Thought I’d ask this because I want to discover more foods from across the world
(Also I shouldn’t have to say this to americans, please state where you are from and state where you are from without acronyms or shortened names because I’ve seen US Defaultism on lemmy and not all of us are going to know your acronyms considering we’re global users)
Does British curry count? Cornish pasties are good too. Also cheese but that is more of an ingredient than meal.
UK, we are the butt of many a joke and several post here talking about our traditional fast food. I will submit that a well cooked roast dinner is the equal of any other national dish, for me its either pork shoulder, skow cooked, or chicken, with parsnips, leeks in cheese, carrots, peas and maybe bread sauce, along with those roast potatoes, crunchy in the outside, soft and milky on the inside, just the right amount of salty crunch with the star of the show, a rich gravy. Even without the meat this would still be an incredible tasty plate of food.
Minestrone. Not local to me, but a great dish nonetheless
Dish born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands: the “Kapsalon”
Sashimi/sushi would probably be my current fave. Not shocking, but true. Second would be all the lovely grilled fish and seafood we get here
Ohio.
Cincinnati-style chilli (ie., Skyline). It’s an acquired taste but once you like it it’s like crack.
I worked for them for a few years and make it at home on the otherr side of the world.
Hard to say. NZ cuisine is like British cuisine, but it got stuck in the 80s.
The Flat White. But that’s not strictly food.
Or maybe a potato top pie.
Veggie burger
Fried rice. Any kind, I just love fried rice.
Green Chiliburger
It’s just a cheeseburger with some good local new mexico green chili in it.
yum
With the good American cheese, not that Kraft stuff
Australian here. I’m going with Vegemite with avo and toast. If I travel for too long, I end up missing it a lot.
Never had it with avo. I’ll have to try that out.
Denver, CO
We have really good Little Donkeys
Not sure if it’s “local”:
But the “燒賣”
From Guangzhoug, but the first time I remember eating it in a NYC Chinese Restaurant at a family gathering when we dined at the restaurant. So I assume its probably the Americanized version.
Now I’m in Philly, and I still occasionally have some 燒賣
Its not even like an “Entrée”, more like afternoon tea-time snacks.
As a Chinese-American, I haven’t even tried much “western food” besides the typical Pizzas, Fastfood burgers, chicken nuggets, fries, and I did have some “Hoagies” (aka: subway sandwitches), and a cheesesteak once or twice. Never had like an actual western “meal”.
Idk, I feel like I’m missing out on stuff, but I don’t know where to start, because I’m a picky eater… 😓
What do you dislike or avoid?
Philly area
Yes cheesesteak, hoagie, soft pretzels.
But I believe strongly that a roast pork Italiano sandwich loaded up with sharp provolone, roasted long hots, and broccoli rabe is the best Philly sandwich.
Go a little out into the suburbs around Norristown, and you’ll also find the “Zep” a sort of pared-down hoagie, one kind of meat, cheese, oil and spices, tomatoes, and plenty of onions.
I’m not going to wade into the minefield of which sandwich shops are best except to say Pat’s and Geno’s are garbage, but maybe worth it for the experience if you’re a tourist. Avoid anywhere that advertises as a “Philly Cheesesteak” look for cheesesteak, steak sandwiches, or even just steaks. For a Zep I don’t think it’s controversial to say Lou’s ro Eve’s are the places to go.
Tomato pie- close relative of pizza, thick sort of focaccia-like crust, square, thick tomato sauce, dusting of Parmesan cheese, served cold. Staple of many parties here.
Also in the suburbs - Franzones pizza, Bridgeport is the original location, but the original owner sold it to a relative and opened the one in Plymouth/Conshy location and another in Manayunk. You’re going to either love or hate the pizza, thin crust, very sweet sauce in a spiral on top of the cheese. There’s a few imitators out there but Franzones is the original.
This is the right time of year for them so “Irish Potato” candies. Sweet cream cheese and shredded coconut, rolled in cinnamon. Nothing Irish about them but they kind of look like potatoes.
Zitners Easter eggs- chocolate candies with various fillings.
Goldenbergs Peanut Chews- chewy molasses candy with peanuts covered in chocolate
Mallow Cups- like a Reese’s cup but full of marshmallow and coconut instead of peanut butter
Scrapple - don’t ask what’s in it, just eat it.
Pork roll (kind of a jersey thing, but ubiquitous in Philly too) it’s basically round spam
Pepperpot soup- this is old Philly food, like revolutionary war Philly, it’s damn hard to find these days but every few years some local restaurant gets the idea to recreate it. It’s a hearty, slightly spicy beef and trip soup. There’s some Caribbean pepper pot soups that are kind of similar.
I forgot about Irish potatoes. Those things are kind nasty, if you really don’t like coconut shavings like me. So why do I have positive memories of them?
Also, shout out for tomato pie.
I have a really complicated relationship with coconut, because I really like the flavor, but hate the texture. The flavor wins out for me but not by much.
And come to think of it, I think a lot of the commercially made ones use some sort of coconut creme filling instead of cream cheese so it’s more shelf stable and doesn’t require refrigeration. I like the cream cheese ones slightly more.
PORK ROLL!
I personally don’t like the stuff, but I’m obligated to endorse it lmfao.
Birch beer is also a thing here. And applejack!
Ah fuck, can’t believe I forgot birch beer.
Any time I manage to get someone with any influence at a local brewery’s attention I try to put the idea for a hard birch beer into their mind. I don’t think it’s taken root anywhere yet, but hopefully someday.
Applejack to an extent, I don’t think it has quite as much cultural significance to Philly, but maybe to NJ with Lairds.
While I’m on NJ, the Taylor ham/pork roll debate is weird to me, it says pork roll on the package.
And while we’re talking drinks, I suppose honorable mention goes to Yuengling. Pottsville is a bit outside of the Philly area, but it’s ubiquitous in and around the city, if you order a “lager” you get a Yuengling. Its a solid alternative to the Bud/Miller/Coors big brand beers, but really nothing too special. I avoid buying it myself anymore because Dick Yuengling is kind of a dick, and there’s plenty of other great beers being made in and around the city, but I’ve probably drank more lagers in my life than any other single beer.
EDIT: On birch beer, if you ever find yourself up to Ulysses PA in, I think, Potter County, they have the Pennsylvania lumber museum, they have a birch still there, and at least the one time I was there they had a guy talking about it with a little vial of birch oil from the still you could smell. He had a lot of cool information about birch trees/oil, turns out birch trees contain a compound that’s similar to aspirin. And the birch oil does smell very much like birch beer.
Oh, pork roll and applejack is NJ, I am NJ.
As for the debate, I agree its pork roll. It’s like calling all video game consoles a Nintendo when you call pork roll Taylor ham.
I will steal the cheesesteak to eat, if you don’t mind. I’ll only grumble mildly when y’all come to the shore in exchange.
I generally don’t let many people from Jersey know this, but you guys may have the best cheesesteaks with Donkeys Place. They’re a little heretical with the seeded Kaiser roll, but they’re damn good.
I’ll have to check it out! Seeded rolls don’t agree with me, but I’ll make them agree with me! I promise to keep it a secret!
Camden I think is the original location, but they have a couple other places now, Mt Holly and Medford I think?
Finland: only had it a couple of times 'cause it’s expensive, and takes long and is tedious to make, but loimulohi (fire salmon). It’s salmon nailed to a plank and then heated up by an open fire. Very tasty.
Pretty much any big enough fish can be made like that, but I’ve only had salmon.
In Japan, we usually trade that for skewers and have them staked in the sand around a fire, rotating them every now and again
That sounds amazing
here in the PNW (Pacific North West) of North America, we have lots of different kinds of salmon but wood fired salmon on a cedar plank (like a roofing shingle) is food fit for the gods
the natives have done it for ions and it is something you have to try if you like that fire salmon
also natives make salmon candy, which is dried salmon belly, dude its the best jerky ever made
I imagine there is something like this in a lot of languages, but it’s always amused me that Bulgogi (Korean BBQ beef/pork) translates literally to “fire meat”
I’m happy to learn Finns have a similar word!
