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Regional foods in the USA

Goatjunky

By Goatjunky
in Food Traditions & Culture

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huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've had CFS in many place and ONLY served with white gravy.  And pretty much as Annabelle describes -- mashed taters, dinner roll, green beans cooked southern style.  Yummy.

 

The regional dishes that have surprised me have been in Pennsylvania -- an odd assortment of Deutch and southern -- scrapple alongside the biscuits and gravy.  And northern central Pennsylvania is prone to "salads" made with LOTS of Miracle Whip, the gloppier the better.  Went to a wedding once and the reception (in the church basement, natch) was catered by the bride's friends who each brought a different bowl of Miracle Whip with a variety of chunks mixed in.  It was interesting. 

 

http//:chowhound.chow.com:topics:803466

:smile:  :wink:

Edited by huiray (log)
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teagal

teagal

Posted
Posted

Over twenty years ago, I mentioned to someone I was moving to Missouri. Her response was to tell me the state beverage was gravy. I think it still rings true. All this gravy debate brought that to mind.

Chicken and dumplings would be my vote for Missouri, which I don't understand since its just thicker chicken soup. Not that its not good, its just not party and event material to me. Another regional dish would be ham and beans.

Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality. Clifton Fadiman

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annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted

Teagal, you're so right about the gravy being the state beverage of Missouri.

 

Chicken 'n' dumplings isn't specific to Missouri.  It's just po' people's food and damned tasty.  You'll find it anywhere in the Southern states.

 

The one that threw me (well, one of many) in Dutch country PA, was Pot Pie.  I figured "Cool.  I love pot pie." 

 

Little did I know I would get a bowl of soup with large square noodles in it.

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annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted

Sylvia, I was once invited to dinner in Indiana where the hostess serve "chili" with elbow macaroni in it and a fruit salad with colored miniature marshmallows tucked into a miracle whip dressing.

 

The chili was more like sloppy joe filling than Texas chili. 

 

That salad still gives me nightmares.

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IowaDee

IowaDee

Posted
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I'm about three miles from the Missouri line so I'm cheating here but I do think Bud Beer defines the State for me.  Go Cards!  And St. Louis has some damn tasty BBQ.  And if you want good Italian grub, just visit The Hill.

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
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Teagal, you're so right about the gravy being the state beverage of Missouri.

 

Chicken 'n' dumplings isn't specific to Missouri.  It's just po' people's food and damned tasty.  You'll find it anywhere in the Southern states.

 

The one that threw me (well, one of many) in Dutch country PA, was Pot Pie.  I figured "Cool.  I love pot pie." 

 

Little did I know I would get a bowl of soup with large square noodles in it.

Yeah, "pot pie" should have an asterisk by it on the menu in Lancaster and Berks and York Co.

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FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted

Arizona - native Indian Fry Bread, from the AZ Navajo

 

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

 

Sonoran Hot Dog! Mmmmm  

 

http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/fast-fresh/new-essentials-sonoran-hot-dog-00400000038780/

 

Prickly pear and saguaro cacti - prickly pear pad (nopalitas) and prickly pear juice/nectar are used quite a bit 

 

Mesquite flour, cholla cactus buds, tepary beans are used by native Indians

 

http://www.arizonaguide.com/experience-and-share/featured-article/a-sense-of-taste-arizonas-food-culture

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Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

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A few food specialties that are unique to my area....Cornell Chicken, Salt Potatoes and Spiedies.

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

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Lisa Shock

Lisa Shock

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 3/26/2014 at 6:44 PM, gfweb said:

Yeah, "pot pie" should have an asterisk by it on the menu in Lancaster and Berks and York Co.

 

Actually, whoever wrote that menu shortened the name. It's called 'slippery pot pie.' The upside of the dish is that no one sells the noodles that go into it, to make you have to make the noodles (called rivels) fresh right before serving.

 

I went to HS in PA, the cafeteria served two regional lunch dishes I never hear mentioned: corn fritters and candian bacon with maple syrup poured all over both, and, pork with sauerkraut (a pile of hot sauerkraut with pork chunks cooked in it.)

Edited by Lisa Shock
added references (log)

Have you read eGullet's Kitchen Scale manifesto?

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
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I went to HS in PA, the cafeteria served two regional lunch dishes I never hear mentioned: corn fritters and candian bacon with maple syrup poured all over both, and, pork with sauerkraut (a pile of hot sauerkraut with pork chunks cooked in it.)

LOL.

I remember those dishes.

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Shelby

Shelby

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Posted

Oklahoma's state food (really) is the Chicken Fried Steak.

 

Recipes abound.

 

I grew up in Santa Maria, CA, home of the Santa Maria Style BBQ:  A tri-tip piece of beef cooked over a pit of mesquite, served with pinto beans and cornbread.  This is a popular fundraiser for the Elks Lodge and the FFA.

I see Oklahoma is the only state with an official "state meal"   :biggrin:

 

Oklahoma Fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas.

http://www.netstate.com/states/tables/state_food.htm

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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

Posted
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Hassouni – you gotta come down to the lower counties, my friend.  I was born in the district and raised in Alexandria and never ate better (or cooked better) than after I moved to Richmond!  Brunswick stew: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_stew  and my general set of directions:  http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/SOUPSandSTEWS/Brunswick_Stew.html  If I have some BBQ pork, that goes in, too. 

 

Annabelle – your Indiana dinner sounds delicious to me :wub: .  Too bad they didn’t serve you fried chicken and pie – we ate some of the best of both when we lived there.

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Kim

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Smithy

Smithy

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I've heard of spam with pineapple. Can't say I've tried it, but I could believe it as a western Pacific Islands dish.

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djyee100

djyee100

Posted
Posted

As for the Hawaiian plate lunch, I have a hard time with macaroni salad and rice side by side. It would have to be one or the other. Everything else on the plate, I would chow down. Perhaps more than you would ever want to know about the plate lunch, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/dining/12plate.html?_r=0

 

All this talk about the Hawaiian plate lunch reminded me of another regional delicacy, the "garbage plate" from Rochester, NY. A foodie friend was passing through, tried the garbage plate, and raved about it when he got home. Maybe all that traveling he was doing made him extra hungry. :wink: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Tahou_Hots

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