For the map enthused!
Rules:
post relevant content: interesting, informative, and/or pretty maps
be nice
I've lived in Ohio most of my 41 years and had never heard of goetta before just now. Googling tells me it's mostly a Cincinnati thing, and that's the part of the state I've spent the least time in. I guess that explains why I've not seen it, but doesn't help me understand why it's a state food. Spaghetti chili from Cincinnati spread a lot more than goetta. We even used to have a Skyline Chili on Union Street in Athens!
Can't argue buckeyes though, that's a classic.
Goetta or scrapple either one are damn tasty. Cannot fathom why anyone would like skyline, but to each their own.
Cannot fathom why anyone would like skyline, but to each their own.
I crave it and have relatives send me the spice mix packets over every now and again. My wife isn't even American and she loves it. I did hate it when I first had it (I was expecting typical chili), but had it again and liked it for what it was. I don't like calling it 'chili', though, for what it's worth.
Where the hell is the Santa Maria style barbecue for California? We’re basically the only state the eats tritip.
Living in Colorado, pretty sure no one actually eats Rocky Mountain Oysters, it's basically just a joke.
And no mention of sloppers, the actually good Colorado-originating meal?
Born and raised here and never heard of a slopper.....
It's an open-face burger smothered in green chili. Originally from Pueblo, from the 70s.
Green chili sloppers right?
Yes, absolutely. Ideally Pueblo green chilis, for max local cuisine.
As someone from southern Colorado, the green chile slopper is the greatest food item ever created. I'll occasionally try describing how good it is to people not from the area, and this article (in which a self-described skeptic tries it and falls in love) is a handy reference.
Edit to include my favorite quote:
We took our first bite and… holy shit. It was a revelation. I’m not being hyperbolic. It is literally one of the best things I’ve ever put in my face. A slopper is happy food. It’s heartwarming food.
Thank you for that. I love me a good slopper. Hard to find sometimes even as close to Pueblo as Colorado Springs, but man are they a relatively simple, perfect food.
I would put whoopie pies for Maine. All of new england is know for lobster rolls whereas whoopie pies are really only a Maine thing.
Moxie
Did not know this was a New England thing! I always assumed it was southern as the only places I see it are bbq restaurants in their eclectic soda tubs with all the Cheerwine and such. TIL
It's funny, I've always thought of whoopie pies as a PA thing. I think of blueberry things and grapenut pudding for Maine. Looking it up quick, it looks like Maine is very whoopie pies crazy too. Seems to be another food of highly debated origin.
I don't care where they come from, I just want to try it all!
I personally think we have some of the best though
Do locals eat lobster rolls or is it a tourist thing? I was there during a time the lobsters were pretty cheap, but I felt the lobster rolls were about the same price as a whole lobster. The roll felt like a ripoff because you could eat the thing so fast since all the work was already done for you. I also prefer just a squeeze of lemon, so the butter or mayo on the roll was meh for me.
I will say while MA lobsters were still really good, the ME ones I would say had an edge that's hard to beat. I already new I like lobster, so the fried clams I had in ME and RI blew me away more though. I had not been much of a fan before taking some trips up there.
The lobster rolls are a ripoff if you are good at shelling a lobster and getting a bunch of meat out of it. If you suck at it, which most tourists do, then the lobster roll is a better deal.
Apizza definitely makes sense for CT but I think lobster roll would also make sense there. Different from a Maine lobster roll, but better IMO, and also the original
Grew up in southern PA, always had tons of whoopie pies.
Wait a minute. Does that say “funeral potatoes” for Utah? WTF?
I assumed it was because they appear buried in something and you "dig em up." Which would be cute. But a cursory search reveals it to be just a cheese/hash brown casserole, and
Funeral potatoes get their unique name from being a crowd-pleasing casserole served as a side dish at after-funeral luncheons (particularly in the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
So that's a thing people do in the Midwest, I guess.
Huh. Actually, a cheese and hash brown casserole sounds pretty good.
As someone raised in the area and grew up Mormon, my understanding is that ham and cheese potato casserole is a typical dish served at funerals in Utah because its easy to prepare and therefore less hassle for grieving women at funerals who often were tasked with not only funeral-specific tasks but the food prep as well. This 2023 article from Deseret News (a pro-Mormon news organization) gives an introductory history.
Southern California knows how to have fun
California clam chowder? Really? I’ve never heard of it. What about, oh, I don’t know, the California Roll???
Most of the East of the Mississippi I can agree with and I've tried most of them. The Brunswick stew and Burgoo I've never heard of. I might have to try them although I hate Lima beans and haven't had them since I was a kid. They always tasted dry and powdery on the inside, but my parents were bad cooks and made me unreasonably hate a lot of guys I've had to reduced as an adult.
The map would probably be better if most states had room for 2 or 3 things as many states are big enough to have distrinct regions of their own. For the Mid-Atlantic, we're missing shoofly pie, beef on weck, NYC Pizza, Primanti Bros sandwich, and a ton of other Amish foods and more.
I've lived in California my entire life and I ain't never heard of a fucking "Mission burrito." The picture looks like some Tex Mex burrito with the corn in it. Our thing is usually just putting avocado in it. Not to mention the entire state used to be part of Mexico, so if we are gonna be known for burritos, it's gonna be the authentic Mexican kind.
There is also no such thing as "California clam chowder." San Francisco is well known for chowder bowls because they make really good sourdough in San Francisco which they make into bowls and serve New England clam chowder from. I make a point of getting one every time I'm in the city. Absolute best shit.
Who made this chart? I can't trust anything on it since the things for my own state are either totally wrong or at least slightly off from reality.
Mission burritos are what those well stuffed burritos are called; they originated in the San Francisco Mission district, hence the name. Traditional Mexican burritos don't really look like that.
But otherwise I'm 100% with you.
So, like... Just the really big, filled to the brim style? Nothing to do with what's doing the filling? 🤔
Yeah, I can see that. Burritos from any truck or locally owned Mexican place around here are like that. Monster sized and absolutely packed with goodness. 🤤 That's not authentic, tho?
Sorry, I misspoke. Yes, the Mission style burrito is the overstuffed burrito you see everywhere. But there's not really an "authentic" Mexican burrito because burritos aren't Mexican. They're Tex-Mex.
I'm not an expert, but here's a video with some insight:
NY should be split up the way that the long states are.Wings are hit and miss outside of western ny, but buffalo has it's own style of pizza and it's not as good as NY style pizza. NY style pizza also doesnt go up that far into the state in general becoming rarer around the catskills.
NC would be pulled pork, can confirm. We have more pigs here than cattle, and the BBQ we're famous for is inherently understood to be a pork dish. We know Texas does steak, but that's their opinion with its own specific category.
I would think Iowa's loose meat sandwich is also....basically pulled pork? Only...it is "some type of unlabeled meat?" Which is not the best marketing a sandwich could have, but when you're hungry, you're hungry.
The loose meat thing looks a lot like a sloppy Joe to me, but I've never heard of it before
It's beef. The loose meat sandwich, i mean. Seasoned minced beef with onions. It's much better than it sounds. There's a place in Ottumwa that started it, but Made-Rite is the big franchise.
But please dear god don't judge Iowa's food culture on this map.
Am from Florida. Can confirm the accuracy of its representation.
I lived in Arizona for 10 years. I've never heard of a "Sonoran Hot Dog."
On the other hand, I'm living in Iowa now and... Yeah, kinda.
Hotdish? Yup, that checks out. Jucy Lucy ain't too shabby either!
Unnskyld? Lefse is American now? No it's not give that back thank you very much you don't even use them for hotdogs!
I do. My wife and I make our own lufse and hot dogs are my favorite thing to eat them with. We also make krumkake, which is the best.
We live in Iowa, and there's a pretty substantial population of varief Scandinavian descent around here and up in Minnesota.