What food(s) does your area specialize in?

[bill5]

The food combo one got me thinking about this. Like Philly knows its cheesesteaks, Maine knows its lobster, Texas knows its beef, Arizona/southern Calif knows its Mexican, NYC knows its pizza (among other things), etc. 

 

 

[jazzpiano88]

Chicago. Italian Beefs.  Wet. 
Includes a 650 mile radius. 
 

 

 

[pinkfloydcramer]

My immediate area, it would be soul food. I'm not scared to sample any of it (pigs feet etc.), however, to this day I have never eaten a chitterling. 

[KenElevenShadows]

Here in Los Angeles, I'm going to throw out a few things that people might not know.

 

But before that, most people say, "Oh yeah, Mexican food." And there's a ton of Mexican restaurants here. But - unpopular opinion - I don't think it's generally great. Sure, you can find some great Mexican food here and there, but you compare it to San Diego, and it's not nearly as good. And if you compare it to Mexico, it compares even less favorably.

 

Los Angeles' strength is the diversity of generally great food.

 

But unless you live here, you may not know that this is a GREAT place for Armenian, Israeli, Japanese, Chinese, and Persian cuisine. We have large groups of people from those respective countries. We have three Chinatowns, for instance, that have regional specialties. Want Chinese Uighur food? Got it. Want braised beef from Taiwan? Not a problem.

 

Tons of great Armenian and Persian food because we have enormous populations from those areas. There is Little Tokyo and the place along Sawtelle in West LA that have amazing Japanese food that are specific, not just the garden-variety poke and sushi places. And LA was an early adopter of sushi anyway, as it has been popular here since the late '70s/early '80s, back when if you told people from just about any other part of the country that you loved sushi and it was raw fish, they would have reacted in terror.

 

There is also three Sri Lankan restaurants near my house. And we have Little Bangladesh and Little India. Also, Northridge has a substantial Indian population as well, so there's a fair amount of Indian and Pakistani restaurants there also.

[hurricane hugo]

Detroit's known for its pizza and Coney Island hot dogs, but there's a million people in the metro area with some Polish ancestry and another million with some Italian ancestry, so there's plenty of choices there. Add to that our massive Middle Eastern population, and you can spend years just going through those three cuisines.

[bill5]

1 hour ago, hurricane hugo said:

Detroit's known for its pizza and Coney Island hot dogs

um 

 

k. 

 

  

[ksoper]

Most folks would say hot chicken, but there's a really strong Lao, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai scene in the Nashville area.  Some killer international markets, too.  Oddly, the pulled pork in town is mostly shite. You've got to head west toward Memphis to get respectable bbq.  

[o0Ampy0o]

mmmmmm Southern BBQ, sort of a blue collar staple. It’s just simple and could be replicated but it was a convenience that I developed a craving for quickly during my year in the South. A Southerner native friend and I agree the bread should be elevated to a roll instead of basic hamburger bun. Something else was the cafeteria style buffets. I was always on the lookout for chicken fried steak and gravy when diving across the States.

 

Texas knows steak, even a dive gets it better than a level above in The West, that was my experience in the late 80’s at least.

 

There is good food of most kinds if you know where and are willing to drive to it here. This is a large metro area including all cultures, Monterey - SF Bay Area. It isn’t known for anything like Chicago or NY is for pizza. I worked with a guy from Syria. His mother sent him a prized collection of small pastries he shared with me. I have been on the hunt for this around here ever since. 
 

My target food is bakery goods. I know the good ones. You cannot find true traditional bakeries everywhere. Most bakeries nowadays are boutique pricey with only a few good things on menu. A good traditional bakery has everything and is priced 5x less than the boutique bakeries. If you like apple, you cannot beat the apple turnovers at Peters Bakery in San Jose, CA.

[jazzpiano88]

Iowa.  Loose meat sandwiches. 
Inspired the diner on Rosanne.  Tom Arnold is from here and ran a similar joint.  
 

 

[Al Quinn]

Long Island, NY -> Pizza and Bagels!

 

I always gain weight when people visit from out-of-town 😄

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I'm in central New York state -- we've got Spedies here (pronounced "speedy"). For those of you not in the know, that's basically a sub with grilled chicken that was marinated in a very specific blend of Italian dressing that's just known as "Spedie Sauce" around here. They're delicious. If you head west from us, Rochester has the Garbage Plate...

 

That said, I'm a transplant. I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, not too far from Philadelphia, and my only gripe about leaving that area is that it's so hard to find a decent cheesesteak around here. I've found some very delicious steak sandwiches among the total disappointments, but very rarely does anyone in this area get that specific combination of bread, meat, and cheese *right.*

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

Chicago is known for it's deep-dish pizza but growing up we were always a thin pizza family.  That deep dish stuff is just too much cheese!  But I do like the cornbread crust...

 

 

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

And one other thing....  Ketchup does not belong on a hot dog!

[RABid]

The Chili Bun - Hotdog chili is big in my area, as is chicken and dumplings. It is close to the consistency of taco meat. No beans. No boiling the hamburger or adding cinnamon. Just good flavorful chili. The people like the chili so much that many of them order a chili dog, but hold the dog. Don't want it taking up space when you could be putting more chili in the bun. Thus, the chili bun was born. It is common in southeast Kentucky and extreme northeast Tennessee. Word gets around on which restaurants and even gas stations have the best hotdog chili. People guard their chili secrets. A joint where I now live was offered $250,000 for their recipe back in the 1980's. In the neighboring county where I grew up, most everyone has a copy of the recipe for the drive in theater chili that was so popular back in the 1960's.

 

I was having lunch with my sister in a local joint famous for their chili buns when a bunch of suits came in, looking very serious and official. A few moments later Vice President Pence came in along with the governor of Kentucky and a few other politicians. The VP was campaigning for the governor who was up for re-election. The governor at the time was an idiot who thought he was smarter than everyone else. VP Pence eagerly tried this new thing called a chili bun. The governor could not understand the concept of a chili dog without a dog. With TV cameras rolling they explained over and over that it was hotdog chili in a bun, but without the hotdog. They finally gave up and got him a chili dog. I mean, this is the man that got on camera and said "Teachers are not sophisticated enough to understand the workings of the retirement system." He didn't get to try a chili bun on camera, and he did not get re-elected. 

[Dave Bryce]

13 hours ago, ksoper said:

Oddly, the pulled pork in town is mostly shite. You've got to head west toward Memphis to get respectable bbq.  

 

Are you a fan of Peg Leg Porker, brother Ken?  I think their dry rub baby backs are pretty decent.

 

dB

[Dave Bryce]

5 hours ago, Lou Gehrig Charles said:

And one other thing....  Ketchup does not belong on a hot dog!

 

…or eggs.

 

dB

[surfergirl]

Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, Tongan, Samoan, Mexican, Vietnamese,  Spanish, Thai and Hawaiian. 

[ksoper]

5 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

 

Are you a fan of Peg Leg Porker, brother Ken?  I think their dry rub baby backs are pretty decent.

 

dB

 

Haven't been.  Everybody around here seems to think Martin's is the be-all-end-all and we don't feel it. Jack's was popular for a while but it, too, pales to the West TN variety.  Next time I'm downtown I'll try it.  

[bill5]

20 hours ago, ksoper said:

Most folks would say hot chicken, but there's a really strong Lao, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai scene in the Nashville area.  Some killer international markets, too.  Oddly, the pulled pork in town is mostly shite. You've got to head west toward Memphis to get respectable bbq.  

That's interesting. I lived in Raleigh for awhile and was struck by how there was little in the way of good BBQ places. In fact, one time not long before I left, there was this BBQ festival and I thought "oh boy, all this BBQ from all over NC, this will be great".........and it was......OK. 

[bill5]

6 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

 

…or eggs.

 

dB

I agree. Eggs belong nowhere near a hot dog!

[KenElevenShadows]

8 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

 

Are you a fan of Peg Leg Porker, brother Ken?  I think their dry rub baby backs are pretty decent.

 

dB

 

I know not of what you speak, but you have my attention, Brother Dave.

[KenElevenShadows]

8 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

Lou Gehrig Charles said: "And one other thing....  Ketchup does not belong on a hot dog!"

 

…or eggs.

 

dB

 

I rarely even put ketchup on fries or hamburgers. Not my favorite condiment.

[bill5]

40 minutes ago, KenElevenShadows said:

 

I rarely even put ketchup on fries or hamburgers. Not my favorite condiment.

Now that's just crazy talk. Failing to put ketchup on a hamburger in particular is grounds for being institutionalized.

[o0Ampy0o]

I prefer mayo on a burger. Ketchup/catsup covers up the taste of the meat IMO.

 

Once in a while I want to dip french fries in ketchup but it is most likely only to occur if I am eating a lot of french fries in the range of more than "super-sized" amounts. I don't eat that amount anymore though.

 

IMO what does not belong anywhere is mustard, with one exception. If you cook with a pressure cooker, take flank steak. Spread mustard on one side. Sprinkle it with chopped onion. Roll it up. Use toothpicks to hold the roll in form. Pressure cook this. All the flavors blend and become something different than beef, mustard and onion. It is a flavorful dish that scream of hours long baking when it cooks less than 30 minutes in a pressure cooker.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

7 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

 

I rarely even put ketchup on fries or hamburgers. Not my favorite condiment.

Not mine either.  I don't put it on anything.....  I'm sure it isn't, but to me it always seems like a fake man-made tomato paste.  When I was a kid I called it "Soylent Red" which is kind of funny and macabre at the same time.

 

 

[Dave Bryce]

16 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

IMO what does not belong anywhere is mustard

 

What do you put on a pastrami sandwich?

 

 

dB

[Dave Bryce]

9 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

 

I know not of what you speak, but you have my attention, Brother Dave.

 

Peg Leg Porker.  My favorite Nashville BBQ. 🥰

 

dB

[K K]

Poutine... 

 

[bill5]

2 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

 

What do you put on a pastrami sandwich?

 

dB

Or a hot dog?

[surfergirl]

12 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

 

I rarely even put ketchup on fries or hamburgers. Not my favorite condiment.

I consider ketchup to be the duct tape of condiments. If you can't fix it any other way, duct tape, if it tastes bad, ketchup.