What can't you get when you LEAVE where you are?

Inspired by this thread , are there any foods that are specific to your region, that you won’t be able to get when you leave? Here in New Mexico, you can get green chile at any grocery store and just about any restraunt (even fast food). People who move away ask for it to be frozen and shipped to them, it’s that darn good! I know there’s gotta be something like that in your area, what is it?

I won’t be able to get a pork tenderloin sandwich. They’re peculiar to the midwest.

Eegee’s, which is the name of a delicious flavored ice drink and the local chain sandwich place it inhabits. Not my favorite, as I’m not big on subs, but it has a lot of fans here.

If I ever had to leave here and know that I’d never be able to go back to Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders I’d probably start crying. Their Mediteranean bread alone is worth staying local for, let alone the pizza pot pies.

Cheesesteaks on Amoroso’s rolls.

Wooder Ice. :wink:

Bagels.

Yes, I know they have round bread products in other areas they refer to as bagels, but they’re just not the same. Really, they aren’t.

Speaking from my tiny midwestern college down, let’s see…

Hipsters? Nope, plenty in New York or any other big city.

Wacky pretentious ultraliberal college students? Again, probably could be found anywhere.

Dirty hippies? I somehow don’t think we have a monopoly on such creatures.

Cornfields and cow pastures? Again, see anywhere else in the midwest.

Heavy lake effect snow? Now, that’s a bit harder to find…

Our specific combination of all of the above? That, at least, is pretty unique here.

Disclaimer: No offense intended to, hipsters, hippies, or any other sorts of pretentious college student, seeing as I fit in each category to some degree… :wink:

Um…

brain sandwiches.

Not that I’d want one.

Ohmigosh, are you referring to those huge, flat, breaded pork tenderloins? We used to get them at a place in my mom’s hometown, but the restaurant is closed now. I love those things.

For me, I would of course miss Chicago-style Hot Dogs and Pizza. I also like the south-side-style barbeque here a lot.

One thing I REALLY miss about a place that I used to live were the Tortas (Mexican-style subs). My favorite kind was Milanesa - thin cut skirt steak (carne asada) breaded, flattened, then breaded again, deep-fried, served on a hot grilled roll with sour cream, cheese, avocado, onion, and sliced pickled peppers. Its only a two-hour drive to go there, but I can’t get myself to drive that far for lunch. Ohhh, thinking about that made me really hungry. Being in California, I can get good Mexican food anywhere, but only in Lodi have I ever had milanesa from a store/restaurant. They had the most amazing sandwiches - I could even give you directions to the place, but I can’t remember the name.

Those are pretty good, but the best ones are hand-cut and pounded lightly to tenderize them, and breaded in fine cracker meal. Not too flat, so you get the flavor of the [Gollum]juicy meeeeaaaaaaaaaat.

D’oh. The OP was referring to food… Disregard the previous post, there’s nothing here I can’t get pretty much anywhere else…

Green River.

Bad Moon Rising?

Banh mi, an empanada, and baklava within one block.

Probably.

Really, I can’t think of any Toronto specialities. Wait! The red-hot chocolate chili ice cream plus a scoop of blueberry lavender from Kensington Organic Ice Cream. Or Ed’s Creme Brulee Deluxe ice cream.

The soda, you goof! :slight_smile:

(now that I’ve actually read the OP…)

I can related to that, having grown up in Albuquerque and then moving to the Michigan. People around here don’t know a damned thing about spicy…

My sister just went on a road trip back to New Mexico, and brought back several pounds of green chile at my mother’s request. Sadly, I’m not at home to enjoy the end products, but at least my mom has promised to make posole when we go home for Christmas.

When you leave California, you enter a wasteland where fresh fruits and vegetables don’t actually exist (although the general public is convinced otherwise), tortillas come in a can, plain iceberg lettuce is considered a salad, “extra spicy” means putting black pepper on your food, avocados are yellow and rock hard, and mexican restaurants serve food that no self-respecting Mexican (or Californian) would eat. I sometimes think about a letter to the editor that I read in Burlington Vermont, something to the effect of “I like it here, but every time I’m picking raisins out of my enchiladas, I really miss living in the southwest.”

It was so good to move back, I ate avocado practically every day for about six months.

Toasted ravioli and Provel cheese. (St. Louis, MO)

Dreamland barbeque.