Regional Food

[MY15-22]

I'm a Cajun in Louisiana. What do we know about cooking?

 

[meaneyedcatz]

Is it square?

Anyway, around here we have a heavy Tex Mex and Native American influence, lots of green and red chili, fry bread, tortillas, beans, rice, and marinated/smoked meat BBQs (carne asada).
Liberally lubricated with cheap beer.

If it's spicy, fried, or on the grill, it's dinner (preferably all 3 at once) look up enchillada style chimichangas.

YES IT IS SQUARE!

 

[meaneyedcatz]

Here in STL we have soft pretzels also. There used to be several vendors but now we are down to one. You can get twists but the most popular are sticks about a foot long. There is so much salt on them you can feel the water in your body get sucked out, but they are fantastic. These are not "gourmet" like Aunt Annies at the mall. These are the junk yard dog of pretzels and they are great.

 

[OFT II]

Around here it is a saddle blanket sized chicken fried steak covered with cream gravy that fills the plate. Fries or mashed potatoes on another plate.

 

[deadin]

Out here on the NW coast the unique regional dish is Pacific Razor Clam Chowder. (YUM!!)
Razor Clams are found as far south as CA but the main harvest comes from the WA beaches. Around here any commercial Razor Clams you find for sale are harvested by the local Indian Tribes under treaty rights. Recreational digs are sporadic (I think there is one this weekend) and the limit is 13 or 14 clams. Hardly seems worth all the effort, until you have a bowl of chowder of a platefull of fried clams.....

 

[timn8er]

Here in Oklahoma City excellent barbecue is everywhere, with some notable standouts. But one thing that I never had eaten till I came here is called the onion burger. I'm sure they make it in plenty of places but this was the first place I ever had one. The onions are sliced super thin & then fried with the hamburger patty. My favorite place to get one is at a small joint around the corner from the house called Bunny's. There is limited seating & they have a devoted following. Every time I go there I promise myself I'm not going to make the same mistake again & order a double, but I always manage to forget. Served with a heap of fries, chili & jalapenos on it...totally unhealthy, totally delicious!

 

[rimfired]

Lots of Polish, Lithuanian, etc. round these parts. They hold yearly weekend celebrations/competitions for Kielbasi and Pieroghie. Some spell them differently but you get the idea.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Been waiting for some of you S Ohio boys to ring in with the cinnamon chilii. The first time I heard about it I didn't believe it. When I had some, I still didn't believe it.

 

[Dennis The B]

Coney Island hotdogs are the big thing in this part of Michigan. You see restaurants all over the place selling them and almost all use Koegel hotdogs, a local meat processor here. Lots of competition on who makes the best topping and there is even a difference between a Flint coney and a Detroit one.
Many of those restaurants are owned by Greeks and have Greek food as well. They usually are rather inexpensive and a good place to get a meal at a reasonable price.

The Coney dogs down here usually come with chili (no beans), chopped onions, and mustard. American and Lafayette Coney Islands in downtown Detroit are the primary competitors. For me, I prefer the Senate Coney dogs, and they serve Dearborn Sausage brand hot dogs.

Don't know how a Detroit chili dog became a Coney dog, but I'm glad they did.

I've always put ketchup on french fries. However, a fellow who used to work with me, and was from Niagara Falls, NY, put gravy on his. Never got to like that combo, but evidently it's not rare.

 

[Salty RI]

How about coffee ice cream and coffee syrup for making milk shakes, I know for years it was RI thing, and hot weiners they are like a hot dog made in long lengths and cut to the size of a hot dog but thiner, the ends are open,served on a steamed bun with a meat sauce and yellow mustard with onions choped very small and blade meat, cooked long and slow in a spicy red sauce usually served on a Bulkie roll, blade meat is pork with no fat and it's cut into chunks about 1" square.

 

[Dennis The B]

How about coffee ice cream and coffee syrup for making milk shakes, I know for years it was RI thing, and hot weiners they are like a hot dog made in long lengths and cut to the size of a hot dog but thiner, the ends are open,served on a steamed bun with a meat sauce and yellow mustard with onions choped very small and blade meat, cooked long and slow in a spicy red sauce usually served on a Bulkie roll, blade meat is pork with no fat and it's cut into chunks about 1" square.

I was stationed at Davisville, in the Seabees, in the late 1960's Coffee milk and coffee syrup certainly were different for this kid from Kentucky.

Didn't know what a "grinder" was, until I asked on of my newly -found friends. Hoagie, Sub, Hero; all the same sandwich, different names.

 

[moe smith]

Coney Island hotdogs are the big thing in this part of Michigan. You see restaurants all over the place selling them and almost all use Koegel hotdogs, a local meat processor here. Lots of competition on who makes the best topping and there is even a difference between a Flint coney and a Detroit one.
Many of those restaurants are owned by Greeks and have Greek food as well. They usually are rather inexpensive and a good place to get a meal at a reasonable price.

The first time I moved to Michigan in the early 70s I had my first experience with a "Coney Island Hot Dog". Being from Brooklyn I couldn't wait to get my hands on a couple of Sabretts or Hebrew Nationals with mustard and saurkraut. Then my order came. Although I don't recall the exact comment in Brooklyneese I said at the time, I do remember it wasn't "What the heck is that?"

I had grown up a stickball shot from the Cyclone and never ran into the "Coney Sauce" they have in Michigan. It was the first of a long line of food let downs you run into after leaving the city ie: Veal Parm or Meatball Heroes, Egg Creams, Pizza, Black and White Cookies, Potato Knishes, Chinese take out, Dr. Browns Cream Soda and on and on.

For the record, Koegel hot dogs (with casings) are good, but man, if you're going to have a Coney Island hot dog at least eat it the way it became popular in Coney Island, with mustard and saurkraut. Anything else is, well, it ain't "What the heck is that?"

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm a Cajun in Louisiana. What do we know about cooking?

Most of the really important stuff!

Louisville is not a true southern city, it's lower Midwest. We have a lot of influences here: southern country cooking, the virtually identical soul food (though the younger black folks seem to be getting away from the classics, as are the young whites), German, Southeast Asian, Latino, Korean, Middle Eastern, Italian, Central European, and some purely Louisville things like the fabled Hot Brown sandwich. It's a fine town for good food served by some nationally-recognized chefs.

But I'm an old East Tennessee boy, so I can live damn near forever on various combinations of beans, greens and grains as long as I have ham hock, country bacon, salt pork, red pepper and home-grown herbs for seasoning. I love the other stuff too,
especially Korean and Mexican, but my roots are deep in the Smokies.

 

[Salty RI]

I was stationed at Davisville, in the Seabees, in the late 1960's Coffee milk and coffee syrup certainly were different for this kid from Kentucky.

Didn't know what a "grinder" was, until I asked on of my newly -found friends. Hoagie, Sub, Hero; all the same sandwich, different names.

I'm in Point Judith, Davisville is about 20 min North of me.

 

[Dennis The B]

I'm in Point Judith, Davisville is about 20 min North of me.

Ah, yes! We lived in a small apartment on Robinson Street in Narragansett, within walking distance of the beach. Point Judith and Galilee were two of our favorite towns. We also liked Wickford. My wife worked at URI, and we were frequent customers at Sally's Pizza in Peace Dale, and Palmisano's (Iggy's) in South K (both are long gone). There were a number of small places on the way to Point Judith, that had clam cakes. My wife loved them. We've been to more than one clam bake at the beaches there.

It's been many years (1987) since we were last there, but what memories!

 

[Dennis The B]

Most of the really important stuff!

Louisville is not a true southern city, it's lower Midwest. We have a lot of influences here: southern country cooking, the virtually identical soul food (though the younger black folks seem to be getting away from the classics, as are the young whites), German, Southeast Asian, Latino, Korean, Middle Eastern, Italian, Central European, and some purely Louisville things like the fabled Hot Brown sandwich. It's a fine town for good food served by some nationally-recognized chefs.

But I'm an old East Tennessee boy, so I can live damn near forever on various combinations of beans, greens and grains as long as I have ham hock, country bacon, salt pork, red pepper and home-grown herbs for seasoning. I love the other stuff too,
especially Korean and Mexican, but my roots are deep in the Smokies.

My late father-in-law managed one of the Blue Boar Cafeterias while they still had good food, and well before they closed. He knew a lot of the restaurant owners in Louisville, and we pretty much knew where to go for good food. Downtown, there was Kunz's The Dutchman, and the Old House. Letini's on Bardstown Road was a great local place. When we lived in Jeffersontown, we like Ferd Grisanti's, and thought that the food was better there than at Casa Grisanti. Leo's Hideaway, and later the New Orleans House had some of the best seafood around. After we got married, we used to go to the Thoroughbred Room/Old English Grill at the Brown Hotel. They closed in 1969, and we kept a menu from the last day. Here are some of the entrees:

• Kentucky Ham Steak - $4.75
• Fried Jumbo Shrimp - $3.45
• Hot Brown Sandwich - $2.45
• Broiled Prime Sirloin - $5.75

For those who don't know what a "Hot Brown Sandwich" is -

• Two slices of thick white bread, toasted and sliced
• Sliced turkey and/or ham layered onto the toast points
• Thick cheddar cream sauce poured over the top of the meat and toast
• Top with one, or more of crisp bacon slices, peach halves, tomatoes.

Bake in an oven until the cheese sauce starts to brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

It tastes best when the cheese can almost burn your mouth, and then wash down with a glass of fresh brewed ice tea.

 

[Arik]

Ummm.....Philly. cheesestakes!!! The only way. Besides that. Brazilian, Russian, Indian, ...etc...etc...think of it as NYC but with a little bit of a drive. Not everything is down the street

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[vonn]

Here in East Texas chicken fried steak is pretty common and pretty good almost anywhere you get it. Covered with gravy with fried Okra , mashed potatoes,and your choice of veggie it is good eating!

 

[Leslie Sapp]

"Swamp Cabbage" Heart of palm cooked down, usually with some smoked sausage or bacon in it.
Smoked Mullet or Fried Mullet and grits!

 

[bagga]

in northeast wisconsin, door county (wisconsin's thumb)is a belgian settlement and it's the home of belgian trippe, it's like a brat with cabbage in it.