Regional "food quirks"

I am sure that in nearly every area of the country there are things people do with food that perhaps aren't seen or done in other areas of the country.
While growing up in eastern North Carolina and working on my grandparents tobacco farm, one of the things I got accustomed to during work breaks that has carried over into my adult life, was to pour a package of salted peanuts into my coke. Today I still find it both a good treat and a comforting memory of "the good old days". Anyone have any others to share?

[motherof7]

Michigan: Kogels hot dogs and Vernor's ginger ale.

My husband is from NJ and grew up eating Tastykake Butterscotch Crumpets. Still loves them...we do get them here in CA now occasionally. Also banzarottis...a deep fried pizza thingy...kinda like a deep fried calzone. I think they're called stromboli's in MI.

AZ: Cactus Cooler soda...love that stuff from my childhood!

[Das Ubergeek]

Your husband's from South Jersey, I can almost guarantee it -- because where I lived in northern Middlesex County, we didn't have panzerotti (sp?) but if we went to my grandmother's in southern Middlesex County, they were everywhere.

A stromboli in New Jersey is definitely not deep-fried, though... it's pepperoni and sausage and cheese and onions and peppers rolled into pizza dough and baked, then served with red gravy. It's not a calzone, because that's got a different shape and is much bigger.

[Gingerleen]

I'm from Northeastern Ohio and we eat 'Polish Boys' (not Po' Boys) which is a spicy polish sausage in a hot dog bun with coleslaw, french fries and bbq sauce on top.

[Kelli2006]

Gingerleen, I also live in N-E Ohio but I have never heard of this. Where can I try this concoction?

[southern transplant]

I'm from Virginia, born and raised, but I've been living in NYC for the past five years, and man, my friends never stop making fun of the way I eat. I love peanuts in Coke, tomato and mayo on white bread, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, biscuits and gravy, creamed chip beef (oh god, I would kill for some creamed chipped beef right!). When I was little, every night, my Mom and I would crush up graham crackers in a glass and then pour milk in and eat it with a spoon. Whenever I'm homesick, I do that.

I get the most flak for the pouring of the salted peanuts into my Coke, though. My friends think it's the most disgusting thing ever.

[alkapal]

southern transplant, look, the less those yankee "friends" of yours know about good food (i mean, they don't even like biscuits? or creamed chipped beef? or tomato sandwiches? dang!) the more for you, right? just let them keep on thinkin' they are superior! (ask them what THEY ate growing up, and I am certain you will find some humdingers!)

join up with some fellow virginians there in nyc. you are not alone! you need nicer friends.

ps I live in n. Va., and haven't seen the peanuts in coke thing. what area was that popular in? note, i cannot find boiled peanuts here in virginia! ach!

[southern transplant]

I'm from Mechanicsville, near Richmond. But I got the peanuts in Coke thing from my Mom, who was from Beaufort, South Carolina.

And oh yes, my Yankee friends may think they are superior... but they're definitely the ones missing out! Mmm...boiled peanuts...

[alkapal]

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/430248 (Craving Boiled Peanuts

)

Next time you are in South Carolina, get thee to boiled peanuts near Walterboro!
I got the absolutely best boiled peanuts there. Huge, tasty. I wish I had more!
:-(
Just follow my directions in the post. I think savdoug and I were talking about the same peanut place, but maybe not. Try both!!! Well worth the trip off of I-95.

[PDeveaux]

We did the peanuts in the Coke thing in Jacksonville, Florida. Actually, it was my dad who is from North Carolina who taught me.

[sharpie321]

I'm from Philadelphia and it seems that we'll make anything into a "pizza" or "parm" food by adding mozz & marinara sauce. Pizza burger, pizza fries, pizza cheesesteak, meatball parm, sausage parm...anything.

I lived in Dallas for about a year and I remember once trying to order a pizza burger. The waitress couldn't grasp the idea that I wanted mozz & sauce on my burger! She thought I was NUTS!

[eastcoastgirl_westcoastlife]

To further the poutine discussion, as a Nova Scotian I have had many varieties based on region including:

Newfoundland - Chips dressin' & gravy - fries topped with turkey dressing then gravy
New Brunswick - Spicy taco meat, gravy and cheddar

Both so fattening and GOOD!

[kpaumer]

Grew up in PA Dutch country, smashed Utz's plain potato chips, on sweet Lebanon Bologna sandwiches. Soft white bread a must!

kpaumer

[gourmethunter]

I'm not sure this is "regional" but I grew up(near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) on peanut butter and banana on toast...still a comfort food to this day.

Others have covered the poutine thing... in Quebec there's also Tourtiere (meat pie), Sugar pie, and the practice of going to a "Caban a Sucre" or Sugar shack for a "Sap pull": Hot, freshly made maple syrup is poured over clean snow and "pulled" by rolling it onto a popsicle stick. The end product is basically a maple lollipop that isn't quite firm.

[bachslunch]

Spruce beer also strikes me as being peculiar to Quebec.

[joth68]

I haven't seen Brown Bread aka bread in a can outside of New England.

[jeanmarieok]

I can get in the grocery store here in VA, and my mom always had some at home (Buffalo, NY). I agree it's a New England thing, though.

[divamon]

I recently moved to South Carolina and was shocked to hear that they put salt on their watermelon. I can't quite wrap my brain around that one.

[Panini Guy]

I grew up in CT and lots of folks did that, mom and dad included. They posited that "Salt brought out the flavor." I always countered that, "Adding salt simply adds salt flavor." But I was not empowered to set the house rules on watermelon.

[Shayna Madel]

Some people crumble feta cheese with it. Guess that's a salt thing also.

[aynrandgirl]

It's a Texas thing, too.

[clepro]

And apparently a Northeastern Pennsylvania thing, because I grew up putting salt on my watermelon and canteloupe.

[whirlygirly]

Me too, and I got it from my Okie grandpa.

[alkapal]

divamon, have you tried the salt on the watermelon? It is tasty. We we grew up with salt on melons in Florida, too!
(now I do salt AND fresh ground pepper! the Mexicans in Florida use lime juice and salt.)

[alkapal]

have you TRIED it? makes it sweeter!

[Discoethan]

I'm not sure if it's an Indian thing or a wierd friend thing, but a Punjabi friend of mine like to mix Seven-Up and milk... not horribly disgusting like it sounds, and in fact tastes a little like sweetened coconut milk.

[meatn3]

I lived in the gulf coast of Fl. for sometime - Greek salads there always have a scoop of potato salad in the middle. I Miss it! My San Antonio MIL used to make lacy corn bread served with molasses. Made from a very thin slurry of fine cornmeal & water and fried in a griddle - looked lace-like with lots of holes, very crisp & delicious. Spent a bit of time in Japan where pizza automatically came with corn kernels sprinkled on top. Wasn't even a menu option, just came automatically with any pizza ordered. And can't forget liver-mush for breakfast! Another Fl. thing was cream cheese with canned guava for desert.

[alkapal]

This may bring back some of those memories about Tarpon Springs' famous Greek restaurant, Pappas:
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/20/Northpinellas/New_Pappas_opens_toda.shtml
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/18/Nor...

(I grew up in Fort Myers -- loved those Greek Salads!)

[meatn3]

Thanks for the links! I used to ride my bike to Tarpon from Clearwater as a kid to satisfy my cravings for baklava! (Back then you could ride it without courting death...) Not sure why I didn't see this until now.

[alkapal]

i'd sorta forgotten myself, meatn3! ;-)

[foodandscience]

I grew up in Wisconsin... so my dad ate canteloupe with salt and in the summer, ripe fresh sliced tomatoes with sugar. Strange.

My best friend loves biscuits with that white sausage gravy (like from Cracker Barrel but his mom makes is too) covered in sugar. His mom is originally from Alabama. I love salty and sweet but that's gross.

[Betty]

Here in small town/rural central Oklahoma we grew up with hummous and tabouli and cabbage rolls at our bbq joints, which were owned by the extended Lebanese and Syrian families that opened some of the first restaurants and groceries after the various land runs. I just took it for granted that these were "normal" things to go with bbq. My mother (100% British Isles) also made tabouli (in the 60's-70's) because of this. So when I moved to NC, I was not only thrown for a loop by the weird (yet delicious) vinegar-based sauces and the very very bizarre behavior of putting coleslaw ON the sandwich, but the absence of Tabouli was totally unforgivable. So, not a predictable regional food quirk, but when I go to Freddie's in Drumright OK (look up Drumright in petroleum history) and see a roomful of pipeliners with tabouli and hummous and cabbage rolls and even Kibbeh, I smile and think of how odd that would seem to the vast portions of this country who know NOTHING about Oklahoma!

[ThaiGer]

Southern born, So-Cal chick. Absolutely love all of the southern food previously mentioned. Totally miss it except for when my mom makes some every now and then. Peanuts in coke are awesome, as is honey and fried chicken (yum)! I have noticed in So-Cal (at least S.D.) that ranch is used by many people on many things, but IMHO it is not tasty. Most of my friends require it with pizza, even to the point of pouring a whole bottle on freshly delivered pizza before I got the chance to snag my own slice, much to my chagrin. Needless to say I did not get to eat.

I do like:
Chocolate cokes- Normal fountain drink, but it seems everytime I have or mention one of these I never fail to get the ewwww face.

Rice with soy sauce (lots): Not that weird, but when I went to Thailand to visit my mom's family they found this so amusing that they would constantly razz me and even nicknamed me Kikkogit (Kikkoman + my nickname). :-)

Fresh bread with bacon: I love to take a slice of bread and rip it, then ball it up aroud crumbles of bacon. Soft + crunchy + BACON = yum.

Definitely down with the french fries and frosty thing. Didn't know this was something many others did. You guys rock! BTW another tasty variation on the sweet and salty theme that I like a lot is to get a nice fruity blended beverage with lots of whipped cream, then use the whip as a dip for tortilla chips (rhyme not intentional, but what the hell).

[chocchipcookie]

This is so funny reading eveyones crazy food habits!! Has anyone ever tried fries and blue? As in french fries dipped in blue cheese dressing? They are absolutely fabulous. I first tried them in Morgantown WV at a local dive called Wings 'Ole. Go figure?

[Avalondaughter]

I think the biggest "quirks" are what we call things regionally. Do you eat an elephant ear or a pizza fritta (or a zeppole) for example?

My favorite, exteremely local quirk is what we call a big sandwich in my neck of the woods. It's not a sub. It's not a grinder. It's not a hoagie. It's not a hero. It's a WEDGE.

This term seems to only be used in the NYC suburbs (but not in the city itself). I see it in CT (Stamford has a great sandwich place called the Wedge Inn), but it's mostly centered in Westchester.

[tannazie]

The one thing I can think of that is distinctly Los-Angeles-ish is the pastrami / mexican food combo. Many taco stands also offer pastrami sandwiches, and you can even find weird fusions, like the pastrami quesadilla (and by weird i mean delicious).

[salutlemonde]

Super quesadilla special! Wow, it's been a while since I had one of those.

[niki rothman]

In Monterey, where I'll be visiting for a few days starting tomorrow (yay!) you often see restaurants having shrimp quesadillas on the menu - very tasty!

[Barbarella]

I have a friend who is from Virginia and she eats waffels with chicken gravy on them!! NOT
my cup of tea.

[salutlemonde]

We wrap our hot dogs in corn tortillas, instead of hot dog buns (L.A.). This might just be my family, though. They just don't taste right in buns anymore.

[Cat Chow]

Take it one step further, try it Guatemalan style (called a "mixta"). Tortilla, grilled hot dog (or steamed) and guacamole. Yum!!!!

[anicon]

all this talk about sauce on pizza and i can't believe no mention of blue cheese dressing. 10 years after leaving college in upstate ny I still crave this. every pizza place had sides of blue cheese on hand- the dressing not chunks.

you should see the looks i get in queens ny when i ask for a slice and a side of blue cheese. i'm known as "the blue cheese king" at my local pizzeria cause they think it's so weird.

ranch dressing on pizza- never heard of. but blue cheese.... heavenly.

[foodcritik]

I smother Peanut butter, cream cheese, honey, jelly, and add bananas on a everything bagel.

[HungryLetsEat]

Ok...I'm shocked nobody has mentioned Sweet Tea. Being a midwesterner from Chicago...I just about spat out my first sip of sweet tea. Cannot abide the stuff and don't understand how southerners can drink it.

Give me unsweetened tea with lemon anytime.

[ekammin]

In Newfoundland, they have what they call "fish and brewis". This is salt cod and hardtack biscuits that have been soaked in water and boiled. Over this you have "scrunchions", bits of fried salt pork. Absolutely deadly - if the salt in the cod doesn't get you, the cholesterol in the salt pork will. But it's absolutely delicious.

Once you master this, you can move on to seal flipper pie and cod tongues. Both exactly what the names imply and in my opinion (I'm not a Newfoundlander) rather nasty.

[sixelagogo]

Growing up in detroit, my mom made a lot of "city chicken" which was really pork on a stick rolled around in dried onion soup mix (???). It was a big hit amongst many of my mom's lady friends and I remember it featured in some restaurants.

[Panini Guy]

We have a lot of city chicken here in Pittsburgh too. But here it's not just pork, it's cubes of pork and veal.

I don't know how I missed this thread earlier, but I wish I'd still missed it... there are a few tears of sorrow at the thought of a pineapple pepperoni pizza with ranch dressing...

[ktmoomau]

I picked up the Pittsburgh trait of potatoes or fries on salads, the BF really doesn't understand this one...

Also a WV thing is squirrel, although other places might cook it too. Squirrel pot pie, or squirrel with squirrel gravy are two things I have seen/eaten.

[missfunkysoul]

oh my god... city chicken.

they make it where my husband grew up (central PA), and the first time i heard someone mention the name i nearly died laughing.

and then i laughed even harder when i found out it wasn't chicken.....

[Woodside Al]

It's still readily available at Polish butcher shops and restaurants throughout the Detroit area. We had it all the time when I was a kid, although my mother made the German-American version, which contained veal as well as pork. I'm told that it comes from the days, espcially during the depression I gather, when chicken was expensive and hard to find in the city.

[feuerzeug]

What about differences in the Canadian and American versions of popular fast-food chains?

In Canada at KFC, we have fries instead of mashed potatoes, and biscuits aren't available at all.

And Canadian A&W is completely different - only the root beer is the same. Ever heard of a teen or mozza burger? And the A&W's here serve poutine.

I think most Canadians would know what is meant by a double-double: Tim Horton's coffee with 2 sugars and 2 creams (also available as a triple-triple, and so on...)

[revsharkie]

I remember seeing a mozza burger on the menu at A&W in Oregon years ago. Teen burgers were part of the "burger family" that we'd get at A&W when I was a kid in Kansas.

[laliz]

I live in Southern California and I don't like the ever-present ubiquitous ranch dressing on anything. I grew up in NW Pennslyvania and I remember eating bread with milk on it as a child and loving it. I read the list of Southern specialties and realized I really don't like southern food.

[curlykerry]

I used to live in Pawley's Island, SC. Everyone there would eat canned fish or shrimp on their grits in the morning. Waking up to the smell of tinned tuna or salmon is hard to get used to!

[salad man]

in baltimore we had snowballs with ice cream in the middle and "coddies" which started out as deep fried cod fish cakes with a little potato filler/binder but finally became all potato, highly flavored with OLD BAY rolled in cracker meal,fried and eaten with mustard
on saltine crackers as a soda fountain snack.

[RJJR]

I am a MD'er also and I am new to CH so excuse me if I am posting to old threads but I like this kind of conversation. Some of the quirky things I had growing up:

Coddies - yes I loved them but with coctail sauce and crackers not mustard. Never did eat much mustard in our house

Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches with UTZ potato chips and a big glass of Ice Cold Chocolate milk made with Bosco. COuld also be PB and B with Smuckers Strawberry preserves.

Peanut Butter and Bacon sandwiches

Usually when having Roast beef or anything with Mashed Potatoes on the side, I would have a nice slice of bread, biscuit, or some kind of bread and butter and always had to put some mashed potatoes on the bread.

My mom used to make dressing for Thanksgiving and would always take some on the side and make patties out of them and bake them for my father - well of course he did not eat them all, he would share with me and yes we also had sauerkraut with TG dinner.

Easter dinner was always ham served with my mothers "Baked Pineapple" which I have since learned is basically a Pineapple Bread Pudding. Always had Pickled Beets and Eggs, I loved the eggs would not eat the beets.

Christmas dinner was not always the same, but I had to have my moms Food Processor type of Cranberry relish, with orange and sugar.

My favorites for Breakfast were any type of gravy and biscuits, Sausage Gravy, Creamed Chipped Beef or Plain cream gravy. It could be toast also, but we felt extra special when we had the biscuits. Two other favorites were scrapple and eggs or Cream of wheat. My mother fixed it with sugar so it was kind of sweet, and then she would serve it wit a couple of pats of butter melting on the top.

[SweetPhyl]

Okay...southern coastal girl here...

Gotta have Crumblin' In...cornbread crumbled into a tall glass, fresh buttermilk over the top, liberally sprinkled with salt. Dee-Lish!

Love my Bloody Mary's with Old Bay Seasoning and TONS of horseradish.

Old Bay on fries, potato chips, hash browns and even as a rub for pork ribs or chicken.

Peanut butter, banana and Miracle Whip spread on Wonder Bread.

Fried greeen tomatoes

Pepper vinegar on greens.

Malt vinegar on fries...got the idea as a child eating at H. Salt Fish n Chips. Definitely an English thing.

Grits...all day long, breakfast, lunch or dinner...they are delicious and a staple!

Salt on watermelon and grapefruit.

Cider Vinegar as a dipping sauce at crab and shrimp boils.

Pig Pickin's...slow cooked over hickory wood, no sauce required.

Charles Chips sugar cookies...they don't make them anymore yet as a kid, they would deliver 'em to my house.

Oyster Roasts...over a charcoal grill, with drawn butter, cocktail sauce, horseradish and tobassco. Bring your own bib.

LA hot sauce in a cold beer.

Fried chicken with honey.

Biscuits and white gravy

Red Eye Gravy

Sweet Potato Biscuits and country ham. . . ohmy!

God, I love being a southern beach girl...we've got the best of both worlds.

[PhoebeB]

Mercy Maud, and I thought I was Southern! I guess I could call myself a "southern beach girl" too, though the beaches are in Maine and it's clam & lobster bakes instead of Oyster Roasts.

Biscuits and cream gravy. Another Southerner (Georgia native) and I got our heads together for a recent brunch at our little Maine church and decided to show these Yankees what good food is. She brought the biscuits and white sausage gravy and I brought garlic/spinach/cheese grits. I thought three or four of the young (Yankee) men (and one displaced guy from Miss. who married a Maine girl and hadn't had any Southern cooking in years) were going to make themselves sick. Three or four helpings of everything. One man who was so full his eyes were bulging leaned back in his chair groaning in pure bliss and said, "Do you guys really eat like this all the time?"

Fried chicken w/honey: my Georgia daddy poured honey right on his chicken. I settle for taking a bite of chicken and a bite of a biscuit dripping honey.

Red eye gravy, nectar of the gods. Isn't is amazing how the flavors of coffee and smoked ham compliment each other? That's SW, I think: cattle-drive chuck wagon ingenuity.

Salt on watermelon/cantaloupe/grapefruit. My parents/grandparents always did it but I've never developed the habit. They taste too good just the way they are.

Grits. Did you read the long recent thread about them? Some great ideas.

Malt vinegar on fries. I too learned that from eating fish & chips in London. It turned me on to malt vinegar, which I now use for lots of things.

Fried green tomatoes I never tasted in Texas, but I've sure had to learn how to make them here in Maine where the first frost sometimes comes before more than a handful of tomatoes have ripened. My basement floor in the early fall is always spread with brown paper grocery bags covered with green tomatoes. Amazing how tomato-y and good they taste when they do ripen. Why don't grocery store tomatoes that were picked green ever ripen to have any taste? They stay yellow and hard inside no matter how ripe-looking the outside is.

I've never tasted sweet potato biscuits. Do you have a good recipe?

[Sam Fujisaka]

P...B, what wonderful accounts. Such a pleasre to read and to savour at a distance.Thank you.

[PhoebeB]

Sam, you are a sophisticated and cosmopolitan cook. Do you ever do Southern dishes?

[Sam Fujisaka]

PB, thank you! That is a very kind thought.

The South has great and diverse cultural and culinary traditions. Unfortunately, the only dishes that I do now and then (that I think are southern but that I know are probably not all that genuine...) are a chicken and sausage gumbo, a chicken and tasso jambalya, a Kentucky burgoo, fried okra (something I really love), Hoppin' John, and cornbread.

I really wish I could get together with you and people like Candy to learn how to do Southern.

[PhoebeB]

How did you like the burgoo? I tasted some at a Derby party once and wasn't impressed; never tried to make it.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Funny--my thoughts exactly. Burgoo as I know it is just chicken and beef stew--but with okra and succotash, good touches to me and the reason I would make it if/when I can get okra. I've heard it is a Derby food, though.

[chocolatetartguy]

Would this be a variation on Brunswick stew?

[PDeveaux]

First time I've heard somebody mention hoppin john and cornbread. It's a New Year's Day tradition in the south and you're supposed to have collard greens (for good luck).

[gaylenwaydelich]

Native LA, CA (please don't call me "cali") observations -

PInkberry aka Crackberry aka Stinkberry green tea fozen stuff (can't call it yogurt per FDA) with coco crispies and kiwi. I wanted to hurl when I heard that combo called out. I only go fot the mochi - rice cake topping and fresh berries.

Salsa fresca with eggs or breakfast foods. No Pace only fresh.

Honey and fried chicken. As a kid I always put the honey "sauce" on my KFC chicken and not the rolls - this is before they had biscuits. I still do it to this day to my daughters chagrin.

Ranch is considered a condiment in these parts - just like ketchup. Been eating it as long as I can remember, and I'm in my late 40's. I've actually heard some dumb chick ask for a side at a sushi bar! Had to be a tourist. Ranch is excellent with fries. similar to having aioli with frites. Chocchipcookie below has just recently discovered blue cheese fries! You poor deprived soul. I've been to WV so I usnderstand completely. ; ) If you ever have the chance to come to LA you must have the blue cheese fries at JiRaffe in Santa Monica. Not only is Rafael Lunetta one of the finest chefs in the country - he is HOT! You might have seen him on Top Chef last season as the surfer dude guest judge.

[chocchipcookie]

I know!! And waiters look at me like I have 2 heads when I order a side of bleu with just about everything that is dippable, especially fries. Right night I am dipping my white pizza in Ranch (a close 2nd-oughta bleu) as we speak.:)

[Foodie in Friedberg]

I don't know if it is regional or just something we ate in my family, but two things I haven't seen since I was a kid (and moved away from New England): cream cheese and jelly sandwiches and cran-orange juice (just half and half).

In Texas it was juice from the jarred jalapenos poured over popcorn, and fried pickles.

And I do love the mayo on fries now that I live in Germany (the mayo is different from what I grew up with, though, so I'm not sure I'll be continuing with this after returning to the states).

[PhoebeB]

Mercy! Where in Texas do they do popcorn w/jalapeno juice and fried pickles?

[Foodie in Friedberg]

San Antonio for the jalapeno juice on popcorn. I had a coworker who kept a bottle of jalapenos in the fridge for her afternoon microwave popcorn. She would put some of the jalapeno pieces in the popcorn along with the liquid... I didn't care for that, but the juice on the popcorn is actually tasty. Give it a try next time you pop up some corn!

The fried pickles are from the Hill Country, just north of San Antonio; I'm not a huge fan of pickles in general, but love them fried!

[PhoebeB]

Well, I guess that makes sense. Fried pickles sounds like a German delicacy and the Hill Country was settled largely by Germans; jalapeno-anything in San Antonio that's heavily Mexican.

How do they fry pickles? In a batter, whole, sliced horiz., sliced vertically? Dill pickles, I assume?

[Foodie in Friedberg]

I've been in Germany a year and a half now, and have yet to see pickles served - fried or otherwise. Someone probably came up with the idea one day when they had a surplus of hamburger pickles and wanted to move them. They were in a light batter, which stayed on pretty well.

[kindofabigdeal]

Fried pickles for sure, but I think that's a cajun (or creole, I don't really know) thing. I love pickled jalpenos but i don't think I would eat popcorn with any liquid poured over it.

[Eat_Nopal]

No melted butter?

[kindofabigdeal]

i should have clarified... I was thinking of a water based liquid. fat is good.

[PhoebeB]

Must be far East Texas. They do all kinds of strange things over there. :o)

[PhoebeB]

Delete. Posted on wrong thread.

[tomself]

Shrimp and grits for breakfast. Low country South Carolina. Even the IHOP in Charleston has it on the menu.

[noisejoke]

What a fun thread! On the Southern corn breakfast thread, what's up with the Fried Mush? When I was on the road (musician) I always sought out the Denny's that had it, and they weren't easy to find. Never seen it anywhere else in the country, certainly not in the Northeast.
I loved me some Fried Mush. Always been a big hot cereal lover (American, commercial) - Cream of Wheat, Cream of Rice, Grits, various oatmeals, etc. But when I was a kid staying over at my paternal grandparent's in Brighton Beach, my gramma would make me Wheatena with sweetened condensed milk! Yow! They always put that in their coffee too. Funny how my parents and I drink it strictly black.
Oh, yeah, in NY old coffee vernacular seems to be dying with all the Starbucks, and trendier coffee shops erupting over the last couple decades, especially since there are so many things to put in your coffee to make you forget you're drinking coffee. And I guess you prep it yourself. But back in the day a Regular Coffee (in the ubiquitous Greek Cup) was with milk (not cream) and two sugars.
For places that do prep for you I have to say "black, no sugar." Two times.
I guess we'll never not have coffee stands (carts) with buttered rolls (poppyseed or plain) or Egg on a roll. In Jersey they got Taylor Ham n' Egg on a roll.

In the Jewish Brooklyn to Long Island household of my youth average "desert" on a weeknight was coffee and old fashioned skinny Chow Mein noodles made by Mee Tu with the racist charicature on the weird box that opened with a flip top. Either that or coffee with matzoh and butter. With the threat of heart disease from a diet based on years of shmaltz, the noodles, and matzoh/butter made way for just matzoh.
My mom was/is a great cook but my dad did two things we both shared usually on a weekend afternoon: A one minute egg with matzoh, salt and pepper in a coffee cup; and fruit (bananas and berries ) with sour cream. Kinda Jewish, I guess.

[vermontpoet]

A Vermont woman I know told me that when she was recovering from cancer, that the only food she could stomach was shrimp and grits that her Southern husband made especially for her.

[mhiggins]

I know there are quite a few spots in New Orleans with the fried pickles (including fried pickle po-boys). I also used to find them in the Mississippi Delta.

[cmkdvs]

Growing up in southern Maryland (also tobacco country) I can identify with a number of things mentioned (sauerkraut at Thanksgiving, salt and pepper on cantaloupe, salt (I don't _think_ I remember anyone who used pepper as well) on watermelon. I don't recall running across Old Bay on fries, though.

Our real and really local specialty, which I don't think exists/existed anywhere else but Charles and St. Mary's counties, was stuffed ham as a feature of Easter dinner. This wasn't done with a cured country ham, but a corned ham. The stuffing was "greens" with mustard seed and properly some level of hot pepper seasoning; the traditional green available that time of year was dry land cress, which I guess is a smooth-leaved wild mustard since it looks like the mustard that blooms in Napa in the spring. More refined versions (I love "watercress" as we called it, but it was apparently a challenge to cook the ham stuffing well enough to avoid a stringy texture) substituted at least part kale or cabbage.

[Ed Dibble]

Yuma's distinctive culinary tradition would be wet burritos - also called burritos saddle style (?) or burritos enchilada style. Basically it is a burrito topped with green or red sauce or topped with more of the guisado filling (like red or green chili) and some cheese. These are available at both the old school places and newer Mexican eateries.

One new place in town is a branch of a small chain from Mexico. Sitting in there shortly after they opened, I heard some locals order a burrito and ask for it wet. The waitperson looked at them as if they were speaking some weird language. She'd never heard of such a thing.

ed

[hannaone]

Haven't heard wet burrito for a long time. Used to get them in El Centro, not far from Yuma.
Tried to order them in El Paso and got something called a smothered burrito that was simply seasoned shredded beef rolled in a small flour tortilla and covered with a seasoned brown sauce. Tasty, but not the same.

[Humbucker]

Wet burritos are pretty common in the San Francisco bay area, too.

[kindofabigdeal]

I'd never heard "saddle" style. That's clever.

[paoconnell]

I ate in a Yuma restaurant once (don't remember the name) that was probably an "old school" place. What you call a wet burrito is a "smothered" burrito in New Mexico. Of course it's red of green (or "Christmas," which is some of both sauces). NM red and green is much hotter than what I got in Yuma.

I also remember getting good burgers at a bar downtown whose name I don't remember (it was on the downtown "mall") that had stuff suspended from the ceiling, and weird and wonderful 60s era pictures and posters on the walls.

[piferoen]

as a Belgian I eat my Belgian fries with mayo, now I'm living in Maryland and ad also old bay spice on them

[Eat_Nopal]

I was having trouble thinking of L.A. food quirks (and no I don't anyone that ever puts ranch dressing on pizza)... and one of the posts reminded me of what I presume is a distinctively East L.A. thing....

Most of the old school East L.A. restaurants (the original Tepeyac, La India Bonita & others) typically were grounded in Tex-Mex / Cal-Mex menus with a some authentic Mex-Mex flavors & dishes.... and they would serve every dish with a basic salad of finely shredded lettuce topped on one half with 1,000 island.. on the other with a mildish smooth Tomatoe-Jalapeno salsa. Inevitably you would mix the two up... and the result was pretty good in a 1950's Tuna Casserole type way.

[PhoebeB]

Most Tex-Mex places in Texas garnish every plate with a pile of the finely-shredded iceberg lettuce mixed w/ some small-chopped tomato and red onion.

No dressing, though the fancier ones sometimes put a small scoop of guacamole on top of it. You just kinda mix it in w/the enchiladas/rice/beans. Still my favorite way to eat Mex. food.

[kindofabigdeal]

I've grown up in TX and for the longest time I never touched the salad, then one day some got inextricably mixed up in the beans. What a fabulous combo.

[PhoebeB]

Yes, a great simple fresh taste and bit of crunch. No need for the additional flavor of salad dressing with all those wonderful flavors already on the plate. And it looks so pretty served that way.

[bitsubeats]

How about old bay on french fries in maryland? I also must must must have old bay sprinkled on my popcorn

[Sarah P]

Back when I lived in Overland Park, Kansas my friends and i always use to order beer with a glass of tomato juice and we would mix both together and add some salt. Delicious!

I am a found fan of eating almost everything with ranch dressing! Especially Pizza and now that I live in Chicago everyone looks at me very strange when I eat pizza.

[tmontauk]

Ooh! As former Jersey girl who has moved to St. Louis the thing I miss most is Chicken Francais (or as I called it as a kid Chicken F). My mom makes it for me for my bday every year. It's nothing special but growing up eating in North Jersey diners -- it's the food of my youth. Do they even have this outside of Jersey?

[caliking]

Sam F: Actually I'm in Iowa. There's good eats around here, so we can still hang out if you're ever in my neck of the woods:)

[Sam Fujisaka]

Was just kidding, but thought you were in California--which some posters have taken to calling "Cali".

More appropriately, I'm going to give your savory french toast a try tonight. I'll use my own blend of Indian spices along with garlic, onion, and tomatoes.

[nurk grl]

What IS Chicken F?!

[KaimukiMan]

Went to a funeral today and they had a real twist on some local favorites. It was a chili-con-carne and brown rice casserole topped with fried spam slices and melted cheese.

The disturbing thing was, it tasted realy good.

[PhoebeB]

We did the same thing in Dallas in the 50s, only it was Dr. Pepper and a nickel handful of Tom's Peanuts from one of those red dispensing machines.

[PAnhandler]

I'm originally from Central Pennsylvania. Here are some "quirks" from PA:

Already mentioned - Ketchup on eggs

Salt AND PEPPER on cantaloupe (I catch a lot of grief for this in NY)

Honky Eggs (also Hunky Eggs, Honky/Hunky Potatoes) - an omelette with onions, green peppers, and ham with home fries cooked into the omlette.

[Candy]

When i was a kid in the south and youu could still get real buttermilk a great treat would be a tall glass of cold buttermilk with crumbled cornbread from the previous nights supper crumbled in. Eaten with an iced teaspoon of course. It is not lost to me, that cultured stuff is nothing like what real buttermilk was.

[PhoebeB]

Candy, that was my Texas parents/grandparents favorite light supper after a heavy dinner. Some of them liked the cornbread crumbled in sweet milk, others in buttermilk.

(Sunday nights most often since our biggest meal of the week was "Sunday Dinner", i.e. Sunday after-church lunch. In Texas and Oklahoma at least, the big meal of the day was always called dinner and--esp. in farm country --was the noon meal. The evening meal was always called supper, whether heavy or light. The only time the word "lunch" was ever used was at school or for summertime noon sandwiches.)

[ryocat]

When I was a kid (Austin TX area, not too long ago) "cornbread and milk," preferably fresh, hot cornbread w/ honey on top, was a big treat for breakfast.

Common traits food quirks I've noticed among Texans:
They put Rotel tomatoes in everything.
When out of the state, they will always complain about the lack of Blue Bell ice cream.
"Coke" refers to any soft drink.
Breakfast tacos (usually in a flour tortilla, eggs + any of the following: chorizo, cheese, potato, bacon, refried beans, breakfast sausage) are ubiquitous.
Picante sauce or salsa on your eggs, none of this catsup nonsense.

I've only seen this in Austin: queso w/ black beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo in it, yuuuum! popular post- drinking snack. Where else do ya'll have this?

[PhoebeB]

You've nailed it. Rotels in everything. Everything but the kitchen sink in queso.

Only thing you forgot is how we complain about the lack of Dr. Pepper, even while traveling in Tibet. (It's generally understood in Texas that when Texans ask for a Coke they mean a Dr. Pepper.)

[kindofabigdeal]

That's a good list of quirks. The Blue Bell one has always puzzled me. It's good ice cream, but that good? It's kind of like the Texan 20 something male's bond with shiner bock. However, I would never expect a Dr. Pepper if i said coke. I would expect a coke. I would ask what kinds of coke a place has.

[PhoebeB]

That WAS a slight exaggeration about "Coke" always meaning DP, though we never drank anything else either in the home I grew up in or in my own home. When we started vacationing in Maine back in the late 60s we had to bring a 6 wks. supply with us from Dallas. Now it's most everywhere up here..

Bluebell is good, but I like Breyer's as well or better. The Bluebell flavor everyone is nuts about is the Homemade Vanilla, which is the cooked custard kind I've never liked because it doesn't have the clean cold taste & texture my mother's had.

She made 2 crank freezers of ice cream every other summer night when we were kids (alternate nights we had watermelon), and she never cooked it. Four eggs whipped frothy with 1 1/2 C. sugar and pinch of salt, add several C. of whole milk and a TBSP of vanilla extract, pour into can and add milk to the 2/3-3/4 full line (depending on whether you're going to add fruit). Crank until you start feeling some resistance, take lid off and add a pt. of heavy cream and maybe bananas or peaches or strawberries or crushed peppermint sticks. Cover again and crank til you can't crank any more even with a child sitting on a pillow atop the freezer, remove paddle and lay on platter (huge squabble about who gets to clean it w/a spoon and lick the platter), plug lid hole with wad of waxed paper, cover with brown paper grocery sacks/ice/blanket. Have supper, eat ice cream, lick spoons sadly when it's all gone, wait for Mama to say, "Well, the freezer's still cold and I might as well mix up another batch".

We could eat only about half of the second gallon and Mama packed the extra in ice trays covered w/wax paper and put it in the tiny freezer compartment of her pride & joy Frigidaire. There is NO sweeter moment in life than waking up on a muggy already-85-degrees August morning in pre-AC Dallas and remembering that there is PEACH ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!

Breyer's Natural Vanilla/Natural Peach/Natural Strawberry taste more like Mama's than any commercial kind I've tried.

Black beans in queso are fabulous. I make white queso with green chile, black beans, Monterey Jack cheese (and of course Rotels :o). Can't get real Mex. white cheeses here in Maine, but if you add a little flour when you saute the onion/garlic/chile the MJ works just fine.

[RaiderCake]

Here here, Ryocat! And breakfast tacos (or breakfast burritos, here in Lubbock) are available any time of day, not just for breakfast.

[PDeveaux]

In north Florida, we grew up calling the meal eating at noon on Monday through Saturday "lunch". But on Sunday, we had a big meal right after church (noon) and called it dinner. On Monday through Saturday, our big meal was in the evening and it was called "supper". On Sunday night after church we had sandwiches or leftovers from "dinner" and didn't really call it anything. Weird.

[hrhboo]

I know a lot of people in the Middle East who only ever eat breakfast cereal with hot milk, including Cornflakes, Rice Crispies etc.

[archangelcat]

South Dakota oddities: Rocky Mountain Oyster Feeds, usually only rural manly men attend, I've never imbibed, but it is deep fried beef testicles, to put it poliely. They drink tons of beer with it to try to forget what they are eating, I think.

A funny nomenclature, I've moved to the west coast, but still call a sloppy joe/barbecue a tavern, which is what they're called in SD, anybody else call it that? Taverns used to and some still do serve these free on Fridays to bring in the customers.

Milk Toast - my dad ate this when he was feeling not so good, with lots of butter and salt and pepper, hot milk, not bad.

Hot Dishes - so funny - lots of church cookbooks reference ChowMein as "Ethnic" Chinese dishes that are basically hamburger, celery, rice, soy sauce and ChowMein noodles.

And my all time favorite - RED BEER - 90 percent beer (preferable bud on tap) with a dollop of tomato juice, plus salt.

[veganish]

I think you notice these things more as a kid, because you're horrified to find out that families do things different from your own.

I was HORRIFIED as a first grader to see people order hot dogs for lunch with ketchup.

At summer camp, I'd never seen anyone put sugar from a bowl on cereal.

Or ketchup on noodles (they were from upstate NYC, I was from Italian-dominated Jersey).

I didn't even see cream sauce on pasta or mac and cheese till I was a teenager, and I still despise the stuff.

I don't 'get' ham with sticky, gooey toppings--never ate it.

I have seen lots of cream cheese and jelly omplets in NJ diners.

And a nearby deli still serves beef briscut between 2 massive potato pancakes--like it as a kid but can't imagine injesting it now!

[Candy]

at Fiesta in San Antonio my white bread sister who was pretty food phobic got intrigued by the "Bull Fries" that were being grilled and ordered some. She gobled them up quickly and went to find her husband to come try this, best steak she had ever eaten. When he informed her of what she had eaten (testicles) "she turned a whiter shade of pale" but ordered more. Maybe those rural manly men are trying to keep them all for themselves.

[RaiderCake]

Rocky Mountain Oyster Feeds! Hilarious! Because I'm from Texas, and we call them calf fries. And the event in which people come out and eat calf fries (like a festival, nearly, usually involves lots of beer and a concert) is referred to as a Calf Fry. There are about 200,000 people in my hometown and we have 2 different Calf Fries every year, put on by 2 different organizations. And they're surprisingly good, if you dont' think too much about what you're eating! :)

[whirlygirly]

Oh my gosh, I haven't had calf fries for years! Now I want some- anyone know where I can get 'em around Kansas City?

[daguttgrl79]

I have been reading this topic and postes and am really enjoying it! My family and I are from all over the globe, with mum from Hong Kong, Dad from Philippines, and we lived in both places, then Switzerland, and then in Florida and now Texas. I have observed a variety of food quirks throughout the years that my family members possess and I do partake on some of them. I have noted the interesting food habits below that I have observed from others and some of them I do myself. Here they are:

French fries and milkshakes - this one is the first one I think of because I never saw a french frie until I was 10 years old, and then met someone later when I was 17 who actually dipped his french fries in his chocolate milkshake - this blew my mind!!!! I still haven't tried it but I'm intrigued.

Saltine crackers dipped in milky English sweet tea - we grew up doing this as my Chinese side has the British influence and therefore drinks their tea with lots of milk and sugar. My great-gran and I used to spend our mornings dunking salty crackers into the steaming, milky, and sweet tea. I still have fond memories of it, but it's been years that I've done it.

Rice and ketchup - okay, sorry to offend anyone but this grossed me out. When we first moved to Houston we met a family and the kids would pour the stuff all over their white rice that had been already loaded with butter!!! I thought I was going to be ill, but my Chinese mother looked as if she'd seen a demon and nearly spit with rage. I haven't done this myself, but I will never forget seeing these kids that grew to be friends of ours eat this way. In fact, this family possesses numerous food quircks just amongst themselves that I should just write a book about! Great people, but crazy food. I shouldn't talk though since I'm sure some of the stuff I eat would scare people also... I digress.

Sweet pastries dipped in Siracha sauce - my brother and I compete with each other on who can eat the spiciest food and so far I have take the lead. Through our battles we discovered that Siracha goes really nicely with fortune cookies and other sweet items like egg tarts. Yes, strange but anyone who likes sweet and spicy might like it.

Siracha and Ketchup or Salsa - I love making my own sauces and lately I've been mixing Siracha with everything from Ketchup, to Salsa, and even with some Ranch for that extra kick. I'm a rooster sauce nut!

White bread and milk - my grandfather used to do this at night after my grandmother went to bed and I still haven't seen anyone do it since. He would take regular white bread, like Wonder Bread, and spread some margerine on a few slices, mush them into a large mug, then pour cold milk all over it and eat it like some sort of strange bready-mush. It weirded me out, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has even heard of it.

Coke and Milk - not a coke float, but just Coke with regular milk poured and mixed with it. Not as sweet as a coke float since there is no ice cream, but a very refreshingly strange drink that I've seen people enjoy and then tried myself. I haven't had one for years but enjoyed it when I did.

There are so many others that I've seen but I better take a break for now....

[thinks too much]

A friend of mine referred to the Coke and milk combination as "Dirty Dishwater." It's all right, but not something I would make for myself. I remember seeing this on "Laverne and Shirley" as a ridiculed drink.

One of the points issues that this topic seems to be blurring, is the line between a personal quirk and a regional quirk. Ketchup on eggs in most areas seems not to be standard, but at the same time, not unusual. Milk over day-old chocolate cake as a breakfast treat I would classify as quirk of the women of my family, and certainly not representative of any region we have lived. And cheddar cheese on apple pie tends to be a northern New England thing.

Contrast this with spiedies, a food I've heard of nowhere except the Binghamton area. Fish tacos are starting to appear on the east coast over the last 5 or 6 years, but I thought that they were very regional to Southern California earlier and have only recently begun spreading. So many regional quirks may diffuse with time

[KaimukiMan]

On Laverne and Shirley it was Pepsi and milk, for some unknown reason much more popular than Coke and Milk. Ive also seen Dr. Pepper and milk

[daguttgrl79]

I've notice that since I've been living in the U.S. that I have a hard time determing what any regional foods are since it seems like you can get pretty much everything, at least here in Houston. That has been my experience and I feel pretty lucky to be able to sample foods from all over the place, but I never know if it's coming from a place or a person. I've put ranch on my pizza and I'm not from California and that just came to me one time on my own. French fries have always tasted better to me with other stuff on them, and I've enjoyed it all from vinegar, to more Ranch, to gravy, to mayo, to honey mustard, to siracha, and more. So I guess that makes me wonder since I'm not eating everything based on the region and just based on taste, would that not just make it all personal preference? I know that we eat a lot of kolaches here in Houston and none of my brothers and sisters in other states know what those are. They are not exactly regional though because they originated from Czech or Poland, but either way they are really popular in certain ares of Texas. They even have a kolache festival in Caldwell and I went one year and they played Polka!

[sarahvagaca]

Well, the U.S. is made up of people and cultures from all over the world. Still, one can have experiences like yours, daguttgrl. There was a huge influx of people from Czechoslovakia into Houston, TX so that's why there's an availability of kolaches there. Whereas I have lived in D.C. and now live in L.A., both very international cities, and I only recently heard about kolaches and have never tried one. So, kolaches may not originally be from Texas, but they have become part of the regional food landscape there now!

[CrazyOne]

Too funny. My grandparents (dad's parents) came to this area (Pittsburgh) from what was then Czechoslovakia, and they weren't the only ones. Last I knew this area has the highest concentration of Slovak population outside Slovakia itself.

Now I don't know if the kolache is more Czech than Slovak (sometimes different even though there's plenty of overlap), but either way the funny thing is this area had no availability of kolaches until about 5 years ago when a woman moved from Houston and opened up this shop http://www.cafekolache.com/

So kolaches are from Houston, of course. ;-)

[geg5150]

So funny. My brother lives just outside of Shreveport, LA and my parents live there part of the year. My dad kept going on and on about this new donut shop called LA Donuts, says how great it was -- the regular donuts and the kolaches. He was surprised that I knew what a kolache was. Well, he forgot my boyfriend is 1/2 Polish as is one of my best friends. When we were home for Christmas, we came down one morning after a night of drinking to hear dad yelling that he "went to LA Donuts and everything's warm". The BF and I ran downstairs and grabbed a fabulous donut and then moved on to a great ham and cheese stuffed pastry -- kinda like a croissant, but not exactly. Dad asked how we liked the kolaches. We told him we hadn't tasted them yet. As he walked in and saw us eating the ham & cheese pastries, he says, "You're eating one now!"

So, this donut place in Shreveport, LA is serving a ham & cheese croissant and calling it a kolache. Did I mention it's owned by a Filipino family? Go figure.

[dagoose]

Hahaha, this made me laugh because so many of these have happened in my house just by chance. My mother makes a stir-fry she swears by using soy sauce and ketchup, and when we ran out one day, it became ketchup and siracha--Sirachup. sometimes when there is only a little Siracha left, we use the rest to create a bottle of sirachup.

The white bread and milk, funnily enough sounds basically like bread pudding...change the milk out for egg and cook it, and that is what you have...as a love of bread pudding, I think it sounds fabulous!

[caliking]

In India it is common to to dunk bread (sometimes buttered) in tea or milk and eat it.

Here's a new one (not mentioned in this thread yet): Until I went to college the only French toast I knew was the kind my mom made - crack egg(s), add salt + pepper + cayenne (maybe green chilies), dip bread in the mix and cook, eat with ketchup (preferably spicy). For some reason I was never exposed to the sweet kind of French toast eaten with syrup.

I was enlightened in college when I offered to make French toast for breakfast for my rommmate and myself. He took one bite and nearly choked. Since then I've actually come to like the sweet French toast :)

[hrhboo]

I prefer savory french toast too, and always make it that way! I especially love adding herbs or chopped scallion and frying in butter.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Wow, never thought of savory French toast. Makes sense. We should get together since I take it you are in Cali (Colombia).

[hannaone]

At a US Army post near Inchon Korea, the pizza served at the NCO club had seasoned condensed tomato soup as the sauce.
The spicy taco was topped with red leaf lettuce, shredded Daikon radish, and diced fresh kimchi. Man that was good.

[Vexorg]

Another thing I've noticed on a couple of recent trips to Utah is that a significant number of non-chain burger joints (most notably Crown Burger, although I'm not sure if they were the ones to start it or if they just followed along) seem to also include a fair number of Greek dishes (things like Gyros and Souvlaki) on the menu. I can't think of anywhere else I've been where you would go to a burger joint for Greek food.

[madgreek]

The explaination for this is simple. Many greeks own restaurants (and they're not all Greek resto's).

[sarahvagaca]

Hey, my dad does the peanuts in Coke thing!! In fact, I previously posted about it here on a thread about strange foods that only your family eats. I figured he'd learned it somewhere, but I wasn't sure where. If it's a Southern thing (which I suspected given the two ingredients!), he must have picked it up in the Army.

[KaimukiMan]

Spam Musubi has been mentioned a couple of times already (along with shave ice). But the real crowning glory of "fusion grinds" in Hawaii is the Loco Moco. Take a generous scoop of rice, top with a hamburger patty smother entire heap in brown gravy and top with a fried egg. Oh, forgot to mention this is primarily a breakfast dish.

We also have "plate lunch" generally consisting of some type of protien - anything from teri-beef to spagetti - served with two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. It is not uncommon to get brown gravy over the whole thing... including the macaroni salad. My friends used to order "chili spagetti" with rice and a side order of garlic bread - and that was years before the Honolulu marathon was born...

Chili here is almost always served over rice. And while we are talking about chili...nothing like a healthy spoonfull of mayo mixed into your Chili to really get it to stick to your ribs. Mayo and shoyu (soy sauce) used to be a pretty common salad dressing - not so much anymore, replaced by the ubiquitous "ranch".

[Sam Fujisaka]

Fadda side from Kaneohe. All you say just good normal food, bruddah. Mix mayo and shoyu for steamed artichokes. Mayo and mustard for steamed asparagas.

But what about poi? Real poi eaters eat it sour. Novices and haoles use sugar.

[lulubelle]

New Haven style pizza aka clam pizza. I had it years ago in San Francisco at North Beach Pizza and was never able to find it again until I visited New Haven years later. It's amazingly good.

There is a now a place here in Chicago called Piece that serves it, but it is a pale imitaiton of the real thing.

[Main Line Tracey]

The South Jersey area has muskrat festivals. The muskrat is a water-dwelling, ferret like creature. I haven't tasted one, but they say that it tastes like dark meat chicken, only slightly oilier.

Taylor ham and scrapple are also big ones.

[hotteacher1976]

Scrapple is a Philly thing

[Woodside Al]

Muskrat suppers are also found in southeatern Michigan south of Detroit. Especially during lent. Very similar swampy area to southern New Jersey.

You find scrapple all over southeastern Pennsylvania, south Jersey, and northern Maryland. You'll also find it in Mennonite & Amish parts of the midwest where people have come from PA.

[DockPotato]

If I order a bowl of Chili anywhere in Ontario, it probably comes with 2 pieces of hot buttered toast. When I order toast with my Chili in the States it seems to cause a stir.

Last week I saw something I haven't seen since the days of "Ladies and Escorts Only" - you know the old Ontario draught rooms, with stacking chairs, round tables and 15 cent draught in bell-shaped glasses? The guy next to me at the bar shook a pinch of salt into his pint. The tables in those old draught rooms always had a salt shaker.

[MMJ]

Upstate NY- Spiedies. Not found anywhere else that I've found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiedie

The first weekend in August is always "Spiedie Fest" weekend, which my husband fondly refers to as The Festival of Meat.

[ajs228]

I've never heard of those, but in Rochester (Up-up-state NY) we had Zweigle's white hot dogs. I've never seen white hot's anywhere else.

[toodie jane]

are they veal sausage like bockworst? very yummy. actually sort of light grey. very juicy.

[ajs228]

No, they're pork, but un-cured and un-smoked with no nitrates or coloring. Take a look at this: http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/guide....

[vermontpoet]

Speaking of Rochester, NY .......Sal's Birdland brings back so many college memories. A Sal's Bird is a half a (scrawny!) deep fried without batter chicken served on top of two slices of supermarket style white bread with a side of bland macaroni salad. The bird was topped with Sal's sauce...an amazing hot sauce that was equally hot and sweet. A macho guy thing was to order a "swimmer" when the chicken and whole darned mess was drowning in the sauce. Another macho thing...was for the guys to challenge each other to drink cups of the sauce and see who could refrain from the cooling slice of bread the longest.
We had a saying that on days when the sauce was extra extra hot (addition of more red pepper flakes) that Sal's wife hadn't "given him any" the night before.
A friend of a friend of a friend who worked there, "liberated" the secret recipe...and I still make that sauce on occasion for chicken, ribs, Kraft mac and cheese...(when totally broke!). Wings cooked with that sauce always get me rave reviews when brought to a party.

The rival to Sal's was Country Sweet.......a chicken wing/rib joint that used a similar sauce...but lighter on the hot...heavier on the sweet. I liked Sal's better, but Country Sweet was closer to my BF's apartment!. OMG I miss Rochester so much some times! Or do I just miss the college kid type food??
Also.......Bay and Goodman pizza.......mmmmmmmmm they overdid on the toppings ....so much so that each slice was an embarrassment of riches!

I could go on and on about Rochester food...but I'll end with .........

COs (a college term of ours for Culinary Orgasm.......forgive us ..we didnt' have refined palates at all) from the honey mustard salad dressing with bacon at Waterworks. I asked for the recipe once, but it was never the same when I made it!

[ajs228]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the infamous Garbage Plate. There are at least a dozen variations around town, but the original is from Nick Tahou's. It's a meat, usually either two cheeseburger patties or two hotdogs, covered in fried potatoes, macaroni salad, onions and spicy meat-sauce.

[princess43215]

In Youngstown, Ohio some restaurants would serve the "spinning bowl" salad. From what I remember the ingredients were loads of blue cheese or blue cheese dressing on chopped iceberg lettuce with a ton of croutons. It was then "spun" somehow to make every piece coated. Looking back it was a fattening mess but a memory I look upon fondly. Plus there was a secret ingredient I never figured out.

Also, you can get Italian wedding soup anywhere in Y-town. Restaurants that weren't even Italian.

It also had Brier Hill pizza, which was a white pizza with sliced peppers.

[rochfood]

my dad is from the midwest..he is 86..and he always ate bread and milk...that is bread crumbled up in a bowl with milk poured over it like cereal. I have never seen anyone else do it. I grew up in NJ and learned to eat ketchup on eggs from phiily kids in college.
plus..i love ketchup on hot dogs..that is my own regional specialty. funny to me when people get all concerned about that.

[monkeyinthemiddle]

wow my italian grandmoher use to do this
milk on crusty italian bread or oil/oregano with water on crusty bread

[ArikaDawn]

In Southern IN where I grew up most people put only ketchup and mustard on hot dogs. There were no other toppings available at most places with the exception of relish. Never before this board did I realize this was so sinful a practice. Had the locals where I was raised seen people putting things like onions and jalapenos on hot dogs they probably would have thought them bizarre.
It's interesting for me to ponder this now, that in a dominantly German area, I lived within miles of towns such as Daubstadt and Haubstadt, sauerkraut was never even considered.

[jbd]

I grew up in California, where my friends and I would dip our McDonald's French fries into our chocolate milkshakes.

My mom grew up eating peanut butter and mayonaise on white bread.

When I moved to the South, I'd dip my French fries into feta cheese dressing and put salt in my beer.

[lollya]

oooh good one fries in the milkshake - has to be chocolate!

[jbd]

It's absolutely chocolate! It's been far too long since I've done this. I think I need to remedy that.

[italyinmind]

I used to dip my fries in a Wendy's Frosty...such a blast from the past! I didn't grow up in Cali though, so it must not be totally regional.

[mbfergie]

I love to do this. Now my daughter does it, after years of thinking it was gross. It's the salt/sweet thing that I love.

[vermontpoet]

My daughter also does the fries in the Frosty thing. I always thought it was pretty disgusting, until I tried it...wasn't half bad! Not something I'd do often...well ever..since I very very rarely go to Wendy's and never order Frosties myself.

[Eat_Nopal]

In my East L.A. neighborhood there was a Liquor / Convenience store that did a good amount of after school business. They had a whopping 6 video game machines (unmatched any where in the neighborhood)... and four tables. Most snacks were of Mexican origin plus hamburgers & hot dogs. One of their most "interesting"
and delicious concoctions was to serve skinny, salty fries with a side of chopped up deep fried chocolate pudding pie.... what a combination!

[PDeveaux]

My dad, who grew up in North Carolina and then moved to Florida, used to eat peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches on white Dixie Darling bread. I'll never know how he got that unstuck from the roof of his mouth!

What a wonderful topic!

The Midwest -
On Thanksgiving, my Ohio relatives always, always, always brought Three P salad (peas, pickles & peanuts in mayo on lettuce) and persimmon pudding.

The South -
My southern belle grandmother always served white rice w/sugar and butter as a *vegetable*.

Orange County, Southern California -
In the day when there were more orange trees than people, there was *Orange Ice*. A small wooden booth by the side of the road next to the home adjacent to the orchard would be manned by a member of the family. They would squeeze some fresh orange juice and pour it into a cup over hand-chopped ice chips.

Hawaii -
The chinese brought char siu bao with them (pork buns) and it became manapua. Every day, the manapua man would go through the neighborhoods, with a bamboo pole on his shoulder, swinging two pots on each end, one containing hot charcoal and the steaming buns above.

Kalua dog. The Hawaiians raised a special breed of dog that was the preferred meat at luaus. With the European invasion, that practice became frowned upon and went underground.

When my hubby was growing up in Hawaii, his best friend's golden retriever disappeared one day. A bit later, they found the collar and dog tags at the bottom of a fresh imu pit.

They did get their revenge, though.

I'll take the bait.

How did they get their revenge?

A lot of houses in Hawaii were/are still built up on stilts. The luau was a party to celebrate the housewarming for this brand new dwelling.

The house was very expensive, floored and furnished with a lot of local and imported hardwoods that were the pride of this family.

My hubby and his buddy went out and found a very large, termite infested log, transported it to the property, and when the house was empty, strapped it up to the underside of the house, out of sight.

Within a year, the house had to be torn down.

In Baltimore metro area

Thanksgiving Tradition Sauerkraut
Keilbasa

I never have but many oldtimers use to drink their
draft beer with a raw egg....
Also have had many a "Bloody Monkey" beer and tomato juice

In san francisco yoou can get indian pizza. pizza with indian food and chees smushed on top of it. I think that might be a regional dish

[John Manzo]

No, you can get "Punjabi pizza" all over Canada.

A guy I used to work with, from Kentucky, used to drink half beer, half lemonade, with ice in the summertime. Two great tastes that do NOT taste great together, in my humble opinion!

In the UK beer and lemonade is a "Shandy" not sure of the proportions though.

And in Germany (Bavaria, Munich to be precise), this combination (well, lemon drink I believe), is called Radler -- very tasty IMO -- course that might be only in germany with fresh helles beer.

I've tried to re-create it here, and I just don't get the wonderful flavor I remember. Guess I'll just have to visit Germany again.

[starlady]

Shandy's are popular in England, it's not quite lemonade that's used though and it's only a third of that to 2/3 of beer (ish)

[atheorist]

You need gourmet lemon soda, not too sweet like regular commercial soda, or imported Italian lemon soda. Do not bother with Sprite, etc. Plain beer like Molson Canadian or Narragansett will suffice.

[C70]

yes, but in the UK, lemonade is sprite or 7up. We're talking lemon juice here.

[hrhboo]

It is neither Sprite nor 7-up. It is a carbonated beverage but it isn't as sweet as either of these. I've never seen it on tap in this country.

Eeeew! And, I thought I was brave to try my Keith's concoction of beer and V-8 juice.

Years ago we had dinner at the home of my husband's co-worker and she made spaghetti for us. It was made with tomato sauce and topped with salted peanuts which we were told was a very common accompaniment to spaghetti where they came from. This was around 25 years ago and we think she was from somewhere like Ohio or Chicago. Anyone ever heard of salted peanuts on spaghetti?

Michigan (and no doubt elsewhere)

Vernor's Float (Vernor's with Icecream scoops)
Pickled ring bologna in a jar
Northern MI (UP specifically) Pasties.

I love Vernor's. Can anyone tell me if it can be found anywhere in New Jersey?

And Vernors with vanilla ice cream is a "Boston cooler," for some reason. I doubt you'll find 'em in Boston, but they're mighty good.

Oh, yes! Pastys. My mom ( a CA girl) said she first found them in the South (Georgia) when she was in College. She made them a few times (in CA) just to show us what they were. Really good. And portable, too. Though, I never really had a need for "portable" food in those days.

[lulubelle]

You can buy the pickled ring bologna at some butchers too. My friend brings it home from Grand Rapids sometimes when he goes to visit his family.

Everyone I know in Poland put katchup on both their pasta and their pizza. Although i have tried it and it isn't so bad, it isn't a trend I think I will pick up anytime soon.

[Jeters]

My dad was talking about growing up in queens with ketchup on his spaghetti in place of tomato sauce. *gag*

Excellant thread. I have also done the peanuts in
coke and ketchup in eggs, scrambled eggs, omelette
etc growing up in the 50's and 60's In school we
used to have coke & peanut fights, putting the peanuts
in (hmm), covering the bottle opening with your thumb,
shaking it, and releasing the thumb, with the bottle
in the direction of the target -Messy and stupid, no
doubt.

Bob W. your chow mein sandwiches priced at $ 0.15
back in 1974, while I dont know if this would qualify
under the regional foods quirk or not, as kids,
growing up in Pakistan, there used to be these coconut
sellers who would come around like clockwork every
afternoon on a donkey cart, laden with freshly picked
coconuts. You bought the coconut, then he would take
a pick-axe and deftly shave off the fibres at one end,
chop the end to open the nut, and with a spoon (made
from the chopped skin) you would first guzzle down
the coconut water, return the coconut to him which
would then be cut into two equal half-cups which you
then used the spoon to eat the fleshy part of the nut.
Cost: $0.01

I think some of these guy's are still around today
but the cost is probably around $0.40

Amin,
You are often impressive in your accuracy and detail. Now the invention of peanuts in Coke make a little more sense.
Thanks.

QQ
Amin,You are often impressive in your accuracy and
detail. Now the invention of peanuts in Coke make a
little more sense. UQ

Hey kc girl, just saw your above response.
you are one cool girl (guess the ''c'' in kc
represents ''cool'' -right ? )

I think coke does rock with peanuts in it -try it.
LOL2U2

Coffee milk in Providence.
Egg creams in NYC.
Old Bay Seasoning on everything in Philly/Delaware.
Mild sauce in Chicago. (Like a tangy ketchup/BBQ mix)

I love it!

If you're ever in eastern Canada, specifically Nova Scotia, and you're drunk, try a donair. It's a pita stuffed full of mystery meat shaved off a rotating vertical spit, topped with onions, tomatoes and sweet donair sauce (usually containing Carnation milk, vinegar, and sugar - absolutely nothing like tzatziki). Some donairs are much better than others. I'm not sure if gyros or doner kebobs are similar.

People on Cape Breton Island also like fried bologna with their breakfast. They bake "brown bread" containing molasses, not bran, and "porridge bread" containing leftover oatmeal.

A traditional South Shore dish called "tongues and sounds" contains the tongues and lungs of codfish. Fried cod cheeks are another delicacy!

"Pork pies" are actually filled with dates.

Green tomato chow-chow is a typical condiment. Traditionally, it was served with salt herring and blue potatoes. Mustard pickles are always served with corned beef and cabbage.

~Food Tourist

Forgot to mention that donair meat appears on just about everything out here in Nova Scotia fast food places. It's used on pizza and subs and I wouldn't be surprised if it turned up in soups and salads.

~Food Tourist

I've been following your posts about "donair" meat (waiting to see if someone knew more than me) and I have a feeling that they are probably using the pre-processed "gyro meat" which is made in Chicago by Kronos . Especially as you mentioned Donner kabobs, that's a Turkish version of gyros, but made as shish ke bob. Not a bad product for what it is. It's either sold in 4 oz portions ( beef only I think) or single 1 oz slabs (which are beef and lamb). As I said, if you go into a deli or such and they have gyros, this is what you are getting, it's pretty good, and the food cost is so low it makes up for anything else they loose that day. Here in New York, they sell gyro meat, or other pre-cooked meat toppings like chop meat or sausage, which are made for the pizza trade: Mexican or anyone will use also, and there is nothing wrong with it. There is little chance of food poisoning. I also still know a FEW places that will buy a leg of lamb, marinade it and put it on the vertical rotisserie, but they are few and far between. The health inspector will be watching them like a hawk.
Anyway, Kronos also sells the Tzaiki sauce which is refrigerator stable for at least 6 months, so even if you're not into Greek cuisine, it's an easy thing to add to your menu, just to have around.

Tzatziki as made correctly will not last 6 months. Yogurt, cucumber and garlic.

I know, it's scary!

[thenurse]

The first donair I had was in Berlin in 1990. I've since seen them all over Toronto, and elsewhere, but not at pizza joints, etc. I believe(d) it to be of Turkish origin, since that's what I was told in Germany (lots of Turkish immigrants).

[kindofabigdeal]

Turkish via Germany, like much of our Indian food is Indian via Britain.

[thenurse]

I'm not sure who/what you're referring to as 'our', but I live in Little India in Toronto, and the Indian influence is from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. No brits here (yes in Toronto, but not this neighborhood). I think originally (pre-1980's) there may have been some british Indian influence, but that's long gone since a large influx of SE Asian immigrants.

[kindofabigdeal]

Sorry, I meant all the Indian I have had in the U.S. Usually its just "curries" and doesn't represent the culinary diversity of the subcontinent.

reading down, there are lots of posts about french fries, or, as we say on the other side of the pond, chips. in ireland, we eat them with everything - ketchup (red sauce), mayo, but most of all, LOTS of salt and vinegar - all Irish and lots of Scots, English and Welsh do this. we also eat chips in sandwiches - a chip butty! another speciality, really good after a few pints, is a 3 in 1, 1/2 fried rice, 1/2 chips (thick cut fries), drenched in a curry sauce that you only get in chinese take-aways. on really bad days i add a good spinkle of grated cheddar cheese!

The 3 in 1 sounds truly disgusting!

I am WITH you on the chip butty drive!!! Fresh FRESH white bread, smothered in salted butter; put hot, fat chips (fries) on one half, cover with Ketchup and fold over... a drunken favourite- also works with sausages, black pudding or fish fingers

I don't know if this is regional. I grew up always putting ketchup on my eggs at breakfast. I've seen others do this, but I've gotten a lot of people actually grossed out by it too. How common do you think this is?

My mom does it; she's a born and raised NYer. Has to be Heinz, of course. I think it's pretty widespread.

here in ireland, i know lots of people who do this, especially at breakfast time, and if the egg is part of a fry-up (eggs, sausages, bacon etc), but personally, it makes me gag!!

In Japan and Korea, a favorite breakfast food is omelet rice-consisting of fried rice, topped by plain omelet over which you'd smear ketchup. I have no clue why they eat them this way but I always opted out of the ketchup.

I just remembered this from a long ago road trip: in Springfield, MO, cashew chicken includes chunks of fried chicken. Surprisingly tasty.

from toronto/ontario/canada

Ketchup on Kraft Dinner (macaroni & cheese)

A Ceasar (like a bloody mary but with clam juice (clamato))

Beer & Clam (3:1 beer to clamato juice)

Pad Thai in Toronto has a ketchup based sauce

Ketchup flavoured potato chips

Toronto style bagels (doughnut shaped bread, baked and not boiled)

Low fat chocolate milk (they use 1% around here)

Sadly, it sounds like were ketchup crazy up here!

Ah, a moment of lyrical enlightment for those of us down south.... BNLs 'if I had a million dollars'.

BLOODY Caesars (aka "Caesars") are a Calgary invention, The Owls Nest resto in what is now the Westin.

Calgary also gave the rest of Canada ginger beef, Silver Inn Chinese resto, sometime in the 1960s. I like ginger beef only as an appie, like fried shrimp.

According to clamato.com it was invented at marcos in calgary.

According to about.com it was invented at Caesers palace in LV.

Your story is also different. what is the truth?

[John Manzo]

About is full of crap- it's not even known in the states. What rubbish. Clamato is correct since Marco's was set to open at the hotel and the drink was created at O.N. to commemorate.

To clarify (from wiki):

The cocktail, known in the U.S. as a clamdigger, was invented by bartender Walter Chell at the Owl's Nest Bar in the Westin Hotel in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1969, to accompany the opening of a new restaurant, "Marco's". In its original form, it contained tomato juice and mashed clams; Clamato had only just been released (with the assistance of Chell) by the American Mott's company that very year, and was not yet widely known or available.

[thenurse]

Not everywhere in Toronto uses ketchup for Pad Thai... only the pubs and nasty Thai places! I'm about to have some at Salad King on Gould, no ketchup there (thankfully!)

[RaiderCake]

Monte - my family's Bloody Mary recipe calls for Clamato, which everyone thinks is weird (we're from TX) (And yes, we it a Bloody Mary, not a Caesar.)

We also drink Beer & Clam, but we just call it "Red Beer" and it generally has lime juice in it.

Molasses and milk.

I don't know if this is just a New England thing or if my mother is just an oddball. She loves this.

In Vermont, it's odd to go to a community event in Feb or March that doesn't have Sugar on Snow.

[ctflowers]

My mom always served me molasses and milk when I was a kid...and we lived in Georgia.

-R

Berkeley : brown sugar offered with the other stuff at the "cream & sugar" area in a cafe

Asian enclaves/markets in CA: pandan flavored(they're green) waffles eaten as a "to go" snack

everywhere in CA: Ranch dressing with everything...pizza, fries, sandwiches & even salads

New England: you can have your coffee sugar & creamed for you in the drive through at Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin Donuts: the donut with "the handle" built into it's design for dunking

East Coast: coffee milk concentrate sold next to the Nestle Quick. Their milk shakes are just that, not with ice cream, those are called a frappe.

The original "dunkin donut" was, IIRC, eliminated along with the real cruller and a couple of other hand-formed doughnuts a couple of years ago, much to the sadness of NE doughnut lovers.

Speaking of NE, in Rhode Island when you want a coffee with cream and sugar you ask for "coffee regular."

I've noticed this in New York as well. Funny, when I think of "coffee regular" I think of black.

I suspect that in RI at least, coffee with cream and sugar is the bridge between coffee milk (milk with coffee syrup, which is delicious) and unsweetened coffee.

The end result is a state full of people who are addicted to coffee before they are out of their teens.

I agree, the name is odd. But then again, so is RI.

[ctflowers]

I've lived in Connecticut, and I've never heard of the "coffee regular" thing. Although, I have ordered "regular" coffee, and I just get plain coffee.

-R

[Woodside Al]

"regular" coffee in NYC definitely comes with milk (not cream) & sugar.

[thenurse]

Same as in Canada, or at least Southern Ontario.

No! You're kidding! Dunkin Donuts is also all over Chicago; I loved the funny-shaped donuts as a kid even before I knew they were for coffee.

In Minnesota they stuff turkey with a ground meat mixture called 'hot dish' rather than traditional stuffing/dressing

[starlady]

Ah yes, but what is "traditional dressing"
Yet another thing that I "believe" is regional.
Like my Mum's (and I haven't seen this anywhere else)
Bread crumbs, S&P, milk, lots of savory and finely chopped onion.

[PhoebeB]

Interesting question, "..but what is 'traditional dressing?'.

The first Thanksgiving at Plymouth featured wild turkey with cornbread stuffing since corn was the only grain they had But cornbread/sage dressing somehow came to be considered a Southern thing. No one I ever met in New England or most anywhere north of the Mason/Dixon line (I and three of my daughters married Yankees and we've spent the last many years in Michigan and New England) ever thought of making it with cornbread until they tasted ours.

Wonder how that happened?

[ctflowers]

I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia & we always had cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving. I can't remember ever having stuffing made with bread until I moved to Connecticut.

-R

Midwesterners use salt or sugar on sliced tomatoes and salt on watermelon. Salt on grapefruit.

In California, we squeeze lime on melons, probably originated in Mexico.

And fried pork rinds always eaten with salsa if not cooked in red chile.

Cooked greens...I prefer a little vinegar but many like hot sauce. Where are these preferences used?

My impression is that vinegar on greens is Appalachian and hot sauce on greens is more Deep South.

People all over the south use hot pepper vinegar on their greens. Also on red beans. Hot sauce is for everything else, especially grits and eggs.

[mhiggins]

And french fries and hash browns.

More of a snack, but eating Louisana Hotsauce (not Tabasco) on deep fried pork rinds.

Yum...

I don't think anyone has mentioned this one...I lived in Seattle for a while and it seemed that everyone dipped french fries (and any other fried thing) in tartar sauce.

I used to eat that at Bistro Francais in Georgetown in the 70s. They made their own tartare sauce and it was an awesome combination.

In Baltimore, they serve fries w/gravy.

Okay, don't get it.. Fries with vinnegar? (usually malt vinnegar) Not that unusual if you've ordered fish n chips in a pub.

Not to mention the tartar sauce that can get on your fries too!

Fries + gravy has, for as long as I can remember always been around (20+ years).

Add some cheesecurds, and voila, poutine!

At Taco Hell here, you can get "Fries Supreme".. ground beef, cheese, sour cream and onions over fries instead of nacho chips. (I DO find it odd that you can't get fries in american taco bells tho!)

Fries + mayo, while not as popular, everyone has heard of at least.. (you can get fry mayo at the dutch grocery store)

Nobody said that these things were new or unusual. The thread was about things that may be popular in some parts of the country, but may get you strange looks in other parts (like peanuts in Coke, as the original poster began with).

in the taco shops of san diego (also spreading north into OC & parts of LA) there are "california burritos" filled w/ carne asada, french fries (or chunks of potato), cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa mexicana/fresca. "carne asada fries" are fries smothered with the above, minus the tortilla.

[ExercisetoEat]

I'm a Pacific NW native, and pretty much can't eat fries without a side of tartar sauce. It's quite unhealthy, but oh so addictive! Now my SO is hooked too...you should see the looks you get in the Midwest when you ask for a side of tartar sauce with your burger and fries! =)

[Vexorg]

I do this fairly often (I suspect it's something that originally probably came out of the fish-and-chip places like Ivar's) although I haven't ever noticed it to be something that would be peculari to the Pacific Northwest. The fries they serve at Red Robin are particularly good with tartar sauce though.

[chocolatetartguy]

Didn't know that others did this, but steakcut fries are the perfect vessel of Tadich Grill's (SF) tartar sauce. After the fish, it seemed like the logical way to get more of that great sauce.

Poutine...fries with cheese curds and gravy. Originated in Montreal, now everywhere up here.

Buffalo Burgers on Bannock at UBC Museum of Anthropology, UBC Cinnamon Buns and Ponderosa Cake!

Malt vinegar on fries, Salmon everything, Maple anything, and of course, Dare Cookies.

Growing up in SC, we looked forward to Saturday's at a Pete's Drive-in where we would order a chili-cheese (cheeseburger with chili--no beans--mustard and onions) and an order of half and half (half french fries and half onion rings).

Boiled peanuts at the ballgames...and some friends would swear by fried bologna sandwiches (YUCK!)--with mayo and ketchup and a cold RC Cola and a Moon Pie.

Is "SC" to you South Carolina? or Southern California. Because we have the same things at Tommy's - chili burger- same way - no beans, mustard and with onions (and a tomato) and half and half.

Here in North Carolina , if you order a hamburger "all the way," it will come dressed in mustard, coleslaw, chile, (no beans), and onion.

At home in hawaii, we mold rice into a rectangular shape, fry sliced spam in teriyaki sauce, put it on top of the rice rectangle and wrap it with nori (seaweed). And there you go, spam musubi!
We also eat a lot of shave ice, I suppose it is similar to snocones except the ice is shaved down to a powdery consistency and served in a cone or cup with azuki beans and condensed milk on the bottom, topped of with a mound of shaved ice and a generous squirt of syrup, such as li hing mui or rainbow flavor. So good when its burning hot outside!

i was wondering when anyone would mention spam musubi. my mom used to fry them up with eggs for lunch if she was pressed for time.

I noticed a hotbox full of those spam and rice things at a 7-Eleven in Waimanalo. My friends there say it's the Hawaiian version of a hot dog. They're not bad.

I don't think this is necessarily regional, but when I was a kid growing up in upstate NY, my mom always ate watermelon with bread. She said she'd learned to do that from her grandmother, a Sicilian immigrant.

Growing up in Texas, I got used to chicken fried steak that was real steak, dipped in flour and pan fried and of course the potato wedges had white gravy on them as well as the steak. In Missouri where I am now, if you order chicken fried steak, you usually get what I call a deep fried fritter which is not nearly the same. I do miss those chicken (or country) fried steak dinners!

[PhoebeB]

If I were on death row my last meal would be a real Texas Main St. cafe blueplate special chicken-fried steak, with mashed potatoes, thick creamy peppery pan gravy made w/the skilllet deglazings, green beans cooked butter-tender w/salt pork and onion, a couple of slices of ripe beefsteak tomato on the side.

I'm making me cry.

[starlady]

I have always wondered WTH is CHICKEN fried STEAK? I don't get it. Is it chicken or beef. Is it chicken made to look like steak? Is it steak battered and deep-fried like chicken? PLease explain....thx

[Foodie in Friedberg]

It is steak that is dipped into seasoned flour, egg wash, then back in the seasoned flour, then pan fried until golden and crispy... and when the steaks are done cooking you make cream gravy in the same pan.

I moved to Texas when I was 15 and didn't try it until I was nearly 30.... to be quite honest I was scared. A native Texan friend of mine heard that and made up a batch for me... and while I LOVE hers I'm still scared to try it anywhere else!! Her husband lvoes when I come to town because she makes up a big ole' batch for me.

[kindofabigdeal]

CFS can be very good or very bad. It should be clarified that it's usually a fairly tough steak (perhaps a round) tenderized, then prepared as mentioned. Also, by pan fried they mean in shallow oil, not just oil to coat. Since it is work intensive many restaurant versions are deep fried and use a packaged gravy. This is not a true CFS.

[starlady]

PLEASE tell me that most of the oil from the pan is poured off before the cream gravy is made??
Also cream gravy? I have seen a white-ish "gravy" on telly and wondered
a) what it tastes like (looks a little scary to me, but then so does CFS)
b) what is in it?

Gravy to me is...well...brownish in colour (for lack of better descriptors)

[kindofabigdeal]

Yes, most of the oil is poured off. Just enough is left to make a roux (not that anyone making it would dare call it that). The primary flavor in the gravy is from the fond and often copious amounts of black pepper. Instead of stock or broth as a liquid, you use milk. If the gravy is nearly white, you'll know that they've used a package gravy. Proper cream gravy will have gathered enough color from the fond to be nearly light brown. That gravy you've seen on the telly is probably the same thing.

[niki rothman]

The French word "roux" would be in common usage in the Southern parts of the US anywhere where the Arcadian (Canadian) French who were expelled from Canada by the British background Canadians settled after their forced diaspora many years ago. This is why some of the best cooking in the US, which is heavily French influenced, comes out of New Orleans. Chef Paul Prudhomme, one of my herores, in his wonderful cookbooks, gives instructions for making the several different types of roux that result from the length of time and level of heat at which the fat and flour is fried. The lightest being blond and the darkest being a very, very dark brown.

[thenurse]

I think you mean A-C-A-D-I-A-N-S

[niki rothman]

Hi, I'm a nurse too!
I looked up both words and Acadia is now more common, but Arcadia was the first spelling, according to the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography" given by an early explorer, and survives in place names in Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Louisiana - all as one might suspect given the sad dispersion of the French Canadian outcasts. The Arcadian spelling is seen less frequently than the Acadian spelling, but is actually, in terms of etymology, the more authentic spelling, according to Wikipedia, refering to the beauty of the trees in the area reminding early settlers of the Ancient Greek Arcadia. Similarly many place names in the New World reference names from Greek mythology.

[Eat_Nopal]

And you consider yourself a CH?

Anywaaaaay.... I interpret the name as a Hamburg or similiar Steak that is cooked in the same technique as Fried Chicken... "Chicken Fried" the adjective describing the technique.

So there is REAAALLY nothing to worry about. Even in East L.A. I grew up with the occassional CFS.. particularly in a sandwich.

[Foodie in Friedberg]

I suppose I'll have to live with being voted off your chowhound island.

I'm not a huge red meat eater, and when I do eat it I want it to be good. The reason I avoid chicken fried steak in a restaurant is the fear of grissly meat is hiding under that heavy crust.

[Eat_Nopal]

I apologize on behalf of all CFS fans... I can't remember the last time I have encountered any perceptible grizzle on a CFS (should be same quality meat as a burger... interpret that as you will).

[Foodie in Friedberg]

It was probably an irrational fear on my part since I have no hard evidence of anyone hiding shoe leather (or worse!) under that crispy coating. And since I I do love the stuff but would hate to burden my friend with being the sole source of CFS for the remainder of my life, I might just give a restaurant version a try next time I'm in Texas.

[Betty]

This exchange was amusing and appreciated. CFS is the official "state meal" of Oklahoma (as if our legislature has nothing else to deal with). I almost never ever order it in a restaurant, for all of the reasons listed above by others and, for one, nobody will ever make it like my mama did., nobody will ever make gravy like my daddy did. I don't use the "right" cut of meat for it myself (I use arm roast, I know, shocking isn't it!). But when it is done authentically and WELL, it is a delicious, satisfying dish made from a poor cut of meat and made for people who have been doing manual labor all day. I recommend only Del Rancho for the sandwich version (Braum's if Del Rancho isn't available) and "Granny Had One" on Harrison St. in Guthrie OK for a slightly different but well done version (they change their menu regularly so I'm guessing it is still there) and RJ's Cafe, 4221 N. Santa Fe, in Oklahoma City for the classic "cops and state capitol workers' lunch" version. (The state of Oklahoma would grind to a halt without RJ's and Leo's, although it would be hard to tell)

[oryza]

lol... it muddled me too; and then I kind of figured it out... until the day my friend ordered "chicken fried chicken" at a restaurant

Not so much a wierd-thing-to-eat but...

I took an Ohioan buddy of mine out to eat in Baltimore. Of course, she ordered a crabcake. The octagenarian waitress asked "how you want that crabcake, hon?" This means; do you want that fried or broiled?

Not knowing the protocol, my friend answered "medium rare".

My paternal grandparents were from a shtetl in Russia called Kipula (not sure where it is). My dad grew up in NYC, eating boiled veal with lima beans. Never heard of this anywhere else

In Israel, in addition to great falafel and shwarma stands, there are juice vendors selling fresh squeezed juices. One I found especially refreshing was pomegranite juice

In sweden, you get mashed potatoes with your hotdog instead of a bun, topped with either sweet mustard or ketchup and fried onions. plus, when you order pizza, they streak it with pre-made cheese based "sauce" that is squeezed out from a tube-much like toothpaste.

i also knew a girl from Michigan who made Thanksgiving yams with marshmallows.

I don't think marshmallows and yams is all that quirky. Actually I think more people prepare them that way!

Then you haven't left your region. I've never heard of this practice so it must be regional ;)

Or perhaps it's just not in your region. I've lived in New England, Pennsylvania, and the NY tristate area, and have friends in the deep South, Florida, Midwest and the Texas area who all make sweet potato or yam casseroles with marshmallows.

Me too. I thought it was as common as green bean casserole. Actually, aren't they supposed to be served together?

[thenurse]

I had never heard of green bean casserole or yams and marshmallows until I lived in the Midwest (I'm from Toronto). I don't miss it since moving back!

.... with canned pineapple mixed into the mashed sweet potatoes!

[starlady]

I thought it was only on TV... :)

Got it here in CA too - don't forget the brown sugar....

[lollya]

hahah! (minneapolis here)

we've always had them that way (butter, brown sugar and topped with marshmallow or that marshamallow fluff) ish...i quite disliked the sweet potato/yam/squash deal altogether until i tried it with just butter and honey. delicious!

[othervoice]

I'm from New England and I lived in California for 25 years.....lots of people make yams with marshmallows.....seen it many places. I don't particularly like it, but lots of people do.

"i also knew a girl from Michigan who made Thanksgiving yams with marshmallows. "

Doesn't everyone? :)

Kevin

Link: http://www.nolafoodie.com

BTW - sweet potatoes or yams? I think sweet potatoes are the orange flesh/red skin and yams are the yellow-white flesh/rough brown skin.

Actually no. What is sold in the American supermarkets as Yams are really sweet potatoes. I think it was the Louisiana growers who wanted to set their sweet potatoes apart from all of the other states sweet potatoes and started calling thiers yams. A true yam is a different plant species and not widely available in the US, but if they are they are found in ethnic markets. They have more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have fewer amounts of vitamin A and C. There are over 150 varieties and are mainly cultivated in Central and South America. The flesh can be white, yellow, purple or pink and the skins are off white to dark brown. They can range in size from the size of a regular potato to up to 150 lbs.

thanks candy. :) very thorough explanation.

i gave up calling yams sweet potatoes when i moved to canada...as they, when in Rome...

[starlady]

What would you do with a 150 lbs sweet potato? That's one big potato party

[Sam Fujisaka]

Here's a reply from a couple of years later. The biggest sweet potato producer is China. Much of it for livestock feed. Orange fleshed sweet potato is good in providing pro-vitamin A to developing children.

[PhoebeB]

I think "Yam" came to be a Southern catchall term for all sweet potatoes because it's short and catchy--as "Coke" was the word for any carbonated drink when I was a kid in Texas.

My mother called them yams until she died last May at age 97. And though we know better my kids and I still debate the best way to fix the Thanksgiving "yams". (I'm of the whipped-with-orange juice/orange zest/nutmeg/Five Spice school and the grandkids, of course, are of the marshmallow school.

We compromise by doing them my way with a generous layer of mini-marshmallows on top so the non-mm contingent can just dip from underneath the topping.

[therealbigtasty]

Older folks in Indiana call Bell Peppers "Mangoes"...it's true.

[Sister Sue]

PhoebeB, no self respecting Mississippian would ever call sweet potatoes yams. They are properly called sweet 'taters. "Yam" is not part of my Southern upbringing. Why Sugar, a Mississippi town, Vardaman, even lays claim to the title of "Sweet Potato Capitol" of the world. And, each March southern humor writer, Jill Connor Browne, marches in her full "Sweet Potato Queen" regalia in the St. Paddy's Day Parade in Jackson. She is just darlin'! Now Honey, if you are ever in these parts around Thanksgiving, come and have some of my famous (at least within my family) sweet 'taters with bourbon and pecans. They'll make you slap yo' momma, they're so good!

[niki rothman]

Well, OK Sister Sue, they are both sweet potatoes, but if you want the ones with the dark purple skins (which most people outside Miss. call yams) instead of the light tan skinned ones we call sweet potatoes and you need to send your husband to the store with a list, what do you write on it so he brings home the right thing?

[Sister Sue]

Beauregard is the variety primarily grown in Mississippi. It is tan skinned. That is the only variety that I have ever found at the state run Farmer's Market that supposedly only sells state grown goods in Jackson, where I buy most of my produce. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen anything other than tan skinned ones at the grocery store. I have only found the purple skinned sweet 'taters when I have gone to N.O. or Atlanta or somewhere else out of state.

[niki rothman]

OK Sister Sue, I'm assuming then that you would just call this entirely different vegetable "purple skinned sweet 'taters" if you needed to specify?

[Sister Sue]

Well, Niki, yes. That is what the vegetabel is. How do you differentiate?

[niki rothman]

Sweet potato=the tan skin with light orange inside, more starchy, less sweet.
Yam=dark purple/maroon skin, darker bright orange inside, less startchy, sweeter.

[hotteacher1976]

the yam is an African root veggie

[vermontpoet]

When i visited Switzerland and went skiing in the Alps with a bunch of Swiss High School students (I was in HS too at the time..a zillion years ago..eek) our mid-ski snack served outside on picnic tables halfway up the mountain...was baguettes with pate that was squeezed out of tubes also like toothpaste. Our apres ski snack was always chunks of good Swiss chocolate on baguette washed down with pitchers of hot sweet tea. mmmmmmm

Some Northern NJ specialties

At a diner you definitely order cheese fries and (brown) gravy.
Also, I have yet to find taylor ham anywhere else but in Northern Jersey.
Sloppy Joes - a Northern Jersey deli specialty, not taco meat on a bun. A triple decker sandwich consisting of turkey, roast beef, and corned beef, cole slaw and russian dressing

Taylor Ham is from Trenton, and is found all over NJ, not just in the north, you are right on the money about the sloppy joes though.

In Western Maryland and into southern PA they serve "steamer" at auctions and church bazaars. It's vaguely spiced ground beef served on a hot dog roll, but without tomato sauce like a sloppy joe. Looks similar to Roseanne's "loose meat sandwich." I don't recommend it.

That sounds like what I grew up calling a "gutbuster" or a "guttie". My Dad's family is from Hanover PA and this was hamburger meat on a hot dog roll with sauce (sort of like chili but not really) diced onions and mustard. I really loved them, but it's sort of an aquired taste. You could also get the sandwich with a hot dog instead of the hamburger meat.

When we were young (50's)we had a small restaurant and used to make our own pies. Everyday a gentleman would come in to have a piece of apple pie with....homeade brown gravy. He was from Missouri.

Another put pepper in his coffee. Don't know where he was from. I accidently did this once instead of adding cinnamon as I usually do and it wasn't bad.

And yes, growing up in New Mexico, we also, had pancake style enchiladas and also fried our rellenos on the griddle.

Made our own tortillas in those days.
Now THAT is quirky!

What I miss from NM is green chile cheeseburgers and cheese fries from the Owl in Las Vegas, N. Mex. I've never been able to quite duplicate them.

[PhoebeB]

Candy, the only kind of burger I ever make is a green chile cheeseburger, but if I told you how I make it I'd have to kill you.

In central joisey certain bakeries advertise a "buttered roll and coffee" as a breakfast special. I've only seen it in this area and have yet to figure out why it's considered a special. In Pennsylvania we put mustard on our soft pretzels and cheez wiz on our steaks.

[lollya]

we put mustard on our soft pretzels too! (minneapolis)

In Cincinnati, green peppers are referred to as mangoes, as in stuffed mangoes. If you want a real mango, you have to ask for a "fruit mango."

Don't forget Cincinnati Chili, served on spaghetti and spiced with cinnamon. And Red Cream Soda. Mettwurst at the ballpark. Also, Goetta (sort of like scrapple) from across the river in KY.

Uhmm, love Skyline chili!

[lulubelle]

My grandmother, from Hamilton, always used to call them this, and confused the heck out of those of us who didn't grow up there.
The other thing I associate with Cincinnati is "red pop" aka red cream soda.

[nurk grl]

wow -- REDPOP! I'm from Ohio and forgot all about that stuff! Another Ohio thing
was peanut butter and mayo sandwiches (didn't realize they were considered weird until
I left...) also pb and bacon. Don't scoff til you try it!

Growing up in Buffalo, we used to visit the Northern Lake Erie shore and there were a couple of Drive Up stands that had Canadian Bacon subs which you washed down with a Loganberry. I think the Logey is something you won't find anywhere else. This may not be that unusual, but it sure was good and would love to have one of those subs now. BTW everyone up there had vinegar on their fries, we always thought that was a typically Canadian thing.

Speaking of Canadian things, how about having chocolate with your beer? It wasn't until I actually tried this with a nice stout a year or two ago that I realized how good it was.

I'm also surprised no one's mentioned fried brain sandwiches from the Evansville, Ind. area. Now there's something that's strange. I can't say too much about it because I've never gotten the courage to actually try one. As you can imagine, its cholesterol city.

There is a diner in Bloomington that offers fried brains.

And then there is the state special, tenderloin sandwiches. The best i've ever had are at the Gnawbone (IN) Marathon Food and Fuel gas station. They make them by hand. They actually got a write up by the Stern's in their roadfood column in Gourmet a few years ago.

I worked with a guy from southern Indiana that ate raw pig brains for lunch every day. Talk about quirky...

Ask for "coffee regular" in much of New England and you get coffee with cream and two sugars.

Growing up in Utah, the standard french fry accompaniment was "fry sauce", a mixture of ketchup, mayo, and (I believe) pickle juice. All local burger places served fry sauce. Not exactly revolutionary, but I've rarely seen it elsewhere.

Also, "scones" were deep-fried puffy breads similar to sopapillas. There was (is) even a local chain called Sconecutters that served sandwiches on these types of scones. It wasn't 'til I left Utah that I realized that the Queen probably didn't deep-fry her scones and eat them with honey-butter.

I'm a native Utahn (rhymes with crouton) too! They actually serve fry sauce at some McDonald's in Utah just like they serve regional specialties at other branches of the chain in different states (lobster rolls at Mcdonald's in New England).

I didn't realize until I moved away that many people outside of Utah consider Jell-o a dessert. I had grown up thinking it was a salad, even without the traditional Mormon add-ins.

LOL! You mean Jell-O can be served without cottage cheese, walnuts, and fruit cocktail mixed in? Heresy!

I remeber working in Pocatello Idaho and seeing a sign in a fast food chain window that read "try our fry sauce" so naturally we did. I remember asking the counter person what it was and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "it's mayonaise and ketchup mixed together". LOL

The area my family is from in south eastern Arizona always made flat stacked enchiladas. Stacked up like pancakes and often there was a fried egg served on top.
They are called Sonoran enchiladas and I never saw rolled enchiladas until I was about 17 and visiting family in Anaheim. They were a surprise to me.

In Yuma, when the menu says Sonoran it usually means with a flour tortilla instead of corn. Sonoran rolled tacos will be meat etc rolled in a flour tortilla and then fried. But never heard of Sonoran enchiladas

They are made with corn tortillas. Fry the tortilla lightly in oil and then dip into enchilada sauce and place flat on a plate. Top with shredded cheese and chopped onions. Repeat until you have as many stacked up as you like. Place in a hot oven to melt cheese and heat. Top with a fried egg and garnish with chopped lettuce.

To me if it is in a four tortila it is a burrito or something on the way to being a chimichanga and not an enchilada. I think Texans use flour more than we did.

My first thanksgiving at my IL's in Northern MD consisted of all the regulars but also sauerkraut. Bizarre! Oh and the salad was green jello with bits of carrots and other veggies in it and some kind of creamy stuff running through it. Nasty.

Of course breakfast the next day included scrapple
.

Growing up in Northern Maryland, our school cafeteria Thanksgiving meals always included sauerkraut along with all of the traditional items. At that time, I thought that it was a standard part of the meal and couldn't understand why Mom (a transplant from Pennsylvania) never made it for our Thanksgiving meal at home.

And yes, I still have sauerkraut on turkey day.

I'm in MD and it's not Thanksgiving in our family without sauerkraut and kielbasa. I cook my kraut in beer, with caraway and celery seeds, then add in the sausage.

What few leftovers there are don't last for long. It's especially good on a big pile of mashed potatoes with a hefty pat of butter between.

Mmmmmm.....

[bitsubeats]

yep, from maryland here and thanksgiving or christmas dinner isn't complete without sauerkraut

sauerkraut is an amish thing and I think it's supposed to be eaten on new years eve for good luck?

[ktmoomau]

When I go to other people's Thanksgiving I always found it wierd that they didn't have it. It is so so good with your turkey and mashed potatoes. Def an amish thing, there is a large amish population in MD/PA. Another New Years tradition is black eyed peas for good luck.

Also pepperoni rolls are regional. My west coast friends are now hooked on them. I couldn't imagine life without pepperoni rolls.

And of course Old Bay on everything mmm MD.

[starlady]

My family lived in Baltimore for 2 years and we couldn't understand why anyone would want to hide the wonderful taste of fresh seafood by coating it in Old Bay! YUCK.

[ElsieDee]

What's a pepperoni roll?

[Solstice444]

In NY it's dough with pepperoni and cheese rolled in...sort of like a spiral pinwheel type thing...at least that's what I've seen! They have them at pizza places although I don't remember actually having one ever, since I tend to just get pizza.

[ktmoomau]

No, No, No!!!!
Pepperoni rolls hail from West Virginia. Actually Fairmont West Virginia to be specific. It comes from many Italian coal miners wives who wanted to make something the workers could take for their lunch. They are made with normally regular bread dough surrounding either multiple slices or a log of pepperoni baked in the middle so the juices go into the bread. Some people also will add a little cheese or some hot or sweet peppers. They look like little rolls a little longer and skinnier than a dinner roll. You probably won't find many outside WV, Western Maryland or parts of Pennsylvania. You can mail order them.

I think they are now on wikipedia.

I think I like Old Bay as much on non-seafood as seafood. But I do like some on my crabs. Not tons, but enough. I really like it on boardwalk fries, though. I will even put it on buttered popcorn.

[Woodside Al]

In that area they seem to derive from self-contained miners' foods, much like northern Michigan pasties. But NYC pizzerias certainly do serve up the spiral thing as described above, which is called a "pepperoni roll" around these parts. Usually found in the case at the counter with the other "rolls," calzones, etc. and heated in the pizza oven before serving to customers, often with a side cup of marinara sauce for dipping.

[atraxia]

oh god. i loooooooooooove pepperoni rolls. I went to WVU - and in the mornings - as i walked to class - you could smell fresh pepperoni rolls being baked.
do you have a site that offers the mail order? i haven't had one in 6 or so years.

[ktmoomau]

I googled, hope this helps:
http://www.pepperoni-rolls.com/history.cfm
http://www.freshpepperonirolls.com/index.htm
http://www.colasessanos.com/index.php...

I try to look for places from Fairmont. I think I listed some on another thread, I can't find the one I really like I will keep looking I thought it had green and red on the site. I will try to search the DC/Baltimore board I think I listed it there, but maybe they changed their website.

I just got to have some this weekend so good, but I only got to have one as they ran out quickly at the party so I might have to make some. I don't order them as much anymore because I make them.

[ktmoomau]

Here is the other one. They have classic and with cheeses.

http://www.pepperonirolls.net/about.html

Other places may make something they call a pepperoni roll, but this is the real deal history wise. If it is made with pizza dough then it really is probably a calzone or variation and not a roll made with roll dough. Oh now, I am hungry. These are so addictive.

Here in South Carolina, rice and gravy is the traditional side for Thanksgiving turkey, rather than mashed potatoes and gravy... It's thought to be a holdover from the early 19th century, when SC was a major rice-producing state.

SC girl here and we too, had rice and gravy on Thanksgiving---and also dressing...not stuffing.

My midwestern husband laughed at his first T-Day down South...cause we have FRIED dressing!

[starlady]

In my family for Christmas - we celebrate canadian TG but not the American one even though for a time we lived in the states. We always have Roasted potatoes never mashed.

[PDeveaux]

I grew up in north Florida with parents and grandparents from Georgia and North Carolina. We had baked dressing made from cornbread, not white bread. And there were no potatoes or rice at Thanksgiving dinner. The dressing was so yummy we didn't need any. We put the giblet gravy on the dressing and the turkey.
Then we had turkey sandwiches in the evening with the inevitable discussion about whether they were better with mayo or mustard. I always only used mayo.

[MommaJ]

It's been years, but i still remember my shock and confusion when our newly-arrived nanny from Wisconsin put lime Jello and mini-marshmallows on the grocery list so she could make a "salad" for dinner! (And no, I didn't let those items get anywhere near my "carriage".)

[vermontpoet]

My Vermont Grandma was passionate about molded Jell-O salads with various canned fruit added...usually either green or red Jell-O. My mom dutifully made them for her every Christmas, and I must admit that I kind of miss the gloppy things. They were a festive, if tacky, bit of color at the holiday table. But...I don't miss them enough to include them in my own family's Christmas dinners!!

Our "festive" Christmas dinner appetizer always was Cranberry Cocktail, mixed with a bit of ginger ale for fizz and topped with a scoop of lime sherbet. This could also be ordered at area restaurants!!

[invinotheresverde]

I believe that's called a shrub. I'm assuming they're a New England thing, as we had them growing up in MA, although the sherbet was orange. Lime sounds better, though.

Where can a person find a "grinder" on the West Coast? It's a sandwich. Is that only on the East Coast?

When I lived in Connecticut they refered to subs as grinders.

I thought that grinders were subs that were heated.

i thought that when subs were heated they called them 'hero's'

[maria lorraine]

I've had oyster grinders in New Orleans. They rocked my world.

[Isabella]

Glad you liked them Maria.
We call them po-boys, or po'boys.

I had one last night!

We call them submarines...or just subs. Some places in the midwest call them hoagies...some places call them torpedos...some call them italian sandwiches...it's truly a regional thing but it's all the same sandwich. I know this because A) I live on the west coast and B) I just watched 'The Secret Life of Sandwiches' on the food network. *lol*

[hotteacher1976]

they are hoagies in Philly (so those in the midwest stole the name without knowing why)

Grinders were Providence , R .I . Hero's / Subs etc
Also in R.I. if you ordered a milk shake you got milk and flavoring , if you wanted ice cream in it you ordered a " cabinet "

Also in Rhode Island you can buy coffee flavored milk in the dairy section. Think it is the only state (perhaps some areas of adjoining MA and CT) that you can buy it pre mixed.

My Connecticut-raised wife calls subs "grinders". She calls a water fountain a "bubbler" and a yard sale a "tag sale". She still laughs at me for saying "thee-yay-ter" and "motor-awl"... *sigh*...we don't get out much.

[hypertomatoes]

Haha! I'm all too familiar with the Connecticut-isms, as my (CT-bred) friends and I jab each other about stuff like this. I still just cannot call a shopping cart a 'carriage' :)

[misohungrychewlow]

In southwestern Connecticut the word for heroes/grinders is wedges.

[Put a Sake in it]

I grew up in southwestern CT, and all my life I have called it a grinder.

[shellyesq]

I grew up in southwestern CT and don't remember ever hearing wedges until I went to Westchester Co., NY. Subs and heroes seemed to be more common names for it.

[Solstice444]

I grew up in Westchester County, NY and I have never heard those sandwiches called wedges anywhere else! My friends at college thought I was crazy to call it that. Maybe Fairfield County, CT has some of the Westchester influence...but my friend who lived closer to Hartford always called them grinders.

[misohungrychewlow]

A separate thread evolved on this subject -- the research showed that the term probably was coined in Yonkers or thereabouts and is widely used as far north as ... several train stops in CT. It's standard usage in Stamford but disappears somewhere around Norwalk; it's apparently unknown in Bridgeport, maybe even in Fairfield.

[ctflowers]

I'm originally from Atlanta, GA, but I moved to Connecticut twelve years ago. Imagine my confusion...

In Georgia: In Connecticut:
Subs Grinder
Yard Sale Tag Sale
Diet Coke Sorry, we don't have Coke, only Pepsi
Shopping Cart Carriage
Grits What are grits?
Sweet Tea Iced Tea (unsweetened)

-R

[vermontpoet]

When I was growing up in Vermont, all sub type sandwiches were called Grinders. For a long time, I didn't realize they even had other names! Now there are so many "flatlanders" living here (a term for anyone who doesn't hail from Vermont) that the term "sub" is just as popular, if not more so, than "grinder".
When I worked at a small country store that also sold sandwiches, the most often requested order was an Italian Grinder with Oil.

I went to a pub last week that had a peanut butter burger on the menu. I took the bait and I was delightfully surprised at how good it was. Classic burger with lettuce, toms and onion with a scoop of crunchy peanut butter. This is a quirk I could live with in Boston.

actually not a boston thing. not sure how old this tactic is and who can actually claim the intellectual property, but i've seen it at other places in NY and CA.

did you have your burg at bukowski's by chance?

RFL, you made me smile. I grew up near Raleigh, and although I've been living in New York for ten years now, given a packet of peanuts and a bottle of cola (they let y'all have Coke? We were a strictly Pepsi household, as at the time you got more fizzy water for the same money) I do the very same thing.

To the eternal amusement of my wife and co-workers.

- er

Link: http://enrevanche.blogspot.com

This has changed, but as a Californian, I used to get very odd stares from friends in the East when I would ask for a side of 1000 island dressing for my hamburger. (late 1970s)

Asking for 1000 Island dressing is sort of a defensive maneuver to keep them from ruining your burger with ketchup, or (horrors!) mustard. ;-)

[C70]

AKA big mac sauce- same stuff, essentially.

In Pittsburgh, it's a tendency to put french fries on sandwiches or salads. I'm still trying to get used to it.

Here in northern Italy, people use french fries as a topping for pizza or focaccia. At first I thought it was kind of wierd, until I tried a piece of warm focaccia with french fries and rosemary. Not bad.

Yumm...I love Primanti Bros. and really miss their sandwiches. Although it was odd the first time I ordered a salad and it came with fries on it! But, man, was it good!

[italyinmind]

I grew up in Pittsburgh and I still miss getting fries on sandwiches and salads...Somehow it's so much easier to convince yourself to order a salad if you know it will come with tasty fries on it!

[Sam Fujisaka]

In the Andean countries, small, thin, crispy fries appear in soups and sandwiches. I'm going to give salads a try.

[mhiggins]

Not just a Pittsburgh thing - a number of spots in New Orleans serve Roast Beef Po-Boys, with a generous portion of brown gravy smothering the fries.

[Isabella]

And we also have French Fried Potato Po' Boys.

French Fries (in the old days it was handcut real potatoes - oh, what I would give for one of those now!) on French bread smothered in roast beef gravy. Dressed. Which includes mayonaisse, lettuce, tomatoes which go on top part of the bread.

[mhiggins]

D'oh - I meant to put down "French Fry Po-Boys," but had been to Parkway for lunch. Go figure!

In St. Louis, where I grew up, we had toasted ravioli. Now it seems that they serve it at the Olive Garden. (Sheesh, my second post involving the Olive Garden today. What has become of me?)

People also use a ton of Provelle cheese. It is the cheese on St. Louis style pizza (Provelle Cheese, round, thin crispy crust, sliced into squares). I have no idea what it really is. I just remember one of my friends was ranting about people in St. Louis and their "Un-natural obsession with Provelle cheese." The woman at the table next to us started laughing and my friend (out of character for him) turned and yelled "What?!" at her. She just replied "No. You're right. They do!"

Eli

[maria lorraine]

Yes, I remember toasted ravioli. And the really terrible "Italian" food on The Hill.
Also, Ted Drewes frozen custard. A slice of sharp cheddar cheese served with apple pie
(is that a New England-ism?). Fried brains (truly). White Castle sliders.

[PhoebeB]

My daddy's favorite thing in the world was brains scrambled with eggs.

And sharp cheddar on apple pie is one New England-ism that converted this Texan from "a la mode" . If you let the cheese melt slightly it is just sublime.

[vermontpoet]

Growing up in Vermont, sharp Vermont cheddar was the only accompaniment to my mom's incredible apple pie.

Also...in late February through April.....sugar on snow is a great Vermont treat! Brand new maple syrup boiled to soft ball stage served in communal pitchers...each person gets a big bowl of snow and a fork. Pour the syrup over the snow in patterns...pick it up and twirl it onto the fork. Traditionally served with plain, homemade cake doughnuts and sour dill pickles. The pickles are a Vermont version of a palate cleanser of sorts.....a thrifty Yankee way to be able to "eat more for your money".

The biggest thing that stands out as a generalization is the use of malt vinegar on fries on the east coast. When I first moved there from the midwest I was appalled (I knew ketchup of course and loved mayo with them - never saw vinegar). Now I love them with vinegar, especially the thick kind fried in peanut oil.

A local fav from my hometown is the stretch:
hash browns topped with eggs topped with chili topped with cheese, onion and green pepper topped with tobasco.
When I make it at home I make my eggs overeasy and use jalapenos (veined and seeded) rather than greens.

When I worked at a drive-in in Portland OR, for my break I would have the cook fry me some nice crispy hash browns and pour gravy over them.

I was first introduced to vinegar on french fries ("chips") in my preteen years when we visited Canada. We brought oit home for a while, but then outgrew it. Isn't vinegar on "chips" a popular English "quirk."

Vinegar always been available for sprinkling on fries (along with ketchup,etc.) on the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ. But now that you mention it, they get a lot of Canadians down the south Jersey shore, and maybe that's why they provide it...

[C70]

In the 70s when myself and my Canadian family summered in Cape Cod, we'd ask for vinegar for our fries and often get strange looks, and frequently it wasn't available. I'd say it's the Canadian influence in the tourist areas that has made it popular.

Leaving aside for the moment strictly ethnic home-cooking specialities, New York City has at leats two dishes that, as far as I know, have been ours alone.
One is chow mein on a bun, most prominently at Nathan's, the Coney Island hot-dog emporium: classic Chinese-American vegetables topped with fried noodles on a soft burger bun, preferably washed down with Nathans' pineapple drink. A somewhat more assimilated cousin of a dish, still a fixture at delis, is roast (Chinese) pork and plum sauce on garlic bread.
Enjoy.

As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"

Chow mein sandwiches, exactly as you have described them, have been eaten in Rhode Island for decades, apparently since the Depression. We used to get them at a place called Chin's in Pawtucket back when I was in junior high school around 1974. Price: $0.15

[Querencia]

To Bob W: There used to be a ratty old amusement park in Salem MA called Salem Willows where Chop Suey Sandwiches were sold. Is this a New England thing, maybe?

My father grew up eating chow mein sandwiches at the Woolworth counter in Rockaway. Was his favorite meal. That was in the late 30s, early 40s.

I should say, that's Rockaway, NY, not far from Coney Island.

What I remember about Rockaway was a place on the Boardwalk that served chow mein not on a bun, but in an edible cup made of chow mein noodles. I think they called it a "tiki cup" or something like that. This would be in the late 50's.

"What I remember about Rockaway was a place on the Boardwalk that served chow mein not on a bun, but in an edible cup made of chow mein noodles. I think they called it a "tiki cup" or something like that. This would be in the late 50's."

My husband grew up in NYC but I got here after graduating high school, when my family moved from western PA. He used to tell me about this and I thought he was making it up! Now I'll have to go home and apologize for doubting him.

My husband grew up in Bayside, Queens, and he said there was a truck that used to go around and sell "chow chow cups," which is what they called the chow mein in noodle bowl. I remember, growing up on LI, there were a number of "truck" options, including the guy who came (Thursdays?) and sold pizza from his truck. And, of course,there was the Dugan's cakes guy, Bungalow Bar (now that was an intereting looking vehicle!), and all the other usual suspects. Memories.

Wow!!! and a hearty Southern California O-M-G to that. I went to high school in Bayside and grew up in Little Neck. I hadn't thought of Bungalow Bar in so long I don't even want to say. But I quickly drew on a picture memory of the truck. Certainly was something unique and unforgettable.

The name "Bungalow Bar" sounds vaguely familiar but I don't remember a truck so I googled and here are a couple of pictures of it (I still don't remember it after seeing it, I guess they weren't in my neck of the woods on Long Island.)

Another picture of the truck (middle of the page)
http://timesnewsweekly.com/Archives2004/Jul.-Sept.2004/072204/NewFiles/OURNEIGH.html

Link: http://peter-marina.com/BungalowBarTr...

We Good Humor fans used to sing a song about Bungalow Bar ice cream - does anyone remember this?

"Bungalow Bar,
It tastes like tar
The more you eat it,
The sicker you are!"

Early Chowhounding, to be sure!

Oh you hurt me so! I used to drive one for two summers to work my way through college. My fans at that time sang:
You get a tumor if you eat good humor.

In 1962-63 Bungalo Bar trucks came around my wife's neighborhood in Brooklyn at dinner time so they had their ice cream later when good humor came. They sang this refrain when the Bungallo Bar man drove by,"Bungalllo Bar tastes like tar, the more you eat it the sicker you are."

On an episode of the Sopranos when Tony is being queried by non-mob Italians as to whether he ever met John Gotti, He says,"At the auction for the last Bungallo Bar truck, John outbid me, but he let me ring the bells all the way home.

there you go
fw

Growing up in Queens we had both Bungalow Bar and Good Humor trucks crusing the streets all summer long. I vaguely remember Good Humor as being more of a company operation (conservative) and Bungalow Bar as being more edgy withyounger operators, better able to relate to us kids.
My favorite treat was the Good Humor vanilla sundae, a small cup of vanilla ice cream topped with a layer of choclate fudge, You'd let it melt a little and then mix in the fudge. I can taste it now.

Okay - after I apologized, he told me it was called a Tukki cup, not a Tiki cup. Does that sound familiar?

Yep, that's the one. Your husband is clearly an honest man with an excellent memory. Treasure him! :)

In malaysia, on a sweltering day, you can buy a treat from a roadside stand: two scoops of ice cream on a soft white hotdog bun.

my whole life in malaysia i have never encountered this. where exactly did you have this ice-cream concoction?

[slippek]

In KL, an also in Kelantan province...

[Lazy Susan]

It's common in the Philippines also.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Never saw that in 14 years in the Philippines.

[hannaone]

Saw it at Baggio (Sp?) and Angeles city.

Chow mein on a bun and chinese pepper steak on a bun are still available at Salem Willows in Salem, MA.
Loved them as a kid many years ago.

CG

my mother (in her 70's) still goes to the Willows for a chop suey sandwich every summer

As far as you know!

LOL. Just like y'all invented the Bahn Mi Thit!

A cousin of this is the St. Louis phenomenon: St. Paul Sandwich. It's egg foo young on toast or an italian roll and it's available at most chinese carryouts, corner stores and sandwich places.

Whoa, this is rocking my world. Have lived in the Tri-state area my whole life, NYC & Brooklyn for 12 years, and have never heard of this bizarre sandwich. I must try this...

I'm not sure if it's just a Philadelphia thing or an East Coast thing, but some of us here put ketchup on scrambled eggs.

In that same "ketchup weirdness" category, I like ketchup on my fried rice (to my mother's horror).

I also like ranch dressing on my pizza (a California thing) and mayo on my french fries (something I picked up from a South Carolinian, although I hear the French and Canadians do the same).

Another East Coast (diner) thing is gravy on French Fries.

Mayo on fries is very European. Belgians especially, put it on their "frittes"

Born and raised in California and I've never heard of Ranch Dressing on pizza! I do like Ranch Dressing with onion rings, though.

Me either. Pizza?

Though, the original Ranch Dressing is a California product (Hidden Valley Guest Ranch near Santa Barbara) (thought that guy at Hidden Valley actually first made it in Alaska).

Anyway, I think Ranch Dressing can be considered a California thing (that has since travelled). And, they put it on darn near anything. Especially buffalo wings. But, I have not heard of putting it on pizza until now.

Ranch dressing on pizza a California thing?

Goodneess.

Don't be so silly. Even the hicks in College Station, Texas (A&M) have been doing that for eons.

Good to know y'all are doing pizza right in TX! I thought ranch+pizza was a universally loved combo until I was eating pizza with some East Coasters and they looked at me like I had a monkey up my butt.

Maybe they just don't know what's going on over on that side of the continent.

But of course you have to ask for a side of Ranch if the plate includes hash browns.

[kindofabigdeal]

i think it's universally loved by cardiologists

[ctscorp]

I think when you grow up in between New Haven and New York, you want to spoil your pizza as little as possible. To me, ranch is an antidote for crappy pizza.

[jfood]

please extend the southern range of the New Haven to NY to read New Haven to Central NJ. Ranch Dressing on a pizza makes jfood shudder and that's from an Essex/Union Couty NJ perspective.

[MysticYoYo]

I had Ranch Dressing on white pizza once (and I LOVE white pizza) and the whole concoction was VILE.

[RFumega]

That's strange, considering we've been doing that here on the East Coast(in CT, at least) for quite some time now, though blue cheese is more common.

mmm. It is a California thing isn't it? In high school everyone ate pizza with ranch, and now I have a hard time eating pizza without it. It just makes the pizza that much better.

[maria lorraine]

Hmmm, I've lived in California for a long time, and this is absolutely first time
I've ever heard of this.

So, uh, where in California is this a regular thing?

[ArikaDawn]

It's not uncommon in Southern, IN,

[chef chicklet]

NoCal too. Mainly with younger people. My sons always have eaten it with ranch dressing. Not me though.

[justagthing]

I don't eat it that way, but I have seem many people in the LA basin eat it that way. I'm a CA native.

[adrienne156]

Everywhere? That being said, I'm a college student and it's pretty universal among my crowd.

[Jeters]

It might be a SoCal thing -- we definately did it when I was a kid growing up in SB. (I still do, although I need better ranch dressing to dip in)

Pepperoni Pineapple Pizza with ranch mmm.

[.lmk.]

If ranch dressing on pizza (and just about everything else) did start as a California thing it's more related to age than it is region. I don't think I know anyone over 35 who puts ranch on pizza. But growing up in SoCal everyone my age put it on everything.

[aynrandgirl]

Round Table serves several pizzas (my favorite is the Italian Garlic Supreme) with Ranch as the sauce base instead of tomato sauce. They're everywhere in CA.

[Vexorg]

We have Round Table up here in Washington, but I haven't ever seen them use ranch dressing as a sauce on pizza here. The Sam's Club here makes a "Buffalo Chicken" pizza as a take-and-bake. I tried a sample, and that pretty much put me off the idea of ranch dressing as a pizza sauce forever.

[motherof7]

In the Sacramento area for sure!

My boyfriend and I decided that the only thing that ranch dressing doesn't taste good on is pancakes. Hard lesson.

[starlady]

I have never heard of Ranch on Pizza. Maybe it's something we don't do in Canada.
Gravy on fries however is classic - Poutine. Also love mayo on my fries.

[tuxedo]

woohoo mayo on fries - me too!!!
thought I was the only one..I get some real strange looks when I ask for a side of mayo with my fries.

[aurora50]

I've taken to eating fries with mayo too, but I thought it was a weird thing I got from my cousin. But she also takes mayo and stirs it in her refried beans - !
I'm in California, by the way.

[Betty]

mayo on fries was the Wisconsin way.

[chef chicklet]

I am SO Jealous!! I would love to try some Poutine!

[gourmethunter]

All you need to make yourself a poutine (which won't be exactly like the ones in Quebec but close enough to get the general idea) is: French fries, brown gravy poured generously over top and (this might be harder to find) white cheddar cheese curds (no mozza is not authentic "poutine" cheese).

There are regional variations of "poutine" and imho it's just not made right at New York Fries or McDonalds...best place for poutine is in Quebec...ask just about any Quebecer and they'll have their fave place for poutine that they're fanatically loyal to.

Oh, and one tip: If you're ever in say Montreal and order a poutine please make sure you don't pronounce it "Pooh-tain" that is a french slang for a "working girl." The easiest (safest) english pronunciation is "Pooh-tin" :-)

[Eat_Nopal]

I am definitely asking for Pooh-tain with extra gravy!

[eastcoastgirl_westcoastlife]

Hey now - I lived in Edmonton for 16 years and people LOVE ranch with pizza there...and deep fried zucchini, hot wings, all the good greasy pub food. Oh and poutine too - and from back East, chips dressin' n' gravy :)

[eastcoastgirl_westcoastlife]

Ouch! canuck here - just to clarify - gravy on fries does not poutine make. Proper poutine is gravy and cheese curds!!

[MrsT]

Brown gravy on french fries with a slice of melted cheese---heaven. In Brooklyn we called them "Disco Fries." I don't know why though, maybe it was because it was commonly ordered after 4 A.M after a night of bar hopping/clubbing.

The French Canadians that I knew liked vinegar on their fries and then there is that wonderful French Canadian dish, poutine. Fries with cheese curds and hot brown gravy.

What about Vienna Red Hots (hot dogs) and Italian beef sandwiches ... old Chicago favorites

[therealbigtasty]

What about how those things don't taste good anywhere except Chicago? I'm in Los Angeles now and have been for some time and I still get Italian Beef cravings. There isn't anywhere that has a good one...sad.

[justagthing]

this is a 2 year old thread, but if you are craving your italian beef, they have opened up a chicago shop in buena park, Portillo's. Just like the one's in Chicago and I believe they will soon be opening up a second shop.

[therealbigtasty]

Well, let's bring this thread back, I say!

I'll give this Portillo's place a chance.

[lulubelle]

Portillos is pretty good. I've been carting frozen packages of it across country for years.

[Chew on That]

The first thing I thought of was vinegar on the fries! I'm from Chicago but I have Canadian cousins who introduce me to this and now I like to dip my fries in vinegar whenever I can!

[jinxed]

Specifically MALT vinegar on fries! I've heard it's a Canadian thing... used to have an order of that and a hot chocolate with my sisters after ice skating lessons.... =)

[ktmoomau]

I would think it hailed from the English who quite often put vinegar on fish and chips. This is quite popular along the mid-atlantic seaboard with fresh cut or boardwalk fries.

[eastcoastgirl_westcoastlife]

Yes and in Nova Scotia we put malt vinegar on our fries - you should try it :)

[KevinB]

Vinegar on fries is actually a British thing; my mom and dad (both basically English, though born in Canada) thought ketchup on fries was an abomination. Vinegar (and preferably malt vinegar) with lots of salt was the only way to go. I have to admit, nowadays, I go either way; some times the vinegar, some times the ketchup. Haven't tried the mayo yet, but it sounds interesting.

And of course poutine is the definitive French-Canadian dish.

[alkapal]

mayo as a dipper for fries is addictive.

folks in utah dip their fries in "fry sauce", a condiment similiar to thousand island dressing. they also have a donut/sopaipilla pastry they call a scone, served with honey-butter.

haven't had pizza with ranch, but ranch dressing originated in santa barbara, california.

[dagoose]

Fry sauce is fabulous, and all fries in Utah come with it, which is strange, because the moment you leave Utah, you must learn to make your own! (ketchup and mayo. really not that hard) but everyone will look at you funny when you do.

I lived in Utah for one year in high school, and still sometimes think that I wouldn't mind being offered frie sauce with my fries!

In Mississippi, only University of Southerm Miss. grads dip their pizza in thousand island dressing. Seems to have started at the "hot" pizza spot in Hattiesburg.

[KellBell]

I love thousand island (preferably homemade, not bottled) and pizza! My sister and I eat it. We had a babysitter in Virginia when we were little who got us started on it. People always look at us like we are crazy, and then they are eating it with us by the end. We are in Cali now and I hate Ranch on pizza. But, Im not really that big of a ranch fan in the first place...

Or better yet hot chinese mustard on Fried Rice

[ctscorp]

When I moved to Iowa (from CT), I discovered ranch on pizza. Might be because the pizza is so bad... but the Iowans claim it as "an Iowa thing." Hmmm.

[ctscorp]

jfood, I'm a Nutmegger who transplanted to the Midwest 8 years ago, and I've never seen a sloppy joe here. The natives prefer what they call a Maid-Rite, or a loose-meat sandwich, which is essentially a sloppy joe sans sauce. They're actually pretty vehement and regionalist about how their sandwich is NOT a sloppy joe, as if they would never deign to sauce their beef.

[jfood]

Okeedokee,

- we can add Iowa as a Blue State (A Red State representing the sauce on the Manwich).
- on the other side of the coin you mentioned they put ranch dressing on pizza

Oh what a wonderful world.