Regional Idiosyncrasies

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oze
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Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by oze » January 11th, 2015, 12:14 pm

Being a damn Yankee who loves beans in his chili, and having just learned a new term: "Chili chowder" :), I thought I'd pose a question for discussion about regional food preferences. Obviously, beans or any other contaminants are not allowed in Texas chili, probably other regions as well. Cincinnati style, for example, does not have beans. But they put something in the sauce (nutmeg? cinnamon?) that tastes a bit off to me. Plus, they serve it on spaghetti! I hope I don't make any true chili aficionados nauseous, but I like my chili with lots of beans, onions and diced tomatoes, on the soupy side (in order to accommodate the tons of oyster crackers I add to the bowl) and spicy enough to remove skin from the roof of my mouth. Since I live with a family of normal persons, I cannot add habaneros as the chili cooks, so I have to mince some and add them to my own bowl. Oh, and my preferred beverage to accompany it, ice-cold milk. Beer and chili do not work for me together the way they used to. Old age, I guess.

Having grown up in the Chicago area, there are two food-related things that disgust me in a most unreasonable way: 1) Ketchup on a hot dog
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=No+ ... 7E9C9F7AF5
:club:
and 2) New York-style pizza.
Deep dish, stuffed or thin. The crust has to be crispy, not soggy like wet cardboard. :duel:

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » January 11th, 2015, 3:34 pm

Pork Tenderloin is a very Indiana thing.

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by Mightyquinn » January 11th, 2015, 4:14 pm

I grew up in northern Indiana but have lived in NC off and on for the last 20 years. When it comes to food I really don't care what is added or taken away as long as it is good. I do have to say that I was brought up on deep dish and pan pizza but have now have an affection for a good New York style pizza. We have this place here called Brooklyn Pizza and it is absolutely delicious, I also love their strombolies!!!!! I can't think of anything off the top of my head that has to be eaten a certain way. To each his own!!!

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by oze » January 11th, 2015, 5:41 pm

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:Pork Tenderloin is a very Indiana thing.
Yeah, I've come to learn that, Hoosier. I've only tried them at a couple of brewpubs so far: Scotty's and Mad Anthony's, and I enjoyed both. Or was that the locally-brewed beer? :razz:

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by oze » January 11th, 2015, 5:58 pm

Mightyquinn wrote:I grew up in northern Indiana but have lived in NC off and on for the last 20 years. When it comes to food I really don't care what is added or taken away as long as it is good. I do have to say that I was brought up on deep dish and pan pizza but have now have an affection for a good New York style pizza. We have this place here called Brooklyn Pizza and it is absolutely delicious, I also love their strombolies!!!!! I can't think of anything off the top of my head that has to be eaten a certain way. To each his own!!!
You are right, of course, MQ. But I do have three anecdotes which indicate strong feelings wrt one's regional biases.

I was on a homeward-bound flight (La Guardia to O'Hare), and was sitting next to a native New Yorker (Brooklyn). We had a very pleasant conversation the entire short flight: we differed on politics, sports teams and relative benefits of our cities, but all was very pleasant until we got to the subject of pizza. :rotfl:

I got off a different flight at O'Hare one Friday evening, after being away from home for 4 weeks. After long trips away from home, I look forward to hitting the Vienna hot dog stand near gate C 27 (not that I memorize such things) for a Chicago-style hot dog. Two times I was in line with someone who ordered a Chicago dog with everything, and when delivered to them, asked "Where is the ketchup? I ordered everything." One time, the woman behind the counter reached down below (somewhere), and pulled out a ketchup pack like you'd get at Mickey D's, holding it between her thumb and forefinger like it was a dirty diaper, and kinda tossed it at the offender. When my turn came up, she told me that "only toddlers and southerners ever asked her for ketchup on their hot dog". :hello:

The second time a similar thing happened, the person asked for ketchup, and the server looked sternly at the customer and just said. "No". I wonder if she worked at the Billy Goat Tavern in a previous life. "No fries, cheeeps". "No Coke, Pessi". "No ketchup".


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Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by BoatDr » January 11th, 2015, 8:54 pm

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:Pork Tenderloin is a very Indiana thing.
What exactly gives this clout? I want to disagree but fear that I'm missing something.

- Extremely common to see ketchup on hot dogs here. Maybe more common than mustard.

-Don't they put mustard on Mc'ds plain cheeseburgers just about everywhere but Long Island ?

--Edit-- You can't compete with NY Pizza.

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » January 12th, 2015, 10:00 am

Sorry I'm not sure what you're asking. It just seems we have lots of them on the menus around here but not elsewhere in the country??? I could be wrong. My wife would probably agree with that too lol

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by dfw_pilot » January 12th, 2015, 11:50 am

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:It just seems we have lots of them on the menus around here but not elsewhere in the country???
As a Texan, I'd never heard of them on sandwiches until we moved to Indiana. My first taste was in our small town at Ivanhoe's (Yes, that's 100 shakes and 100 sundays on their menu).

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » January 12th, 2015, 12:24 pm

Ivanhoe's!!!

Yes - I'm familiar. Used to run up there during the college days!!!

Something else that's a bit of a regional Indiana thing - EUCHRE (the card game).

Don't know how many out-of-staters I had to teach that game in college....

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Rook

Post by dfw_pilot » January 12th, 2015, 1:15 pm

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:EUCHRE (the card game).
Glad to know you like Ivanhoe's! I too learned Euchre in Indiana, but sadly, it seems a simple game once you step up to Rook. All the best,

dfw

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by oze » January 12th, 2015, 1:51 pm

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:Ivanhoe's!!!

Yes - I'm familiar. Used to run up there during the college days!!!

Something else that's a bit of a regional Indiana thing - EUCHRE (the card game).

Don't know how many out-of-staters I had to teach that game in college....
Hearts. I'll go alone.

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by OldGlory » January 12th, 2015, 2:58 pm

Clam Chowder isn't red. We have subs. Jimmies on ice cream. Iced coffee 365 days a year. Thin pizza. Steak tips. Brown fried rice, not brown rice but colored with soy sauce...always seems to be white outside of mass.

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Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by turf_toes » January 12th, 2015, 3:23 pm

I have never enjoyed it. But Scrapple is a biggie in the Philly area. Yuck.

Cheese steaks too. I've never understood why it is so hard for places outside of Philly. But, outside of the Delaware Valley, I've never eaten an "authentic" philly cheese steak sandwich that tasted anything close to the real deal.

I work in NYC now and it's odd that none of the places advertising "Philly style Cheesesteak sandwiches" can get it right.


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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by oze » January 12th, 2015, 4:07 pm

OldGlory wrote:Clam Chowder isn't red. We have subs. Jimmies on ice cream. Iced coffee 365 days a year. Thin pizza. Steak tips. Brown fried rice, not brown rice but colored with soy sauce...always seems to be white outside of mass.
I agree, clam chowder is most definitely not red. That might be a personal rather than a regional thing, though, since not a lot of clamming is done in the Great Lakes. :no:

I thought fried rice was always colored brown, and not that "healthy" stuff that is brown before you add soy sauce, either.
Last edited by oze on January 12th, 2015, 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by oze » January 12th, 2015, 4:16 pm

turf_toes wrote:I have never enjoyed it. But Scrapple is a biggie in the Philly area. Yuck.

Cheese steaks too. I've never understood why it is so hard for places outside of Philly. But, outside of the Delaware Valley, I've never eaten an "authentic" philly cheese steak sandwich that tasted anything close to the real deal.

I work in NYC now and it's odd that none of the places advertising "Philly style Cheesesteak sandwiches" can get it right.


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I was in Wilmington, DE, and had what was to my uneducated palate was a great Philly Cheesesteak in the Philly airport. Forgot the name of the place, but they led me to believe it was a Philadelphia landmark in its original location.

Semi-funny story. We didn't have much time for lunch on the job I was working in DE, so we usually just got some Subway to go. Soon, their version of a Philly Cheese Steak was one of their specials. Now, even a Midwestern lad such as me knows that nothing near authentic was going to be served at a Subway, but what the heck; as a neophyte, I thought I could probably tolerate just about anything, so I ordered one. So, I am in line, and the girl behind the counter asks me what I want on it. I said, "put whatever you normally put on a Philly Cheese Steak". She asked if I wanted onions, and I said, "sure". The guy behind me pipes up and yells, "HEY YOU DON'T PUT ONIONS ON A PHILLY CHEESE STEAK!!!". The counter person was classic. She said, "First, the customer ordered onions, so I am putting them on. Second, who orders a Philly Cheese Steak at Subway?" She made us both laugh, and ended up getting a pretty big tip from me. :rotfl:

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by OldGlory » January 12th, 2015, 4:51 pm

Had Philly Cheese Steaks from both Pat's and Geno's. Both were just ok. A steak and cheese sub at almost any MA sub shop is better. In Philly you get cheese steaks wit or without onions.

Oze NE Chowder is White, NY is Red...is as hated as the Yankees in Boston.

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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by turf_toes » January 12th, 2015, 5:14 pm

oze wrote:
turf_toes wrote:I have never enjoyed it. But Scrapple is a biggie in the Philly area. Yuck.

Cheese steaks too. I've never understood why it is so hard for places outside of Philly. But, outside of the Delaware Valley, I've never eaten an "authentic" philly cheese steak sandwich that tasted anything close to the real deal.

I work in NYC now and it's odd that none of the places advertising "Philly style Cheesesteak sandwiches" can get it right.


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I was in Wilmington, DE, and had what was to my uneducated palate was a great Philly Cheesesteak in the Philly airport. Forgot the name of the place, but they led me to believe it was a Philadelphia landmark in its original location.

Semi-funny story. We didn't have much time for lunch on the job I was working in DE, so we usually just got some Subway to go. Soon, their version of a Philly Cheese Steak was one of their specials. Now, even a Midwestern lad such as me knows that nothing near authentic was going to be served at a Subway, but what the heck; as a neophyte, I thought I could probably tolerate just about anything, so I ordered one. So, I am in line, and the girl behind the counter asks me what I want on it. I said, "put whatever you normally put on a Philly Cheese Steak". She asked if I wanted onions, and I said, "sure". The guy behind me pipes up and yells, "HEY YOU DON'T PUT ONIONS ON A PHILLY CHEESE STEAK!!!". The counter person was classic. She said, "First, the customer ordered onions, so I am putting them on. Second, who orders a Philly Cheese Steak at Subway?" She made us both laugh, and ended up getting a pretty big tip from me. :rotfl:
Wilmington, Del is in the Delaware Valley, so it doesn't surprise me. Delaware Valley == Philly suburbs.


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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by crabgrass » January 12th, 2015, 5:21 pm

I grew up in Connecticut (west of the CT river, which is the general dividing line between NY/Boston, Giants/Pats, Yankees/Red Sox. My brother moved to Boston and inexplicably became a Red Sox fan. We debated salary cap at one point. He said, "Jim, rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for... Microsoft or Exxon". I replied, "Tom, then that means that rooting for the Red Sox is like rooting for Oracle or Shell".

- NY thin pizza (thick crust is all dough). But it needs to be equally good dough, sauce, and cheese.
- Steamed clams with lemon and butter, straight out off the grill pot
- Ketchup on my hot dog, but only on cheap dogs. I like brown mustard on the better ones.
- I am of German descent, so I like weinerschnitzel, spaetzle, torte, dark beer, etc. If you are ever in the Danbury area in summer, drive up to New Preston, and book an evening reservation to dine on the terrace at Hopkins Inn overlooking Lake Warmwaug.

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Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by BoatDr » January 12th, 2015, 9:10 pm

Amen to all of the above. Also love to steam the clams in beer with garlic.


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Re: Regional Idiosyncrasies

Post by laadams85 » January 20th, 2015, 11:26 am

I have rarely had wings that were even passable outside of Buffalo. Even a lot of wings in Buffalo are just good. After living in Queens for a few years I can say I like NYC pizza the best.

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