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Each City's signature dish?


stephenc

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  • 3 weeks later...
Minneapolis - Walleye (I won't go the lutefisk route)

St. Louis - Deep-fried ravioli

New Orleans - Gumbo/Jambalaya

And a comment on Cincinnati chili. The stuff is served on noodles in a 3-, 4-, or 5-way. The history is that it is actually Greek pasta sauce, and not chili at all.

Right about St. Louis and right about the description, but the dish is referred to by natives as "toasted ravioli", despite the luxuriant grease bath that makes it so delicious.

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  • 1 year later...

This was a creative thread.

After some recent trips I gathered the following:

Key West-conch fritters and key lime pie

Minneapolis-wild rice and berries, bison sausage/game dishes, chokecherry

As a Baltimore/DC native, I concur that I cannot think of any signature DC dish. I can't think of a good Richmond dish for that matter either despite living there for several years. just the usual southern stuff i guess like BBQ, grits, omelets (a la Millie's)?

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You know I read thru this thread and I have to say if Houston has a signiture dish it woud be grilled rib eye steak, fried potatoes, creamed spinach, and sliced beefsteak tomatoes with blu cheese crumbles. Not bad.

Cooking is chemistry, baking is alchemy.

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This was a creative thread.

As a Baltimore/DC native, I concur that I cannot think of any signature DC dish. I can't think of a good Richmond dish for that matter either despite living there for several years. just the usual southern stuff i guess like BBQ, grits, omelets (a la Millie's)?

When I lived in Alexandria, the Wash. Post ran a article where they tried to find a signature DC dish. Closest they could come was a half smoke sausage on a roll. Not that distinctive of a food, but I did used to enjoy a half smoke, egg and cheese sandwich on toast for breakfast.

slow

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You know I read thru this thread and I have to say if Houston has a signiture dish it woud be grilled rib eye steak, fried potatoes, creamed spinach, and sliced beefsteak tomatoes with blu cheese crumbles. Not bad.

Houston's signature dish is shrimp po-boys, from shrimp trucked up that day from Galveston.

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For Rochester, the "white hot," which is slang for a white hot dog. Descended from bratwurst, which was popularized by German immigrants in the 19th c. Cooked and served like a regular hot dog* (but much more delicious!), preferably washed down with Genesee beer and consumed while watching the local baseball team lose. :smile: Regional enough that if you haven't lived there, you have no idea what they are.

* Best are Zweigles with the skin.

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Des Moines:

Cream of Mushroom soup/canned onion ring casseroles

"Open face beef sandwich": wonder bread, covered with well done slice of roast beef, topped with scoop of mashed potatoes, then gravy

"Loose meat sandwiches"

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Des Moines:

Cream of Mushroom soup/canned onion ring casseroles

You mean this?

"Open face beef sandwich": wonder bread, covered with well done slice of roast beef, topped with scoop of mashed potatoes, then gravy

"Loose meat sandwiches"

What are the "loose meats"?

I would have thought something involving corn would make it onto the list for the capital of Corn Country.

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

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What are the "loose meats"?

Loose meat sandwiches, AKA Maid Rites, are like sloppy joes without the sauce. Basically it's just seasoned ground beef scooped onto a squishy white hamburger bun...MMMMM.

Iowans know to eat corn only during its peak in the summer, simply steamed or grilled and slathered with butter, salt and pepper.

I'd like to nominate Vietnamese food for Houston, especially sandwiches that come on baguettes and noodle soups.

The Austin people are right on the money with BBQ and migas, but I'd add breakfast tacos and gingerbread pancakes.

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It's interesting to see all the debate on Milwaukee.

Mentioned include:

Bratwurst

Beer

Butter Burgers

Frozen Custard

Fish Fry

Not yet mentioned:

Sauerkraut

Cream Puffs

Deep Fried Cheese Curds

Dill pickles

Old Fashioneds (brandy of course)

Kringle?

I don't think any of these are Milwaukee exclusives, though. The afore mentioned Sheboygan gets note for brats... but Appleton, La Crosse, and Madison all have obessions with brats, too. Frozen Custard, maybe... but try to tell that to any Michael's Frozen Custard devotees in Madison. Butter burgers? Statewide, though Culver's of Sauk City made them famous.

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New Orleans -- add chicory coffee, beignets, poboys, King cake

Keep gumbo and jambalaya. But not crawfish. Sure, you can get crawfish in NO, but that mostly migrated from the Acadiana region where they were first farmed in great numbers. You can hear Cajun and Zydeco music in NO but it migrated there from Acadiana. You would associate NO with jazz, which originated there. 2 sense

Edited by My Confusing Horoscope (log)

Scorpio

You'll be surprised to find out that Congress is empowered to forcibly sublet your apartment for the summer.

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I'm sure this has already been covered but, for Chicago:

Italian beef

Deep dish pizza

Vienna hot dogs

Aye, the holy trinity! :biggrin:

=R=

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Oregon is mostly known for its watery denizens (salmon, crabs, clams etc.), berries (blackberry, raspberry, cranberry, marionberry etc.), nuts (esp. the hazelnut/filbert), beef, ales (Bridgeport comes to mind), coffee/espresso consumption and finally, pinot noir.

Edited to add mushrooms, too. We have lots and lots of mushrooms!

Edited by petite tête de chou (log)

Shelley: Would you like some pie?

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Las Vegas: the buffet!! Hands-down.

Washington D.C.: Senate bean soup

Chesapeake Bay area in general: crab cakes

Maine: lobster roll

Nebraska (or maybe just Lincoln?): runza sandwiches

Michigan: Cornish pasties

Kentucky: burgoo

Louisiana: muffaletta

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Walleye was my first thought for Minneapolis. Lightly pan fried walleye just tastes like a Minnesota summer to me!

But then hot dish popped in to my head. Church basements, jello, creamy hot dishes with potato chips crumbled on top. Some kind of wild rice casserole maybe. If it's a posh church, maybe some lefse or kringle to go with it.

I love my Norwegian Lutheran church basement grandma!

"Vegetables aren't food. Vegetables are what food eats."

--

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The Lunch Crunch - Our daily struggle to avoid boring lunches

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