When I was being wooed for an academic position in eastern Ohio, I was taken to a Thai restaurant for dinner by one of the faculty and his wife. The only one for 100 miles around. It was a bit of a surprise to learn that, having just come from Berkeley. It actually wasn’t too bad, considering.
It was really hard to find anything Asian beyond soy sauce when we lived in Western PA. Thank goodness Erie finally got a Wegman’s.
Here in San Diego there’s probably a source for just about anything.
How come all you people can’t find any maple syrup? It costs an arm and a leg, sure, but I’ve never seen a grocery store that didn’t carry it.
Yeah! They deliver now! I ordered a case of peanut butter candy cakes a while back, my diet was shot for a MONTH. Oooh and the pies. I kinda miss scrapple too, all nice and fried up crispy with scrambled eggs and a dab of ketchup, or pancakes and maple syrup.
Can I lament upon the Mexican-food wasteland that is everywhere but California?
That’s not Mexican. So sorry. Although it is the Fast Food of Choice after a nasty evening at the bar for me.
And yes, Mr. K’s is long, long gone, Johnny L.A. And that Basque joint in Rosamond is gone now, too. Pity, I never got to try either. Although the Whole Wheatery makes some pretty tasty baklava, but that and Ouzo is pretty much the limit of my experience with Greek cuisine.
I took for granted good Italian and foreign food - and variants there of - from up North. In the North, it is not uncommon to go to a chain grocery store and get a decent loaf of Italian or French bread. Here in Greensboro, Italian is synonymous with French which in turn is synonymous with bread. Pepperoni rolls, too, are something you can never find done here, along with chipped ham. No one here even understands the concept of chipped ham. Thin is not chipped, plain and simple. I have also never even seen gnocchis or periogees down here, besides what I can make or buy. Mrs. T’s are decent, but if I want a periogee I want it done right. Other things that seem to be absent from the part of the South I exist in is good Chinese, good salami, pastromi in any form, French, and decent hoagies.
Supposedly, it’s getting better, but I’m not holding out any hope.
One has to be careful; just because something is labelled “Pure Maple Syrup” and is expensive does not mean it is really maple syrup. When you check the ingrediants, look for actual, raw maple syrup ingrediants. Beware of flavoured corn syrup.
Corii… Yeah, the Peanut Butter Cakes were always my favorite, too. That is so cool that they deliver. Unfortunately, that stuff is not on my diet, but I can dream…
AND…
Yep. My dad is apparently particular about maple syrup, and orders his stuff from Maine or Vermont or wherever the heck real maple syrup comes from. I’m just, like, pass the Aunt Jemima.
Incorrect. If it says “Pure Maple Syrup” and it’s not 100% the product of the tree, that’s unlawful labelling.
However, sometimes you’ll see PURE MAPLE flavored syrup. That’s what you gotta watch out for. Many syrups don’t even have enough actual maple in them to be termed maple-flavored and are usually called something like “pancake syrup.”
Another point, however, is that even the real 100% maple syrup you can get in the supermarket is not as good as what you get when you go to an area where it’s made and buy it from the source. The supermarket stuff is often a blend from various sources, and is simply not as good.
Then what I posted wasn’t incorrect, but the companies who do so are frauds - and they still exist, because sometimes you do still find them - at least, I did last year when I was looking for maple syrup. Unfortuantely I don’t remember the brand (or the store, I was still new here), or I’d cite it. And bring 'em down, now that I know it’s illegal.
But yes, I agree, go to the source. Wikipedia has some interesting information, though little to do with expensive fakes.
I see real maple sugar candy (shaped like maple leaves n’ everything) in health food stores a lot, these days. Give it a go. Not so much in Whole Foods (or maybe I’ve just never found it because WF is so huge), but in local health food stores in two different towns in two different states I’ve seen the same brand of maple sugar candy. It’s good.
I have eaten salmon from most of the better and average seafood restaurants in the greater Seattle Tacoma area. It has always been pink to dark pink in color and for the most part, tastes very good. While in San Francisco 4 years ago, my wife and I ate dinner at Bubba Gumps at Pier 39. One of the specials that day was baked salmon. Sounded good to me so I ordered it. I was served an almost white piece of fish that was way overcooked. It crumpled instead of flaking off the bone and had very little flavor. When the waitress came to see how our dinner was, I told her that this stuff in the worst excuse for salmon I have ever seen. She took my plate and apologised and allowed me to order something else from the menu. A few minutes later a cook came out and wanted to know what was wrong with the salmon. I told him what real salmon looks and tastes like. He claimed the salmon I was served was the best farm raised salmon available and that it was from New York.
New York?
A restaurant that has a view of the Pacific Ocean, the producer of the best salmon anywhere, bar none, serves salmon from New York. Bubba Gumps would not survive as a seafood restaurant in the Seattle area. Copper River salmon will be available soon, I can’t wait.
Originally Posted by MLS
Until recently, not a whole lot of people outside of the NY metro area knew what a bagel was.
In the early 70’s, a friend from Long Island was going to college in Rock Island, IL. One Sunday they served bagels. I believe she was the only student who knew what the “hard donuts” were
BTW, IMHO, in Hillsborough, Bagel B.O.P has the best bagels
Wonderful foods in my adopted home: Palisade peaches, Olathe (CO) sweet corn, and Rocky Ford melons. Is it summer yet? And The Sausage Creature usually makes her annual trip around the last part of July. I wonder why that is?
fishbicycle, I learned to like avacados by trying guacamole first with other Mexican food. Now I like it sliced on BLT sandwiches or with walnuts, bean sprouts and tofu. And I’m a picky eater!
Things that I miss when I leave the South: "Meat ‘n’ 3 meals where you choose one meat from a list and then choose three veggies from another list that will also include starches and baked apples. You also have a choice of rolls or cornbread. All of this costs about five dollars.
I was surprised that my daughter-in-law from New Jersey had never eaten black-eyed peas. I knew that she had never eaten grits. It surprised me even more that she had absolutely no intention of trying them and apparently considered them an inferior food.
Two things from West Tennessee are like no place else on earth: fresh strawberries in May and BBQ.
(I won’t argue about Texas BBQ and which is better; I’m just saying that West Tennessee BBQ is different.
Born and raised in Maryland, and I used to take properly done steamed blue crabs for granted. No longer! From now on I promise I will eat them whenever they are offered, lest that time be the last…
Villa Basque is gone? Dang, I never got round to going there!
Cheez_Whia: I can’t remember ever trying the chili at Mr. K’s. (Incidentally, on Avenue K, for those who might wonder.) I couldn’t resist the souvlaki.
I baked a salmon fillet with Soy Vay Very Very Teriyaki today. A one-pound wild-caught fillet that was nice and red. I won’t buy the farm-raised, colour-added salmon unless I’m really jonzin’ for salmon and there’s no wild-caught to be found. Fortunately for me, the Lummi Indians seem to have an unlimited supply of wild-caught salmon. By the way, my friends liked the teriyaki salmon.
Well, it was a Greek family that created Cincinnati’s famous Skyline Chili, after all. It’s nothing like more traditional Texas or Southwestern-style chili, but really unique (served over spaghetti or “Coney” hot dogs). Cinnamon and chocolate are among the ingredients, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
I’ve eaten at the only two Skyline Chili restaurants I know of in Florida (both in Broward County), and most people I’ve talked to have either never heard of it, or just act grossed out when I mention serving chili over pasta. It’s so good, though!
By the way, my friends liked the teriyaki salmon.