Oh, and I have lived in NYC for my entire life. I was born in 1963 and graduated HS in 1981, a year before Planet Rock was released. But people’s musical tastes seem to been more distinct back then- the disco/rock divide was like the Yankee/Met divide. Most people listened to one or the other and not many people listened to both.
In a world where pizza takes so many forms there has to be some designation for the most common form. I don’t find ‘cheese pizza’ to be redundant in the way ‘ATM machine’ is. ‘ATM’ starts out redundant without adding ‘machine’, and it doesn’t haven’t non-automatic or non-machine form. Pizzas don’t all have cheese, it’s rare in my experience outside of Rhode Island but here we have something called a ‘Party Pizza’ which is just sauce on crust. Pizzas get defined by their variance from a ‘cheese’ pizza, with either more or less ingredients.
Well out here in flyover country, we don’t have any trouble understanding “cheese pizza”. Anywhere out here in the wasteland, you ask for a cheese pizza, yoiu get what you wanted, no problems.
“Biggirls Pizza - We give you just what you asked for. Don’t ask us about no stinkin’ boxes. Is it on the menu? No. We don’t have no stinkin’ boxes, OK?”
New Haven, Connecticut, food terms are almost as weird as Rhode Island’s. Almost. A long sandwich is a “grinder,” whether it’s hot or cold. And I remember a place on Wooster Street, halfway between Sally’s Apizza and Pepe’s, with a sign that just read “Tomato Pies.” I assume you had to ask for cheese.
“Southern New England” usually means Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts…as opposed to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. But I concede that Boston food is called lots of different things than the same in New Haven. A Boston “frappe” is a New Haven “milkshake” is a Narragansett “cabinet.”
I try to indulge in a coffee cabinet any time I’m in Rhode Island, as a tribute to the state’s love for coffee syrup.
And a New Haven ice cream parlor/luncheonette is a “Spa.”
Yeah, this. Entered college, New Haven, in 1978, and folks either 1) disco-danced; 2) did punk/new wave with Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Brian Eno; or 3) “old-schooled” it with the Grateful Dead, the Band, Little Feat, Allman Bros., etc.
NO crossover, and spirited arguments about why what YOU liked was utter horseshit.
With three kids in the house, I encounter party pizza more than I want to. Usually at parties at least, but you can still find it in its purest shrink-wrapped form on many a convenience store counter. Don’t bother removing the shrink wrap, that is where the nutrients are.
You can also find spas in Rhode Island - and many of them used to sell Bromo seltzer along with coffee milk and cabinets.
I am familiar with the song, but that’s my sort of music.
I still don’t get the roll thing- especially since New York is supposed to be the only place to get real bagels, right? I guess I’ve picked up the roll might be the default breakfast sandwich bread, too? (breakfast for me has to contain eggs and or meat in some form, not just bread…so the only acceptable use of bread has to be for a sandwich. Or maybe French toast).
This does explain one thing I remember from when I was working in a restaurant, though. The Chef went away to culinary school in NY and then got a job there for awhile, before coming back. When he came back he started having his scrapple sandwiches on Kaiser rolls.
Subs, grinders, hoagies, whatever… pretty much all the names were used and understood where I grew up (Maryland). I will never forget the time I tried to order a cheesesteak sub in CA, though. We also mostly had “NY style” pizza.
What are dinner rolls? You mean the warm, soft bun you get with your soup?
Yes we absolutely put butter on ours.
Inspired to curiosity by this thread, when I was at the supermarket yesterday, I picked up a Kaiser roll and some butter. This morning I had it for breakfast.
It felt like eating a sandwich whose filling had fallen out. I can’t imagine choosing this over toast, English muffins, bagels, bran muffins, croissants, or absolutely any other kind of breakfast bread or pastry.
I believe the utter blandness of the dish is it’s purpose. N’Yawkuhs are too busy to stop and appreciate the flavor of a quick breakfast. If they have time on their hands they’ll eat the best bagels in the universe for breakfast.
Kaiser is not really good New Yorkese since WW1.
What’s sold as a Kaiser roll elsewhere in the country may not be the same as a good New York hard roll. In texture, it’s actually very similar to a baguette, or what’s called in New York “Italian bread.”
Unless you’ve had a good one in New York you probably don’t have a good basis for comparison.
How does a New York hard roll compare in consistency to a French *baguette *or *pistolet *(basically, a “round baguette”)?
“Fatter” baguettes are known as “French bread” in New Orleans. French bread should have a “hard”, crispy crust … the inside can range from almost as crispy as the crust to positively pillowy. What’s known as “pistolettes” (note spelling) locally are basically mini-French breads, typically 5 to 8 inches long.
Anyway … looking at the picture of the NY buttered hard roll made me think of people slathering butter on a cut piece of French bread or else a pistolette. While those are not popular breakfast choices, people around here do eat bread and butter for a snack with some frequency.
Most places will have culinary equivalents for most kinds of foods (especially staples like bread + butter), but those foods will occupy different cultural niches.
Some folks call it a sling roll. I call it a Kaiser roll.
I’ve had one in New York. The bread is not wonderful. The butter is worse. It’s definitely a “cultural niche” to consider the, erm, dish good, as opposed to just I-don’t-care cheap, fast, and dull.
French bread and butter can be very satisfying … even in it’s “plainness”. Fancy-poo butter is certainly not required – the store brand is A-OK.
I agree. A great bread is satisfying all on its own.
Depends on the store, I suppose. Are you in the US?
Try this: Get your favorite bread (I like Trader Joes italian pane loaf. You can put it in the fridge for a month and make great toast out of it) and toast slices. Put lots of butter on it after a little cooling to prevent total melting. Then put Allfruit or some no-sugar jam on it to taste. To me it’s better than a lot of desserts or pastries.
Butter is not plain. It’s a rich delicious food IMO.