Unique Regional Cuisine Defined by Location

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Originally posted by Dipstick

Hey, Spadoman! See you hail from Howard Lake. I grew up in Buffalo. Nothing like good old Wright County road food, eh?

yeah, lust been out here a couple o' months (following the grandkids) Anyway, where is there a good place to eat in wright Cty? Haven't found much yet.

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Originally posted by tiki

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Originally posted by peppertree

Anyone ever eat a carnita? I had them at a restaurant in Tijuana (across from the racetrack). The name of the restaurant is U Ru Guapan. I forget the spelling. This is THE roadfood spot in Tijuana. Orange picnic tables, Mariachi music (live) in the evening. A meal there is under $10. Includes Carnitas, pork skin that you can pull right off of the overdone pig and Mexican beer.

Anyone ever eat there?

LOVE Carnita's----when my wife was in grad school in San Diego we went to a restteraunt in Tijuana that specialized in carnitas---you order the meat by the kilo and they supplied all the fixins you could eat along with it" Fabulous stuff and dinner for 4 adults with appeties--with tip--$20---mexico is the only thing about San Diego that i miss!

Since we are on the subject of "South San Diego", when I was living in Tecate I used to eat lunch almost everyday at a place just south of the Ballpark on the road to Ensenada (which coincidentally was on my way to my apt. at Rancho Tecate, a bizarre hotel with a really good restaurant, but that's another story). The place was (and is incidentally, I just checked) is called El Pulpito. They only serve one thing, a dish known in Baja as a "cockatele". This wonderful dining item consists of any of a number of seafoods that are brined seperately, kept chilled and them combined per customer request in a large schooner (you don't have to get large, but why wouldn't you?)and then it is "sauced" with a spicy, thin tomato sauce (more like juice than sauce). You can load them up with shrimp, squid, octopus, oysters, abalone (mmmmmmmm), and a number of other things. This is not ceviche. Similar, yet totally different. I have never seen this dish outside of Northern Baja and really miss it.

El Pulpito on it's own is pretty cool. The kitchen area is squeaky clean. Seating consists of outside tables and chairs with the ubiquitos Tecate umbrellas over the tables. Beverages are purchased next door at "Liquores Tres", an outlet of a well stocked chain of independent (not associated with a brewery) beverage outlets in Tijuana, Rosarita, Ensenada, and Tecate. Service is great and the people there will be happy if your entire Spanish vocabulary consists of pointing, si, and gracias.

While you are in Tecate, pass by "El Mejor Pan" on your way back to the border (across from police station) and pick up some bread. This is probably the best bakery in Northern Baja and certainly one of the best in the San Diego area.

The border crossing at Tecate is two lanes and usually (even at peak times) less than a two minute wait and the drive down through east county San Diego is absolutely gorgeous. If you have room you can stop on your way back at the Dulzura Cafe (in the little oasis of Dulzura) and have a great hamburger and one of the coldest beverages you have ever had in your life

A couple come immediately to mind. Mill Creek Inn is on the northwest corner of Buffalo Lake. (about a mile from downtown Buffalo on County Road 35 west) Great chicken and burgers. The Juicy Lucy is to die for. Also, just east of you on Highway 12(394) is the Bayrischer Hof in Montrose. Great German food and beer. Check them out at www.bayhof.com.

Good Luck!

Nothing special. I just thought since the Krispy Kreme thread is back to haunt us again, I thought I would bring my thread back to life. Well, I guess I have to include something regional. Just had a great fish n chips dinner with a few Newport Storms at Wards Publick House in Warwick. It's almost becoming a friday night tradition.

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Originally posted by foodmelee

here is some regional cuisine from rural south carolina: pickled pig's feet, fried pork rinds, and chitlings. and the only one of the three of those i like are the pork rinds, especially homemade one's from a local flea market or fair. the pig's feet, i just don't have the heart to partake in, and the chitlings i won't touch. if you don't know what a chitling is, you aint missing anything. basically, it is the stewed guts of a pig, served with rice,typically. rural churches sell plates of it for fundraisers, and the people who like it, really like it alot. i can tell you, it smells horrible cooking, smells just like what it is

This is very similiar to rural Easten NC. Our church has chicken and pastry for fund raising. I notices several folks mentioned liver mush and scrapple-we call it liver pudding. It comes in a loaf for slicing or in stuffed long links. Very similiar just seems to have more liver in it.
Anyone ever seen a hog killing? I can remember as a child going to see folks prepare the differents cuts and then put the hams and shoulders in their smokehouses. Everyone I knew that did this is dead now. Sorry my kids won't see it. Although some do deer now in a similiar way there.

quote:

Originally posted by peppertree

Anyone ever eat a carnita? I had them at a restaurant in Tijuana (across from the racetrack). The name of the restaurant is U Ru Guapan. I forget the spelling. This is THE roadfood spot in Tijuana. Orange picnic tables, Mariachi music (live) in the evening. A meal there is under $10. Includes Carnitas, pork skin that you can pull right off of the overdone pig and Mexican beer.

Anyone ever eat there?

Carnitas Uruapan... But of course!!! The BEST place to eat carnitas...and people watch! Where else do you like to eat?

San Diego: taquitos were supposedly invented by the tortilla factory, El Indio, during the 40's. You can still order 3 taquitos topped with cheese, guacamole, lettuce and salsa for under 3.75. In northern California they appear as an appetizer and you pay over $8 for an order of three. Also, burritos will just have the filling...red chile beef or chicken ranchero and nothing else, or just with refried beans added. North of Los Angeles they add rice to the burritos and serve them with whole pinto beans. I left town before the fish taco rage hit...but have returned home to enjoy them. Also: Point Loma Seafood for smoked fish Louies...fresh fish that has been smoked over iceberg and tomatoes, served with Louie dressing. Can't beat the view!

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Originally posted by Chef Susan

quote:

Originally posted by peppertree

Anyone ever eat a carnita? I had them at a restaurant in Tijuana (across from the racetrack). The name of the restaurant is U Ru Guapan. I forget the spelling. This is THE roadfood spot in Tijuana. Orange picnic tables, Mariachi music (live) in the evening. A meal there is under $10. Includes Carnitas, pork skin that you can pull right off of the overdone pig and Mexican beer.

Anyone ever eat there?

Carnitas Uruapan... But of course!!! The BEST place to eat carnitas...and people watch! Where else do you like to eat?

Carnitas Uruapan also has a restaurant in the southern part of San Diego, in Spring Valley. Mayhaw Man, that seafood cocktail you mention is fairly common in Phoenix and Tucson. Chef Susan, are you familiar with Siesal's Meat Market?

quote:

Originally posted by Chef Susan

quote:

Originally posted by peppertree

Anyone ever eat a carnita? I had them at a restaurant in Tijuana (across from the racetrack). The name of the restaurant is U Ru Guapan. I forget the spelling. This is THE roadfood spot in Tijuana. Orange picnic tables, Mariachi music (live) in the evening. A meal there is under $10. Includes Carnitas, pork skin that you can pull right off of the overdone pig and Mexican beer.

Anyone ever eat there?

Carnitas Uruapan... But of course!!! The BEST place to eat carnitas...and people watch! Where else do you like to eat?

About a month before leaving for a long vacation that included Tijuana, I saw a write up in the NY Times about them. I took the article with me and showed it to the management of the restaurant. In exchange for the article which they did not know of, they treated me to a carnitas meal and two bottles of beer all on the house.

I had a good time there.

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Originally posted by Poverty Pete

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Originally posted by Chef Susan

quote:

Originally posted by peppertree

Anyone ever eat a carnita? I had them at a restaurant in Tijuana (across from the racetrack). The name of the restaurant is U Ru Guapan. I forget the spelling. This is THE roadfood spot in Tijuana. Orange picnic tables, Mariachi music (live) in the evening. A meal there is under $10. Includes Carnitas, pork skin that you can pull right off of the overdone pig and Mexican beer.
Hi Poverty Pete

I no longer live in San Diego but my father still buys his meat at Siesel's. We used to buy our meat at the Fort Stockton market but it has since closed.

Anyone ever eat there?

Carnitas Uruapan... But of course!!! The BEST place to eat carnitas...and people watch! Where else do you like to eat?

Carnitas Uruapan also has a restaurant in the southern part of San Diego, in Spring Valley. Mayhaw Man, that seafood cocktail you mention is fairly common in Phoenix and Tucson. Chef Susan, are you familiar with Siesal's Meat Market?

Dearfolk,
When mentioning North Dakota cuisine, you left out one thing: sunflower pie. There's a cafe in Atlanta that has it every once in awhile: the lady got the idea off either the net or one of the food channels. I wonder, though - does she remember to serve it with the point of the pie slice facing east?
A friend who is of pure Norsk extraction mentions that if lutefisk doesn't resemble putty, then it wasn't made right. And the bread (lefse) is supposed to crumble as you watch it.
Sounds delectible. Maybe next Summer I can make that trek to Grand Forks to get some chocolate-covered potato chips and take in the rest of what all y'all mentioned. Or about this time of year - that might be better. Oktober's lutefisk time.
Livermushingly, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia, Which Is Only Known For Me (Tee-Hee).

Lefse...crumble?!?! It's a potato based flat bread that is thin and pliable..like a tortilla. I have some in my freezer. My husband likes his buttered with cinnamon and sugar. Some also roll the lefse around butter and pickles. Hostfest is in full swing here in Minot. Tens of thousands of visitors eating (white) lefse,(white)lutefisk,(white) klub,(white) rommegrot and (white) tasteless pastries. Blech!

Hey there wanderingjew I am from MI so I know all about pasties they are allover the U.P. here. Also I have had all of the things you are writing about here because I was on a crew that did the coure remodeling job at the allentown munniciple golf course back in 97. all were pretty good. but the thing I miss the most is the yuingling lager that you cant get anywhere but PA from what I understand. So if brew is your thing have one for me.

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Originally posted by brookquarry

living at the northeast edge of Pennsylvanias lehigh valley we have an interesting overlap of regional cuisines. We are still(barely) part of the pennsylvania dutch country and thus such delicacies as shoe fly pie and chow chow are commonly available, at local restaurants along with (less commonly) such dutch dishes as pigs stomach and red beet eggs. (By the way ruby rose you havn't lived until you've tried browned butter on egg noodles). We are also part of the pierogie belt and virtually every diner serves them as a side dish(Usually Mrs. T'S frozen perogies unfortunately) .But the one dish unique to our little area is pasties. Introduced by cornish slate quariers who would take them down into the quarry holes as lunch pastys have become the signature cuisine of our area known popularly as the Slate Belt They are on the menu in every diner in the area, are a frequent church fund raiser,and there are even two local retail outlets- Maries pasties- a store front bakery and MR. Pastie which sells fresh pasties locally, and frozen pasties to supermarkets.

Here in Savannah, low country boil. Essentially just sausage, shrimp, corn (still on the cob), potatoes, and okra (ingredients vary) boiled up with some old bay (seasonings vary too..). The fun part is that you dump it all onto a table covered in newspaper and go to it! I don't know if it's unique to this area, but they steam oysters over a fire on a steel plate. Cover them with the burlap bag they came in (you need at LEAST 100 lbs, right?) and soak them down with a hose...let them steam for about eight minutes and shovel them onto a table (not the same one as the low country boil though).
It's not food, but Chatham artillery punch is a local thing here. Closer to artillery than punch!

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 gallons catawba wine
- 1/2 gallon rum
- 1 quart gin
- 1 quart brandy
- 1/2 pint Benedictine
- 2 quarts Maraschino cherries
- 1 1/2 quarts rye whiskey
- 1 1/2 gallons strong tea
- 2 1/2 pounds brown sugar
- 1 1/2 quarts orange juice
- 1 1/2 quarts lemon juice

Mix from 36 to 48 hours before serving. Add one case of champagne when ready to serve.

quote:

Originally posted by Spodeeodee

Here in Savannah, low country boil. Essentially just sausage, shrimp, corn (still on the cob), potatoes, and okra (ingredients vary) boiled up with some old bay (seasonings vary too..). The fun part is that you dump it all onto a table covered in newspaper and go to it! I don't know if it's unique to this area, but they steam oysters over a fire on a steel plate. Cover them with the burlap bag they came in (you need at LEAST 100 lbs, right?) and soak them down with a hose...let them steam for about eight minutes and shovel them onto a table (not the same one as the low country boil though).
It's not food, but Chatham artillery punch is a local thing here. Closer to artillery than punch!

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 gallons catawba wine
- 1/2 gallon rum
- 1 quart gin
- 1 quart brandy
- 1/2 pint Benedictine
- 2 quarts Maraschino cherries
- 1 1/2 quarts rye whiskey
- 1 1/2 gallons strong tea
- 2 1/2 pounds brown sugar
- 1 1/2 quarts orange juice
- 1 1/2 quarts lemon juice

Mix from 36 to 48 hours before serving. Add one case of champagne when ready to serve.

Spodeeodee,

having about 20 folks over for New Years,think one batch of artillary punch is enough or should i make 2?

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Originally posted by wanderingjew

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Originally posted by KimChee43

[quote
WANDERINGJEW: I found your Rhode Island post very informative, and I'm wondering if you can help me out. We'll be taking a trip to New England soon with 2 senior citizen ladies in tow. We'll be landing at the Providence airport right around lunchtime. We'll all be hungry. Can you recommend a nice sit-down restaurant not too far from the airport where we can get a bite to eat? It would be great to try some regional specialties. Many thanks.

About 2 1/2 miles from the airport on a side street off Post Road (rt 1) is the Crows Nest Restaurant. It's a little tricky to get there because you have to go through a Rotary. They have fantastic stuffed shrimp, a better than average lobster roll and is very popular with "the gray haired set". Their website is www.eatatcrowsnest.com

WANDERINGJEW: We ate at the Crow's Nest over Columbus Day weekend. We enjoyed the food--the stuffed shrimp were great. You're right--it IS popular with the "grey haired" set. I think I was the youngest adult there, and I'm in my 40s!! Had some trouble finding the place, but it was an adventure. Thanks for the recommendation.

KimChee43

Tiki, are your friends from Savannah? If so, you might want to make two batches just in case.

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

I feel like I must represent, but most of our food in California can be traced back to another place. Offhand I can think of Cobb salad, SF Sourdough bread, date shakes, and Santa Maria style BBQ. We seem to do movements rather than specialties. We have Cal-mex and "California fusion", and the fad of eating fresh and in season started in California. Can any of my fellow left-coasters think of others?

California common, also known as "steam" beer. The most popular example is anchor steam.

I can't believe I didn't see anyone from the Seattle area mention gooeyducks!!

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Originally posted by wanderingjew

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Originally posted by hilldweller

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Originally posted by wanderingjew

I grew up on Long Island in a town with a large Jewish population and a decent sized italian population.

Did you grow up in Matzohpizza?

No, Merrick.

Me too!

My Father-In-Law loved to make pasties. He was born and raised in Cornwall England. It was the ONE time he would "take over" the kitchen!

I was at my friends sunday bbq today, and someone came with a bag of the local food that I can't believe I forgot about. Hot boiled peanuts!!

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

Originally posted by wanderingjew

Originally posted by KimChee43

WANDERINGJEW: We ate at the Crow's Nest over Columbus Day weekend. We enjoyed the food--the stuffed shrimp were great. You're right--it IS popular with the 'grey haired' set. I think I was the youngest adult there, and I'm in my 40s!! Had some trouble finding the place, but it was an adventure. Thanks for the recommendation.

KimChee43

Glad to be of assistance!

Tiki: As a scuba diver from California just thought you might like to try chicken breasts cut into 3 pieces pounded very flat. Marinate in bottled clam juice with lots of fresh garlic cut into big pieces (1 whole head). Marinate more than 24 hours. Drain and dip in crushed chicken in the basket cracker crumbs and saute in butter in a shallow pan until browned. Sprinkle with sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. Scrumptous and the smell brings hungry eaters from far and wide. Close to scalone without having to have abalone and/or scallops.

quote:

Originally posted by RedPatti

Tiki: As a scuba diver from California just thought you might like to try chicken breasts cut into 3 pieces pounded very flat. Marinate in bottled clam juice with lots of fresh garlic cut into big pieces (1 whole head). Marinate more than 24 hours. Drain and dip in crushed chicken in the basket cracker crumbs and saute in butter in a shallow pan until browned. Sprinkle with sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. Scrumptous and the smell brings hungry eaters from far and wide. Close to scalone without having to have abalone and/or scallops.

Chicken of the sea!!!
Sounds like its worth a try to me---especially since ive got a snowballs chance in hell of getting abalone bits out here in Oklahoma! Thanks for the idea/recipe!

from familydoc
Anyone ever seen a hog killing? I can remember as a child going to see folks prepare the differents cuts and then put the hams and shoulders in their smokehouses. Everyone I knew that did this is dead now. Sorry my kids won't see it. Although some do deer now in a similiar way there.


One of my most unpleasant memories. We always took care of that in late November (usually 2 hogs). We (in the North Carolina mountains)had to wait until it was cold enough that the hams and shoulders would cure without spoiling. This brings back very vivid mind pictures of vats of boiling water, heavy duty hoists on a very large tree limb, taking part in the actual slaughter and butchering, grinding strips into sausage, rubbing the salt/pepper/brown sugar mixture into the hams and shoulders before hanging them to cure, and the feel and smell of grease on everything I touched for days. But the taste of fresh tenderloin and then the country ham when it finished curing made it all worthwhile.

The second quote in hillbilly's post above surely brings back many memories, and is a pretty accurate picture as I recall hog killings, tho we killed, according to the weather, anywhere from November to February, and usually killed 4 hogs. It was messy work but was worth it. Only things I recall which don't see mentioned above are the cooking of the lard and some other folks back in the far corner of the lot, as far from everything and everyone else as possible, cleaning chittlings for themselves. After all the work of the day, then that grinding sausage that night (with big hand powered sausage grinders) was even more work. Particularly surprised to see mention of the fresh tenderloin, for not too many folks other than us around here savored it, but to us that indeed made it all worthwhile, as did the fresh sausage (which I liked much better than the cured sausage). Somehow the hog killings always were always more of an "event", just had more "romance, adventure" to them than did the beef kilings which were always just straight forward work/business matters. PS - typo corrections.

Much the same inmy Italian grandparents home in New England as you guys in the southland--altough we made italian sausage and homemade procuitto instead of country ham---i rmember this big marble block contraption that we would pack tham--and peppercorns into ande then a heavy marble block went on top to press it flat as it dry cured. It WAS greasy and hard work for a kid---and we HAD to help---"Eh,you gunna eat it ,you gunna help!"--but there is NOTHING like the taste of homemade procuitto!! We had a typical large italian extended family and my grandparents were the Head of the family--it was on their land that all the gerden crops were grown---seem like aaaaaaaaacres of tomatos to me as a kid but was proably about 100 plants and also his "farm" supplied the pigs for the whole family-so there was often 10-12 pigs being done at a time and 9it was commen for there to be 40 to 75 folks ther for the weekend with all going home with boxes of food for the freezer or canned what ever---one of my favorite time was when the squab was ready---lots of family members raised them and when it was time to harvest them--(right before they fly but are at full size)we would clean them and roast them over coals in the yard and then pack them in barrels with lard to cover them and keep them in the cellar. The later in the year when my grandmother would make "little birds and polenta" we kids would be sent down stairs with a huge pan to fill with the birds which would be heated up--drained of the lard and mixed with sauce to simmer--when the polenta was ready my grandmother would turn it out right oon the large metal table in the kitchen and then stick the squab on skewers into it as it cooled and we would all slice a hunk for our plate and cover with sauce. God i miss that!!!! Any way---thanks for reminding me of hog butchering time!! It brought back wonderful memories!

IN MICHIGAN, VERNORS GINGER ALE, BETTER MADE POTATO CHIPS, CONEY DOGS, AND SANDERS HOT FUDGE SUNDAES. ALSO MANY MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANTS SERVING THINGS LIKE HUMMUS, BABA GANOUJSH(SP), CHICHEN SHAWARMAS, FATOUSH, AND KEBABS GALORE. IN THE U.P. IT'S PASTIES AND SMOKED WHITEFISH.

I've been reviewing some of the topics on this board and just thought it was necessary to bring back this one.

I'm going to be heading to Williamsburg VA for a few days before thanksgiving. I plan on going to Pierce's Pit BBQ for lunch this coming tuesday. I reviewed there web site and noticed that they have sweet potato sticks on their menu. Although I've had them before in other states, I heard they were invented in Virginia. Is that true

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Originally posted by M&M

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Originally posted by Sundancer7

In Nova Scotia gravy is routinely served with French Fries.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

With cheese curds on top. Called poteen if I'm not mistaken.

That's what it's called but it's spelled poutine and is not to be confused for the traditional Acadien dis, poutine rapee which resembles nothing else I've (unless you have ever rolled leftover soggy scalloped potatoes into a ball and fried them in lard.

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Originally posted by tamandmik

One more unique food, truly unique to maybe a 30 mile radius, is the Tarantini Panzarotti, which, essentially is a deep-fried calzone. This dish is extremely tasty, and uniquely South Jersey. My friends and family in North Jersey look at me like I have 3 heads when I describe it to them.

Well if it is a calzone then it has a much greater range then you think. There is a small family owned itialian restaraunt chain in the Fresno Calif area called DiCicco's. They are well known for the quality of their food. One of my favorites is the calzone, deep fried, covered in sauce, smothered in cheese and baked in the pizza oven until the cheese browns. You can also get w/o the sauce and extra cheese. Wonderful!

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Originally posted by Lone Star

Bushie - you did not mention Pecos cantelopes, our beautiful, sweet fruits from the arid Pecos Valley. There is something about the soil there that makes them the best in the world.

Sorry LoneStar, gotta disagree. THE Best cantalopes come from the central San Jauquin valley of Calif. Especially around Firebaugh and Mendota. There just isn't a better melon then one of these picked ripe and fresh from the field, served chilled.

Boy how I miss the produce from Fresno.

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Originally posted by Lone Star

Here it is Kim. I don't know if Rotel is a staple in pantries around the country, but no Texas home is without it!

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Sounds great! I've printed off the receipe and will try it soon. Thanks!

Mike

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Originally posted by KimChee43

LUCKY BISHOP: Many thanks for the recipe! Ro-Tel tomatoes are easy to find in my area. I'll definitely give it a try!

Mine too, Podunk WVa. I use them all the time in my chili.

MikeS.

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Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Oh, dear lord, I keep forgetting that not everyone knows about Frito Pie.
There's also a homestyle version that's basically a casserole of chili and Fritos mixed together and spread in a pan, then topped heavily with cheese and baked for about 20 minutes.

My family, both sides, having come out of Texas (they got smart ) we always had at least one Frito Pie at family get-togethers.

quote:

Originally posted by Poverty Pete

As I was growing up in San Diego, I could go 30 feet offshore with a mask and snorkel and bring back a dozen abalone in just a few minutes. We always complained about the free abalone because you had to pound the steaks before you could eat them. There were also sea urchins by the thousands. When I moved to Hawaii, it was called Vana, then later, when I began eating sushi, it bacame uni. If only I had known. After a beach picnic of abalone steaks, we would take the ab shells home to use as ashtrays. I could feed a group of 15 or 20 on abalone steaks with about 10 minutes work. For those who didn't like abalone, I would also bring in a few lobsters, which I later learned were really langostas.

Unfortunately between the sea urchins, the re-emergence of seals and sea lions and not the least, the over fishing by humans it is almost impossible to get abalone anymore. When I was young we went abbing out of Morro Bay and would catch our limit. The pounding part wasn't so bad because when mom fried those steaks up we had some great eating. By the time I was 20, 26 years ago, Morro Bay and the rest of the central coast was for all intents fished out of abs. We had to go far North to get any and then the size and limit was greatly reduced.

Darn those pesky seals and sea lions eating all those tasty abs!

Bushie, we must have the same roots. I cook my pintos the same way you describe. When I use salt pork I rarely add any more salt. When I use ham hocks then I will. I like to finish off my bowl with my favorite hot sauce, Cholula.

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

I feel like I must represent, but most of our food in California can be traced back to another place. Offhand I can think of Cobb salad, SF Sourdough bread, date shakes, and Santa Maria style BBQ. We seem to do movements rather than specialties. We have Cal-mex and "California fusion", and the fad of eating fresh and in season started in California. Can any of my fellow left-coasters think of others?

I've got to agree, Calif seems to have a lot of food brought in from elsewhere. The biggest thing I miss is all the fresh field ripe produce. Be it citrus or vegetable or melons or fruit, Calif is definetely the place for produce.

Santa Maria TriTip is execellent and you can't get another sourdough bread anything like San Francisco fisherman's wharf.

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Originally posted by tiki


LOVE Carnita's----when my wife was in grad school in San Diego we went to a restteraunt in Tijuana that specialized in carnitas---you order the meat by the kilo and they supplied all the fixins you could eat along with it" Fabulous stuff and dinner for 4 adults with appeties--with tip--$20---mexico is the only thing about San Diego that i miss!

You have got to be kidding! SD has so many great things going for it, especially the weather. I would live there in a heartbeat if I could afford to.

These foods took hold in the Bluegrass, the region immediately around Lexington, Kentucky, and the area is known for them:

Fried banana peppers

Beaten Biscuits

Beer Cheese (especially that made by the Hall family)

Salsify casserole (aka Faux Scalloped Oysters)

3 and 4 year old sugar cured hams

Spoon Bread

Mint Juleps

Chess Pie

Bourbon balls (candy)

Kentucky Hot Brown (A dish created in the kitchen at Louisville’s Brown Hotel. Country ham and turkey on toast, covered by a rich cheese sauce, and baked with slices of tomato and crispy bacon on top)

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Originally posted by MikeSh

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Originally posted by tiki


LOVE Carnita's----when my wife was in grad school in San Diego we went to a restteraunt in Tijuana that specialized in carnitas---you order the meat by the kilo and they supplied all the fixins you could eat along with it" Fabulous stuff and dinner for 4 adults with appeties--with tip--$20---mexico is the only thing about San Diego that i miss!

You have got to be kidding! SD has so many great things going for it, especially the weather. I would live there in a heartbeat if I could afford to.

Actually i also miss the radio---best radio in tne country--esp the NPR station---but we where there while my wife was at grad school at UCSC and lived in "East Lajolla"---what we called married student housing there---surrounded by malls and suburbia---it was a great place fo a walk but there was NO neighborhoods at all---thankfully the park system was awesome and the beaches were loaded with mussels that i seemede to alone in gathering---folks thought i was crazy--but they were great! About the weather--aty first it was great---after a while 70 degrees ALL THE TIME got to be---well --boring----especially when the only breakin the weather was flooding!!

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Originally posted by wanderingjew

I've been reviewing some of the topics on this board and just thought it was necessary to bring back this one.

I'm going to be heading to Williamsburg VA for a few days before thanksgiving. I plan on going to Pierce's Pit BBQ for lunch this coming tuesday. I reviewed there web site and noticed that they have sweet potato sticks on their menu. Although I've had them before in other states, I heard they were invented in Virginia. Is that true

Pierce's has been a mystery to me for years. I once heard something good about them and then queried friends in Williamsburg. Pierce's got an okay report, but one that indicated any barbeque might suit their palate. I've done online searches on Pierce's, but didn't learn much. I'd love to hear what you think, as I've thought of visiting them if I'm in the area again sometime. I looked at my folder on Virginia bbq and found this copy on Pierce's saved from a N.C. barbeque site.

“Nice joint mostly populated by tourists speaking "foreign tongues". They cook Boston butts with coals from oak and hickory wood in closed pits. They are done in 5-6 hours. You would never know it, however, because they bury the meat in a tomato-based sauce that tastes like it might well have come from Georgia! Tasty, you couldn't sell that stuff for love or money across the state line in North Carolina.”

Of course this gentleman is being typically North Carolinian about que that differs from his regional preference. They have great que in Lexington and I go there often for the priviledge of enjoying it. But Lexington Dip isn’t the only good thing that can be added to smoked pork.

Bishop,

In regard to: Periwinkles, sometimes on the menu as "sea snails." This is probably a Cantonese thing, but . . .

My long-gone Irish grandmother, who hailed from the west of Ireland (Clare), introduced me to the tedious pleasure of eating periwinkles when I was just a wee lad. We would collect them among the rocks along the Westerly RI shore and then she'd boil them up and serve them in their shells with a small bowl of melted butter for dipping. She used a sewing needle to pick each one out while singing "Snail, snail, put out your eyes" in her characteristic thick brogue. Discard the little, hard "lid", dip in the butter, and pop it in your mouth -- good eatin'.

Tom

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Originally posted by MikeSh

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Originally posted by Lone Star

Bushie - you did not mention Pecos cantelopes, our beautiful, sweet fruits from the arid Pecos Valley. There is something about the soil there that makes them the best in the world.

Sorry LoneStar, gotta disagree. THE Best cantalopes come from the central San Jauquin valley of Calif. Especially around Firebaugh and Mendota. There just isn't a better melon then one of these picked ripe and fresh from the field, served chilled.

Boy how I miss the produce from Fresno.

Never having knowingly had any cantaloupe from the area you mention, I can't make any valid comparison. However, I can't imagine any cantaloupe being significantly better than the Eastern Shore (of Maryland) 'loupes that I have purchased from roadside stands in that area. As you suggest, I think the key is the amount of time the melons spend in transit from the field to the consumer, and the extent to which they are allowed to ripen on the vine.

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Originally posted by JimInKy

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Originally posted by wanderingjew

I've been reviewing some of the topics on this board and just thought it was necessary to bring back this one.

I'm going to be heading to Williamsburg VA for a few days before thanksgiving. I plan on going to Pierce's Pit BBQ for lunch this coming tuesday. I reviewed there web site and noticed that they have sweet potato sticks on their menu. Although I've had them before in other states, I heard they were invented in Virginia. Is that true

Pierce's has been a mystery to me for years. I once heard something good about them and then queried friends in Williamsburg. Pierce's got an okay report, but one that indicated any barbeque might suit their palate. I've done online searches on Pierce's, but didn't learn much. I'd love to hear what you think, as I've thought of visiting them if I'm in the area again sometime. I looked at my folder on Virginia bbq and found this copy on Pierce's saved from a N.C. barbeque site.

“Nice joint mostly populated by tourists speaking "foreign tongues". They cook Boston butts with coals from oak and hickory wood in closed pits. They are done in 5-6 hours. You would never know it, however, because they bury the meat in a tomato-based sauce that tastes like it might well have come from Georgia! Tasty, you couldn't sell that stuff for love or money across the state line in North Carolina.”

Of course this gentleman is being typically North Carolinian about que that differs from his regional preference. They have great que in Lexington and I go there often for the priviledge of enjoying it. But Lexington Dip isn’t the only good thing that can be added to smoked pork.

I would definitely give them a try the next time you're in the area. I've been there a couple of times during trips to Williamsburg, and have been very pleased both times. Obviously, if someone prefers NC style bbq, they're not going to be happy at Pierce's, since they don't serve that style. I would go and decide for myself.

BTW, Pierce's now serves breafast. FYI.

Mainly just to bring this great topic back, here's some Cincinnati regionalism:

Chili (greek style), the best is at Camp Washington chili although you can find it all over at any one of the Skyline restaurants. Some also claim that the West side of Cincy is the home of "city chicken" (pork cubes on a stick), plus there's "Cincinnati oysters" (a slang term for pickled pig's feet). Then there's goetta. As scrapple is to Philadelphia, goetta is to Cincinnati. For the uninitiated, the German meat product is a combination of pinhead oatmeal, pork, beef and seasonings. Glier's Goetta Co. across the river in Covington is the planet's largest producer, selling nearly 1 million pounds a year.

This was really a wonderful thread.

I grew up in the South Jersey/Philly area. Aside from the usual talk about cheese steaks and hoagies, scrapple is the regional specialty (read: stuff they don't eat nowhere else). Actually a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe ("pawnhaus"). The coolest kind is the one available in places like farmer's market meat shops (Columbus or Berlin, in NJ, were my places) where it comes in the big metal pans with at least a half-inch of fat on top. Slice it up and fry it. They argue about ketchup or not.

I worked in the Philippines for a long time. A guy I worked with, from Camden, always had a New Year's Day breakfast, and had scrapple brought in. He did it just to gross everyone out. An acquired taste. . . .

I live in North Carolina now. Never mind the bbq and slaw on the bbq sandwich. A big one here is slaw on hot dogs.

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Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Living in Boston now, I can think of two local specialties that I've only ever seen in Chinese restaurants here:

1. Peking ravioli, commonly known locally as "ravs." Basically, these are potstickers, but they're fried browner and crisper than you see potstickers done in the rest of the country, and they tend to have a very gingery filling. This is extremely old-school Boston Chinese, now found only at the places where the chefs were taught by Joyce Chen herself.

2. Periwinkles, sometimes on the menu as "sea snails." This is probably a Cantonese thing, but because Boston's Chinatown is the only one I've become familiar with that's predominantly Cantonese rather than Schezwan, Boston is the only city in North America where I can be assured that I'll find periwinkles on the menu. (I'm told they're popular in Vancouver as well -- perhaps the first generations of Cantonese immigrants gravitated towards coastal cities to remind them of home!) They come piled about six inches high on the platter, little shells that look like miniature escargot, usually in a hot chili and black bean sauce with lotsa garlic. They give you a bowl of toothpicks and you go to it, picking up a shell and digging the toothpick on in there to spear the little nugget of meat. This is the sort of meal you order when you don't mind taking a while and you've got good conversational partners.

Lucky Bishop, what you described re the Peking Ravioli is Chinese culinary ingenuity at work. I've had this in various incarnations and it's the variation of the same thing. Usually served as part of the dim sum selection in Southeast Asia.

As for periwinkles, you nailed it--it's Cantonese all right although my mother's family (who are Hokkien) also eat them up. Basically, we Chinese eat pretty much all kinds of shellfish I remember eating them fried with paste made from dried chillies, dried shrimp paste and plenty of garlic and ginger! The way we eat it is like this (if you are talking about the conical little creatures I'm thinking of):

Suck the pointy end of the shellfish to loose it up, then use your fork/fingers/toothpick/whatever digging implement to get the succulent little things out. Makes a big mess but very fun and scrumptious!

Thank you Florox for bringing this thread back to life! I was ready to do it myself considering some of the threads that have been lingering on here the last week or so!

Not a single mention on this entire thread from any of you New Englanders about Whoopie Pies ?? What's wrong with you people?? You got Curt Schilling. You can take the black veils of now, Chowderheads.

I spent 10 years in Arizona, and I always assumed that the green chile of New Mexico cuisine was the same as the Arizona variety. I finally made it to Santa Fe this year, and I was a little disappointed.

Green chile in Arizona is "chili," only green -- a thick stew of beef or pork or chicken cooked with the chiles themselves and onions, a little tomato, garlic, etc. It's used as a filling for burros (what they call burritos on most Arizona menus) and chimichangas (deep-fried burros, supposedly invented at El Charro in Tucson).

What I got when I ordered green chile in Santa Fe was a sauce made of little else but chopped green chiles. I also found "green chile stew," which was sort of like the Arizona variety, only not nearly as thick.

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Originally posted by TANFANRN

IN MICHIGAN, VERNORS GINGER ALE, BETTER MADE POTATO CHIPS, CONEY DOGS, AND SANDERS HOT FUDGE SUNDAES. ALSO MANY MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANTS SERVING THINGS LIKE HUMMUS, BABA GANOUJSH(SP), CHICHEN SHAWARMAS, FATOUSH, AND KEBABS GALORE. IN THE U.P. IT'S PASTIES AND SMOKED WHITEFISH.

And, of course, that tasty but cough-inducing Vernors with vanilla ice cream as a "Boston cooler." The complementary mix of spicy and creamy -- mmm.

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Originally posted by i95

Not a single mention on this entire thread from any of you New Englanders about Whoopie Pies ?? What's wrong with you people?? You got Curt Schilling. You can take the black veils of now, Chowderheads.

I though Whoopie Pies were more PA Dutch. I see themat Mennonite Markets here in VA. New England food to me is huge drippy grinders, cake doughnuts and Polish pierogies. I lived far inland (Westfield MA) so I didn't get to enjoy all that lobster except for special occasions.

Oh, and eating ice cream at sub-zero temperatures.

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Originally posted by i95

Not a single mention on this entire thread from any of you New Englanders about Whoopie Pies ?? What's wrong with you people?? You got Curt Schilling. You can take the black veils of now, Chowderheads.

As a displaced New Yawka living in New England, I wouldn't know a Whoopie Pie from a Whoopie Cushion. Curt who?

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Originally posted by Grampy

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Originally posted by i95

Not a single mention on this entire thread from any of you New Englanders about Whoopie Pies ?? What's wrong with you people?? You got Curt Schilling. You can take the black veils of now, Chowderheads.

As a displaced New Yawka living in New England, I wouldn't know a Whoopie Pie from a Whoopie Cushion. Curt who?

It's tough being a Yankees fan in Greenfield, Grampy, no ?

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Originally posted by i95

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Originally posted by Grampy

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Originally posted by i95

Not a single mention on this entire thread from any of you New Englanders about Whoopie Pies ?? What's wrong with you people?? You got Curt Schilling. You can take the black veils of now, Chowderheads.

As a displaced New Yawka living in New England, I wouldn't know a Whoopie Pie from a Whoopie Cushion. Curt who?

It's tough being a Yankees fan in Greenfield, Grampy, no ?

Actually, I see more Yankees fans than those who root for that other team. Sox fans are already complaining that Schilling is probably going to have his worst year. Such optimists, no?

The cantalopes from the Hand family farm near Saratoga New York are without any doubt whatsoever the very best in the wolrd during a brief period of mid-summer. They are called "Hand Melons" and are available at the Saratoga race track among other places in the Saratoga area. I dont know if it is a secret family variety, or a result of the soil and micro climate that makes them so special, but they are great melons - worth the trip to Saratoga in August even if there wasn't a great track to visit.

Hi all!

This is my first time posting to this site. I've been publishing "roadfood" tips myself for about 10 years and almost that long online at my website http://ouryourbackdoor.com.

I really liked the Epicurious "Just Folk" project that Michael Stern helped with some years back.

I think that hinterlands dining is where it's at. Also, that it needs the most help. I worry that it's fast disappearing. Because no one knows where it is. These are local secrets that are kept too local. The metro areas do just fine at taking care of themselves. Enough people there, eh.

OK, that's my intro. Here's specifically why I'm writing: I like the theme of this thread. However, it seems like the State Selector on the homepage is really what we need to do the trick. Only so far it looks like the Sterns only use that to list restaurants in their book. Here in this part of the Forum people freely give Regional Tips but they're totally disorganized. Or am I just not seeing how to use the Forum?

I see in the News section that they're going to charge for an advanced service of providing maps and restaurants. I hope it works out for them.

Oh, here's another intro-type of thought: I recall that Usenet used to have a great array of rec.good.eats Forums for every state and major city. Those were a great resource. But I can't seem to find them anymore.

Well, nice to be here! --Jeff Potter