Is Virginia a Northern or Southern state? (Arlington, Suffolk: garden, retiree)

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Redstate

What makes BBQ southern? Are you kidding? It has to do with how the meat is prepared and cooked. The sauce used and the cut of meat etc... You should try Virginia BBQ in nova or Red Hot&Blue or Memphis BBQ in Arlington(nova). Dixie Bones is also available up yonder in nova serving southern BBQ. Hush Puppies with BBQ no. Hush Puppies with seafood yes. Cole Slaw, Tater Salad and Corn Bread with BBQ yes. The south isn't called the grits belt for nothing ya know??? Grits are a genuine southern staple just like BBQ and pecan pie.

I have NEVER heard the south referred to as the "grits belt".

I grew up on grits in the north. I grew up on barbeque chicken, again, in the north. Corn bread, Cole slaw and potato salad? Had those in abundance as well.

If you think these things are exclusively southern, you're gravely mistaken. Even if they originated in the south, they aren't exclusive to it.

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

Stop talking about all that, i'm in PA now and it's months before I can travel back to MD and eat some real food.

You are the worst kind of snob.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

Where in MD are you from, out of curiousity? I know you can find southern culture in a few parts of the state...just wondering where...the only southern areas in Maryland I know of are the Chesapeake Bay area and possibly the southeast shore.

I'm from southern Maryland, or the southwest shore if you want to call it that. Grew up on the Patuxent river.

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

You are the worst kind of snob.

Sorry to offend you, but the truth remains that I can't get what Redstate described here in Pennsylvania, while back home I can find all that plus some good old Maryland seafood too. I can't help not liking the food here.

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

Sorry to offend you, but the truth remains that I can't get what Redstate described here in Pennsylvania, while back home I can find all that plus some good old Maryland seafood too.

I can find them in New York, but you can't find them in Pennsylvania?

Maybe you aren't looking hard enough?

You can't walk into a supermarket and find either ingredients to make said dishes or pre-made equivalents?

You are telling me that Pennsylvania is entirely devoid of: Cole slaw, hushpuppies, corn bread, potato salad, barbeque sauce, chicken, or any form of seafood?

I'm sorry, I don't believe a word of it. I think you're just being another southerly food elitist with a bias against the north.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

You're just being another southerly food elitist with a bias against the north.

Yes, yes I am.

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

Yes, yes I am.

Well then anything you say has no factual bearing in reality and therefor you should be ignored.

[Tezcatlipoca]

I never said Pennsylvania was devoid of barbecue and seafood, I don't even consider barbecue an exclusively southern thing. But it's pretty easy to see Pennsylvanian versions are not the same here as in my part of Maryland and in Virginia. Just because it exists doesn't mean it's the same thing.
There's a barbecue place just two miles from here, and I can get a decent fish sandwich if I walk into town. But the barbecue place is a chain, that's all I see here is chains. At home they're abundant little things run out of old houses. The barbecue chains in southern Maryland closed for the most part because most folks (including me) prefer the local stuff. The atmosphere is totally different. And you really can't compare seriously Maryland seafood to what we have in Pennsylvania, can you?
I mean, i've had cheese grits and sweet tea in Maine, but you can't deny the atmosphere and the food itself changes from state to state, even if it is still barbecue and grits.
You obviously don't get it. I can get cole slaw, hushpuppies, corn bread, potato salad, barbecue sauce, chicken, and seafood in Pennsylvania. But it doesn't taste the same and it isn't served in the same atmosphere. What Redstate said made me think abou my beloved places back home, and there's nothing like them here. Understand?

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

I never said Pennsylvania was devoid of barbecue and seafood, I don't even consider barbecue an exclusively southern thing. But it's pretty easy to see Pennsylvanian versions are not the same here as in my part of Maryland and in Virginia. Just because it exists doesn't mean it's the same thing.
There's a barbecue place just two miles from here, and I can get a decent fish sandwich if I walk into town. But the barbecue place is a chain, that's all I see here is chains. At home they're abundant little things run out of old houses. The barbecue chains in southern Maryland closed for the most part because most folks (including me) prefer the local stuff. The atmosphere is totally different. And you really can't compare seriously Maryland seafood to what we have in Pennsylvania, can you?
I mean, i've had cheese grits and sweet tea in Maine, but you can't deny the atmosphere and the food itself changes from state to state, even if it is still barbecue and grits.
You obviously don't get it. I can get cole slaw, hushpuppies, corn bread, potato salad, barbecue sauce, chicken, and seafood in Pennsylvania. But it doesn't taste the same and it isn't served in the same atmosphere. What Redstate said made me think abou my beloved places back home, and there's nothing like them here. Understand?

Perhaps you should have explained yourself earlier then. I don't see why you couldn't have.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

Perhaps you should have explained yourself earlier then. I don't see why you couldn't have.

Fair enough.

[Redstate]

Hey Cookie, when people think of Pennsylvania and the north country in general they don't associate it with southern foods or the south as a whole. If you want fantastic cheese steak sandwiches or the best cheese cake around then Pennsylvania reigns supreme! Just like Maine rules with Lobster and you can't beat Maryland blue crab and Old Bay seasoning. If I want a great chocolate treat Hershey Pa. rules! Pennsylvania has awesome dairy products second to none! Vermont maple syrup is the best! So I give credit where credit is due. The north for the most part caters to a different cultural ethos though, more high society gourmet five star dining kind of stuff. In the south people don't give a hoot about that sort of stuff. The south is down home made from scratch, the north is more about presentation and being flashy. That's the best way I can put it.