Famous local/regional foods that are overshadowed

[xzmattzx]

Are there any famous foods in your city or region that everyone in town knows about, but get overshadowed or even completely overlooked by people from other parts of the country or other countries?


Two notable examples:

~ In Philadelphia, roast pork sandwiches are a notable city item, but tourists only know about cheesesteaks.
~ In Buffalo, beef on weck sandwiches are a notable city item, but tourists only know about chicken wings.

Both are relatively unique to their areas, so you would think people would make an effort to try them when in town, but they only try the most famous things.

[Tom In Chicago]

Chicago - pizza puff

. . .

[Crawford]

NYC - grandma pizza, chicken rolls, beef patties, papaya juice

Detroit- Lebanese food everywhere, usually marketed as "Mediterranean."

[mrnyc]

in cleveland the johnny boy aka polish boy sausage sandwich plays second fiddle to pierogies, but its a close second.

[pdxtex]

Hmm. Ill nominate the Marrionberry, most frequently found in pies or cobblers. Marrionberries are a blackberry cultivar that was developed by Oregon State back in the 50s. Its like a super-sized blackberry thats tart and sweet. Oregon also produces the second largest amount of pinot noir in the country which some ppl say is better than California. Take that Gavin Newsom!

[pj3000]

Pittsburgh

People know pierogis and Primanti sandwiches, but the pepperoni roll is a lesser-known edible delight throughout western PA, northern WV, and eastern OH, originating as popular lunch option for Italian factory, mine, and mill workers.

[photoLith]

Ohio Valley Pizza, local to Wheeling, Steubenville, Moundsville, etc. The only places that make it to my knowledge are Dicarlos Pizza with many locations around Wheeling, Weirton etc and Betos Pizza here in Pittsburgh.

Untitled by PittsburghMarbles, on Flickr

[Buckeye Native 001]

There's chili (that isn't really chili) but as a town once nicknamed "Porkopolis," Cincinnati produces some pretty damn good sausages.

[jbermingham123]

St Louis:

known nationally for STL style BBQ
known locally for its unique italian food

[ilcapo]

All Swedish cities:

Probably most known internationally for meatballs with lingonberry sauce, pickled herring, "smörgåsbord", "smörgåstårta" , shrimp sandwich.

Nationally and locally its most famous dish is Pizza. We might eat more pizza than any other country (probably not), atleast on the weekends.

And the most famous pizza is Kebab Pizza.

The typical Pizzeria is named after a random Italian town, and usually owned by Turkish, middle eastern, serbian or Assyrian immigrants. All have a somewhat similar menu and theres a joke that theres 1 pizzeria for every 1000 people, which is not far from the truth. In Reality i think there is 1 per 2000 or something.

Im sure the Italians would argue that Swedish Pizza is not a real Pizza in some way, but whatever

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

Chicago - pizza puff

. . .

Quality answer.

Of course Chicago would create a way to deep fry pizza.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Quality answer.

Of course Chicago would create a way to deep fry pizza.

Frying pizza (and other delicious Italian treats) was done in Naples long ago, in an effort to stave off cholera. Pizelle fritte napoletane!


That might be where it originates?

[Steely Dan]

^ a pizza puff is actually more similar to a panzerotti.

Full submersion in a French fry basket with the ingredients wrapped inside.

But the commercial pizza puff is a bit of a Mexican/italian hybrid. It was invented by the Illinois Tamale Company and uses a flour tortilla-like base for the "crust". You can find them at every Chicago hot dog stand, and even in the frozen food section of most Chicago grocery stores if you're hellbent on deep frying your own

[edale]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Ohio Valley Pizza, local to Wheeling, Steubenville, Moundsville, etc. The only places that make it to my knowledge are Dicarlos Pizza with many locations around Wheeling, Weirton etc and Betos Pizza here in Pittsburgh.

Ohio Valley pizza is soo good (even though the pic you used with the mushrooms doesn't look so hot...). My favorite spot to get it was called Home Pizza in St. Clairsville, OH. I used to make a point of stopping off there to grab some slices on roadtrips to/from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh or DC. I heard they went out of business, unfortunately, but the mural and sign still exists!

For Cincinnati, I think most people are pretty familiar with the chili. But a lesser known local food is called Goetta. It's basically pork mixed with oats and formed into patties. I don't personally care for it much, but it is definitely a local quirk, and you'll often see it listed as an option along with bacon and sausage at breakfast places and diners. I have heard Philly has a similar dish called Scrapple, but I've not had that.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ I'm talking deep-frying.

Full submersion with the ingredients wrapped inside.

Ohhhhh Yeah, that's a different.

I was gonna say that the dough in pizze fritte is deep fried and that the toppings are then added.


I guess a calzone is basically fried with the toppings inside like that, correct?

[pj3000]

These city food threads somehow always veer directly into pizza territory.



*which is a wonderful territory, of course.

[edale]

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

St Louis:

known nationally for STL style BBQ
known locally for its unique italian food

What is STL style BBQ? I'm familiar with Kansas City style BBQ, and made a point to try a couple different spots on visits to the city, but I didn't know St. Louis also had a famous BBQ style.

I've definitely heard of toasted ravioli being a St. Louis oddity which has since somewhat spread to other parts of the country. And of course there's the infamous STL style pizza with 'provel' cheese. I've never gotten to try it, but I've heard...less than great things. Still would like to try it, though!

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I guess a calzone is basically fried with the toppings inside like that, correct?

Calzones are baked.

Panzerotti are fried.

A Chicago pizza puff is more similar to a panzerotti in concept, but really, it is its own weird Mexican/Italian hybrid thing.

[benp]

Buffalo

Beef on weck, Texas red hots, char-broiled hot dogs, Buffalo style pizza (NOT Buffalo chicken wing style), stuffed banana peppers, Ciavetta's BBQ (marinade), chicken finger subs, stinger subs, pizza logs, Sun rolls (black rice sushi), peanut sticks, sponge candy, loganberry flavor (pop, ice cream, shakes, beer, etc), lemon ice, Weber's horseradish mustard

[muertecaza]

Phoenix/Arizona are probably "known," if for anything, Sonoran Mexican food.

Real ones though are about the Sonoran hot dog:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonoran_hot_dog


https://www.azcentral.com/story/ente...ns/7474027001/