Somewhere in-between Chop Suey and Pork Roll, the truth lies.
November 17, 2014 12:54 PM   Subscribe

 
From the scrapple link:

Like none of you, I am a big fan of scrapple

One last virtue of this despised and forgotten meat:

Kind of weird; if you're talking about regional foods, obviously very many people are fans. I guess the default reader is someone in New York or LA? Scrapple certainly isn't forgotten in PA, Maryland, Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic in general.
posted by spaltavian at 1:02 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oooh, going for the Philippe's and not the Cole's! ;D
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:04 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


The Midwest lost me at "Watergate salad". I don't think there are words in the English language to describe the physical revulsion I feel when confronted with this:

A beloved fruit “salad” made of crushed pineapple, pistachio pudding, marshmellows, pecans, and Cool Whip. The green creation is sometimes called “Pistachio Delight.”
posted by lydhre at 1:04 PM on November 17, 2014


If someone could just comb every list and note references to New Orleans and paste them all here so I could get all sputtery about them more efficiently that'd be great.
posted by komara at 1:04 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Sort of amused to see the Garbage Plate on the "25 Regional American Foods" link listed as New York State. No sense passing it off as statewide, that is straight-up Rochester.

As far as other upstate foods go, I am enjoying the spread of weckification. Weck pizza, weck sushi...I had some weck wings the other week - crispy wings with rock salt and caraway seeds and a horseradish dip - and they were just fantastic.
posted by troika at 1:05 PM on November 17, 2014 [6 favorites]


That firstwefeast.com link is horrible. So many scripts, something is broken and it's not working for me.
posted by mikelieman at 1:06 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Is it "weck" or "veck"?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:07 PM on November 17, 2014


Weck. Sometimes wick.
posted by troika at 1:08 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'm about 90 percent convinced that Phillipe Mathieu got the idea for his French Dip Sandwich during his time in Buffalo, New York, where another similar sandwich (Beef on Weck) had been popular for several decades prior (and still is). That a Phillipe's French Dip is intended to be eaten with spicy mustard -- say a smooth German hot mustard just like Beef on Weck? -- I think supports this view.

Can't prove it, of course.

Cole's contribution to the sandwich's origin are supported only by rigid Cole's partisans and warblers who insist on "teaching the controversy" and other such nonsense.
posted by notyou at 1:09 PM on November 17, 2014


French dip is regional? Maybe in the 30's or something, but I'm pretty sure you can get something called french dip at just about any two-bit diner-like establishment in America at this point.
posted by delicious-luncheon at 1:09 PM on November 17, 2014 [8 favorites]


New England Boiled Dinner. Just a wee slice of Jolly Old England, direct from table to tube.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:10 PM on November 17, 2014


Also the Garbage Plate. Yes, that's definitely 100% Rochester. But you have to get the one at Nick's downtown where they get the bread out of black plastic garbage bag, and there's potentially a little bit of fried shoe or something in the home fries. The suburban Nick's is for the weak!
posted by delicious-luncheon at 1:13 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Oooh, going for the Philippe's and not the Cole's! ;D

That's a whole 'nuther post!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:13 PM on November 17, 2014


From the lutefisk article: Scandinavians’ Strange Holiday Lutefisk Tradition
People in the Old Country won’t touch the stuff, but immigrants to the American Midwest have celebrated it for generations


Despite growing up in Minnesota, I managed to avoid ever having to actually put lutefisk in my mouth, and I felt so vindicated when, in later years, friends of mine from Sweden were horrified that anyone still voluntarily eats the stuff. (They did cop to people still actually saying "usch då" -- or "uff da" for the Norwegians in the audience -- unironically, though .)
posted by dorque at 1:15 PM on November 17, 2014


I've never heard anyone call them "Stuffies," but I'm extremely pleased that Stuffed Quahogs made a showing here.

Because they are DELICIOUS.

If you're ever anywhere near Cotuit, MA and want a snack, go down to the Kettle Ho and get yourself a stuffed quahog and a Cape Cod Red to wash it down with. Tabasco sauce optional but encouraged.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:16 PM on November 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


Also, my secret shame is that, lacking the time to actually make lefse properly and being in the benighted lefse-less East, I sometimes eat an ersatz form of it consisting of butter and cinnamon-sugar on a warm tortilla.
posted by dorque at 1:20 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I was just struck by the fact that if To Kill A Mockingbird had taken place in Jersey then Scout would have been dressed as a package of pork roll.

im upset about it
posted by poffin boffin at 1:22 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Scrapple is weirdly the meat product I miss most as a vegetarian. Need to find myself some of this.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:23 PM on November 17, 2014


I don't think there are words in the English language to describe the physical revulsion I feel when confronted with this

Count yourself lucky that the recipe doesn't call for Miracle Whip instead of Cool Whip.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:25 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I feel sorry for anyone who does not live in or near Akron and cannot enjoy the deliciousness that is sauerkraut balls.
posted by slogger at 1:25 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


My turn in the box I suppose. First ten.

Pasties

Where it's from: Michigan
What it is: Meat turnovers originally brought to Michigan's Upper Peninsula by immigrant miners from Cornwall, England. Stuffed with meat, potatoes, onions, and spices, the flaky meat pies are beloved by locals called "Yoopers."

Goetta

Where it's from: Cincinatti, OH
What it is: A breakfast sausage made of ground meat (pork, beef, or both), as well as steel-cut oats that German-American immigrants would use to make their meat mixture last long. After being formed into a loaf, the concoction is cut into slices and fried in pork fat. Because of its popularity, it is commonly referred to as “Cincinnati caviar."

Horseshoe Sandwich

Where it's from: Springfield, IL
What it is: An open-faced sandwich built from the bottom up with thick-sliced toast, hamburgers patties or ham (other meat like deep fried pork tenderloin, fried chicken, and fish filets can be substituted), french fries, and secrect cheese sauce usually containing a combination of eggs, beer, butter, Worcestershire, and mustard.

Provel

Where it's from: St. Louis, MO
What it is: A processed cheese made of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. It is most commonly used on St. Louis-style pizza, but can also be used in soups, atop salads, or in pasta sauces.

Gerber Sandwich

Where it's from: St. Louis, MO
What it is: An open-faced sandwich made of Italian bread, garlic butter, ham, and Provel cheese. Renditions are sold everywhere, from cheap hole-in-the-walls to more up-scale restaurants that use house-made roast beef.

Bialys

Where it's from: New York City
What it is: What may seem like a common Sunday morning staple for most New Yorkers—served with a shmear of cream cheese and lox—is a word that leaves many with no reference point. From the Yiddish bialystoker kuchen, bialys are essentially smaller, sort of smushed bagels that are not boiled, but only baked. In place of a whole in the middle is an indention that can be filled with onions, garlic, and poppy seeds.

Livermush

Where it's from: North Carolina and the South
What it is: Often referred to as liver pudding, it is a loaf made of pig's liver, pig's head parts, and cormeal. It is often sliced and fried, then served with grits and eggs for breakfast, or in a sandwich with mayonnaise for lunch. Multiple towns in North Carolina have festivals devoted to the porky, Spam-like concoction.

Shandong beef rolls

Where it's from: Los Angeles, CA
What it is: Hailing from the province of Shandong in Northeast China, these rolls attract cult followers who engage in a growing battle over which L.A. restaurant serves the best. The rolls are made by wrapping a fried Chinese pancake smeared with bean paste around sliced beef, scallions, and cilantro. The whole things is rolled up, burrito-style, and sliced into rounds for easy handling.

Coddies

Where it's from: Baltimore, MD
What it is: Brought to East Baltimore by Russian Jewish immigrants in the early 1900s, these poor-man's crab cakes are made from cod flakes, mashed potatoes, and onions, then deep fried. They are traditionally served atop a Saltine slathered with mustard.

Chow Chow

Where it's from: The South, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania
What it is: A pickled relish made of green and red tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and carrots, as well as any other seasonal vegetable. Served as a chilled or room-temperature condiment, it often accompanies fried fish, hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, and barbecue. The version from Pennsylvania tends to be a bit sweeter than its Southern relative.
posted by vapidave at 1:25 PM on November 17, 2014 [9 favorites]


sauerkraut balls sounds like a condition, not a foodstuff
posted by poffin boffin at 1:25 PM on November 17, 2014 [8 favorites]


Another upstate classic: Spiedie
posted by Ferreous at 1:26 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


But you have to get the one at Nick's downtown where they get the bread out of black plastic garbage bag, and there's potentially a little bit of fried shoe or something in the home fries.

Shortly after my arrival in the area, I was taken to this very Nick Tahou's and subjected to a garbage plate. The resulting sensations, which shall not be described here lest they distress the faint of heart, raised the possibility that my imminent demise would force the department to search for yet another Victorianist.
posted by thomas j wise at 1:27 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I note with some skepticism that the New England Boiled Dinner recipe page says that it is "From the kitchen of Linda Kilbride, Arizona."

okay okay yeah she could have moved but STILL

--

I actually am getting everyone in my family the same gift this year - an updated version of a cookbook that was this kind of compendium. That's a modern revival - the original was done by a food author from the 1930's, who actually traveled around the country herself and interviewed a whole swath of people in search of regional recipes. And the reason I'm getting it for my family is because one of the people she interviewed, and collected a recipe from, was my grandmother. I don't think anyone else in the family knows about this - I only came across it by accident while trying to do a google search for something totally different.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:28 PM on November 17, 2014 [5 favorites]


Maid-Rites are so much more than just loose meat. They have very subtle flavoring with vinegar, salt, often some pepper, and usually some special this or that only the cook knows. They are served wet or dry, wet being with juice of the hamburger, and purists will not allow any ketchup to enter the picture. I don't know why Maid-Rites always make these lists but the descriptions fail to capture their essence. It's like list lore, passed down from one regional food list to another:

"Oh, you're making a regional food list, huh? Don't forget Maid-Rites."
"Why? What are they?"
"Oh, they're loose meat from Iowa. They always go on the list"
"Jesus, Iowa has like the best farmland in the world and tons of livestock of all kinds, and the best they came up with was friggin' loose meat on a cheap bun?"
"Yeah, well..."
"Fuck it, my deadline is in like an hour and I'm light on the Midwest"
posted by Muddler at 1:30 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Second ten.

Loco Moco

Where it's from: Hawaii
What it is: Considered a comfort food by Hawaiians, this dish debuted in the 1950 and is constructed by topping white rice with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy.

Hot Brown

Where it's from: Louisville, KY
What it is: This hot, open-faced sandwich was created at the Brown Hotel in the 1920s for late-night diners. It is made of turkey, bacon, Mornay sauce (a béchamel that includes grated cheese), and bread that is baked until lightly browned.

Stuffies

Where it's from: Rhode Island and Massachusetts
What it is: Tradtionally made with Quahogs (the large clams with purple markings inside their shells), these are essentially stuffed, baked clams made with bread crumbs, chopped clam meat, and plenty of juice. Purists claim that a true stuffie shouldn't contain anything else, while others add onions, celery, sausage, and even Portugese stew.

Akutaq

Where it's from: Alaska
What it is: This Inuit ice cream contained polar bear fat in its original carnation, though now it is usually made with shortening, berries, sugar, and snow. Sometimes there are meat add-ins like salmon and caribou, with animal fat or oil used for preservation.

Garbage Plate

Where it's from: New York State
What it is: A conglomeration of cheese, hamburger, Italian sausages, steak, chicken, white or red hots, a grilled cheese sandwich, fried fish, and/or eggs, served on top of one or two of the following: home fries, fries, beans, and mac salad. This monstrosity is then topped with onions, mustard, and hot sauce, and it comes with a side of bread and butter for soaking up residual grease. The story goes that the gut-buster got its start back in 1918 at Nick Tahou Hots in Rochester, NY.

Watergate Salad

Where it's from: Midwest and the South
What it is: A beloved fruit "salad" made of crushed pineapple, pistachio pudding, marshmellows, pecans, and Cool Whip. The green creation is sometimes called "Pistachio Delight."

Lutefisk

Where it's from: Midwest, specifically Wisconsin and Minnesota
What it is: Usually prepared for Thanksgiving and Christmas, this dried white fish is soaked in a mixture of lye and water for up to eight days, creating a jelly-like consistency. The salty fish can be found stocking shelves of regional grocers across the Midwest.

Hoppin' John

Where it's from: The southern U.S.
What it is: Traditionally served on New Year's Day for good luck, the dish features a mixture of black-eyed peas (sometimes crowders, cowpeas, or Dixie Lees are substituted), chopped onions, and ham hock.

Frogmore Stew

Where it's from: The southern U.S., specifically South Carolina
What it is: Also referred to as Beaufort Stew, this low-country boil is made with sausage, corn on the cob, whole potatoes (usually new or red), shrimp, and crab.

Geoduck

Where it's from: Pacific Northwest
What it is: Pronounced gooey duck, these very large deep-water clams with long siphons, or "necks," can grow up to three feet in length and live for 100 years. They can be served sliced thin like sashimi, though they are often sauteed in butter.
posted by vapidave at 1:32 PM on November 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


Oh, I meant to add in the post that I framed it with a Thanksgiving theme just because it happens to be Thanksgiving this week here, but personally I'd love to hear about regional favorites from everywhere!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:33 PM on November 17, 2014


I have no idea why this link associates frozen custard with hi, I'm in Delaware when it clearly belongs to Wisconsin. Ahem.

Since I didn't see this at any of the links, please allow me to share with you all the favored regional wintertime recipe of my people, the cannibal sandwich. All you need is:

1. the absolute cheapest ground beef you can buy, like 42% lean or whatever's in the about-to-expire bin at the grocery store
2. pumpernickel or cocktail rye bread
3. sliced raw onion
4. salt and pepper

Combine, eat, keep your fingers crossed that you don't contract E. coli. Serve cannibal sandwiches at room temperature, accompanied by chilled Blatz and tearful familial recriminations. Happy holidays!
posted by divined by radio at 1:34 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Stuffies. Yes. This is actually a very approachable dish - the better ones are home-made as the restaurant style ones typically use leftover white bread and waaaay too much butter, and it's greasy and gloppy. You can make these so they're reasonably healthy with whole-wheat stuffing mix and some olive-oil/butter spread in place of straight butter. Maybe some minced turkey linguicia.
posted by Slap*Happy at 1:34 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Last five;

Crown Burger

Where it's from: Salt Lake City, UT
What it is: Started by the fast-food chain of the same name, this charbroiled burger is topped with hot pastrami and can now be found in most burger joints across the state.

Loose meat

Where it's from: Iowa
What it is: Commonly referred to as a "Maid Rite" for the chain which, according to lore, began serving the sandwich more than 80 years ago, it is a bun placed atop a unformed hamburger patty, or a sloppy Joe with no sauce—depending on your perspective.

She-Crab Soup

Where it's From: The Southeast coast
What it is: A seafood bisque made of Atlantic blue crab meat, crab roe, crab or fish stock, heavy cream, and dry sherry. The name "She-Crab" refers female crab that provides the roe, which gives the soup its orange color.

Benne Wafers

Where it's from: South Carolina
What it is: Sesame-seed cookies that were brought to the Low Country by East African slaves. The Bantu word for sesame is benne, and the cookies are made with butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Charleston's Olde Colony Bakery is famous for its benne wafers.

Chitlins or Chitterlings

Where it's from: The South
What it is: These cleaned pig intestines are tradtionally slow-boiled then served with hot sauce and vinegar, but they can also be deep fried. Because cleaning them is so labor intensive, they are often served on Christmas or other special ocassions.

I tried to delistify I swear.
posted by vapidave at 1:36 PM on November 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


•25 Regional American Foods You Might Not Know (But Should)

Provel
Where it's from: St. Louis, MO
What it is: A processed cheese made of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. It is most commonly used on St. Louis-style pizza, but can also be used in soups, atop salads, or in pasta sauces.


what no
posted by likeatoaster at 1:36 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


was that a no of disagreement or a no of blank neverending despair
posted by poffin boffin at 1:38 PM on November 17, 2014 [5 favorites]


Maid-Rites are so much more than just loose meat.

This is true, but it's also true that the restaurants offer you the opportunity to just order the loose meat. At the Maid-Rite in my home town of St. Joseph, Missouri, the bowl of loose meat was listed as MR Meat Bowl - you know, there wasn't room to spell out the Maid-Rite part. But of course everyone ordered that thing as a Mister Meat Bowl. MISTER MEAT BOWL.
posted by something something at 1:39 PM on November 17, 2014 [16 favorites]


Just came in to say "toasted ravioli."
posted by stltony at 1:40 PM on November 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


I went to the University of Missouri and when the dorms had toasted ravioli for lunch we would all eat twice, once when the cafeteria opened at 10:45 and again just before it closed at 2:00. That shit is good.
posted by something something at 1:43 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Speaking of regional food items, it turns out that pimento cheese is actually from the North.
posted by Curious Artificer at 1:43 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pasties are a Michigan thing? I thought that they were an Eastern Pennsylvania dish.
posted by octothorpe at 1:46 PM on November 17, 2014


Provel is akin to white Velveeta. St Louisans love the stuff, most other people find it revolting. Stay away from Imo's Pizza.
posted by slogger at 1:52 PM on November 17, 2014


Shouldn't a Shandong beef roll be a Regional Chinese Food? I mean, I can get them from half the northern-style dumpling places here, and I've never even been to L.A.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:52 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Speaking of regional food items, it turns out that pimento cheese is actually from the North.
posted by Curious Artificer at 4:43 PM on November 17


It's all well and good to say these kinds of thing on the Internet, you may even be right, but if you say them in public, I can't guarantee your safety.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:56 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'm just happy to see California represented in some capacity, TheWhiteSkull. I feel like we always get left off these regional food listicles because we don't bother with the sorts of fried offal horrors or depressing sandwiches that draw clicks.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:58 PM on November 17, 2014


Around here we also have JoJo's* -- potato wedges covered in fried chicken batter and deep fried. I've never been sure whether they are a local specialty, or if other regions are subjected to them as well.

*Intentional grocer's apostrophe
posted by slogger at 2:00 PM on November 17, 2014


Also, Chicago deep-dish pizza is vastly overrated, and Cincinnati chili is the absolute worst.


There, I said it.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:01 PM on November 17, 2014 [5 favorites]


Pasties are a Michigan thing? I thought that they were an Eastern Pennsylvania dish.
posted by octothorpe at 4:46 PM on November 17 [+] [!]


I imagine they showed up wherever there were mines and Cornish immigrants come to dig in them.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 2:06 PM on November 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


Oh, it's called Watergate Salad!

Man, I used to have that all the time when I was growing up. I loved that stuff.

And now I can't get pistachio pudding anywhere. Disappoint.
posted by Katemonkey at 2:08 PM on November 17, 2014


Chitlins: UGH!UGH!YUCK!

The first and last time I ate that stuff, I was 7; it was summer. My guardian aunt decided one day to make the sort of foods she hadn't had since she'd left her parents' home: hot water corn bread, collard and mustard greens, black-eyed peas, mac and cheese, fried chicken, peach cobbler... and chitlins. My maternal grandparents were both Southerners, though from different states. Anyway, the pig stuff had been first boiled, then baked, and our flat stank to high heaven, even after hours of my guardian cleaning the intestines. When dinner was ready, I was willing to eat everything else except for the hogs maws(!!!) and chitlins, which I vehemently and tearfully refused. Aunt Guardian came to my seat and pinched my arm. I was too uncanny to not open my mouth with a shriek, whereupon I was forced to eat a forkful of the chitlins. I promptly I turned green (I was later told) and threw up at table (which I remember). Needless to say, I ate nothing further that evening and went straight to bed.

It took about 3 days for the flat to smell normal again, as far as I was concerned. Even now, I can't type this out or tell the story without my face being screwed up in disgust at the sheer grossness of chitlins, and no, I don't eat pork rinds and can only stand brat casings.

And then when I was 18, on a visit to extended family in Minnesota, another aunt had me eat a half a plate of lutefisk. BLEAH!
posted by droplet at 2:28 PM on November 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


divined by radio

It took me 2 days to figure out that Delaware custard thing last time I saw that map. "Custard," I thought. "Delaware? We have hardly any frozen custard here, not even Dairy Queen anymore."

Then I finally realized it is because of Kohrs Custard, which is really an east coast beach town thing and not specifically Delaware.
posted by interplanetjanet at 2:43 PM on November 17, 2014


Real goulash, of course, is a very elegant and stylish dish, indeed

My experience was it was a hearty pub food; not exactly elegant but a delicious thick stew they could probably leave on low heat all damned day and not worry about. Those bread dumplings...
posted by Hoopo at 2:51 PM on November 17, 2014


The pistachio salad is a popular dish in my family (I've never been into it though). Have never heard it called Watergate Salad, though.

We also have an orange tapioca pudding salad with mandarin oranges that is a common accompaniment to BBQs... sort of horrifying, yet even my non-US husband requests it with ribs.

Source: Grew up in Ohio, lots of Western PA influence.
posted by olinerd at 2:51 PM on November 17, 2014


I had hotdish for the first time last year when a friend brought some to a D&D game. It's kind of terrible but also kind of amazing. Had to make some for myself.

After 20 years in WA, and 2+ years working at the college that has it as a state mascot, I have yet to eat geoduck. (Salmon, though. Mmmmmmm.)

In more common Washington state foods, I really like Aplets & Cotlets, and was delighted to find an actual recipe for making your own. I might have to give that a try.
posted by epersonae at 3:01 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


lacking the time to actually make lefse properly and being in the benighted lefse-less East, I sometimes eat an ersatz form of it consisting of butter and cinnamon-sugar on a warm tortilla.

I call that Vago (Lazy) Churros!

I'm just happy to see California represented in some capacity, TheWhiteSkull. I feel like we always get left off these regional food listicles because we don't bother with the sorts of fried offal horrors or depressing sandwiches that draw clicks.

Yeah, my quick choices boiled down to French Dip and California Rolls. Re: Shandong beef rolls, they (and Noodle 101 Express in particular) were super trendy here in L.A. for about five minutes a couple of years ago. I could have gone with In-N-Out or the generic California-style burger but I didn't want to start a burger war right off the bat.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:11 PM on November 17, 2014


i love scrapple, deeply and profoundly.
posted by PinkMoose at 3:12 PM on November 17, 2014


Scrapple is good; livermush is better. A little bit of French's yellow mustard or grape jam on top. Little slices of heaven is what they are.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 3:22 PM on November 17, 2014


cannibal sandwich

= steak tartare (usually served on toast points but w/e). And yes I would like your sandwich please. Mmm, raw meat.

also how does this thread not have a link to Greasy Honky Pie yet?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:28 PM on November 17, 2014


I MADE THE GREASY HONKY PIE YESTERDAY.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:35 PM on November 17, 2014


* sigh * Greasy Honky Pie.
posted by Curious Artificer at 3:35 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


When Pat’s Kountry Kitchen closed last year in Old Saybrook, CT, we lost the exquisite comfort food that was Clam Hash. Breakfast won't be the same.
posted by Kinbote at 3:41 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I thought Scrapple was a beverage. "Made from the best stuff on earth", isn't that the motto?
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:45 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Benne Wafers

Where it's from: South Carolina Dune
What it is: Sesame-seed cookies
baked by the Bene Gesserit

Some of the things on the list are just slight oddities (eg Crown Burger) but other things (eg livermush and watergate salad) are the stuff of nightmares.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:59 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I thought Scrapple was a beverage. "Made from the best stuff on earth", isn't that the motto?

SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY MAKING A SCRAPPLE BEER

WHY DOGFISH HEAD WHY
posted by jetlagaddict at 4:11 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


The next time somebody tells me that America doesn't have a cuisine I will take them to this post. Thanks! And the next time I cook dinner I'll stop by here myself. So thanks again!
posted by Going To Maine at 4:41 PM on November 17, 2014


came for goetta and hot browns, was not disappointed. thread needs moar chile verde tho.
posted by lonefrontranger at 4:43 PM on November 17, 2014


The suburban Nick's is for the weak!

Diners agree, the one in Henrietta closed earlier this year and is being replaced by something else. The one in Gates became Steve T's (Nick's nephew).
posted by tommasz at 4:45 PM on November 17, 2014


SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY MAKING A SCRAPPLE BEER

Looks like I'm gonna have to cheat on the vegetarianism again.
posted by Drinky Die at 4:45 PM on November 17, 2014


SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY MAKING A SCRAPPLE BEER

Introduce them to the people trying to make a Guinness Latte. Maybe they'll cancel each other out like matter and anti-matter and neither one of them will happen for real.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:53 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


is it called watergate salad because it shakes your faith in core american institutions
posted by p3on at 4:54 PM on November 17, 2014 [8 favorites]


At least some of you would enjoy reading America Eats!, which is a collection of WPA recipes from the '30s divided by regions of the US from which they came. It is both tremendously interesting and tremendously fun.

As for the foods, hmm. Some of the regions in the US are easy because they have a defined and specific heritage cuisine (the Upper Midwest, for example: lutefisk, hotdish, lefse. We all know where that is).

But California has such a diverse bunch of things which could qualify. Do you count California rolls or is that too widespread across the US? How about Cobb salad (undeniably Californian but very widespread at this point)? Or you could go the other extreme and offer up something like avocado pie (I'm a native and I've never seen nor heard of it).

I think my answer for California would be kimchi tacos or burritos. So far as I know, kimchi tacos were born in LA (at Kogi's, which honestly is kind of meh, though they've spread pretty far since) and they do represent two of California's most interesting cuisines (Korean and 'Mexican' aka Cal-Mex). Or maybe it's something like carne asada fries (not the Mission burrito, because that's too regional).

It sure as hell doesn't seem like cioppino and Cobb salad is the answer in 2014.
posted by librarylis at 4:59 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Ooh, seconding America Eats! It's actually got some contemporary commentary in there too - the whole thing had its origins in a WPA project, where a whole bunch of WPA writers would do a big "cooking in the United States" project. Except not all the WPA chapters were able to get all the copy together in time and so the project was scrapped.

Then an editor and food writer today decided to try to revive the thing, and visit some of the same places the WPA writers featured and give a contemporary perspective in some cases. So there are a lot of WPA recipes, but in some of the chapters the author/editor also talks about "okay, this chapter is about the county fairs, but whereas in 1930 you'd have a lot more local regional things. today all that we seem to have in county fairs is fried dough" or whatever.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:04 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Looks like I'm gonna have to cheat on the vegetarianism again.

You can just say that you are only a solid-food vegetarian and people will be confused and/or impressed and you will get away with it 100%.
posted by poffin boffin at 5:31 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


•25 Regional American Foods You Might Not Know (But Should)

Provel


No.

Speaking as someone who spent 13 years in St. Louis: No one should ever know about provel.

No. One.
posted by offalark at 5:41 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


.I had some weck wings the other week - crispy wings with rock salt and caraway seeds and a horseradish dip

WHAR WECK WINGS? WHAR?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:51 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


The horseshoe sandwich brought back memories of a trip to Wayne's Red Coach in Springfield, IL. I can still see the hot plate 'anvil' and smell the cheese sauce sizzling.
posted by Otherwise at 6:16 PM on November 17, 2014


sauerkraut balls sounds like a condition, not a foodstuff

While I've not experienced it myself, I've heard quite a few people claim that eating sauerkraut balls gives them epically fantastic dreams.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:21 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


The local variation on the Hot Brown around here is called the Turkey Devonshire which usually has chedder cheese as a base for the sauce. A typical serving probably has the caloric content of a day and half's worth of meals.
posted by octothorpe at 6:27 PM on November 17, 2014


Speaking of upstate NY I was hoping to see Salt Potatoes and coneys on this list. You can't have a summer in Syracuse without them!

I have never heard anyone refer to coneys as "snappy grillers" no matter how hard Hoffman's & Wegman's try.
posted by lyssabee at 6:33 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


None of these lists mention a regional food that here in Springfield, Missouri is so ubiquitous that growing up I had no idea it wasn't to be found outside of our 84 square miles. It was invented by a Chinese immigrant who tried to find something "exotic" that would click with our local fried-chicken-taters-and-gravy palate. He swapped out the taters with rice and Cashew Chicken was born, becoming a multi-million dollar a year industry, but only in this small town. I love to see visitors encounter it for the first time.
posted by sourwookie at 6:56 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


When I went to CNY I read that Nick Tahou trademarked the term garbage plate.
posted by brujita at 6:59 PM on November 17, 2014


That Watergate Salad is just the very tip of the Midwestern iceberg and actually kind of a lame one, but these lists always disappoint on the Midwest by trying to define a broad region by a handful of dishes. I was curious, so I cracked open one of the church cookbooks I got from various family members - this one the 2003 cookbook of a church in a small unincorporated community in a county with fewer than 5,000 people and a population density of 3 per square mile. That church is one of many in the area. There are forty one fruit salad recipes alone in this 280-page cookbook. Sixty-four recipes in the "Casseroles & Main Dishes" section. One hundred and two recipes in "Cookies and Bars".

And if you go, like, a county away you'll start seeing noticeably different recipes in the many many similar cookbooks. Multiply that by the thousands of these little churches all over the Midwest and it gets kind of nuts. And that's just the rural Midwest. It's a really hard region to nail down with a handful of dishes, because honestly so much of the culinary tradition there was about impressing at large family gatherings and church picnics (page 6 is titled "Food Quantities for Serving 25, 50 and 100 Persons at Picnic"), so there's a lot of experimentation that can really get a bit out of hand in trying to set your recipe apart. Doubly so when you consider most of these recipes were created using ingredients that were canned or otherwise shelf-stable because of the remoteness, and were created in the 1950s and 60s which, well, the popular culinary tricks at the time were, um, interesting. Lots of strange attempts at making something "similar" to a more popular dish with fussier prep or harder-to-get ingredients (and often turning it into a casserole in the process - looking at you, "Mock Tacos" recipe, who inexplicably includes brown sugar and whose title might actually be a description of what you're doing to tacos by making it). Midwestern food at its weird extremes is weirder than the intentionally weird examples they always trot out . Though, to be fair, there are a plenty of diamonds in the rough. I mean, of the one hundred and two cookie and bar recipes, I'd probably enjoy every one of them (though my grandma's Russian Tea Cakes the best cookies and I'll brook no argument).
posted by jason_steakums at 7:21 PM on November 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


Just a corollary to my above post about Cashew Chicken: According to Wikipedia, Springfield is about 84 square miles, and there are over 70 restaurants here that serve it. I'm not kidding when I say it is everywhere .
posted by sourwookie at 7:36 PM on November 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Maid-rite... It's the midwest's white-bread-ized version of a taco. Beef, Salt, pepper. that's it.

I live in the home range of said abomination. The local restaurant (the second franchise opened) is just a U-shaped lunch counter. all they serve is Maid-Rites, single serving bags of chips, shakes/malts, pie, ice cream, coffee and pop in the little (8 ounce?) plastic cups.

If you come here, you can get them the way they originally made them: dumping the new, uncooked ground beef in to the steam table dish with the remnants of the last batch. yes they have been ordered by the state inspection board to change, but they appealed and somehow won. The Corporate Office doesn't let newer stores do it like that, but they got off on some grandfather clause BS or something.

and yes, they do give you the stink eye if you ask for ketchup to put on the sandwich. mustard is allowed. you're given the option of pickles and/or onions at the time of ordering. the local one didn't even have ketchup until a couple years ago.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:03 PM on November 17, 2014


LOL I used to live within walking distance of Phillipe's, but of course nobody in LA would walk there, especially in that neighborhood. I remember when coffee was still ten cents. But the coffee cups were so small, I used to order a french dip and five coffees.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:28 PM on November 17, 2014


Not sure what cookbook vapidave cribbed this out of, but as a Southern native...

Livermush - Never, ever heard of it outside of the Carolinas. Very regional; it's not a "South" dish.

Watergate Salad - Not sure where you saw this in the South (at least, not the Deep South), though I've had the misfortune of running into it in the NE. I'm familiar with something around here, almost as nasty, made with lime jello, not pistachio pudding.

Hoppin' John - Has rice. Otherwise it's just black-eyed peas (or just 'peas', 'field peas', 'spotted peas', 'speckled peas'....we Southerners have names for peas like the Inuit have names for snow[1]).

Chitlins or Chitterlings - Because cleaning them is so labor intensive, they are often served on Christmas or other special ocassions.

Or all-you-can-eat every Wednesday at Henderson's in Covington, GA. Or any number of other places across the South. Personally, if you get to Henderson's, I recommend the all you can eat fresh whole catfish...delicious, and I never developed a taste for chitlins. Whichever, the collards and mustard greens are not to be missed.

[1] Yes, asshole, I know the Inuit don't *really* have hundreds of names for snow.
posted by kjs3 at 8:32 PM on November 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I live in the home range of said abomination. The local restaurant (the second franchise opened) is just a U-shaped lunch counter. all they serve is Maid-Rites, single serving bags of chips, shakes/malts, pie, ice cream, coffee and pop in the little (8 ounce?) plastic cups.

It's funny, because apparently there is the Iowan version of a regional food fight over who the original and best is over this. I'm a Sioux City transplant and don't really care for loose meat sandwiches, but I guess Maid Rite is a ripoff of a local, maybe? And then there's rivalry among all the non-Maid Rite versions in Sioux City. It's kind of charming. At least the Tastee Inn & Out serves awesome greasy onion chips with theirs, though.

It's all fair food this and Maid Rite that in Iowa, but none of it holds a candle to the awesome Mexican food that you can get all over the place since the hispanic population has grown in the state.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:43 PM on November 17, 2014


Metafilter: whose title might actually be a description of what you're doing to tacos by making it
posted by Drinky Die at 8:46 PM on November 17, 2014


I honestly don't know if this is a Piedmont Virginia thing or not, but there are at least two restaurants in this region that serve a "cheesy western" and two others that serve the same, but with a different name. Burgers with relish and a fried egg. Delicious.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:09 PM on November 17, 2014


Breakfast tacos. Actual breakfast tacos, not that absurd "Breakfast Burrito" crap. The most important taco of the day.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 5:59 AM on November 18, 2014


My grandfather (he's from Ohio) introduced me to cannibal sandwiches in the 1980s, until now I thought he invented then. I gave them up when that E Coli thing hit Jack in the Box.

Also, thanks for making me crave Philippe's from 1200 miles away.
posted by ill3 at 7:21 AM on November 18, 2014


My uncle tells a story about his linguistics professor in the 60's who could tell you where you were from (in some cases down to the block in your neighborhood) based on your accent. I can't perfect this trick, and I imagine that the softening of accents since the 60's has rendered this trick impossible, but I can tell you where you are from based on whether it's Frogmore/Beaufort Stew or Lowcountry boil. If you're from Beaufort SC, it's Frogmore Stew, if it's Lowcountry boil you're from the coastal plain, and if it's Beaufort Stew you're from the Piedmont/Sandhills Region. Regardless, if I'm away from my home country, I might get teary and offer to cook for you when I hear you say it.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 7:46 AM on November 18, 2014


this one the 2003 cookbook of a church in a small unincorporated community in a county with fewer than 5,000 people and a population density of 3 per square mile

Ooh, I should dig up my wife's cookbook from Applington Baptist Church in Butler County, Iowa.
posted by slogger at 8:08 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


ROU_Xenophobe: WHAR WECK WINGS? WHAR?

716. It's not just a vessel for a 38 foot television, the food is actually pretty good!
posted by troika at 8:23 AM on November 18, 2014


Since part of the problem with picking a California representative is the massive assimilation of the contenders, maybe a fish taco is a good choice. Cook's Country has covered them, which gives it "officially regional" cred, but even though "fish tacos" are becoming common that's not the same as a Fish Taco.

You stay classy, San Diego!
posted by Room 641-A at 8:30 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


716. It's not just a vessel for a 38 foot television, the food is actually pretty good!

Oh man, I was expecting you to say someplace in your profile location, so I couldn't go there until the next time APSA is there. Now I'll have to virtuously resist their charms.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:55 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I'll just have to make them here.
posted by mikelieman at 10:47 AM on November 18, 2014


Livermush... Spam-like concoction.

Livermush is nothing like Spam. It is, in fact, the Carolina word for the same German-American food item that Pennsylvanians call scrapple. The only distinction is that livermush tends to have more liver in the mix, whereas scrapple is sometimes lighter on the liver or even omits it completely. In my experience, the scrapple sold in grocery stores tends to have less liver, whereas the scrapple made in homes and sold at farmer's markets tends to have a stronger liver flavor. There are scrapples that are more livery than any liver mush, so I would say that they're all iterations of the same thing.
posted by snottydick at 11:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yeah, livermush (I grew up with it called liver pudding, but I don't think they're hugely different) is basically livery scrapple. It's no grosser than any other liver food item, although opinion about that varies pretty widely.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:48 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


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