If I left Alabama, (although I’m not a HUGE fan of barbecue) I would definitely miss decent pork barbecue. I went to an event during 4th of July in the North and they served hamburgers! Only! I would also miss banana pudding and turnip greens.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
Cheap potatoes. If I pay more than $5 for a 20lb bag, I feel like I’ve been robbed. We eat them several times a week in our house. And to go with that, Funeral Potatoes, a casserole made with shredded potoatoes, cheese, sour cream, and butter.
We also get onions pretty cheaply around here (heck if you want, you can pick up the ones that fall off the trucks for free,) but I’m not a fan of onions so I wouldn’t miss those.
Although it would be nice to find out what good Chinese food tastes like. I can cook the food at home better than most Chinese restaurants around here. They are all way too fond of celery. Almond Chicken is not supposed to be 70% celery, I’m sure of it.
Honey, please–Denio’s! While you’re there scouting for fruits & veggies, stop at that terrible Jimboy’s shanty in the corner by the crossroad if it’s still there and have a taco for me–one of the few things culinary I miss about Suckatomato! Rick’s Dessert Diner, too, also no idea if that place is still extant, but it should be.
I’m so onboard with nobody but us Left Coast people knowing shit from shinola about avocados–those Florida ones are gross and stringy and soggy and disgusting and I was shocked shitless to see how much restaurants in New York charged for anything that had avocado in it. How do people function without good Hass avocadoes, anyway? I have six or seven in my fridge pretty much all the time.
I’d miss a lot of stuff if I moved from Oregon–Hood River strawberries, best in the world. Hood River grown cherries, especially the Rainier variety. Apples and pears, right now I can get ten different varieties grown within fifty miles of here and they’re all going for 59-89 cents a pound in giant bins straight from the orchards. Fresh salmon and steelhead. Fresh sturgeon, smoked. Deer and elk.
Oregon style Mexican food, which is great. Lots of non-English speaking Hispanics up here and a sizable number of them own taco trucks. Nom nom. Voodoo Doughnuts. Pho from this dinky little place up in the ‘couve–it will kill viruses dead in seconds. Lamb shank night at Nicholas’. The beer. Umpqua ice cream.
Moving from NJ to CA, I missed the cheesesteaks, Pork roll, and really amazing pizza. If I were to move from San Francisco, I’d miss the many great burrito joints.
Almost forgot - moving away from Atlanta made me really miss the great fried chicken and chicken-fried steaks…
Joe
Vegemite
TimTams
Biltong. Jerky has no flavour.
Antelope Venison - springbok, kudu, gemsbok
Ostrich (although I hear this is being farmed other places now)
Decent cheap fruit - especially hanepoot grapes, stone fruit and naartjies
Kreef (Rock Lobster) & Perlemoen (Abalone) fresh from the sea. And I do mean “fresh”
Snoek - esp. smoked snoek & braaied snoek. Again, fresh.
Braai in general (barbecue is…not the same. And you can’t get decent boerewors anywhere else)
Sour figs (although - I hear *Carpobrotus edulis * is quite the weed in California now? But I prefer C. deliciosus)
Moskonfyt (Hanepoot grape syrup) and waterlemoen konfyt(a watermelon preserve)
Koeksisters, especially the Malay ones with dessicated coconut.
Sweet wines - Hanepoot, muscadel and Cape Ruby port
Cape Brandy (as good as any fine cognac, at 1/10th the price )
Pinotage red wine
Awesome! Thanks for the link. It’s funny how the people who’ve grown up here call it “Suckamento” when I think it’s 20 times better than my own hometown. Makes me want to shuttle them all to metro Detroit so they’ll stop taking their town for granted. 
Ya, the Dessert Diner is still up. I went there about 4 years ago and had a great piece of oreo cheesecake, mmmm…I think another trip is in order!
Ortega’s Mexican Restaurant in Groton. It’s a small hole-in-the wall, but they have recently expanded the restaurant.
If I’m not mistaken, the owner used to work at a restaurant called “Mama’s Cocina” in the Stop & Shop plaza near the sub base. We used to go there all the time in the early 90s, until it was abruptly closed due to the number of undocumented workers there. :smack:
Anyway, Ortega’s has apparently been around for a few years, but we just discovered it around New Year’s. Like I said, it’s very good for Connecticut, IMHO.
We tried the Jalisco Mexican Grill & Cantina in Glastonbury, but I wasn’t very impressed. On par with the Puerto Vallarta chain, which I don’t like.
If you come across any other Mexican restaurants you like in Connecticut, please let me know. I’m always willing to take a chance on a new one.
Inexpensive steak - I visit family in the Rio Grande valley for the Mexican food but have never had a steak under $30 there that was nearly as good (or big) as a $7.00 rib eye from my local Costco. Living close to Iowa corn (and the cows that eat it) has its advantages.
Speaking of the Rio Grande Valley–how 'bout that wonderful, sweet rio red grapefruit!
Maple syrup.
I know you can buy it just about anywhere, but it’s much cheaper here.
I think I’d miss burritos the most. I suppose I’d do ok in Southern California, but from what I can tell, not even New York City has figured out how to make a decent burrito, as the Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel can attest to.
I have to agree that a San Francisco burrito is a totally different beast than what you get in Southern California. We make up for it with variety, and a fairly good burrito of our own, but I have never had anything quite like the San Francisco burrito. Good call.
Try Sarapes on Route 5 in Enfield, just south of the Mass. line. It’s a dumpy little storefront place that serves Mexican food like it’s being made in your abuela’s kitchen. It’s seriously authentic.
Salty country ham and sweet tea.
Actually in Wisconsin you should expect brats, burgers, chickens, pork, beef steaks, ribs and sweet corn, for public events. You really need to pay attention to what the fest will have. What you wanted to attend was a pork roast.
We have Culver’s in Texas, so maybe they have spread out a bit. I would miss the burgers from Casino el Camino.
Rob
Squeaky white cheese curds.
Pretty sure I’ve had theirs before. There’s a place nearer here that delivers it too - maybe Brother’s? They do a really nice Tandoori Chicken pizza too.
Not to be a pizza snob, but I still haven’t had anything that approaches NJ pizza out here, save the little hole-in-the-wall across from the Balboa Theater. AMAZING slices, never had a full pie.
Joe
What brah - no love for Liliha Bakery’s Coco Puffs, Bubbie’s mochi ice cream, Nisshodo’s chi chi dango, W & M Burgers, Guri Guri, deep fried mochi balls, homemade smoked tako, fresh chinese fish cake, papio sashimi, star fruit see mui, pickled mango or chinese boiled peanuts? What about home grown mountain apples, lychee, or marungai leaves? 
A few years ago my mom & I took one of my nephews to Disneyland. On our second evening there, he accompanied me a nearby 7-11 to buy bottled water. When we got there, he whispered to me, “Aunty, do you think they have spam musubi?” 