jkath
Hospitality Queen
Aaah! Gotcha!Ishbel said:
Your local food products
- Thread starter Claire
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
jpmcgrew
Executive Chef
In New Mexico its our red and green chilis,blue corn meal In sure there is more.Corazon what else do we have?Claire
Master Chef
I love it! Yes, I've lived in California, actually started (SF Bay Area) and finished (Lompoc) my school years there. California is too large an area (to me, OK?) to consider it one place as far as food goes. For example, I can buy the Santa Barbara Olive Company olives here in Galena, IL. It's another thing entirely to buy them in their Solvang store, where hubby was complimented on his manners (he actually takes off his baseball cap when he enters a store). I have also been to the home of garlic, the Napa Valley wine train, numerous cheese places, etc. I want to hear about the food near you.
I love it here because there are so many foods that originate here, and yet no one knows about it. I visited my family in FL recently and brought tons of local foods. They were a huge hit.
I love it here because there are so many foods that originate here, and yet no one knows about it. I visited my family in FL recently and brought tons of local foods. They were a huge hit.
Claire
Master Chef
Breezy, your relatives aren't too far away. I haven't seen "cheese here" signs, but have for morel mushrooms and asparagus, and yes, we pull off and go to the farm to buy them!! Several times a year we hit the cheese "factories" and buy the stronger, better cheeses that the grocery stores may not sell.
jkath
Hospitality Queen
Claire said:
Holy Cow! Claire, I grew up in Santa Barbara, and went to Solvang one Sunday each month as a kid to go to Pea Soup Andersons. And later on, as a young adult, my job took me to Lompoc every Friday for a year.
You ought to see Solvang nowadays. Still pretty, but my Dad built up a lot of buildings and made them even more ornate
Claire
Master Chef
jkath, it is a favorite spot. Hubby and I spent 3 years on the road in an RV, and stayed for a month at Vandenberg AFB (where I lived when I graduated from high school -- Cabrillo). This was about 7 years ago. We loved it. I spent lots of time in Solvang. Re-discovered old friends, relatives visited, etc. The area was, if anything, prettier than it had been when I lived there (in the early 70s it was in draught; when we were there it was wetter, so greener).
Claire
Master Chef
When I lived in Virginia, it was anything peanut or ham. In Hawaii I loved macadamia nuts ... but in fact, I lived there off and on for almost 10 years, and don't think I ever paid for any of the following:
pineapples
coconuts
mangoes
papayas
limes
oranges
It seemed we always had freinds who would provide us with them. It was very popular to just use a majic marker, write an address on a coconut, and mail it! I had a rarity for a grandfather: a man who LOVED fruit cake. There was a fruitcake featuring pineapple and macs out of Kemoo Farms that was a huge hit with him. It was a huge hit locally, too, after I was though with it (meaning I bought them, then poured spiced dark rum over it, re-wrapped, then served after it had aged a bit).
Believe me, I didn't mean to denigrate the bounty that is California, just wanted responses that were more local. For example, in the area I lived in, it was "Santa Maria Barbecue". I was stunned to hear about this. I lived there and had never heard of it when I grew up. Then I learned it was our normal good-weather fare: grilled, marinated tri-tip steaks, pinquito beans cooked in a chili type manner. The thing you'd actually buy as a gift or take away as a souvenier might be a bag of pinquito beans. You won't see them too many other places. Hmmmm ... I think I might need to get some Lompocian (?) (Lompocals? Lompocanians?) freinds to send me a sack of them!!!
pineapples
coconuts
mangoes
papayas
limes
oranges
It seemed we always had freinds who would provide us with them. It was very popular to just use a majic marker, write an address on a coconut, and mail it! I had a rarity for a grandfather: a man who LOVED fruit cake. There was a fruitcake featuring pineapple and macs out of Kemoo Farms that was a huge hit with him. It was a huge hit locally, too, after I was though with it (meaning I bought them, then poured spiced dark rum over it, re-wrapped, then served after it had aged a bit).
Believe me, I didn't mean to denigrate the bounty that is California, just wanted responses that were more local. For example, in the area I lived in, it was "Santa Maria Barbecue". I was stunned to hear about this. I lived there and had never heard of it when I grew up. Then I learned it was our normal good-weather fare: grilled, marinated tri-tip steaks, pinquito beans cooked in a chili type manner. The thing you'd actually buy as a gift or take away as a souvenier might be a bag of pinquito beans. You won't see them too many other places. Hmmmm ... I think I might need to get some Lompocian (?) (Lompocals? Lompocanians?) freinds to send me a sack of them!!!
Claire
Master Chef
Oh, yes, as was already said, you couldn't forget pea soup!!!
ironchef
Executive Chef
Ah but in Hawaii, if you lived on Oahu, you wouldn't be able to call macadamia nuts "local" since they are grown and processed almost exclusively on the Big Island.
Well - locally produced unique foods here in Fort Worth ... Ranch Style Beans and Wolf Brand Chili. Out on the Northside around the old stockyards (a predominantly Mexican area of town) you'll find tamales and Mexican pastries like no place else - except for maybe San Antonio. Something else that we have, but you probably wouldn't want to buy a package of it to give as gifts, is a major Bungee Foods plant that processes tons of cooking oils ... everything from tanker cars of oil for cooking your breakfast cerals (corn flakes, etc) - to the oil used to cook fries for several large chains - and specialty blends used for pastry.
Mark Webster
Senior Cook
Here in Kansas City I either send/take steak or BBQ rub/sauce or both. They always seem to be big hits whenever I send them out.
Mark
Mark
sparrowgrass
Head Chef
I am in the Missouri Ozarks, and if I wanted to send a local gift basket to someone, I would probably pick up a country cured ham (Burgers Smokehouse makes good ones, and sells them on line), and some good Missouri rice. Peaches and apples in season are good, too.
I have to travel about 3 hours to the bootheel of Missouri to get it, but Martin Rice mill sells the most delicious jasmine and basmati rice. They have a website http://martinrice.com.
Looked at the site just now, and they also have sushi rice. And the shipping is not too bad--I might just order a couple of 25 pound sacks of jasmine and basmati and share with friends and family.
Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot gooey butter cake--more of a candy than cake, it has cream cheese and butter and lots of confectioners sugar. Google a recipe--easy to make.
I have to travel about 3 hours to the bootheel of Missouri to get it, but Martin Rice mill sells the most delicious jasmine and basmati rice. They have a website http://martinrice.com.
Looked at the site just now, and they also have sushi rice. And the shipping is not too bad--I might just order a couple of 25 pound sacks of jasmine and basmati and share with friends and family.
Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot gooey butter cake--more of a candy than cake, it has cream cheese and butter and lots of confectioners sugar. Google a recipe--easy to make.
Claire
Master Chef
As many of you know, I've lived a lot of places (my personal theme song, although I'm not a C&W fan, is "I've Been Everwhere, Man" by Johnny cash. In Utah, you need to get out, right now. The produce is some of the best in the country, and in a few weeks you need to look for cherries. Yummm. There used to be a lot of "pick your own" orchards (I think these have all gone away because of insurance policies), but the local farmers used to threaten to weigh my baby sister (a year or so old) on her way in and out. A big family "do" was towards the end of the summer when a local farmer would call us to "clear the field" -- all the veggies we wanted if we would just show up. We got lots of corn and tomatoes, and that was supper that night. A stick of margarine, sliced tomatoes, and a big shaker full of a S&P mix. I'm surprised about the coffee syrup since caffein is a nono in Mormon land (or at least used to be). Utah is the beehive state, so I'd think that honey products might be popular.
Claire
Master Chef
Oh, Iron Chef, not just Macs these days. I'm not sure if there are even pineapples on Oahu any more, or sugar cane. The days when the smell of pineapple from the canning factory (it actually smelled like pineapple upside down cake) perfuming Honolulu are gone. Oh ... let's not forget coffee! I get a care package every year from Hawaii. Unfortunately I don't drink much coffee these days.
rickell
Senior Cook
Kansas City
Bar-b-que
Steaks
Jelly's
Corn
Bar-b-que
Steaks
Jelly's
Corn
Most of our friends are neither German nor American, so we try to find something imported that has a significance in their country (Belgian Ale, French wine, Turkish Raki (Greek Ouzo), Danish cheeses... etc. Otherwise, it's usually flowers, not food. That's an interesting question. I enjoyed reading others' replies.
britneyoops
Assistant Cook
i was born in the south Italy, Puglia, contry of oil extra virgin of olive, fresh cheese like ricotta and mozzarella, good vegetables like zucchini, capsicum, eggplants.....the south kitchen is called "mediterranean kitchen"!
In the city where i was born,Lecce, the traditional cake is called "torta pasticciotto" : pie with double crust and with filling of "cream pasticcera" very ver good!
In the city where i was born,Lecce, the traditional cake is called "torta pasticciotto" : pie with double crust and with filling of "cream pasticcera" very ver good!
college_cook
Head Chef
Well I'm from Indiana, and we've got corn. I've got to say sometimes it feels as if that's all we've got...
Around my hometown specifically, there's a town called East Chicago with an enormous Hispanic population, and you can find great mexican food there.
Around Bloomington, we have a winery, Oliver Winery, and I think they're pretty good.
Around my hometown specifically, there's a town called East Chicago with an enormous Hispanic population, and you can find great mexican food there.
Around Bloomington, we have a winery, Oliver Winery, and I think they're pretty good.
