# Regional Foods



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I grew up in Frankenmuth, MI, and we had a mixture of old fashioned all-American meat and potatoes, with some German stuff like Sauerkraut, Sauerbraten and pork roasts threw in.

In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, there are two foods I rarely if ever see anyplace else.

One is the pastie, which is similar to a pot pie, except that the crust completely surrounds the beef, potatoes, onion and rutabaga inside. Obviously, there is a limited amount of liquid. Miners used to carry these to work because they could just sit in a jacket pocket and would still be good at lunch time. (Most people use the above items, but there probably is some room for creativity.)

Another is cudighi, which is very similar to Italian Sauce. Maybe, because I can only get it in the Upper Peninsula when I'm on vacation. It's better. It's usually served on a roll with a variation on a spaghetti sausage. I love it and always have it at least once when I'm in the parts of the Upper Peninsula where they have it.

Do you have any regional foods that are just in your part of the country (or in your region for those who are not American.)?

Do you like them?

Should we visit you so we can try it?


Edited -- Spaghetti "Sauce" not Sausage LOL


----------



## AddisonBelmont (Feb 2, 2006)

I live in the city nowadays, and I eat big city food with big city prices, but I grew up in Clinton Illinois, a hardscrabble little railroad town lost in the middle of the cornbelt, where dinner meant roast beef, mashed potatoes, greeen beans with bacon, corn grown in the garden out back, and wilted lettuce: red leaf lettuce steamed in a big iron skillet with hot vinegar, sugar, salt and, of course, more bacon, because bacon was (and probably still is) the daily bread of DeWitt County. I would eat wilted lettuce every day of the year if only I didn't have to fix it myself. 

My mother was the world's worst cook. Or would have been, had she ever put any effort into it,which she never did. She hated cooking, because she had grown up in what passed for the upper stratum of Danville's social elite--where every family had a cook--which meant she never really learned to cook at all till she got married and then, it was sudden, total immersion in kitchen skills, of which she didn't have any, and basically, she drowned, culinarily speaking. I don't know how my father would have survived the early days of their marriage, if he hadn't learned to cook in the Marines. Anyway, my mother gave it a few tries & gave up, and as soon as finances allowed, she hired a woman of her own, a tall, bony spinstster who actually lived a few blocks over in a nicer--read older--house than we did, but who had fallen on hard times after her husband had died of a heart attack in his fifties. My mother met her at the library one day, took pity on her straitened circumstances, and hired her as our--well, as I don't know what. She wasn't technically a cook, and she certainly wasn't a maid, as she used to remind me and my brothers when we left our shoes & books & catcher'smitts all over the house, but she cameover every dy and she did most of the cooking except for the nights we had TV dinners. My mom finally managed to master those. 

Mostly, though, Esther acted as coach or mentor to my mother, who was more than a little out of her element in Clinton, and Esther patiently explained how to use protective coloration to her advantage in town: that is, by not using any. My mother was beautiful, with wavy brown hair and smooth, clear skin, and, worst of all, red lipstick, and it only took a few PTA meetings to make her the focus of all the gossip on the east side of town. So Esther took away my mother's red lipstick, told my mother that only trashy women painted their nails, then made a few phone calls and put an end to the gossip, and somehow, after that, my mother could do no wrong.I don't know what Esther told those women, but it worked, because even my mother's innocent-as-pie-but-shocking-nonetheless appearance at a school potluck with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, instead of a Blue Willow plate of real home-made pan-fried chicken under a tin foil dome, or absent that, at least a ham-&-bacon-&-green-bean-&-cream-of-something casserole--this in a town where the annual pie contest at the county fair had been a struggle-to-the-death between two rival dynasties of pie bakers stretching back as far as Abe Lincoln's days on the circuit--passed with litle more than a few raised eyebrows. If anybody else--let alone a painted newcomer--had tried a stunt like that, who knows what would have happened. Instead, the apron brigade passed right over it as if it hadn't happened. Who knew that my mother was a saint?

Anyway, for our years in Clinton, Esther was the cook, and although my mother never did learn how to make Esther's killer green beans, or her wilted lettuce, or her bread pudding or her floating island--a dessert apparently extinct in other parts of the country--I did. Of course, eating that stuff every day will kill you after a while-as it had Esther's husband--but in the meantime--say three times a year--a meal like that is great. Even if I have to cook it myself.


----------



## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

Two items well worth trying if you're in Kentucky and rank among my very favorite foods:

Kentucky hot brown (go to Ramsey's in Lexington or the original at the Brown Hotel in Louisville)

cream candy (keep your eyes open around Christmas time or try this, not quite as good as homemade, but not bad)


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by forsbergacct2000_
> 
> I grew up in Frankenmuth, MI, and we had a mixture of old fashioned all-American meat and potatoes, with some German stuff like Sauerkraut, Sauerbraten and pork roasts threw in.
> 
> ...


pastie is a direct import from wales, miners used to take them to work. you can buy them in england - some of the best actually have seperate pockets for the different ingrediants, so that one end is saltier and the other sweeter. love them.


----------



## upstarter (Dec 3, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by forsbergacct2000_
> 
> One is the pastie, which is similar to a pot pie, except that the crust completely surrounds the beef, potatoes, onion and rutabaga inside. Obviously, there is a limited amount of liquid. Miners used to carry these to work because they could just sit in a jacket pocket and would still be good at lunch time. (Most people use the above items, but there probably is some room for creativity.)
> 
> Should we visit you so we can try it?


I remember seeing a special on this on "The Best Of" on the Food network. For those of you that haven't seen this show, it features the best restaurants from all over the country (although sometimes they can miss bigtime, but they're usually on the money). Nevertheless, this place:

was featured. They looked really good on TV and I thought I'd pass the info along to you.

Good eats!!!

Upstarter


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

There are some places to get good pasties around the Detroit area as well, imports from the UP, eh? 

Pazkis from anywhere in Hamtramck (Cream filled doughnuts)

Plevaline - Ground steak with cherries, they add moisture and a slight 
sweetness, you hardly taste them but it makes for fantastic hamburgers.

Butter tarts from Canada, the best places are south of Windsor

Fudge from Mackinaw Island, or thereabouts. There's also an amazing fudge shop in Harbor Springs.

Ice cream from Kilwin's, Alanosi, Ashby's, Stroh's (yes, THAT Stroh's, they used to make ice cream, and sold off the division.) 

Sander's Hot Fudge, also makers of the famous "bumpy cake" (think giant Hostess cupcake made with quality ingredients 

Frankemuth is famous for it's Bavarian style chicken dinners, with butter noodles and cranberry/orange relish. Good stuff.

Pinconning, MI is somewhat known for a, in my opinion, regrettable cheese. Some people seem to love it, though.

Pizza from one of the original chains; Buddy's, Shield's, or the offshoots, like Cloverleaf, or, possibly the best pizza in the world, Loui's. Pizza Papalis gives Uno a run for it's money for deep dish.


I know, Pizza, fudge, and ice cream can be had anywhere, but from these places it's especially good. Particularly for the Buddy's style pizza, which I haven't found anywhere else (doughy, medium-thickness square crust, not too many toppings, light sauce and cheese over the toppings)


Good/Fast/Cheap - Pick Two


----------



## DocHolliday (Apr 11, 2005)

I grew up eating soup beans, which is a very thick soup made of 12-bean mix, a slab of streaked meat, and lard. Yes, lard. And it's delicious, particularly with sweet pickles.

My grandfather used to eat what he called a crumb-up, which was cornbread (savory, not sweet) crumbled in a glass of buttermilk.

We also had a variety of old-fashioned desserts, including jam cake, but most of those were never to my taste.


----------



## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Gents,

I grew up in NYC and outside of its environs I have never seen the wonderful Black and White cookie. And in Texas its funny - they call it Chicken Fried Steak (which it should be called) but in the rest of the South its called Country Fried Steak.

Karl


----------



## Vladimir Berkov (Apr 19, 2005)

Here in Texas I guess you could count things like Dublin Dr. Pepper (made with real sugar) as the state drink. Plus the obvious things like frito pie (don't care for it myself.)

Not so much a regional issue, but being in the southwest completely spoils you for mexican, new-mexican and tex-mex food. New Mexico particularly with the fresh roasted green chilis which are good with basically everything.


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Vlad, Vlad, that's chile with an "e".

I lived in Albuquerque for six years, having neglected to make the left turn, and it was a disaster on all fronts except that I developed a tremendous addiction to chile.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Buddy's does have a wonderful pizza. You can only get it near Detroit.


----------



## patbrady2005 (Oct 4, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by AddisonBelmont_
> 
> I live in the city nowadays, and I eat big city food with big city prices, but I grew up in Clinton Illinois, a hardscrabble little railroad town lost in the middle of the cornbelt, where dinner meant roast beef, mashed potatoes, greeen beans with bacon, corn grown in the garden out back, and wilted lettuce: red leaf lettuce steamed in a big iron skillet with hot vinegar, sugar, salt and, of course, more bacon, because bacon was (and probably still is) the daily bread of DeWitt County. I would eat wilted lettuce every day of the year if only I didn't have to fix it myself.
> 
> ...


What a great post!

Patrick


----------



## 44XT (Aug 2, 2005)

What is the correct pronunciation for the food "Pastie"

I always think I am saying it wrong when I order it!

is it Paste-EE, or pass-tee?


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

In Michigan, it's PASS-tee


----------



## Relayer (Nov 9, 2005)

I grew up in the deep south, raised by parents from the very rural deep south.

We had homemade bread at every meal. Biscuits or hoecake every morning, cornbread and/or biscuits for dinner (lunch) and supper (dinner).

Breakfast also included eggs (fried or scrambled) grits, plus fried meats such as sausage, bacon, or fatback. Occasionally, oatmeal was included. Sometimes it would be just red-eye or sawmill gravy with hoecake.

Supper (dinner) might consist of selections from such delicacies as collard greens, hominy (corn), rutabagas, fried green tomatoes, dried lima beans, butter beans, crowder peas, field peas, purple hull peas (I spent many hours shelling fresh beans/peas and shucking corn). Commonly dishes also included turnips, turnip greens, mustard greens, fried corn, cream-style corn, fried or boiled okra.

Meats were ordinary fare such as roast beef, hams, steak (once in a blue moon), pork chops, barbeque (which is PORK), lots of fried chicken, catfish (occasionally bass or crappie), and yes, the occasional frog legs.

Finally, tea. One word, end of discussion. That meant with ice and sugar. I can remember how shocked I was the first time I went to some restaurant and the waitress asked me if I wanted 'ice tea'. I thought, 'of course, I want ice in the tea.' How else could you prepare it. When I found out that some people drank the stuff hot, I scarcely believed it.

Sadly, the above feasting has largely come to a sad end for most modern urban southerners.


----------



## DocHolliday (Apr 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by forsbergacct2000_
> 
> In Michigan, it's PASS-tee


England, too.


----------



## Full Canvas (Feb 16, 2006)

Still suffering from jet-lag! [xx(] 
Now I'm ready to enjoy a Belarusian Pancake Sandwich for breakfast.

*Potato Pancake Sandwich Minsk Style (Aladdzi)*

Potato pancakes fried on a hot griddle in pork fat. Layer pork/garlic/vegetable forcemeat paste between the griddle fried pancakes. Then bake for twenty minutes in a hot oven.

Not your typical IHOP menu item!

I'm counting the seconds until we return home to California. 
____________________________________


----------



## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

Local favorites:

poi

poke -- raw fish (cubed), mixed with raw seaweed and chili pepper water).

"squid" poke -- same as above except made with cooked octopus tentacles

opihi -- raw limpets

natto -- fermented (rotted) soy beans

kim chee -- all kinds, but most common is fermented won bok cabbage in a sauce made of ground hot chili pepper, vinegar and garlic.

cuttlefish (dried) or dried squid

li hing mui crackseed: dried plum seed soaked in brine and dipped in li hing (licorice) powder.

And the most popular local delicacy: *Spam*; whether eaten raw out of the can, fried, stuck in soup, or in the middle of musubi (rice balls wrapped in dried seaweed)--our cultural legacy from World War II.


----------



## DougNZ (Aug 31, 2005)

> quoteastie is a direct import from wales


You what?

The Cornish pastie is the most famous pastie in the world! It was eaten by miners and traditionally included finely chopped meat, potato and onion in a half-moon shaped pastry case. It is also widespread in Devon, and in the Midlands you can find the half-savory and half-sweet type. It may have spread into Wales, but the original pastie is undisputably Cornish!


----------



## Stuttjukken (Jan 14, 2006)

Here in Western Norway, in Voss area and around there, peoples who like that eat "smalahove", smoked sheep-head. (I donÂ´t now a good English word for that). I eat a lot of them in autumn, mmmm.

Short and stout/heavyweight busdriver in Bergen, Norway. My favorite clothes are polywool trousers.


----------



## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

Spent a bit of time in the carribbean as a child...and I must say...if I could get my hands on some good regional cuisine it'd be a nice Jamacian Beef Patty like I used to buy from the street venders in Ocho Rios...I used to eat them when I lived in Costa Rica aswell...but they werent quite the same...

*****
[image]https://radio.weblogs.com/0119318/Screenshots/rose.jpg[/image]"See...What I'm gonna do is wear a shirt only once, and then give it right away to the laundry...eh?
A new shirt every day!!!"​


----------



## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

3rd generation chinese immigrant family in the philippines. subsisted on...

pork blood congee (rice porridge) with yu-tiaw or fried bread sticks on top

cha yo-chi - fresh (as in if it doesnt have blood its no good) pork kidney sauteed in ginger, garlic, spring onion, soy sauce and chinese wine

grilled chicken gizzards

yum-cha or dimsum (siaomai, beancurd skin roll, bird's eye dumpling, crystal shrimp dumpling, siao long bao, rice roll...)

crab vermicelli - live fresh crab sauteed and vermicelli noodle is added to soak up the taste of the crab then cooked some more in a clay pot.

white chicken - in my book, hongkong still has the best white chicken.


----------



## shuman (Dec 12, 2004)

Iowa: Corn on the cob, Iowa chops, Rib-eye steak sandwich, anything on a stick from the Iowa State Fair! The beef tastes better in Iowa than anyplace else in the midwest. Seriously.


----------



## gmac (Aug 13, 2005)

Its all about the haggis boys!

With neeps and tatties, maybe a little of the 'gravy' if you are so inclined.

------------------


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

It would be interesting to try haggis sometime. I know a lot of people don't think it would be appetizing, but my mother grew up on a farm, so I learned to like heart, tongue, headcheese and a lot of other stuff before I was old enough to realize other people thought them to be unappetizing.


----------



## southampton man (Mar 15, 2006)

Is anybody from the UK going to add to this thread ?..reading all the above brings home how narrow our cuisine is in the uk. I do like Haggis though and Black Pudding makes me go moist eyed with nostalgia but I'm hard pushed to find many quirky items from my youth.In my late teens and twenties I consumed industrial quantities of Turkish , Chinese and Indian food and must have written off a regrettable percentage of my coronary arteries as a result.After staying in a very nice hotel recently I asked the waitress if I could have my final " full English Breakfast" with a defibrillator handy and a team of Paramedics standing by

"never wear brown after six"


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by forsbergacct2000_
> 
> It would be interesting to try haggis sometime. I know a lot of people don't think it would be appetizing, but my mother grew up on a farm, so I learned to like heart, tongue, headcheese and a lot of other stuff before I was old enough to realize other people thought them to be unappetizing.


Here's a haggis recipe:

1 sheep's lung (illegal in the U.S.; may be omitted if not available) 
1 sheep's stomach 
1 sheep heart 
1 sheep liver 
1/2 lb fresh suet (kidney leaf fat is preferred) 
3/4 cup oatmeal (the ground type, NOT the Quaker Oats type!) 
3 onions, finely chopped 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 
1/2 teaspoon cayenne 
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 
3/4 cup stock 
Wash lungs and stomach well, rub with salt and rinse. Remove membranes and excess fat. Soak in cold salted water for several hours. Turn stomach inside out for stuffing.
Cover heart and liver with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Chop heart and coarsely grate liver. Toast oatmeal in a skillet on top of the stove, stirring frequently, until golden. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Loosely pack mixture into stomach, about two-thirds full. Remember, oatmeal expands in cooking.

Press any air out of stomach and truss securely. Put into boiling water to cover. Simmer for 3 hours, uncovered, adding more water as needed to maintain water level. Prick stomach several times with a sharp needle when it begins to swell; this keeps the bag from bursting. Place on a hot platter, removing trussing strings. Serve with a spoon. Ceremoniously served with "neeps, tatties and nips" -- mashed turnips, mashed potatoes, nips of whiskey.

I have to say reading this does not fill me with enthusiasm for trying the dish, and I don't drink anymore.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I don't suppose I will ever find it in a restaurant in Michigan.

I might like it. I could very possibly not - - -


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Phrases such as "Turn stomach inside out for stuffing" don't whet my appetite.

I guess I'm just a Scots-ist at heart.


----------



## Chuck Franke (Aug 8, 2003)

AddisonBelmont earns post of the year. I am hungry now.

Alanc left out a Kentucky must have. Beer cheese from Hall's on the river. On the river mind you in the Godforsaken piece of wasteland that is Clark County (old football rivals).

Beer cheese is a sharp cheddar mixed with beer and smeared on whatever is handy - celery, bread, fingers.. whatever. Licking the bowl is frowned upon in the main dining room.

Perhaps the best meal I have ever eaten was while visiting a friend who has a large farm in the Mississippi delta. When I was in grad school he called me in a panic - a sudden low pressure system was coming and he had 3 days to get the crops in before the delta was to be pounded with several inches of rain that would render it swampland until the following summer. So I raced on over from Oxford, got the 15 minute 'Combine operation for overly educated dummies'. Well, the last of the corn got in as the thunder began and utterly exhausted it was time to eat something other than a sandwhich held while driving a big green monstrosity of a tractor.

The restaurant had no name, nor a sign - if you belonged there you knew what it was. We passed the Sheriff on the way over and he was resting his beer can on the dash of his pickup just like the driver of our pickup was holding his as we chatted.

The 'Diner', if that label can be applied to a double-wide trailer with empty buckets of lard stacked outside, was an interesting dining experience. Twin 400 pound sisters did the cooking, serving and harassing of the patrons. "Boy, you look too thin, Lawzee... sit that narry ass down and get you some food, Boy". Evidently the term boy is can be applied to any man younger than the two proprietors. The menu was not much of a puzzle. At lunchtime the menu contained a unique dish called 'lunch' with an eyebrow raising $5 pricetag.

Lunch was fried catfish that day, fresh from the Mississippi River that wound it's way through the heart of America 3 fences, two barns and 2 cricks from the diner. Accompanying that exotic fish were hush puppies, greens (turnip greens cooked until unidentifiable with a large hunk of smoked pork fat), Cornbread and mashed potatoes.

Simple fare? perhaps but after a few days of teeth rattling, exhausting and streesful work it was just the thing. "Lunch" was served in three courses. Well.... three plates anyway. I was done after two but was advised in hushed and nervous whispers not to mess with Miss LooLoo or Miss Bessie. Evidently to decline a third serving would risk a trip to the nearest ER (an hour away) to have a large spoon surgically removed from ones ear.

When I was quite certain that I would never eat again nor be so content the addendum to 'lunch' arrived. Cobbler. No, not that store bought crap - COBBLER. This one of tart cherries and the flakiest crust one can imagine. A serving big enough to satisfy three people while living ample remainder for the dog was expected to be consumed. Evidently Miss Bessie wasn't kidding - to turnj away her food was to invite the wrath of Hell upon your head - better to shut up and eat.

That little white trailer down in the delta may or may not have a name but a dozen years later I can still smell every tantalizing aroma and must now conclude the description because I am hungry. Off to take Jill to Cracker Barrel now. it isn't the same but it is as close as you can get without a trip to the country.

www.carlofranco.com
Handmade Seven Fold Ties


----------



## Jill (Sep 11, 2003)

We've had a great time reading through these various posts - especially those from the South. Addison and Relayer, I literally had tear in my eyes reading your posts. Partly from laughter, partly out of sentimentality. It's kind of hard to know what is indigenous to your own region, unless someone tells you though. A couple of items I THINK are somewhat regional...

*Frito Chili Pie*. Vladimir, you should be ashamed!  I always got to go have some at the "The Shack", an off-campus joint across the street from Lindsay Elementary on Thursdays, which were "Bean day" in the cafeteria...which leads to regional item #2...

When the folks made beans w/ hamhocks at home, they always made big skillets of cornbread. Since I did NOT like the beans, I would get one of my favorite treats for supper, *Cornbread-n-Milk*. It was one of my and my mom's favorites. A couple of big ol' hunks of cornbread, crumbled up in a glass of ice-cold milk, eaten with a spoon. Mmmmmm.mmmmm.mmmm. Makes me wanna go make some now.

Speaking of cornmeal, though. We spent lots of summer weekends at our lake house on Texoma. If you got your boat to the railroad bridge around sunset, you could pull in a few dozen Striper by midnight. Dad would stay on the dock cleaning until the wee hours. Then first thing in the morning, the relatives (with cabins nearby) would mysteriously show up in time for breakfast at our place. *Biscuits and sausage gravy.* Sliced fresh tomatoes. Deep-fried Striper (that's "bass" for those of you in Rio Linda). I've seen my mom - all 105 pounds of her - eat a dozen filets at one sitting.

There's always *fried okra*, which is somewhat regional. But due to the expansion of Grandys, Black Eyed Pea, etc, somewhat more well-known in nether regions beyond the Mason Dixon.

Finally, *grilled onion-burgers * from J&W Grill. This probably isn't regional. But it is part of my childhood. A HANDFULL of thinly sliced onions are thrown onto the griddle. Once soft and sweet, they're added to the burger of your choice. Oh my.

Alright, I'm thinking I need to put my sushi and salad back in the fridge and head to Cracker Barrel for dinner....

Later.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I love Cracker Barrel at Breakfast Time!


----------



## ChubbyTiger (Mar 10, 2005)

How is it that no one has mentioned scrapple yet? Or properly cooked blue crabs? As with Relayer and his tea, the first time I saw crabs on a menu outside of the Delmarva area, they were these weird looking long legs with no body and, well, they just weren't right. No Old Bay? When I moved to New England, I was also taken aback by the extreme lack of iced tea with sugar. Don't know why I was surprized, but tea without sugar just isn't very good and no diner in NYC has any idea what sweet tea is. 


CT


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by forsbergacct2000_
> 
> I don't suppose I will ever find it in a restaurant in Michigan.
> 
> I might like it. I could very possibly not - - -


Not in Michigan. In Windsor, however, look up the Kildare House.

Good/Fast/Cheap - Pick Two


----------



## JohnnyVegas (Nov 17, 2005)

My favorite New England delight is probably a bread bowl of clam chowdah! Succulent clam bellies in the richest cream sauce with potatoes and other vegetables, served in a seemingly scooped-out ball of bread with the top removed so it may be filled over the brim with the chowdah. Dunk the top piece in the chowdah and munch away, devour the dish, and then eat the now-soggy bread bowl. Best food for $5 in Faneuil Hall, hands down.


----------



## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

*Scrapple!*

Southeastern Pennsylvania is known for that delightful, artery clogging mix known as scrapple. Corn meal, pork parts, pepper, and another spice that escapes me compose this breakfast treat. Fry it up and garnish with ketchup if you're from the farm, or maple syrup if you're from Philly. It is harder to find now, and if made by German butchers, only in months with an "r." My mom's cousin was a butcher near Reading, PA and made the good stuff. Don't even bother with the pre-packaged nonsense. "Get ta know vat good is." Bill


----------

