What foods were invented in your home city/country/region?

SuzySunshine99
SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
in Food and Nutrition
"As American as apple pie"....except apples are not American, and neither is pie. The first recipe for apple pie comes from England.

What dishes/foods really ARE inventions of your home region? Or at least CLAIM to be?

I'm from Chicago, which claims credit for:

Italian Beef Sandwiches
Twinkies (you're welcome)
Chocolate Brownies (debuted at 1893 World's Fair)
Cracker Jack
Chicken Vesuvio
Mass-produced flavored chewing gum (Wrigley's)
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Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I thought the Dutch were responsible for apple pie.

    My town is too small to have invented anything. I am not sure how much is original to the south or how much is imported. Grits maybe? Sorghum?
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    I thought the Dutch were responsible for apple pie.

    My town is too small to have invented anything. I am not sure how much is original to the south or how much is imported. Grits maybe? Sorghum?

    I read that the first written recipe for apple pie was in England in 1381. Maybe the Dutch perfected it!

    Pecan pie is definitely a Southern U.S. invention.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    A delicacy from my home region: https://thelocalpalate.com/articles/eatymology-cheese-dip/

    The one I make (aka, the vegan one): http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com/2015/08/vegan-cheese-dip.html
  • josette06
    josette06 Posts: 119 Member
    Birth town : Yuengling
    Current town: Sweet Lebanon Bologna
    Area: Reeses PB cups, Hershey's chocolate
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    Born in the North East of England - Stottie Cake. An oven bottom bread disc traditionally made from end of the day dough scraps cooked on the oven floor. Named after the Geordie (NE England dialect) for bounce - ‘stott’ - if the cooked bread disc ‘stotted’ it was cooked. Sadly, they’re only sold in the North of England so I generally can’t buy them unless I go ‘home’ 😋😋

    Now live in Bedfordshire - Bedfordshire Clanger. Basically, it’s a poor relation of the Cornish Pasty! Traditionally a large pastry parcel with savoury filling one end and a sweet filling the opposite end. Never had one, no intention of changing that status! 🤷‍♀️🤮
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited April 2020
    Wisconsinite here. Most of our signature foods were imported with immigrants so very few were actually started here. Having said that, we ARE responsible for inflicting Colby cheese on the world.

    Signature foods from Wisconsin:
    • Anything cranberry. We are the largest producer of cranberries in the world
    • We have the only cheese maker who makes Limberger cheese in the US
    • Bratwurst. A German sausage perfected in Wisconsin.
    • Deep fried cheese curds
    • Ice Cream Sundae (invented in Two Rivers (or as we say it, T'rivers))
    • Kringle: a pastry that came from Danish settlers
    • Pasties: Cornish immigrants to the mining communities brought them. They are still popular in parts of the state
    • Ol Fashion: a mixed drink normally called an Old Fashioned but in Wisconsin it is made with brandy
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    Corn flakes (and all that Kellogg stuff)
    Vernor's Ginger Ale
    Faygo "pop" (not "soda") (especially Rock'n'Rye)
    Superman ice cream, probably
    Blue moon ice cream, maybe

    The pasties that @earlnabby claimed for Wisconsin are also claimed by Northern Michigan - Cornish miners all through that North Great Lakes zone, way back.

    There's some tradition in parts of the state of eating Woodchuck (Groundhog), but I've never eaten it, and I don't think that's unique here. It's associated with some ethnic group here, I think some Eastern European origin one, but I can't recall for sure.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    edited April 2020
    While opinions may differ, San Francisco (my home town) and the SF Bay Area arguably are the birthplace for the following:

    Popsicles
    Chinese Fortune Cookies
    The Martini cocktail
    It's It (ice cream sandwich)
    Cioppino (seafood stew)
    Chicken Tetrazini (pasta casserole)
    Crab Louis (seafood salad)

    See: https://delishably.com/misc/Foods-That-Were-Born-in-the-San-Francisco-Bay-Area

    Also created in SF but not listed above is Boudin's uniquely flavored and delicious sourdough bread and, my guess is, the clam chowder dish served in a "bowl' of a hollowed out round of sourdough bread served to countless tourists who have visited Fisherman's Wharf for at least 60 yrs, which is how far back that I can remember them being served there

    And lastly (at least for now), the Ghiardelli chocolate company was founded in SF and was still made in the bldg/shopping mall that still bears its name near Acquatic Park until sometime in the 60's, when you could still smell the chocolate in the air.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Vegemite, Tim-Tams and lamingtons. Pretty easy to guess where I am from!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited April 2020
    I'm originally from Minnesota----hotdish maybe?

    I've lived in Italy 36 yrs and the list is long. Here are just a few. Will add more later:

    Gelato
    Pizza
    Bologni (Mortadella--city Bologna)
    Tomato sauce
    Parmigiano Reggiano
    Cacio e Peppe ( thick spaghetti like pasta w pecorino and freshly ground black pepper)
    Pecorino cheese
    Mozzarella (especially mozzarella di bufala-comes from water buffalo milk)
    Pasta Amartriciana
    Raviolli--also Chinese
    Pasta
    Porcini mushrooms
    Proscuitto (especially Parma)
    Risotto
    Asiago cheese
    Panettone
    Nutella
    Baci (chocolate kiss with an entire hazelnut inside)
    Aceto Balsamico (balsamic vinegar)
    Prosecco
    Barolo (red wine)
    Limoncello (lemon liquor)
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    Vegemite, Tim-Tams and lamingtons. Pretty easy to guess where I am from!

    More local would be frog cakes, pie floaters, fritz and fruchocs.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Corn flakes (and all that Kellogg stuff)
    Vernor's Ginger Ale
    Faygo "pop" (not "soda") (especially Rock'n'Rye)
    Superman ice cream, probably
    Blue moon ice cream, maybe

    The pasties that @earlnabby claimed for Wisconsin are also claimed by Northern Michigan - Cornish miners all through that North Great Lakes zone, way back.

    There's some tradition in parts of the state of eating Woodchuck (Groundhog), but I've never eaten it, and I don't think that's unique here. It's associated with some ethnic group here, I think some Eastern European origin one, but I can't recall for sure.

    I knew the fluted side of the pasty crust was meant to be the "handle" so the miners could eat their pasty in the mine. What I just learned was why they would throw them away. They were thrown deeper in the mine as a treat for the Tommyknockers who were wee folk who lived in the mine and caused mischief, but also warned of an imminent collapse by knocking on the walls and wood supports.

    Wisconsin had 2 areas with miners. Far north iron and copper mines and southwest in the Mineral Point area which had lead mines. Those miners first lived in homes dug into the hills (think Hobbit homes) so were called Badgers, hence we are the "Badger State".
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    Born and raised in Nebraska:
    1. Koolaid
    2. Reuben Sandwich
    3. The TV Dinner (by a 17 year old kid named SWANSON)
    4. Process to bind meat together into different shapes. The technology is often associated with the famous McRib sandwich.
    5. Dorothy Lynch Dressing (the best salad dressing ever!)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    A delicacy from my home region: https://thelocalpalate.com/articles/eatymology-cheese-dip/

    The one I make (aka, the vegan one): http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com/2015/08/vegan-cheese-dip.html

    Is the "disagree" for including the vegan version or is it disagreeing that Arkansas is crazy for cheese dip? I'm dying to know. :D
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    I'm originally from Minnesota----hotdish maybe?

    I've lived in Italy 36 yrs and the list is long. Here are just a few. Will add more later:

    Gelato
    Pizza
    Bologni (Mortadella--city Bologna)
    Tomato sauce
    Parmigiano Reggiano
    Cacio e Peppe ( thick spaghetti like pasta w pecorino and freshly ground black pepper)
    Pecorino cheese
    Mozzarella (especially mozzarella di bufala-comes from water buffalo milk)
    Pasta Amartriciana
    Raviolli--also Chinese
    Pasta
    Porcini mushrooms
    Proscuitto (especially Parma)
    Risotto
    Asiago cheese
    Panettone
    Nutella
    Baci (chocolate kiss with an entire hazelnut inside)
    Aceto Balsamico (balsamic vinegar)
    Prosecco
    Barolo (red wine)
    Limoncello (lemon liquor)

    Minnesota (my adopted home) is also the birthplace of the "Juicy Lucy," a burger stuffed with cheese. But honestly, I think risotto, limoncello, porcini mushrooms, and pasta are the winners hands down.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Anything cranberry. We are the largest producer of cranberries in the world

    By that standard, IL gets pumpkin stuff, including pumpkin pie made from commercially-processed canned pumpkin. Specifically, 90-95% of the canned pumpkin comes from here, most of that from Morton.

    However, it appears (despite not being popular there now) that the earliest pumpkin pie recipe (at least it seems similar enough to count) is from around 1650 in France: https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PieHistory/PumpkinPie.htm
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
    Gatorade was invented at the University of Florida, for the football team (the Gators, hence the name "Gatorade"). Not sure what else was invented in Florida, maybe key lime pie?
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I'm from the the Wirral (UK) and a common local dish is "scouse" which is a ground beef stew with onions and potatoes and carrots, sometimes peas, and if you're nasty, corn. We have a nice Cheshire cheese named for a local county.

    I thought it was commonly known that pasta was invented in China? Or is there some nuance over noodles and italian pasta?
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Cowboy Coffee
    hcbphqfrzl8o.png

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Fingersteaks and fry sauce. Welcome to Idaho. ;)

    7c9wl5e3umfn.jpg
  • vggb
    vggb Posts: 132 Member
    In Lewiston, Idaho at Bojack's Broiler, a bar upstairs, restaurant downstairs they make bite-size steak. They won't give out the recipe, many have tried to duplicate it and therefore many different styles and recipes have evolved.

    Also in this very local area you can get a Clamdigger. It's a vodka drink like a Bloody Mary but much more tasty. I've tried to order them in different areas and they don't know what it is, here in Idaho.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    vggb wrote: »
    In Lewiston, Idaho at Bojack's Broiler, a bar upstairs, restaurant downstairs they make bite-size steak. They won't give out the recipe, many have tried to duplicate it and therefore many different styles and recipes have evolved.

    Also in this very local area you can get a Clamdigger. It's a vodka drink like a Bloody Mary but much more tasty. I've tried to order them in different areas and they don't know what it is, here in Idaho.

    Two Idahoans in a row! What are the chances? :laugh:
  • pancakerunner
    pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    I'm originally from Minnesota----hotdish maybe?

    I've lived in Italy 36 yrs and the list is long. Here are just a few. Will add more later:

    Gelato
    Pizza
    Bologni (Mortadella--city Bologna)
    Tomato sauce
    Parmigiano Reggiano
    Cacio e Peppe ( thick spaghetti like pasta w pecorino and freshly ground black pepper)
    Pecorino cheese
    Mozzarella (especially mozzarella di bufala-comes from water buffalo milk)
    Pasta Amartriciana
    Raviolli--also Chinese
    Pasta
    Porcini mushrooms
    Proscuitto (especially Parma)
    Risotto
    Asiago cheese
    Panettone
    Nutella
    Baci (chocolate kiss with an entire hazelnut inside)
    Aceto Balsamico (balsamic vinegar)
    Prosecco
    Barolo (red wine)
    Limoncello (lemon liquor)

    Minnesota (my adopted home) is also the birthplace of the "Juicy Lucy," a burger stuffed with cheese. But honestly, I think risotto, limoncello, porcini mushrooms, and pasta are the winners hands down.

    Hey, neighbor!

    Adding to this...

    Anything from General Mills, thank Minnesota! Pizza rolls, Lucky Charms, etc. ALSO... anything from Betty Crocker and Pillsbury! Flour! Baking mix! Also, the Nut Goodie bar, Milky Way, Salted Nut Roll and "bar" desserts... :)
  • vggb
    vggb Posts: 132 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    vggb wrote: »
    In Lewiston, Idaho at Bojack's Broiler, a bar upstairs, restaurant downstairs they make bite-size steak. They won't give out the recipe, many have tried to duplicate it and therefore many different styles and recipes have evolved.

    Also in this very local area you can get a Clamdigger. It's a vodka drink like a Bloody Mary but much more tasty. I've tried to order them in different areas and they don't know what it is, here in Idaho.

    Two Idahoans in a row! What are the chances? :laugh:

  • vggb
    vggb Posts: 132 Member
    It looks like this Idahoan is a techno-challenged also :# But yes, one in a million!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    I'm originally from Minnesota----hotdish maybe?

    I've lived in Italy 36 yrs and the list is long. Here are just a few. Will add more later:

    Gelato
    Pizza
    Bologni (Mortadella--city Bologna)
    Tomato sauce
    Parmigiano Reggiano
    Cacio e Peppe ( thick spaghetti like pasta w pecorino and freshly ground black pepper)
    Pecorino cheese
    Mozzarella (especially mozzarella di bufala-comes from water buffalo milk)
    Pasta Amartriciana
    Raviolli--also Chinese
    Pasta
    Porcini mushrooms
    Proscuitto (especially Parma)
    Risotto
    Asiago cheese
    Panettone
    Nutella
    Baci (chocolate kiss with an entire hazelnut inside)
    Aceto Balsamico (balsamic vinegar)
    Prosecco
    Barolo (red wine)
    Limoncello (lemon liquor)

    Polenta
    Pasta fagioli (pasta w beans)
    Cappucino
    Espresso
    Cannoli (filled with ricotta cheese)
    Torta Caprese (cake w chocolate and ground almonds)
    Frittata
  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
    First_McDonalds%2C_San_Bernardino%2C_California.jpg
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    edited April 2020
    Buffalo, NY....

    So deep fried chicken wings doused in a vinegar-based hot sauce.

    Beef on Weck (Buffalo variation being the salted roll with caraway seeds.)

    I think also horseradish mustard and Chiavetti's chicken (grilled with a specific marinade). Possibly also sponge candy and 'medium-thickness' pizza.

    And we can't claim it as ours, but a small chunk of our city perpetually smells like baking Cheerios. (thankfully a much, much larger and more central portion than smells like rancid milk). (General Mills and Sorrento cheese factories).

    ETA (after googling) : apparently, we might also be responsible for chicken finger subs. And a type of peanut doused donut. And not ours, but supposedly fish fries aren't to be found ubiquitously year round on Friday nights elsewhere.
  • tiredmommy17
    tiredmommy17 Posts: 46 Member
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    mtho00abcji3.jpeg

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