What are the strongest regional food rivalries or preferences in how a dish is prepared in the United States?
What are the strongest regional food rivalries or preferences in how a dish is prepared in the United States?
29 comments
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Each region has different foods. The south loves their BBQ and there is roughly one style per state in the south (the Carolinas and Texas have multiples), and each is fiercely defended as the best. (Shout-out to Owensboro mutton!)
Hotdogs and how they are served are another fight. Chicago, NY, Seattle, etc. have distinct styles and are eaten enough at lunch that folks become very protective of their mid-day rituals.
Soda/pop/soft drink flavors are also weirdly regional.
And none of these factor in the folks in the underrepresented areas like Hawaii, Alaska, etc. I can't even find info on food preferences for PR, Samoa, Guam, etc. Actual fruit and pork are big flavors that get their own treatment but aren't acknowledged as American, like Kalua pork or Taxi soda.
American is like a bunch of different regions that share a currency. Each has its own unique perspective on food and drink.
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JFK was killed over preferring Carolina style BBQ over Texan.
Source: A Texan coworker told me.
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Hey, good to see you here!
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I'm everywhere you least expect
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Maryland crab cakes vs crab cakes from anywhere else
NM chile vs Colorado chile vs any other chili
Tex Mex vs CA Mex vs New Mexican vs Mexican
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BBQ styles tend to get people picking sides because they vary so widely and often have something to then that is unfamiliar to people who are used to another style.
All involve slow cooking. Some are dry, as in dry spices and seasonings are applied but no moisture. Others are wet and are frequently slathered in sauce while cooking. Some have a very strong smokey flavor and some have a strong vinegar taste.
I like most types, except the ones with the strong vinegar flavor. While I won't tell someone they are wrong for liking that, if I accidently bite into the vinegar based BBQ it makes me angry and people being confrontational about it makes a bit more sense.
There is also some pizza rivalries and people who like Chicago deep dish are wrong.
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people who like Chicago deep dish are wrong
[Chicago will remember that]
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That shit is delicious though. It's simply that it's not "pizza"😁.
Edit: for anyone not familiar with the infamous "bit" about it being a casserole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzXIpp59eoU.
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I know here in NC, the biggest may be Eastern BBQ vs Western. And yes there most definitely is a right answer!
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How different are they? Is this the spices, the way the meat is cooked?
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Also, when you say BBQ in NC, it means pork.
And for the record, eastern style wins.
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So they are both pork based BBQ, distinct from brisket and other more "Texas" BBQ which is traditionally beef. Eastern BBQ is the whole hog being smoked normally while the western or "Lexington" style is the pork shoulder primarily. Eastern then uses a vinegar based sauce that is thinner than the normal expected BBQ sauce you'd find in the bottle at a store. The idea is the vinegar and spices in the eastern style stand to enhance the natural flavor of the meat with just a kick of spice. Western uses the more common idea of barbecue sauce that is tomato based, sweet, and sticky. These sauces normally have a more distinct flavor that is the goal moreso than the meat itself. I'm by no means a professional chef or food historian so this may not be 100% accurate but I hope it explains some! There is an interesting history behind the origins of each as well that I encourage a read on for fun!
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Chicago vs New York.
I don't even gotta say the food.
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I think only Chicagoans think that rivalry is a big one. People from the New York area just laugh at Chicago style pizza.
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Oh we gonna fight.
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Chili with or without kidney beans
Seasoning a steak with salt, pepper, both, or neither, also temps above medium-rare
A bunch already covered bbq's
Green bean casserole requires crispy fried onions on top
Ketchup on a hot dog or eggs can be pretty contested in the right crowd
Peanut butter on a hamburger
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I've never heard of peanut butter on hamburgers. Where do people eat that?
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The one I'm familiar with is in a sports bar in Jackson, Michigan that also does an olive burger, but I've heard of them in Indiana and Wisconsin too. It's kinda cheating because peanut butter goes well with everything.
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Connecticut picked a fight over pizza and won.
Edit: the WELCOME TO THE PIZZA CAPITAL OF AMERICA signs on the highway point into New York, for added shit kicking. We put up different ones to gloat at Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Something about basketball for Springfield, because they have a basketball hall of fame. I don't fuck with Rhode Island or I-95 so I don't know what's out east.
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The biggest is absolutely barbecue. Nothing else comes close.
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Ah yes, my failure for this past summer. I got a smoker and made some amazing barbecued everything. I tried so many cuts of meat, so many rubs and sauces from around the world, lots of salsas and roasted peppers, but never vinegar based, never mustard based, and especially never did a brisket.
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Another vote for barbecue. Also, the right answer is Texas. Barbecue, Tex-Mex, and Willie Nelson are about the only things keeping this place worth half a damn, and Willie's gettin' up there.
This is not to say (most of) the other types are not delicious. They're just not better. Specifically looking at YOU, sauce-dripping KC silliness. You're just Texas style but slightly worse.
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Not American, but been stateside enough to form my own opinion, personally on the side of NC BBQ, partly because I prefer pork to beef BBQ, but also just the simplicity of it, just vinegar and lots of cayenne is the way I generally do it.
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Okra and tomatoes belong in gumbo
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