at Poochies in Skokie, IL.

[Suzanne]

How about two Baltimore favorites: coddies (cod and potato patties usually eaten between two saltines with mustard); and that city carryout favorite, lake trout (which isn't from a lake and isn't trout - it's Atlantic whiting). Are these found elsewhere?

[butterly]

Whiting sandwiches are pretty popular at DC fish joints, but I don't think I've ever seen it called "lake trout." That's pretty enigmatic, there must be a good story behind it...

[Bob W.]

Baltimore's lake trout belt is a classic chow microclimate, even if it's just the name.

The name could have been created because it sounds more appetizing than whiting (see: Chilean sea bass nee' Patagonian toothfish or Kiwifruit nee' Chinese gooseberries). There's also the possibility - which I just happened to think of -- that the name whiting was just not favored by much of the clientele.

[tbear]

The "hot brown" in certain sections of Kentucky. Don't know how far the microclimate extends. I came across it on a business trip to Lexington.

It is essentially a large mass of cheddar cheese and bacon on top of white bread and tomato slices smothered in some bechamel-type substance, all baked and finished off under a broiler (hence the "hot brown" I imagine, referring to the cheddar crust). Comes in individual casserole dishes at most places (pubs and diners and such). I don't think I'll have it again if I ever return ....