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Anything, anything at all, ethnic, but in particular good Chinese food, Thai food, Indian food and an Asian grocery store. I would travel for an Asian grocery store. Jackfruit in August from stands on Canal St.
Strange, because I live on a peninsula, but fresh fish. I really miss the fish counter in the Asian market in Flushing where you could get all kinds of fresh, whole, sometimes live, fish.
Fresh chicken necks in the supermarket. Try asking for one here and you get "the look." Ditto oxtails.
Pastrami and corned beef. Fresh pickles from a barrel.
Puerto Rican food - yellow rice with anything, shrimp in garlic, stewed meat, fried plantains.
Kebabs, lemon potatoes, souvlaki, shwarma.
Fresh chewy bread - there is one place only 30 miles or so and I go when I can.
From "back home in southern CA" only one thing: a decent avocado.
I lived in coastal NJ for a few years. The only food I miss from the region is a particular type of bitter, chewy "French" bread offered by the mom-pop delis every small town seemed to have. Can't find anything like it out west. So many people rave about Atlantic blue crab...you mean those tiny things it takes an hour of work to get your fill of? Give me a couple of big fat Pacific Dungeness, channel lock pliers, newspaper covered picnic table and a bib any day!
And he needs to bring you to get a cheesesteak at Pat's or Geno's. Definitely "Whiz wit."
He does. Usually from John's roast pork. 1 roast pork with broccoli rabe and 1 cheesesteak with provolone. Philadelphia is a great place for sandwiches. Those Italian hoagies are terrific, too.
Too many back homes, but things I wish were available here:
Pasties
Dr. Brown's soda, specifically Cel-ray
Memphis barbeque
Shrimp fresh off the boat
A good Greek restaurant
Wild wintergreen
Blueberries picked fresh from the bush
Geez, I guess the pizza was the best it could be from where I lived as a kid. I don't eat it much though. Italian food, in general, was the best.
Fresh picked raspberries.
The corn was pretty good, sweet and tender.
Sara Lee packaged cookies, dam* I haven't found them anywhere else! I like the mixed ones. In some places I've lived, they offer none or 1 type only.
The best cannoli.
New Jersey tomatoes. I've found a pizza place that is run by a Jersey family, and it's pretty good. I've lowered my expectations on bagels a great deal, and get by. But nothing replaces a NJ tomato, at least, not here in GA.
So many North American residents are living in areas other than where they spent their formative years. Some moved willingly, others for a job transfer or because they or a spouse are affiliated with the military. Still others, in search of a different climate or a lower cost of living.
.....
- Decent bagels. I am sure one can get these in the larger cities. I live in a small city. I like bagels to be boiled, first. The bagel makers on the east coast have been doing this for centuries. Yes. Dunkin Donits sells bagels. They are not the same.
Diners - while not exactly a food, NYC Metro diners are places where one can purchase a variety of foods from a variety of ethnicities at all hours. 24/7. They really have ANYTHING. You can also buy a drink with dinner, and the cocktails were always good.
- Challah bread French toast - these were usually sold at the above mentioned diners. Challah is an eggy bread that is delicious on it's own, but especially lends itself to delicious French toast.
I live in the Bay Area, and we have had a couple of bagel waves. Montreal Bagels was wave 1 of "fancy" bagels and wave 2 was New York style (sometimes with imported water - however that works. I also enjoy the boiled bagels. The first wave of NY bagel was Noahs. But at some point they sold out and became not Kosher, and the bagels suffered along the way.
I wish we had more diners. It is not that we don't have them, but it is that few are actually 24/7. Most close up early. Some by 3pm. Others occasionally open till dinner. But late night eating is really limited here. Obviously we have an array of different types of foods available. I think of diners as a breakfast all day kind of place. As for late night food here? It is more apt to be Chinese, Thai, or Mexican. Or one of those awesome boba places with a lot of different snacks.
I really like Challah French toast. We have that here, on occasion, but it is always at a fancy brunch place and $3 more than the already pricy brunch. But on the flip side, most of the bakeries make challah year round, so you can make your own!
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How about you?
So I grew up mostly in California, but my parents are from the Carolinas. We'd visit often and later moved there for my teen years. There are a few southern things that you really can't get here. And when you do get southern or soul food in California, it is mostly from Louisiana, since that is where most of the southerners here are from - and that is just not the same for me.
So my 3 items are: Carolina pulled pork bbq! From Scott's in particular. My dad is from a few towns over from the OG Scotts, and when we were kids my granddad would mail it over to us for the holidays. When he passed away, no one took on the bbq mailing duties! Nowadays we only go there occasionally. My parents no longer believe in flying, so if I guy I am responsible for purchasing some and bringing it back with me. Preferably at least 10 pounds. Need to leave a lot of room in the suitcase. And get cash. We would also visit a place near my mom's hometown, that I can't exactly remember the name of, it was either Moes or Moores BBQ. This one was different than the Scotts one, and they didn't sell by the pounds, but also delicious. Pulled pork in CA always comes with BBQ sauce. And not the vinegar sauce I grew up with.
Hushpuppies - I don't know who claims these, but they're delicious and rarely how up on California menus. If I see them I order them. It is hard to go wrong with fried dough in any form.
Fried Fish - here, if you go to a soul food type place with fried fish, it is always catfish. I do not like catfish. It tastes muddy to me. I do like plenty of other fish, fried, but we grew up eating trout here in CA, and in the south we had spots pretty often, and various other smaller fish that were not super fishy and had sort of a denser flesh. Also fish was fried in cornmeal, and the batter was very light. Really it was just a quick dredge in cornmeal. When I find battered and fried fish here, it is a lot heavier!
I have been in California most of my life, and we have a lot of great food here. When In travel I miss the wide array of fresh veggies and creative preparations we get. A veggie side here is often delicious and plentiful, and in most other place the veggies are seriously lacking! I also like how common it is to mix up influences of various cuisines into a dish, and that happens less elsewhere.
So many North American residents are living in areas other than where they spent their formative years. Some moved willingly, others for a job transfer or because they or a spouse are affiliated with the military. Still others, in search of a different climate or a lower cost of living.
I am the last. We moved because we were taxed out of Long Island, NY. Our taxes rose to almost 30K.
While we like NE Ohio. there are certain foods that are scarce, unavailable, or just not as good here. Obviously, there are other foods that are better.
Here is what I miss the most from the NYC Metro area -
- Steamed Clams dipped in butter. A summer staple in the coastal North East. I can eat buckets of them. Except they aren't available here.
- Buttered Kiaser rolls with coffee. Many German Delis gave free Kiaser Rolls with a cup of coffee at the breakfast hour - between 6 and 10. It's not that they aren't free, it's that they aren't here. These are crusty, poppy seed covered rolls that are not terribly dense. I really miss them. You can also buy a bag of them from a bakery or some supermarkets.
- Decent bagels. I am sure one can get these in the larger cities. I live in a small city. I like bagels to be boiled, first. The bagel makers on the east coast have been doing this for centuries. Yes. Dunkin Donits sells bagels. They are not the same.
- Black and White Cookies - these are large cookies that are glazed with half chocolate and half vanilla, hense their name. You could even pick one up at a convenience store.
- Linzer tarts - a big rasberry jam filled scalloped cookie dusted with confectioners sugar.
Diners - while not exactly a food, NYC Metro diners are places where one can purchase a variety of foods from a variety of ethnicities at all hours. 24/7. They really have ANYTHING. You can also buy a drink with dinner, and the cocktails were always good.
- Challah bread French toast - these were usually sold at the above mentioned diners. Challah is an eggy bread that is delicious on it's own, but especially lends itself to delicious French toast.
- decent Thia and Chinese food from restaurants with table cloths and tables.
Well that's what I miss.
How about you?
gosh that sounds amazing. *drools*
My favorite food was my grandmom's cooking back east. she's passed so it's never coming back. I miss her meatballs, cookies, cakes, borscht, french toast. I never ate out much back east but when I did I enjoyed any seafood I could.
Where I live now has a lame food scene, although the MExican sushi is pretty dern good.
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