Northern and Southern Foods

[cleanshaved]

How far south is included? There is not much further south than Bluff NZ.
Bluff Oysters are a real treat when in season. They do not export them so you have to come here to enjoy.
Best enjoyed natural with a little bit of lemon or balsamic vinegar & olive oil.
If natural is not your thing a light tempera batter and deep fried.

 

[The Knize]

I guess I ain't had bbq then. <g>

Re super local food, true example are hard to find, methinks, and some that supposedly exist, I have not been able to find in the supposed locale.

St. Louis supposedly has brain sandwiches that are fairly unique to St. Louis, but I was never able to find any and I am not sure brain sandwiches are unique to St. Louis. There is also an egg foo young type of thing on a hamburger bun unique to St. Louis that I have also never been able to track down, and does not seem very exciting anyway.

I highly suspect that St. Louis style pizza is unique to St. Louis. I have never had anything quite like it. Not a favorite. Provel cheese (a processed mixture of swiss, provolone, and white cheddar), a cracker-like yeast-free, I am told, crust, and a tomato topping unlike any other pizza I have ever had, said to be high in oregano, but I am not sure that is the only difference.

As far as I can tell, Montreal smoked meat is only in Montreal. What they call Montreal smoked meat in Toronto was horrible! But we are talking about something different here.

There is someplace said to serve loose cooked ground beef on a hamburger bun without the sloppy joe type sauce. Maybe that is the sloppy joe Dynamite sandwich referred to.

I have never seen Baltimore pit beef anywhere other than Baltimore and at a place on the way back from the eastern shore. Wonderful stuff. Pretty close to some other sliced beef sandwiches though.

I have never had stuffed ham, said to be largely specific to St. Mary's county Maryland. Sounds wonderful.

Chicken and waffles seem to be everywhere these days. I do not know where they started, but I have heard of Roscoe's.

"Half-smokes" are said to be unique to the Washington, DC area. Mumbo sauce, too.

I would say that many super local specialties are rather mild variations on other dishes.

It is probably worth noting that the Scotch-Irish population, in particular, in the United States was distributed in a wide swarth that cut across north and south, but was largely rural, and that some regional specialties thus do not fall squarely within a north-south designation. I guess I am thinking of my own family, which I tend to think of as Southern. I think some of the things I think of as Southern could probably be found in most Scotch Irish communities.

Also, I would guess that historically there were many fewer restaurants and food stands in the South than in the North. So there are more specialized items sold in the North, whereas Southern specialties tended to be more home cooking. New Orleans would be an exception. Charleston, too, perhaps.

Just some random thoughts.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

How far south is included? There is not much further south than Bluff NZ.
Bluff Oysters are a real treat when in season. They do not export them so you have to come here to enjoy.
Best enjoyed natural with a little bit of lemon or balsamic vinegar & olive oil.
If natural is not your thing a light tempera batter and deep fried.

View attachment 499618

See what a southern boy can do? Those look super fresh and amazing.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

I've been fortunate to try a lot of both northern and southern cuisines. What I'm on the hunt for now is what I guess can be called "super-local" food. That is to say food that one can only get in a very small geographical area.

These examples are from the northeast, but I am looking for more.

In Woonsocket, RI, there is a large French-Canadian population. They have a sandwich called a Dynamite. It's like a sloppy joe but better. Highly localized. You can't even get them 2-3 towns away.

In the Rome/UTica NY area, it's Chicken Riggies. Limited to that small area.

The Fall River/New Bedford area has a large Poruguese population and they make a Chourico and pepper sandwich unique to the area. Known to the locals as Chureese and Peppas.

Also on the Southeast Massachusetts border with the east bay of Rhode Island, they do chow Mein like nowhere else. The chow Mein noodles are thin and they serve the chow Mein on white hamburger buns as a sandwich.

So right now, my quest is to find more of these highly localized dishes.

Actually Chris, this is a good topic for a new thread. "What foods are only offered in your town." Or What food is unique to just your area."

 

[oc_in_fw]

Polish Boys are unique to Cleveland. A kielbasa in a bun, topped with fries, cole slaw, and a sauce that is like a blend of hot sauce and BBQ sauce. I, sadly, haven't had one in 24 years.

 

[ackvil]

In my prior life I worked for a company that had locations in all 50 states and the Carribean. I have always enjoyed the food and loved the variety of dishes. From crayfish to pigs buckles, from big cities to tiny towns, the variety was great.

 

[neo71665]

if you never had bbq coon,you aint had bbq.

Ever been to the overpriced (and frankly not that good) festival in Gillette?

 

[Fordfather]

Polish Boys are unique to Cleveland. A kielbasa in a bun, topped with fries, cole slaw, and a sauce that is like a blend of hot sauce and BBQ sauce. I, sadly, haven't had one in 24 years.

Dayum, that looks good!

 

[eastomjac]

Ever been to the overpriced (and frankly not that good) festival in Gillette?

never been to that one.grew up coon hunting and coon was always being cooked somehow or other,along with squirrel and rabbit.

 

[ShaverGN]

I always wanted to try cuy from South.....America.

 

[Stranded]

Yeah! The Salt Lick!!

 

[martym]

Yeah! The Salt Lick!!

And a "few" miles from Laredo: Chicken Fried Steak from El Paraiso

I have driven from McAllen just to eat the chicken fry

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Yeah! The Salt Lick!!

What Happened to Cotulla's BBQ in Laredo?

 

[BSAGuy]

I'm from the south. Never tried scrapple or Cincinnati-style chili on spaghetti.

 

[jzuzphreek]

From the NE myself. I'd love to try all the different varieties of BBQ in their respective locations. I'd also like to attack a lot of the Cajun dishes.

In the north, I'd like to try some Bear and Moose next time I'm in Maine (likely won't happen, but I can dream).

Cajun or creole? True Cajun dishes might scare some people. What people mostly are exposed to in New Orleans is considered Creole food.

Are you honestly telling me the South makes better chowdah than the North?

Yep... except it's bisque, and it has corn and fresh lake crabs.

 

[TitanEer]

Cincinnati-style chili on spaghetti.

And you don't want to, that crap is nasty. Who the hell puts cinnamon in chili? It is that one ingredient that ruins the whole thing.

 

[Badmedicine]

And you don't want to, that crap is nasty. Who the hell puts cinnamon in chili? It is that one ingredient that ruins the whole thing.

It's a Greek thing, if I recall correctly. Lot of Greek immigrants in Cincinnati. I put cinnamon in my tomato-based pasta sauces, but even I'm not sold on putting it in chili.
I've seen a few mentions of a sandwich I know as a Made-Rite (named for the restaurant that supposedly invented it), also known as a loose-meat sandwich. Basically a sauceless sloppy joe with a few secret subtle seasonings. You can buy the meat by the pound, in large Styrofoam cups. I have not, however, seen any mentions of it's close cousin, the Runza. It's a fast-food chain that seems to be unique to the heartland (but I could be wrong). Basically the same meat as a Made-Rite, with mushrooms and onions, wrapped in dough and baked. They run a winter special called "Temperature Tuesdays" where the temperature at 6 am is the price (in cents) of a Runza meal. I never did figure out what they do if the temperature is in the negatives, as it often is in the winter here.
Fried chicken offal (livers, gizzards, hearts occasionally) are fairly popular around here, always served with a side of ranch dressing. I've heard them sometimes referred to as a Southern transplant, but I'm not 100% sold on that idea. Either way, I'm not a fan.
Fried catfish (always cornmeal-breaded) shows up with some regularity around here, but the less-noble carp is even more popular. There are several restaurants around here that specialize in it (Cat Daddy's, Catfish Corner, Mo' Fish, and the hallowed Joe Tess' Place), and even if you order something else, it's going to taste like carp. Not a bad thing, in my estimation.

 

[Fordfather]

Mmmmm, cinnamon! Especially on thick sliced French toast! Not sure where f.t. hails from(France? ), but its popular here in the northern rockies!

 

[Rockminer]

There is someplace said to serve loose cooked ground beef on a hamburger bun without the sloppy joe type sauce. Maybe that is the sloppy joe Dynamite sandwich referred to.

There's a place like that called Nu Way here. I don't think they have branched too far away from here, however. The Wiki link says they are similar to "tavern" sandwiches in the upper midwest, and judging from the pic linked, look very similar.

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

 

[ackvil]

When my wife and I visit her brother in Indiana we often go to Skyline Chili. They have a number of restaurants in the Cincinnati area. There chilli is fine but I like the way my wife makes it better. She makes it like a very thick soup with the pasta broken up and put in the soup.