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Disclaimer: This thread revolves mostly around US regions (and maybe Canada's by inclusion).
Every region has its unique food customs, that seem quirky, if not outright strange (at least from outsiders' point of view) to people outside that region. A notable one for Chicago/Midwest would be serving ranch dressing with thin-crust (a.k.a. "tavern-style") pizza---cut into squares, no less---and dipping the end of it into ranch before taking a bite. I remember going on a cruise in 2014, sailing from LA, and sharing a table with a 50-something couple at lunch. Somehow, our conversations turned to pizza. So I told them about the ranch thing. Their immediate reaction was: "Pizza with ranch? Why?". (They were from Phoenix, AZ, which has a large number of Chicago transplants, but they were local to Phoenix, so they found ranch thing odd.)
Another custom/quirk is the Midwestern Bloody Marys. In most US regions, a Bloody Mary is vodka-laced tomato juice, garnished with a celery stalk, and maybe a skewer of green olives if you're lucky. Not in the Midwest! In these parts, a well-garnished Bloody Mary can serve as a heavy snack easily. It can contain cheese cubes, sausage pieces, Slim Jims, shrimp, a burger slider, chunks of grilled chicken, etc. Not to mention the amazing mixer flavors like black pepper, horseradish, Sriracha, etc. In Wisconsin especially, a Bloody Mary often includes a 5-oz beer chaser too, allegedly meant to wash down the intense flavors of the "foods" served. When I told people outside the Midwest about all this, their reaction was "Wow, really?".
Disclaimer: This thread revolves mostly around US regions (and maybe Canada's by inclusion).
Every region has its unique food customs, that seem quirky, if not outright strange (at least from outsiders' point of view) to people outside that region. A notable one for Chicago/Midwest would be serving ranch dressing with thin-crust (a.k.a. "tavern-style") pizza---cut into squares, no less---and dipping the end of it into ranch before taking a bite.
Pizza / ranch isn't regional. Most, if not all, of the chains will give you ranch with your pizza.
I live in the St. Louis MO area. Land of Provel cheese, Gooey Butter Cake and Fried Ravioli. And Pork Steaks. We have pork steaks. I don't know about ALL the states, but Maryland is not familiar with the concept of pork steaks. It's a St. Louis BBQ staple.
Pork steaks are pork shoulders sliced up into steaks.
I live in the St. Louis MO area. Land of Provel cheese, Gooey Butter Cake and Fried Ravioli. And Pork Steaks. We have pork steaks. I don't know about ALL the states, but Maryland is not familiar with the concept of pork steaks. It's a St. Louis BBQ staple.
Pork steaks are pork shoulders sliced up into steaks.
They sell those here but call them something else. I use the whole shoulder for roasting, pulling, etc., but don't know how to deal with the steaks. Do you have a recipe or a method to share?
Writing from Delaware, the land of Scrapple and one of the biggest markets I've ever seen for creamed chipped beef outside the WWII navy.
Fish, cured in lye, subsequently rehydrated in a several-days process, producing something akin to fish jelly. Does this sound horrible to you? Be forewarned - it's even worse than it sounds. Much, much worse.
2) The Jucy Lucy
Actually, people love this. I'm the one who gives it strange looks. You see, a Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger with a patty that is formed with the cheese inside, completely surrounded by the hamburger. When the burger is cooked, the cheese melts inside. But... so what? Melted cheese isn't somehow better if it's on the inside of the meat rather than being melted on the outside. The only real difference with a Jucy Lucy is the risk of biting down and getting a super-heated jet of molten 150F cheese shooting into your mouth and scalding your tongue and gums. Yay!
1) Lutefisk
Fish, cured in lye, subsequently rehydrated in a several-days process, producing something akin to fish jelly. Does this sound horrible to you? Be forewarned - it's even worse than it sounds. Much, much worse.
I'm a very adventurous eater. I've eaten escargot, jellyfish, raw oysters, head cheese, jellied meats in aspic, you name it. So lutefisk wouldn't faze me. I might put salt and/or hot sauce on it, but that's about it. Pretty much the only thing I won't eat is French onion soup: those onions are too damn slimy, like worms! Ugh! And no amount of gruyere cheese floating on top can drown them out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
2) The Jucy Lucy
Actually, people love this. I'm the one who gives it strange looks. You see, a Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger with a patty that is formed with the cheese inside, completely surrounded by the hamburger. When the burger is cooked, the cheese melts inside. But... so what? Melted cheese isn't somehow better if it's on the inside of the meat rather than being melted on the outside. The only real difference with a Jucy Lucy is the risk of biting down and getting a super-heated jet of molten 150F cheese shooting into your mouth and scalding your tongue and gums. Yay!
I actually kind of like this. The cheese becomes more melty inside the meat patty. But I'll give you credit for the "super-heated jet of molten cheese" part. The risk is there indeed. Maybe biting down slowly and carefully is the ticket.
I hold the family record in lobster consumption
Maine lobsters( with the claws). At 14
And a pound of butter
The last 5 …..I had a crowd around the table
Cheering me on
I think chicken fried steak is something very regional in Texas. The name used to confuse me
It means steak-like slabs of meat cooked like fried chicken. Banquet makes such a frozen meal; it's flavorless crap, like you'd expect Banquet meals to be. You gotta add salt and black pepper to make it taste passably good. But at least its components---the meat passing for a steak, the breading on it, and the gravy---are all there.
And let's not even go near the "chicken-fried steak" vs. "country-fried steak" confusion. To my knowledge, "chicken-fried" is deep-fried in oil and served with white gravy, while "country-fried" is pan-fried in bacon grease and served with brown gravy. Both are coated in breading the same way.
That said, I think chicken-fried steak is more of a Southern thing. Texas is more likely to have country-fried steak. If you think about it, it was easier for migratory Texas cowboys to put a skillet on a campfire, than to set up a deep-fryer like stationary Southern farmers would.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 12-09-2022 at 08:41 PM..
I hold the family record in lobster consumption
Maine lobsters( with the claws). At 14
And a pound of butter
The last 5 …..I had a crowd around the table
Cheering me on
This is my kind of throw-down - so long as someone else is picking up the tab on the 14 lobsters and the pound of butter!
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And no amount of gruyere cheese floating on top can drown them out.
