Regional foodstuff

[ptam]

I'd have to say spam musubi, for something... decidedly local.

MMMM... SPAM Musbi.  I had a friend who had never had SPAM before in his life ... we gave him some SPAM musubi and he's a convert.

I've done my fair share of traveling around as well:

BBQ - Memphis Style - I actually like the chain Red Hot and Blue.
Steaks - Ribeye - Texas, Salt Grass
Pizza - Chicago Style - Giordano's , NY Style ... Haven't found a favorite yet.
Cheesesteak - Pat's King of Steaks in Philly
Burritos - Taquira San Jose in Oakland, feels like I'm back in East LA
Street Food  and Dim Sum - Hong Kong ... hands down.
Gelato - Rome ... seems to be a gelateria on every street corner. 
Crab Cakes - Baltimore, Timbuktu

Breakfast - This is a toughy, but lately I've liked the Tower of Chocolate french toast at the Bongo Room in Chicago. 


Hot Dog - NY - Greys Papaya ... Chicago .... Superdawg.


Burger - Squeeze Inn.. Sacramento.  Cheese Halo ... right SacDuc? 

[Le Pirate]

I like to go native where ever my travels take me. Last time i was in Texas, these items were pretty much all I ate. CFS is best at highway truckstops.

Are you sure your born and raised in Texas? How did you leave off Tex-Mex?

you are so right...I have shamed my people 


as far as tex-mex goes...there is a little place in my hometown called Montes Breakfast Burritos. They ofcourse sell lunch and dinner, contrary to the name  . If you're ever around Lake Whitney in Texas...stop there for breakfast. Get the Egg, chorizo, and potato burrito. It's on a homade tortilla ofcourse, and comes with their home made salsa (which will blow your mind)

now I'm hungry AND 5 hours away from there 

[FatguyRacer]

I've done my fair share of traveling around as well:


Crab Cakes - Baltimore, Timbuktu

Timbuktu is good, but next time skip them and head to Linthicum and dine at The Olive Grove. They are better there.

If you want the absolute best crab cake in all of Maryland, then you need to go to southern Maryland and drop by Stoney's on Solomons Island.

[triangleforge]

Timbuktu is good, but next time skip them and head to Linthicum and dine at The Olive Grove. They are better there.

If you want the absolute best crab cake in all of Maryland, then you need to go to southern Maryland and drop by Stoney's on Solomons Island.

I was always pretty partial to the hard crabs at Jimmy Cantler's Riverside just outside of Annapolis Maryland. Even with turn-by-turn directions, I got lost trying to find it the first couple of times, and then only realized we were there when we got in the line of half a dozen stopped cars on the one and a half lane country road, waiting for a parking space to open up in their tiny little lot. And nobody's yet mentioned softshells -- loved the softshell crab sandwich at Eastern Market in DC on the weekends -- deep fried legs sticking out on either side of a sourdough bun. 

I also really miss Virginia ham & biscuits -- the further south you got from Northern VA, the more likely you were to find a stack of them next to the cash register at any given gas station. Home made & hand wrapped in plastic wrap, I could never resist, despite the fact that I had no idea how long they'd been sitting there... And fried Virginia ham with eggs and grits for breakfast. Yum.

I used to travel a lot to Iowa and the upper Midwest, working with family farmers & livestock producers throughout the region, and have to agree with ZLTFUL... up to a point. Though I was born in Ames, I have to say that Southern Minnesota gives Iowa a run for the money in the sweet corn department, at least as long as you've got the water boiling before you go out to cut the corn!  And pork from all throughout the region was splendid, if you knew where it came from. Much of the stuff that goes into supermarket shelves really ought to be labeled "manufactured meat product, pork flavored," but stick a fork into a pork chop from a fat Berkshire hog that lived with a little bit of sunshine and fresh air in her life, and you're about to wonder what cubicle-bound marketing idiot ever thought people might prefer "the other white meat" to real pork.

[FatguyRacer]

The best hard steam crabs i've had are ones we caught ourselves in a crab trap and steamed up. Personally, im not much of a steam crab fan. Too much work for too little reward. Now eating them at a Crab Feast, thats a different story. Then it's not about the food anymore.

Fresh Chesapeake Bay oysters down at the Cross Street Market Raw Bar is another great local favorite. I havnt been there in years.

You know what I really like best of all?

Maine Lobster

When I'm in Maine, I try to make a point of eating something with Lobster for at least 2 out of 3 daily meals.

[KnightofNi]

i started in AL and moved to PA when i was 14. i consider myself to be from both places now.

i miss collard greens, chitlins, and BBQ (smoked, not the mustard/vinegar based abomination the carolinas try to pass off  ). I have had substitutes here, but they just aren't the same. I make my own nanner pudding with nilla wafers and bananna slices, if i really want it. the cornbread is weird up here too.

a point of contention with me(and a lot of other philly residents) is where the best cheesesteak is.
pat's is a tourist attraction just like geno's, the steaks are crap. as much as i dislike this about myself, if someone says they prefer one of those 2 places, i lose a bit of respect for that person. if i'm in the city i go to Jim's on south street (another touristy area, but the steaks are dam good and you don't get as much attitude on the side) sonny's on market is amazing, but a bit pricey.


neuf - i was introduced to the doner in germany. in fact it's one of the things i'm looking fwd to gettign when i go back over in a few days. i have found nothing in the states that is trying to be that. my friend and i were thinking of opening up a doner stand just so we could get them here. (i'm now drooling)

[lauramonster]

Crabs and spaghetti.  Haven't had it since my dad died.  He LOVED it!!!  I don't eat the crabs, but they flavor the gravy (red sauce for those without a vowel at the end of their name) and turn it from excellent to a thing worth of the gods.  Love to catch crabs - lower the chicken necks on string, wait for the oil slick & the bubble, and pull up slowly.  Have the net ready and when in net, hand off to someone who is braver than I!!

Duke's made the best roast pork sandwich.  ITalian Market.  Closed up a couple of years ago.  George's at the Italina Market is good - even if it looks dumpy!  Get the long hot italian peppers on it and DAMN!!! that's good eats!!  Goomba's on Route 309 in Hilltown, PA  makes great sandwiches. 

Pat's & Geno's are good, so is Tony Luke's, but it's the local hole in the wall that does the best cheesesteaks.  It's the combination of thinly sliced beef, sauteed onions, and a roll that's got some chew (or hardness) on the outside and soft on the inside that is just great.  Chees needs to be gooey - whether american or cheez whiz.

Sam's Italian Deli (Route 63, Horsham) makes a great pruscuitta & stinky cheese sandwich.  Makes my soul happy!!!!  (Stinky cheese is a really sharp authentic provolone cheese).

Jack's deli in northeast Phila makes some mean Jewish delicacies.  Corned beef specials are on real rye bread, sloppy with cole slaw and russian dressing and the corned beef is flavorful & just fatty enough to taste great!  Love Cabbage Borscht soup.  Hard to find the true stuff - it's a delicate blend of sweet and sour (usually brown sugar and lemons) with a beefy base.  Should have lots of cabbage and shredded beef.  If it's leftover, the flavors blend and turns bland.

Isgro's make the best cannoli's while Termini's makes the best cookies.  I'm partial to reginas (sesame), while the hubby prefers pinoles (pin-YOL-es) - fulffy almond paste cookies with pine nuts on the outside. 

Philly soft pretzel chains are good.  The pretzels are good and they have four mustards - go for the horeradish mustard

Senior year in high school was at a Mennonite school, so I'm partial to the mennonite/amish cooking.  Down home, stick to your ribs, German based cooking.  Good thing we're near a lot of their restaurants.

Victory Brew Pub (Downingtown) - Donnybrook stout. Ship's Inn (Milford New Jersey) - Randy's Porter
Both are excellent dark beers -chocolate/coffee flavors the nectar of the gods, neith bitter, wheaty or hoppy.

Too bad I already ate - the burger is sitting like lead compared to the above. 

Come visit and I'll take you on a tour of Foodtopia!!
laura

[KnightofNi]

laura,
we need to have a deval gathering at victory. they have a few beers that i know you won't like. 

personally i like the golden monkey and their summer wheat.


i'm not going to get into the beer because there are so many good ones i can't make up my mind.

[FatguyRacer]

laura,
we need to have a deval gathering at victory. they have a few beers that i know you won't like. 

personally i like the golden monkey and their summer wheat.


i'm not going to get into the beer because there are so many good ones i can't make up my mind.

Is this the same Victory that makes Storm King and Prima Pils and Golden Monkey?

(Never mind. I should read all of it next time)

I wanna go too.

I was not a fan of the Whirlwind. Too citrisy.

[rgramjet]

Crabs and spaghetti.  Haven't had it since my dad died.  He LOVED it!!!  I don't eat the crabs, but they flavor the gravy (red sauce for those without a vowel at the end of their name) and turn it from excellent to a thing worth of

Come visit and I'll take you on a tour of Foodtopia!!
laura

I am a little intrigued by the crabs and spaghetti concept.  Are they side by side or intermixed?  Spaghetti with crabmeat?

[ptam]

I am a little intrigued by the crabs and spaghetti concept.  Are they side by side or intermixed?  Spaghetti with crabmeat?

Same here ... that sounds tasty.

[Vindingo]

Crabs and spaghetti.  Haven't had it since my dad died.  He LOVED it!!!  I don't eat the crabs, but they flavor the gravy (red sauce for those without a vowel at the end of their name) and turn it from excellent to a thing worth of the gods.  Love to catch crabs - lower the chicken necks on string, wait for the oil slick & the bubble, and pull up slowly.  Have the net ready and when in net, hand off to someone who is braver than I!!

I swear reading that reminded me of when I was a little kid on the Jersey shore.  My grandfather would take us to the bay and we would catch crabs off of the dock just like that.  We had a few traps, but while they were sitting we did the chicken on the string trick.  We would take the spackle bucket full of crabs home to my grandmother and she would turn it into magic.   

When I was back on the east coast last year in the DC area, I ate crabs every day for 4 days.  I LOVE softshells.  I finished off the trip with an all you can eat blue crab dinner at Capt. Pells.   

[TiNi]

my brother and i spent our summer days crabbing on the jersey shore... my dad LoVeD us catching dinner

[lauramonster]

You quickly boil the crabs and gently lay them in an already cooking pot of sauce.  The red sauce (gravy) takes on the crab taste - without overpowering the tomato flavor.  You then put newspaper over the table, and pick crabs that have been in red sauce.  It's a royal mess - but god! what flavor!!   Not the same as mussels marinara.  the crab is delicate, the tomato velvety smooth. 

Christ!  I'm hungry!

[ellingly]

Australians just have this all beat up, really. Vegemite... and tim-tams .

Hey, we might be the size of the continental US, but we're the population of New York state.