Learn me about American food

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So...Taco Bell is bad, right?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't like Ponderosa, either.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:12 (twenty-two years ago)

(You can talk about haute cuisine as well as convenience food)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

(...like, should I go to Chez Panisse?)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I also only learnt what American "biscuits" are very recently. I like the Pillsbury ones.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

it'd be easier to "learn" ya if I knew more about your likes/dislikes.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Search elephant ears and char dogs.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Most peanut butter auspiciously lacks peanuts – check a Jiffy ingredients label!

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I was hoping for more of a general discussion, h. But...well, I don't really like seafood.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Biscuits?

http://www.kfc.com/images/hdr_biscuits.jpg

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Sourthwestern food. Or...what passes for "Southwestern" in NYC.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Surburban grill cheese is made in a frying pan.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

When I lived in Ohio, we used to go to Red Lobster a lot...I had the chicken.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

What are grits and will I ever have to eat them?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

...and taquerias are good, right?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

http://fdt.net/~aabbeama/Klezmer/grits.jpg

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.irenecoreydesign.com/Graphics/port_char_hotdog.jpg

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.pillsbury.com/Images/View/biscuits/biscuits_group.jpg
These pre-made biscuits are low on taste, but fun to open! You whack the package against a countertop and the cardboard explode and uncoils, revealing about six or twelve uncooked biscuits.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, I did that! It's great! And weird, like Playdoh food!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Southern (American) traditional dishes what fackin rawq: cornbread, fried green tomatoes, fried catfish, hot browns (a Kentucky tradition, boo-yah!), collared greens (easy to cook, easier to fuck up)...

Also, clam chowder...I'm not exactly sure it's considered an American dish, but as far as I know it originated in Boston, Massachusettes (I prob'ly spelled that all wrong, whatevah).

Then you get into the hybrid styles like the Tex-Mex and the Cajun and the Creole and such, which is where a great deal of amazing "American" dishes come from; it seems to me a great deal of the best that is "American" comes from these kinda cultural hybridizations. I mean, the old "melting pot" thing is a food-metaphor!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/735.jpg
Goober Grape – peanut butter and grape jelly rooming in the same jar.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

What are Ring Dings? And Hostess Cakes?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

best google image search find ever:

http://www.shakethebloat.com/images/et/beefbbq0500/intro.jpg

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I still don't get how Kentucky is the South, isn't Ohio the only thing separating it from the lakes? (prepare to be killed by hstencil and nickalicious)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

That guy in the relish pic looks like he just smoked a big-ass massive reeferzilla all by himself.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I love stories about the origins of names of Colonial era dishes such as Johnnycakes! They all go basically like this:
Man tells wife to make him food. Wife does it poorly. Man throws it at wall, it lands in molasses, X is born and named after his ire. Or:
Man refuses to eat naught but X. Wife's ire is incited. Wife stirs in X secretly. Man compliments. Woman laughs maniacally.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

(I honestly don't entirely consider Kentucky part of the South, but most of the rest of America does, and I'm all about the conformity.)

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Nordiczkillz: It's all about the Mason-Dixon line.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Nordicskillz all you have to do is make a stop at any rest area/ gas station/convenience store and hours of research could be at your disposal. I really want a snack cake right now.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

It's all about the Mason-Dixon line.

Oh, right. My bad.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Moon Pies:
http://www.thecommonspace.org/2001/05/pict/moon-pie.gif
I hide my weed in a box of these because I am the only one around here who likes them!

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Moon Pies, Googoo Clusters, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, all processed and prepackaged for your get-em-out-of-a-machine convenience!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:30 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.pjchmiel.com/port/print/3d/swisscake200.jpg
A beautiful depiction of the Swiss Roll: chocolate cake stuff spiralled w/cream filling, bad waxy chocolate coating. these things are vile.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Ho Hos?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a Moon Pie at a truck stop on our recent Kentucky Derby road trip!

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Nordicskillz, the less P.C. answer is that it wasn't illegal in Kentucky to own slaves, but wasn't illegal to teach slaves to read, either.

< /Hijack>

get yourself some cheese grits, pronto.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Also: Stuckey's pecan logs. Food of the gods.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Now you're just making fun of me.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:34 (twenty-two years ago)

that dude looks like he has a hot dog up his arse.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Jody, was Sunday your first visit to a Waffle House? They have the country's most loved hash browns, y'know.

(I'll take mine triple-sized scattered smothered covered diced and peppered.)

― hstencil, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Please don't let good, wacky, graphic design lead you to eat food with hydrogenated fats.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

where can i get a really fuck-off incredible cheeseburger in london? like a £30 one?

― Chip Morningstar (bob), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

mmmmmWaffleHouse....

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Come on, one of y'all has to agree with me on the wonder that is Chik-Fil-A?

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Chip-What you ask for is impossible!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Try The Prospect Grill in...Covent Garden. or Joe Allen's.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I will probably make a long post about this later, but I'm on my way out the door. But as an ex-history major, a cook, a carpetbagger, and a religious studies student who likes the idea of syncretism, this is one of the topics that's always fascinated me, and the grokking of American cooking -- cooking, so the food outside of the fast-food/convenience food sphere -- is basically a matter of grokking American history and geography. I will spam later.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Jody, was Sunday your first visit to a Waffle House?

Technically, yes. I've been to similar establishments, though.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

You asked about grits. They are good. The consistency can vary from kind of soupy to thick and sludgy, of which I prefer the latter. It can be eaten at breakfast, like porridge, or with dinner. You can put butter in it. Grits have a mildly corn-like taste, but are not sweet. The flavor of standard grits is not very strong, but you can also get cheese grits, which have cheddar cheese and are kind of garlicky, and are great with ham if you eat meat. You can also make fried grits, where you take the leftover grits and fry them into little patties on a skillet. Yum.

― NA. (Nick A.), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:40 (twenty-two years ago)

But WHAT are they, Nick? ;)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 115 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

jess, Metropolitan Bakery too yuppie for you? But some of their stuff is really good. I don't need to spit in their eye, since I have snapped at just about all of them for immediately asking if they could help me as soon as I walk in, when there are always like 100 different things to pick from and there's not way I could have seen half of them by that point.

scott, I've had various bad experiences with salt and vinegar chips, but I have finally learned to stay away from them. ("I just want my mouth to be normal again!")

And unfortunately I can't eat bobbi's jalapeno hummus because it's like setting off explosives in my intestines.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

(jess, cross-posted obv. It does seem like a bad place to work.)

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

In Idaho, the little local restaurants mix potato flakes in everything andprefix the flaked food with spud. So you have Spud Cream instead of ice cream, Spudnuts instead of doughnuts, Spud Fried Steak instead of chicken fried steak (not as weird as it sounds – the only difference is the undetectable presence of potato flakes in the batter). Also, little deep fried globs of mashed potatoes which are actually really tasty.

Then there's the wholly nasty Idaho Spud bar, like a marshmallow peep dipped in coconut and chocolate. I think these are sold nationwide, though.

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/Content/ProdImages/f02579_lg.jpg

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:37 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, most of the stuff they carry is great. (i mean, i basically lived on leftover sandwiches and bread and hummus for those two years.) but they're like the gap of hometown bakeries.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Deep-fried turkey is so, so good....my family always makes it whenever I come to visit. They got really into their deep frier – they had some missionaries over for dinner one night and they decided to deep fry a pot roast. The roast's center was still frozen when dunked into the fryer. As they cut it open for the missionaries, it revealed a totally raw, bloody center. Those poor guys will eat anything.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I support a sweat-shop bakery. :(

But the alternative is to go to Wawa and buy some sort of gummy muffins wrapped in plastic.

I've never heard of deep-fried turkey. I thought it was a joke when I first saw it on this thread. I guess when it comes to American cuisine, anything is possible.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I went to college in a small upstate New York town called Binghamton, which along with Johnson City and Endicott was one of Broome County's "Triple Cities" (hahahahaha what a joke). The Triple Cities' contribution to American food culture? The Spiedie.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

160+ posts and no corndogs? wtf?

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:45 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.kolisinn.com/office/image-o/corndog01.gif

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm waiting for a picture of a chic-o-stick. which isn't chicken surprisingly enough.

― scott seward, Thursday, 8 May 2003 14:54 (twenty-two years ago)

ask and ye shall recieve:

http://theimaginaryworld.com/chico.jpg

worth crowing about, apparently.

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:00 (twenty-two years ago)

JBR, my cousins are from Endicott. I've only visited a handful of times though - don't think I've ever had a spedie. Must recify that.

And Fivvy, "Spud Cream"?!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Chick o stix is vile.

I do believe Frito Pie is as American as apple pie.

― That Girl (thatgirl), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

JBR, my cousins are from Endicott. I've only visited a handful of times though - don't think I've ever had a spedie. Must recify that.

The region is so proud of its spiedie (pronounced "speedy") that every year Binghamton hosts a four-day "Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally."

God bless America.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks, G. That is one of the weirder mascots. a cowboy rooster selling peanut butter. i looked on a pack of bubble yum gum not that long ago (i think it was bubble yum) and apparently their mascot is a punk rock duck!! I had no idea.

― scott seward, Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I cry to be in the marketing meeting where the decided upon the cowboy rooster.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Whats up Spudnuts.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

you all probably know this already, but Ferrara Pan, the makers of lemonheads and boston baked beans candy, has what is probably my all-time favorite web-site. I was actually thinking of stealing their layout if i ever had a site of my own. they show you how they make lemonheads and the animation is really crude and awesome.

― scott seward, Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.ferrarapan.com/html/lemonhead.html

please DO take the virtual tour if you haven't already.

― scott seward, Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow.

http://www.ferrarapan.com/assets/images/mrlemonhead.gif

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Can I get a holla back for Chitlins?

― jm (jtm), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Wot, no love for our friend the collard green?

http://www.bidmc.harvard.edu/obgyn/info_images/collard-greens.jpg

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:48 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.gloryfoods.com/Collards.jpg

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

The best thing about Spud Cream is that one of the local dairies has tried to incorporate the word Spud into all their Ben & Jerry's rip-off names. So "Chunky Monkey' became "Spuddy Monkey", and "Cherry Garcia" was renamed "Cherry Spuddia". I wish I could remember more – they are all that terrible. maybe I'll stop there after work.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Collard greens=ugh

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 8 May 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm still trying to figure out how the potato flakes work with the ice cream. There is some cognitive dissonance occuring.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 8 May 2003 16:10 (twenty-two years ago)

isn't the big treat in Hawaii an italian ice (or water ice as we redundant philadelphians like to call it) with baked red beans at the bottom? anyone ever had one? and while i'm at it, anyone ever try elvis's favorite dish: bananas, bacon and peanut butter on wonder bread?

― scott seward, Thursday, 8 May 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Elvis, you may remember, used to keep bowls of bacon in almost every room in his house, cuz that was his favorite snack.

― scott seward, Thursday, 8 May 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I *love* collard greens. With plenty of hot sauce and a side of cornbread.

― That Girl (thatgirl), Thursday, 8 May 2003 17:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Me too - I'll skip the chitlins, though.

― luna (luna.c), Thursday, 8 May 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

isn't the big treat in Hawaii an italian ice (or water ice as we redundant philadelphians like to call it) with baked red beans at the bottom? anyone ever had one?

Yes, it was good.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 8 May 2003 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Hm, pillsbury.com just tried to put a cookie on my hard drive.

― Benjamin (benjamin), Thursday, 8 May 2003 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheese grits:
http://www.cooksrecipes.com/Nestle5/cheese_grits_casserole.jpg

Dump cake:
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/assets/managed/recipes/Pineapple_Cherry_Dump_Cake.jpg

Key Lime Pie:
http://www.cpfoods.com/images/photos/693_bg.jpg

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 8 May 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Nordicskillz: When you are in Berkeley, you will go to the Cheeseboard Collective's pizza shop on Shattuck (near Panisse). They make one variety every day that they're open (which is hard to predict). The pizza is very good, though it isn't anything like "normal" pizza, and very cheap.

― Benjamin (benjamin), Thursday, 8 May 2003 17:51 (twenty-two years ago)

eight months pass...

haha! are you "learned" yet?

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:44 (twenty-two years ago)

So learned. So very, very learned.

Really though, I have been through like three food "phases" in the last six months or so.

California Organic>>>Burritos>>>>>Trader Joes & Kielbasa

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:49 (twenty-two years ago)

but kielbasa is polish, not american!

except hillshire farms kielbasa -- if you put that shit anywhere near yer mouth and yer last name ends with -ski, -czyk, or -wicz; you get yer polack card revoked forever.

― Lech Walesa (llamasfur), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Tad, I am indeed talking about Hillshire Farms. And you will find I do indeed have some Polish blood, being of Eastern European mongrel heritage.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha I went to a "Mexian" reaturant near Leicester Square tonight called "Navajo Joe"

They had nice blinis

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Please point me to a better kielbasa.

Tracer, that place is...special.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

neat! you'll have to try rosamunde gourmet sausage grill ($3.50-$4.00) next door to a place that specializes in international dra(ugh)ft beers. right across the street is the bar that all your fellow ex-pats go to watch football games in the wee hours of the morning (i think i mailed you about this place).

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:55 (twenty-two years ago)

well my 100% Polish friend does eat Hilshire Farms. fortunately his last name is ends in -bella.

― oops (Oops), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:55 (twenty-two years ago)

right across the street is the bar that all your fellow ex-pats go to watch football games in the wee hours of the morning (i think i mailed you about this place).

Yes. I must go. What a lethal combo.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Friday, 9 January 2004 00:59 (twenty-two years ago)

tracer, i think that you'll find better mexican in covent garden on langley street.

sadly, i have yet to find a place that does chicago-style pizza. mmmmmmm. cheese.

― colette (a2lette), Friday, 9 January 2004 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

oh man, i had me some scrapple on new years day. my plan to weigh 400 lbs by june is going just as planned.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 9 January 2004 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

what have i told you about emulating simpsons plotlines?

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 9 January 2004 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)

do so at any opportunity?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 9 January 2004 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Jess, must you prop up the scrapple industry? That shit is toxic.

― j.lu (j.lu), Friday, 9 January 2004 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

scraple is little gray squares of mushy godhead

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 9 January 2004 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Dont forget about gravy. Americans love gravy. I do.

― El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Friday, 9 January 2004 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

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