I get cravings for some not particularly great cuisine. There are particular restaurants (Rocky Rococo, La Bamba Burritos, and Culver’s from my Wisconsin days) and such but as far as regional cuisine the win goes to a version of bbq with a tomato based tangy sauce popular in far western Carolina and up into northeast Tennessee.
And, sadly, where I live now in the Caribbean there is no decent Mexican or even Tex-Mex. No Taco Bell, Chipolte, or fast casual Mex food here. The higher end places that have tried have failed. We need just a decent family run Mexican restaurant with a few authentic dishes and some Tex-Mex for the tourists.
This New Englander occasionally craves both authentic key lime pie and andouille. Substitutes for both can do in a pinch but they’re not the real thing.
You’re not alone. Thankfully, Publix sells Habbersett Scrapple here in Florida. I usually fry it up with eggs, but this morning I just finished a scrapple sandwich (between slices of toast and a squirt of ketchup).
My daughters are vegan, so I have it all to myself (they eat some sort of soybean sausage monstrosity).
Tibby, that’s the best news I’ve had all year! If you find yourself up in the Yulee area, drop by and we’ll fry up a couple bricks and clog our arteries the way our forefathers intended. I’ll send my wife on an “errand,” as she doesn’t like it, either (Pittsburgh girls, what do THEY know?).
Yeah, they’re super-simple to make at home, but it isn’t the same. You need the experience of trying to keep everything from falling all over the car to take it over the top.
I grew up in Michigan and was stationed in North Carolina during the 1980’s. Any time I went on leave back home I’d throw a case of Vernor’s in the trunk to take back to NC. I’d often offer some to friends that were unfamiliar with Vernor’s and got mixed reviews.
My Buffalonian wife rhapsodizes about those. I was finally able to try it out at Schwable’s on our trip there this year. It was good enough, but I think it’s one of those things you grow up with that makes it special, rather than it being an epicurean delight . We also had wings at the Anchor Bar, which I liked much better.
See, I’m gonna go with beef-on-weck, as well. My wife is from Buffalo, and the first time I visited, I was so excited about the wings. And you know what? I actually was underwhelmed. Duff’s (both locations), Anchor Bar, Gabriel’s Gate, and a random smattering of other, smaller places. They were okay, but not anything better than I felt I could get here. Some were just downright bad.
But beef-on-weck was my great find. Only had the vaguest notion of it before I visited (mostly from another Buffalonian who would just go on and on and on about it), and it’s just about the perfect roast beef sandwich for me. Every time my wife goes to Buffalo without me (which, sadly, is never these days, as all her family and friends have moved out), I would ask her to bring back some Charlie the Butcher’s (as it’s near the airport.) And, surprisingly, the beef on weck travels well, because Charlie’s knows how to pack it for travel. (They put everything separate.)
And Ted’s hot dogs, too. Both I loved more than the wings. This Chicagoan craves Ted’s. I even have frozen Sahlen’s dogs in the freezer from a Ted’s outpost in Phoenix, but, yeah, not quite the same experience. (And, yes, a little bit odd to go all the way to Phoenix to bring back hot dogs from Buffalo, but we visit Phoenix yearly, and that’s the easiest way. And ordering a gift box online of the hot dogs is stupidly expensive.)
There’s a dairy store in Green Bay, Hansen’s, which also makes deli sandwiches and bake-at-home pizzas. I grew up eating their pizzas, and ever since moving to Chicago, when I go home to visit my parents, I try to squeeze in a trip to Hansen’s, to buy a half-dozen sausage pizzas to bring home, and throw in my freezer. (Hansen’s had closed for a couple of years, but then reopened, much to my delight.)
Another Green Bay thing: a hamburger in which the patty is made from bratwurst meat, rather than beef. Johnsonville now makes a frozen bratwurst patty, though it’s not quite the same as a fresh one.
I really like Skyline Chili, even though I’ve only been to Cincinnati a handful of times. The canned or frozen versions aren’t nearly as good, alas.
And, yes, poutine. Since discovering it while in Toronto, I will make it at home from time to time.
Amen! I first had Spanish chorizo maybe 5 years ago at a really good Spanish Tapas bar in the area. Wow. I never cared much for Mexican chorizo, but the Spanish stuff was out of this world. I go that that Tapas bar once every few months, and I always get the chorizo. Muy bueno!!
Chicago style Italian beef sandwiches. I was in South Bend for a wedding and had one. It was the best sandwich I had ever had. There is one place around here that has them but it is 45 minutes away.
My favorite bratwurst shack in Sheboygan has always done them burger-style by cutting down the middle of an ordinary local brat, butterflying it, and slapping it cut-side down onto the grill for 5 minutes. Flip and grill for another five, then slap it onto your toasted roll, apply brown mustard, raw onion, and dill pickle, and you’re ready to go!
I don’t see many (or any) other Wisconsin bratwursteries doing this, but it makes a lot of sense. You can consume a double without an entire sausage and most of the pickle and onion dropping into your lap.
Since discovering it while in Toronto, I will make it at home from time to time.