Food of you Area and/or Childhood!

[Magus]

Oh, I thought of something moderately unique: I'm not sure if they're popular in other areas of the country, but my mother was from Binghamton and so we often ate "speedies" at barbecues on Labor Day or the 4th of July. Just take boneless chicken breasts, dice them up into chunks, and let the meat sit and marinate in Italian dressing (or dressing of your choice, you could marinate them in something else) for at least three days. Then put the chunks on skewers and grill them. Eat on a bun. Speedies are a delicious sandwich, let me tell you...

EDIT: Alright I figured out why I could never find "speedies" on the internet, they're spelled completely differently than I thought:

Spiedie! And apparently they are indeed a local Binghamton specialty. You can use other types of meat, I remember having venison spiedies a few times.

[Ryanderman]

Something I personally can't stand, but all my friends and family love, and is native to our region: A Garbage Plate

A Garbage Plate is a true Rochester delicacy. It is a disorganized combination of either cheeseburger, hamburger, Italian sausages, steak, chicken, white or red hots, a grilled cheese sandwich, fried fish, or eggs, served on top of one or two of the following: home fries, fries, beans, and mac salad. A plate is always made to order. Then, the plate is adorned with optional mustard, onions and Rochester's version of hot sauce. Some restaurants will charge for extra helpings of hot sauce, and the hot sauce varies widely in flavor and spiciness. A plate is usually served with a side of white bread and butter, though some restaurants charge extra for bread. It is said that the purpose of the bread is to soak up the grease left after you've eaten the garbage plate.

[shiney]

Robin aren't you in Minnesota? Goulash?! Mo' like leftover soup. For idiots.

Lefse though, that's pretty accurate. Lotta scandinavians around here. And hotdish, yeah. You describe lutefisk though and I'm gonna have to slap a bitch.

I grew up in the Twin Cities so unfortunately my childhood cuisine was brought to you by Carl's Jr. Or more accurately, McDonald's, since we don't have Carl's Jr. here. We have Hardees I guess? The star is the same.

[mauve]

Corned beef and cabbage. My mom's side of the family is of Irish descent and our family would always have corned beef with potatoes, cabbage and carrots every year for St. Patrick's Day. Mom cooks it the "traditional" way (that's what she calls it, but I'm no chef so I dunno), by tossing everything in the same pot and boiling the hell out of it. All the flavors mix together and it is absolutely delicious. Apparently it's an acquired taste, though, since everyone I know who has tried corned beef either loves it or hates it.

Also, chicken noodle casserole. A can of cream of mushroom soup, leftover roast chicken cut into small pieces, a can of diced mushrooms, and some egg noodles. Cook noodles, heat up the soup, toss the chicken and mushrooms into said soup, pour the mixture on the noodles. Or you can make the noodles, then just toss the rest of the ingredients in with some cheese on top and bake the whole thing. It's reeaaaaally good.

[CABAL49]

The traditional Southern meal is deep-fried everything.

[batgirl]

Originally Posted by Magus

Oh, I thought of something moderately unique: I'm not sure if they're popular in other areas of the country, but my mother was from Binghamton and so we often ate "speedies" at barbecues on Labor Day or the 4th of July. Just take boneless chicken breasts, dice them up into chunks, and let the meat sit and marinate in Italian dressing (or dressing of your choice, you could marinate them in something else) for at least three days. Then put the chunks on skewers and grill them. Eat on a bun. Speedies are a delicious sandwich, let me tell you...

EDIT: Alright I figured out why I could never find "speedies" on the internet, they're spelled completely differently than I thought:

Spiedie! And apparently they are indeed a local Binghamton specialty. You can use other types of meat, I remember having venison spiedies a few times.

Holy shit I went to Binghamton University and I loved spiedies!! We even had spiedie-fest where it was an entire street festival of local grown foods, entertainment and of course, spiedies.

[Jagos]

I loved peaches. Lots and lots of peaches.

I can eat a peach for hours.

[RobinStarwing]

Originally Posted by shiney

Robin aren't you in Minnesota? Goulash?! Mo' like leftover soup. For idiots.

Lefse though, that's pretty accurate. Lotta scandinavians around here. And hotdish, yeah. You describe lutefisk though and I'm gonna have to slap a bitch.

I grew up in the Twin Cities so unfortunately my childhood cuisine was brought to you by Carl's Jr. Or more accurately, McDonald's, since we don't have Carl's Jr. here. We have Hardees I guess? The star is the same.

Not the way my mom's family did it! They were Swiss/German/Irish in origin. Not leftover soup...sheesh. My Grandma, Grand-Aunt, and Great-Grandma are offended now. >_<

Oh and we have a regional name for something you might all know about...Hot Beef Sandwich. We call it Hot Beef Commercial in South/Southwestern Minnesota.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by shiney

You describe lutefisk though and I'm gonna have to slap a bitch.

But why, though? Is it something you try really hard not to think about every time you ram that lye soaked fish down your massive gullet? Because I don't think it's something you can forget.

Not with the smell.

That horrible smell.

[Magus]

Originally Posted by Ryanderman

Something I personally can't stand, but all my friends and family love, and is native to our region: A Garbage Plate

Sign me up!

Originally Posted by batgirl

Holy shit I went to Binghamton University and I loved spiedies!! We even had spiedie-fest where it was an entire street festival of local grown foods, entertainment and of course, spiedies.

Yeah, apparently the Spiedie Festival started way after my mom left, and I don't think we've ever been up there to visit when it was going on. Plus, it's not hard to make your own.

Originally Posted by Krylo

But why, though? Is it something you try really hard not to think about every time you ram that lye soaked fish down your massive gullet? Because I don't think it's something you can forget.

Not with the smell.

That horrible smell.

I dunno, when I hear "corrosive alkaline substance" the first thing I think of is "how can I use this to make fish last forever so I can eat it a few decades from now?" That's the kind of thinking only a badass viking could come up with.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Lye is valued for its use in food preparation, soap making, biodiesel production, and household uses, such as oven cleaner and drain opener.

~One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong~