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Regional foods of football cities


Kid Cid
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Savage Beatings:

I just took another look at this list of regional foods, and I swear that next to Baltimore I saw "crack babies"  lol 

While not necessarily too far from the truth, I'm reasonably certian that I type better than that. wink
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Big John:

 

Kid Cid

While not necessarily too far from the truth, I'm reasonably certian that I type better than that.  wink

Are you certain about that? smash wink Note to self: Big John seems to lack a sense of humor... computer
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I forgot about another one for St. Louis: Brain Sandwiches. (My family used to drive past this building on our way home from Blues hockey games)

 

 

Gourmet magazine in 1999 even pronounced brain sandwiches to be a signature dish of the city, along with toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake.
The following is a sad article from today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the demise of the delicious (seriously) brain sandwich:

 

 

Brain food? Not anymore

By Sara Shipley

Post-Dispatch

01/15/2004

Jr./P-D)

 

Every once in a while, Gary Naggi cooks up a bunch of brain sandwiches to entice his customers at Hessler's Pub in south St. Louis County. He cleans the pinkish organ, dredges it in flour, salt, pepper and garlic, then fries it up and serves it on toasted rye bread with pickles and onions.

 

"If you don't tell them what it is, they'll like it," said Naggi, 48, a cook and kitchen manager. "One lady swore she'd never eat them. But she had a couple of beers in her, she tried them, and she ended up getting two to take home."

 

Toll the bell at the St. Louis cathedral! Brain sandwiches - a deep-fried delicacy that was once a favorite here - appear to be fading into local gastronomic history.

 

Who wants to eat a high-fat, high-cholesterol organ meat these days? The recent discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state hasn't done anything to increase the appeal of the dish, either.

 

Pat's Bar and Grill on Oakland Avenue immediately took brain sandwiches off the menu when the mad cow news broke about three weeks ago.

 

"Since we were one of the few places that had them, it was a pretty big draw for us," owner Joe Finn said. He estimates that the restaurant sold about 20 or 30 brain sandwiches a week.

 

"It was an unnecessary risk," Finn said. "Unnecessary for me as a business owner, and also for my customers."

 

Unfortunately for local connoisseurs, the infectious material that causes mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, concentrates in the brain and spinal cord of an infected animal.

 

Federal regulations went into effect Monday that ban the human consumption of brains and spinal cords from cattle more than 30 months old. Brains from younger cows - which make up 80 percent of the slaughter - are still approved for sale.

 

Just the thought of it may gross some people out. But a few decades ago, brain sandwiches were everywhere in St. Louis.

 

Gourmet magazine in 1999 even pronounced brain sandwiches to be a signature dish of the city, along with toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake. The sandwiches were most popular in the German neighborhoods, where immigrant families used to snap up scraps from abundant packing houses.

 

Now just a few places serve them, like Schottzie's Bar & Grill on Concord Village Avenue in St. Louis County and the Majestic Restaurant on Laclede Avenue in the Central West End.

 

Many of the old joints have closed down, like Dieckmeyer's Bar & Restaurant on South Broadway.

 

"That's really, really sad," said Elaine Viets, a former Post-Dispatch columnist who often extolled brain sandwiches during her 20-plus years as a local writer. "All the great South Side foods involve significant risk to your health. We South Siders are a sturdy lot who live a long time anyway."

 

The brain sandwich's appeal was partly its taste - sometimes compared to liver or mushrooms - and partly its texture. "It was white and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside, and it was just a work of art," Viets said.

 

St. Louisan Jeff McDaniel used to enjoy eating brains, but he says he doesn't plan to go there any more.

 

"I haven't had a brain sandwich in years, and I don't know that I would," said McDaniel, a truck driver who grew up eating brains and eggs cooked by his grandmother. "With mad cow, I wouldn't eat anything close to the bone."

 

He has lots of company. Kenrick's Meats & Catering on Weber Road in Affton used to sell two cases a week of fresh brains, owner John Weinmann said. Now the market sells a few brains a week, if that.

 

"The acceptance has dropped dramatically in the past 15 years," Weinmann said. "The mad cow thing did not do that. It's just that people don't want to eat head cheese and brains."

 

No one has ordered a brain sandwich lately at the Majestic Restaurant. "It takes a lot of guts to order something like that," said Alex Politis, son of owner Bill Politis.

 

While the brain sandwich tradition may be waning, cooked brains are springing up in local ethnic eateries, like the Taqueria el Gallo Jiros in Fairmont City.

 

Owner Mario Hernandez said the reason brains sell "is that it tastes good."

 

Well, as long as you don't think about what you're eating.

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Just thought of another one for Minnesota that would be easier than the other dishes mentioned. Bars. That's right, little snacky food Bars which can take on a variety of flavors. Probably the most popular of which is the Lemon Bar here in Minnesota. I don't have a recipe off hand, but I'm sure one can be readily found on the internet somewhere.

 

For a "Bar" reference, see the movie "Drop Dead Gorgeous".

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Savage Beatings:

Just thought of another one for Minnesota that would be easier than the other dishes mentioned.  Bars.  That's right, little snacky food Bars which can take on a variety of flavors.  Probably the most popular of which is the Lemon Bar here in Minnesota.  I don't have a recipe off hand, but I'm sure one can be readily found on the internet somewhere.

 

For a "Bar" reference, see the movie "Drop Dead Gorgeous".

Found the recipe. Here it is. Enjoy!
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  • 1 year later...

Time to bring this back to the top. I'm having issues because the wife hates cheesesteaks and everything to do with them. :D

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Time to bring this back to the top. I'm having issues because the wife hates cheesesteaks and everything to do with them. :D

 

672584[/snapback]

 

 

 

Good idea Cid. Don't know that I'll do the cheesesteaks, but I've had some good ribs in Philly, so I may substitute. :D

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Since Football season carries over the fall...Louisiana Crawfish aren't in season. They are prime from March to early June. They sale Chinese stuff but around here its taboo ecept to restaurant owners. Jambalaya and Gumbo are great traditions. At LSU we fry a lot of turkeys. The Saints don't have a big tailgate crowd...maybe in Gulfport... Rajn.

 

LSU Baseball...there is always boiled Crawfish and Crabs...lick my chops thinking about it.

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For Philly besides the usual. The original Nick's Roast Beef is a must. Then some Tasty Cakes for after.

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For N.O. if you can get a hold of Real French Bread(not hoagie or sub bread) PO-Boys are the way to go. Also seafood which N.O. is famous for. Fried shrimp, oysters or fish. anything blackened fish, steak or chicken. Red beans and rice with sausage.

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Well, I know it doesn't help you much this year (but keep this handy you will need it in a few years), Houston does have much of a Tex/Mex flavor to it. Along with Chili, you could also put down quesadillas or hot tamales. Quesadillas can be fixed a variety of ways, chicken, cheese, shrimp, or steak. I have even seen spinach quesadillas before. And tamales are usually chicken, pork, or beef. Here is a recipe for quesadillas and tamales.

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quesadillas :D

tamales :D

 

674594[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

I agree if you get a bad batch of tamales, you will never want to try them again. Luckily I grew up on my moms, which were always made from scratch and just perfect. I could get that recipe, but unfortunately tamales isn't a fool-proof food to prepare.

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