What Foodstuffs Best Define the Place Where You Live?

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pantsBoots

Lifer
Jul 21, 2020
2,142
7,567
Terra Firma
BBQ (typically hickory-smoked Boston butt) with white beans, Mac n cheese, and turnip greens
Classic Fried chicken (nowhere near as flavorful as the Colonel's, but can be as good if not better if brined and fried right)
Nashville Hot Fried chicken (hasn't made it out to the rural areas yet, but I've seen some attempts here and there - it beats the Colonel hands down)
Buttermilk biscuits (with white or chocolate gravy)
Country ham
Sweet tea (or unsweet if you're a Yankee)
Plus all the other home-cooking favorites available as a plate lunch from your local Meat-n-Three

Plus, we live near an established Amish community, so all sorts of pickles and produce and heirloom animals they pull together influences the local palate.

Plus, there are is a big contingent of hippies in and around here, for how rural it is, and greener hillfolk, so all of the Californian beans and greens and fake meat and things are also on order.
 
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Pipeoff

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 22, 2021
863
1,486
Western New York
W NY. Is known for tender roast beef cut from what is known as a ships round served on a large hard roll topped with salt top ( kumelwick ) Flavored with fresh horse radish sauce. German chunky well seasoned potato salad. Also many types of Polish dishes, have
 
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bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,946
37,969
RTP, NC. USA
Char-Grill. A local burger joint. More of Raleigh, NC thing. Their main joint is right by NCSU. Best burger by miles compare to any other burger joints. Didn't go there much when I was attending NCSU. More of occasional stop since my boys were born. Best burgers and fries. None of that limp dick fries from UK.
 
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krizzose

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,136
18,313
Michigan
Detroit:

Coney dogs - chili with mustard & onions
Potato chips - Better Made
Pop/soda - Vernors, Faygo, Town Club
Pizza - square style and the chain stores (Domino's, Little Caesars, Hungry Howies, Jets)

Shawarma
Superman ice cream
Corned beef (with double baked rye bread)

Boston cooler (ginger ale float)
Paczkis - filled doughnuts
Pickled bologna
Bumpy cake
Almond boneless chicken
Zip sauce for steaks
Yardbird Sandwich - our contribution to bbq (smoked chicken, grainy honey mustard bbq sauce, mushrooms, and crispy bacon)

Michigan:

Bacon cheeseburger
Olive burger
Cherries
Fudge
Pasties
Wet burrito - topped with red chili sauce and cheese

Craft beer
Whitefish
Frankenmuth chicken - different type of fried chicken

Kelloggs cereal
Vlasic pickles

Good shawarma is a Detroit birthright.

Some signs the restaurant you just walked into will have good shawarma:

- The open kitchen has about 5 guys too many and they’re all yelling at each other in Arabic

- A 100 y/o woman is making flatbread in a brick oven

- There’s a constant whine from carrots being fed by the peck into an industrial juicer

- The waiter addresses you as “chief” or “boss”
 

DanWil84

Lifer
Mar 8, 2021
1,691
12,644
40
The Netherlands (Europe)
Ahhhh yes the dutch and their cuisine. According to some the most bland cuisine in the world, I beg to diffir with many cultures from Southeast Asia, North Africa and Turkey.

While the dutch are most famous for stroopwafels, drop, poffertjes and hole-in-the-wall deepfried snacks, In the region I live in we're famous for the Kapsalon. A Kapsalon translates to a barber shop or hairdress salon, legend has it it was invented by a turkish restaurant owner where the barber next door ordered a quick meal because being busy. Its a loaded fries dish with dönner (slow roasted rotisery chicken from Turkey) or shwarma, fries, salad, gratinated with cheese, garlic and red pepper sauce. The ultimate hangover or drunk food, most turkish restaurant or shop owners have a Dönner stand in their shop and are opening shop at saturday and sunday night for the nightcrawlers.

Kapsalon_dutch_meal.jpg
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,219
9,057
Metro-Detroit
Good shawarma is a Detroit birthright.

Some signs the restaurant you just walked into will have good shawarma:

- The open kitchen has about 5 guys too many and they’re all yelling at each other in Arabic

- A 100 y/o woman is making flatbread in a brick oven

- There’s a constant whine from carrots being fed by the peck into an industrial juicer

- The waiter addresses you as “chief” or “boss”
Name your king.
 

serpentx

Might Stick Around
Nov 18, 2023
84
280
Stanislaus County, California
Cheap wine (Gallo), cheaper wine (Maddog 20/20), taco trucks, and that's just about it. Everything else is either fast food or crummy chain restaurants. A couple of the local dairies make pretty good cheese, but there's nothing distinct about it
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,786
45,400
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I haven't had time to do much exploration sine moving to Oregon. I just traded dining rooms that I'd set up as a workspace, turning out color for Warner Animation. So while I'd aware of the bounties of the state, like hazelnuts, marionberries, Tillamook cheese, Dungeness Crab, of course, VooDoo Doughnuts, I haven't had the time to go exploring.

Bacon and various pork products definitely figure more prominently in supermarkets than they do in La La Land, but otherwise basic foodstuffs are similar.

What I've been missing is really great Chinese food, though I found a good place in Medford, excellent Thai, very old school hot pots, and some really good Indian restaurants.

Nothing that will compare with the abundance of superb Asian cuisine available in the San Gabriel valley, nor the variety of Mexican foods from various regions that are available in LA. I also haven't found a good Deli, but will make a pilgrimage to Langer's for the best pastrami in the US.

On the other hand, there's an independent local market that stocks a wondrous assortment of food stuffs the likes of which I've never seen assembled in one place and it's going to be a place of fetishistic searching and experiment once this show runs its course. Lots of small producers and craft labels. Someone really curated its stock and the parking lot is always full. One example is a bulk tea case, offering dozens of different teas from all over the planet, all available in bulk. It also provides all of these gourmet and exotic goodies at surprisingly reasonable prices. Just make sure that you know how to pack a grocery bag, because they don't do that for you.
 
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