Foods I can't find in my present location and regional specialties.

[Emmababy]

I'm still not allowed to get ribena because it's far too expensive over here too. It's my second favourite drink though.

i've only been to America once but i really could get addicted to all the junk food there. You have lots of odd packet mixes and weird names for stuff.

 

[goldwyn girl]

There is a long list, but one regional specialty (mid-atlanitc) I haven't seen in years is scrapple.

You can get Scrapple here
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com

Being an Australian gal in the US, there a plenty of foods I miss, all the varieties of Cadbury Chocolate, especially Turklish Delight. Hot cinnamon donuts straight out of the fryer. Monte Carlo bicsuits and Tim Tams and so much more.

 

[Emmababy]

Lucky Charms over here are $13 a box.
count your blessings america

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Lucky Charms over here are $13 a box.
count your blessings america

and Ribena over here is 12 dollars a bottle...

alls fair in import foods....

 

[Joie DeVive]

One thing I'm missing in Colorado is pot stickers. These are a kind of dumpling that are usually filled with meat, and are boiled and then pan fried. They are fairly standard fare for Chinese food in California, but I am having a heck of a time finding restaurants here that offer them! [huh]

 

[Pink Dahlia]

I miss Japan.

Melon cream soda in Japan. We have a brand here at the Oriental supermarket but it's just not the same as the stuff that comes out of the vending machine.

Also, McDonald's in Japan has melon shakes. Yum!

And sweet potato ice cream in Kamakura. It's purple!

Stop it Pinky you're going back in 15 days!

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Russian home cooking.

Legitimate Shawarma/Shwarma/Shaurma/etc.

My favorite Northern California restaurants.

 

[Novella]

From California - good sourdough bread, Freebirds nachos, Woodstocks pizza, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf tea lattes, Bagel Cafe, Trader Joe's (especially english muffin bread), and sandwiches from a little German deli in Fremont

From Colorado - Tokyo Joe's, cream filled individual angel food cakes

From US in general - peppermint patties, root beer (floats), Jamba Juice, a variety of microwave popcorn, yogurt that isn't runny, taffy

And when I'm gone (from England) I think I'll miss - Thornton's chocolate, plain chocolate digestives, Hobnobs, Feel Good drinks, veggie couscous from Tesco, easy to find kindereggs (silly FDA), pasties, take away sandwiches

I'd also like to know where (other than France) I can get Carambars.

 

[Fletch]

As a resident of Greater New York, I spit upon ALL your pathetic regional specialties. Ptoo! Ptoo!

No, not really. But remember, the rest of you owe the whole concept of regional specialties to New York writers living in Hollywood and b!tching about the fine points of the local deli meats. So know your place, you cheesesteak and vegemite eaters.

Thing about NY tho. There are food items, usually pleasantly tasty midwestern sort of things, that you just cannot get here. You cannot buy a Chicago dog here at any price. They are simply embargoed.

Vernors is a nonstarter, especially up against Jamaican ginger beers that can take your nosehairs out. I also recall a total lack of interest in Squirt.

We're not much on pie, either. It doesn't have the resonance of a Brooklyn cheesecake or a French gâteau. I think pie connotes relaxation, which is something we're very ambivalent about.

 

[BellyTank]

Being a Kiwi in Norway there's one or two things that I can't buy here. Big ones on the list are:

Vegemite and Marmite (you can get the English Marmite here but it's not the same)
Biltong from Fred's Fine Foods in Auckland
Sausage rolls
Steak and cheese pies (actually any kind of meat pie)
Arnott's Cheddar Shapes
Traditional Kiwi white bread
Kumara

Luckily though there's a few shops which stock British goods for homesick expats so I can buy HP or Daddies Sauce, decent marmelade, good tea, biscuits, etc.

When I returned to NZ, earlier this year, I pigged out on meat pies and fish and chips.
It's amazing, that here, in Scandinavia, where there are so many bakeries and bakery food is so much a part of the culture, that there are no meat and pastry products.
Here in Copenhagen, I actually found a pie shop, about 9 months ago, on a Sunday but it was closed. When I returned to investigate further, it had closed down. We can get pies from the Brit-shops here but they're just not up to scratch.
New Zealand pies rule!

B
T

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Speaking of British delicacies, how about good cheap Stateside source for Bovril? I know it can be ordered at hijack prices by specialty shops, but there's gotta be a better and cheaper way. I was introduced to the magic of Liquid Cow by a British pal years ago, and there really *is* nothing like it on a cold winter morning.

I miss veggie Bovril! It was only out for a short time, and I got one of the biggest pots just before it ran out when they reintroduced the original. I have it on toast though, rather than as a drink. I might try the beef one, but as a recent ex-veggie, and my paranoia of unidentifiable meat based products, I probably won't!

I wish we could get a good Mexican over here. Or, paradoxically, I wish they'd replace all the McDs or KFCs with Taco Bells or something over here, so I could at least get a rubbish mexican very regularly!

My ultimate fast food wishlist for here though, would be Baja Fresh and IHOP. Then I could die fat and happy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Real Maine Food, such that I was raised on --

Red Hot Dogs -- natural casing franks with the casing dyed a bright chemical red. Must be eaten in a Nissen "New England Style" roll with yellow mustard.

I-talian Sandwiches -- sort of like a common cold-cut sub, only sold at gas stations, corner grocery stores, and obscure roadside establishments. Heavily seasoned with olive oil and black pepper, to the point where if the oil hasn't soaked completely thru the wrapper by the time you buy it, to run down your arm when you pick it up, it isn't a "real I-talian." A "real I-talian" includes tomatoes and pickles, but absolutely NO lettuce is allowed or people will laugh and point at you.

Macaroni and Cheese Loaf -- baloney with macaroni and cheese cooked into it. Sometimes pimientos, too, but I advise picking them out first. You've been warned.

Bean Hole Beans -- Pea beans baked with molasses, mustard, and a big fat slab of salt pork, in an iron pot loosely buried in a hole in the backyard with the embers of a wood fire, and left there for at least 12 hours. Always served at Methodist church suppers with that brown bread that comes in a can.

Whoopee Pies -- large flat discs of devils-food cake with sugared Crisco filling between them. You'll find them on the counter right next to the I-talian sandwiches. Popular attraction at whoopee-pie-eating contests at all the summer festivals.

Moxie -- yes, the classic early 20th century soda/tonic lives on, with a taste best described as root beer mixed with Father John's Medicine, and then squeezed thru the sleeve of an old corduroy jacket. The locals won't tell you this if you're a tourist, but it's actually very good mixed with vodka.

Humpty Dumpty's BBQ Flavor Potato Chips -- Made from real Maine spuds, and flavored with salt, tomato powder, hot pepper, and something that tastes like finely powdered wood chips. One of the only foods I can eat when I have a migraine.

Fried Mackerel -- either caught yourself off the town wharf with a dropline or bought off the back of a rusty red wagon from an industrious neighborhood kid. The King of Greasy Fish, but it fries up nice and crisp. Best accompanied with a cold domestic beer -- Narragansett is the traditional choice, but it's hard to find now.

Shrimp, Lobster, Crabmeat, other seafoods -- best when bought off a guy working out of an old pickup truck parked at the side of the road, with a FOOD STAMPS EXCEPTED sign whitewashed on the door. Your purchase will be handed to you in a re-used plastic bag from the Shop N Save, and you better keep an eye on him to make sure he keeps his thumb off the scale. But you'll never find it fresher.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Russian home cooking.

Legitimate Shawarma/Shwarma/Shaurma/etc.

My favorite Northern California restaurants.

OK....Shwarma..... does not Zankou Chicken do that? I really thought they did.....if not...head to Glendale....seriously it should be easy to find a place there.


and what sort of Russian home cooking...? I might need to invite you to dinner....depending on your answer....

 

[Smithy]

New Zealand pies rule!

That's the truth

I'm really surprised that they haven't caught on here in Scandinavia as well as I reckon people would love them. I might have to get an import licence for Ponsonby Pies!

By the way BT next time you're back in Auckland you have to visit the hot bread shop in Meadowbank opposite the Foodtown. They make their own pies and they are brilliant, the curried mince is delicious and the good old steak and cheese mighty good!

 

[Quigley Brown]

Originally from Iowa I really miss Sterzings potato chips. I can't find anything close to their flavor around here.

I also miss those huge Iowa deep-fried pork tenderloin sandwiches. Ma & Pa cafes would brag about having the biggest ones. Totally bad for you...

 

[scotrace]

See also

Older thread on same topic merged into this one. See new Page One. -ed.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Real Maine Food, such that I was raised on --

Red Hot Dogs -- natural casing franks with the casing dyed a bright chemical red. Must be eaten in a Nissen "New England Style" roll with yellow mustard.

I-talian Sandwiches -- sort of like a common cold-cut sub, only sold at gas stations, corner grocery stores, and obscure roadside establishments. Heavily seasoned with olive oil and black pepper, to the point where if the oil hasn't soaked completely thru the wrapper by the time you buy it, to run down your arm when you pick it up, it isn't a "real I-talian." A "real I-talian" includes tomatoes and pickles, but absolutely NO lettuce is allowed or people will laugh and point at you.

Macaroni and Cheese Loaf -- baloney with macaroni and cheese cooked into it. Sometimes pimientos, too, but I advise picking them out first. You've been warned.

Bean Hole Beans -- Pea beans baked with molasses, mustard, and a big fat slab of salt pork, in an iron pot loosely buried in a hole in the backyard with the embers of a wood fire, and left there for at least 12 hours. Always served at Methodist church suppers with that brown bread that comes in a can.

Whoopee Pies -- large flat discs of devils-food cake with sugared Crisco filling between them. You'll find them on the counter right next to the I-talian sandwiches. Popular attraction at whoopee-pie-eating contests at all the summer festivals.

Moxie -- yes, the classic early 20th century soda/tonic lives on, with a taste best described as root beer mixed with Father John's Medicine, and then squeezed thru the sleeve of an old corduroy jacket. The locals won't tell you this if you're a tourist, but it's actually very good mixed with vodka.

Humpty Dumpty's BBQ Flavor Potato Chips -- Made from real Maine spuds, and flavored with salt, tomato powder, hot pepper, and something that tastes like finely powdered wood chips. One of the only foods I can eat when I have a migraine.

Fried Mackerel -- either caught yourself off the town wharf with a dropline or bought off the back of a rusty red wagon from an industrious neighborhood kid. The King of Greasy Fish, but it fries up nice and crisp. Best accompanied with a cold domestic beer -- Narragansett is the traditional choice, but it's hard to find now.

Shrimp, Lobster, Crabmeat, other seafoods -- best when bought off a guy working out of an old pickup truck parked at the side of the road, with a FOOD STAMPS EXCEPTED sign whitewashed on the door. Your purchase will be handed to you in a re-used plastic bag from the Shop N Save, and you better keep an eye on him to make sure he keeps his thumb off the scale. But you'll never find it fresher.

Wow that's quite the list
Are Humpty Dumpty chips really gone those things were the best! I'm now gonna be on the lookout. Sometimes things show up when you least expect it.

I totally know what you mean about the seafood truck. Growing up in RI seems like it might be similar to growing up in Maine. But I remember being a kid and going to buy lobsters off the back of a truck in an old vacant parking lot. This having to go to an actual store to by lobster, shrimp, steamers, crab, or any kind of fresh shell fish is a foreign thing to me.
I won't even buy Lobsters here in Boston anymore. I'd actually rather spend the money on gas to drive to Maine or coastal RI, so I can get better ones. There's actually a pretty decent place on Rt. 1 just a couple miles south of Freeport that is pretty good. It's a road side shack half of which is a restaurant, the other half sells lobsters and other shells. I feel so badly for people when they go to Freeport and spend tons of money on lunch at the lobster pot or whatever that place is, or the Haraseeket. If only they knew that they could get in their car and drive for a few minutes for one of the best fried haddock sandwiches!
Road side shacks are the best places to buy. Too bad prices have really gone up astronomically this season[huh]

Is the Moxie I see in stores different than Moxie from when we were kids? I was never really crazy about it, but if I recall it's kind of bitter?
I see it at Whole Foods down the street from my apartment. I just wasn't sure if it was different.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

From California - good sourdough bread, Freebirds nachos, Woodstocks pizza, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf tea lattes, Bagel Cafe, Trader Joe's (especially english muffin bread), and sandwiches from a little German deli in Fremont

From Colorado - Tokyo Joe's, cream filled individual angel food cakes

From US in general - peppermint patties, root beer (floats), Jamba Juice, a variety of microwave popcorn, yogurt that isn't runny, taffy

And when I'm gone (from England) I think I'll miss - Thornton's chocolate, plain chocolate digestives, Hobnobs, Feel Good drinks, veggie couscous from Tesco, easy to find kindereggs (silly FDA), pasties, take away sandwiches

I'd also like to know where (other than France) I can get Carambars.

We have a store up the street from us, Kiki's, that imports a ton of these things. Hobnobs (mmmmm), chocolate digestive's, Tiger Bars, and I see Kindereggs at a lot of different places. So when you return to the states, try to find a mini mart or a grocer that might import these things. We have a very large Irish population here, so we have a couple of shoppes that import, and even have kitchens that make great regional togo meals and sandwiches. I don't know what I would do without Hero!!
If you can't find any, just let me know, I'll send you what I can find

 

[LizzieMaine]

Wow that's quite the list
Are Humpty Dumpty chips really gone those things were the best! I'm now gonna be on the lookout. Sometimes things show up when you least expect it.

Humpty's got bought out by a Canadian company about ten years ago, and while the flavoring's still the same, the chips don't taste like they used to when they were made in Scarborough. Three cheers for corporate consolidation.

Is the Moxie I see in stores different than Moxie from when we were kids? I was never really crazy about it, but if I recall it's kind of bitter?
I see it at Whole Foods down the street from my apartment. I just wasn't sure if it was different.

I think it's a dite sweeter than it used to be -- there's still that bitter gentian-root cough syrup edge to it, but it used to be really tongue-curlingly bitter. Or maybe our taste buds change as we get older.

Either way, I think the key to enjoying Moxie is to drink it *ice cold.* Warm Moxie is just -- wrong.

 

[Fletch]

Real Maine Food, such that I was raised on --

Red Hot Dogs -- natural casing franks with the casing dyed a bright chemical red. Must be eaten in a Nissen "New England Style" roll with yellow mustard.

The kind of roll that's structurally unsound and tends to come apart at the bottom and torpedo-bomb your dog out onto your pretty gingham sun dress? Or is that just the Pepperidge Farm kind that does that?

Macaroni and Cheese Loaf -- baloney with macaroni and cheese cooked into it. Sometimes pimientos, too, but I advise picking them out first. You've been warned.

You can have the pimientos. And the olives in olive loaf, too. I never heard of mac & cheese loaf before today. (Thought: replace pimientos with jalapeños? Or is that just too Texas for Maine?)

Moxie [...] The locals won't tell you this if you're a tourist, but it's actually very good mixed with vodka.

Honey, after a couple, anything's good mixed with vodka. That stuff's my downfall.

Humpty Dumpty's BBQ Flavor Potato Chips -- Made from real Maine spuds, and flavored with salt, tomato powder, hot pepper, and something that tastes like finely powdered wood chips. One of the only foods I can eat when I have a migraine.

And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Lizzie together again.