Traditional foods in your country

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I'm also in the US but I know in this region wild game is a big deal, especially venison of the white tail variety and fish caught in the local lakes, streams, and rivers (whitefish, pike, walleye, small mouth bass, perch, lake trout, brook trout, smelt, salmon). Smoked lake trout and smoked whitefish are really popular. We also have wild raspberries, apples, chokecherries (they make excellent jelly) and blueberries (you haven't had blueberries until you've had wild blueberries). Some lucky folk know where the morels grow. Cherries are also pretty common, but most of them get brought up from down state, especially around Traverse City's cherry festival. Oh, and maple is huge in this area. Maple syrup, maple candy, maple fudge and ice cream, maple in baked beans and on baked hams, even a few who put maple in their chili. And of course, you can't leave out the pasty. You can find evidence of this here Pasties: The Meaty Center Of 'Yooper' Food : NPR and here » Real Michigan Food: The Pasty » Absolute Michigan. Common ingredients for U.P. pasties are pork, beef or turkey, onion, worcestershire sauce, potatoes, black pepper, and of course rutabaga. Sprout informed me that carrots are controversial. Some people love them with the rutabaga and others think it's an abomination.
 
All this food talk is making me hungry!!! As I thought, local people do eat different things to what we see on TV. I've never been to the US but any country that is home to good old Tabasco sounds good to me. Can't live without it..lol! We only hear about Americans eating burgers and blueberry pancakes. I've been to Barcelona but Spanish cuisine doesn't excite me that much, just loved the pealla! It's always nice to hear about cultures and tradition.
 
Re Cajun spice blends--the 2 most well-known chefs with spice blends are Emeril Lagasse & PaulPrudhomme. If they're not available in Botswana, they can be bought online, or if that isn't possible, google each of them as all of Emeril's spice blend recipes are online, and some of Prudhomme's. Also Prudhomme is credited with "inventing" blackening, so plenty of recipes and techniques accessible on the net, probably videos too on youtube.
 
@Snip, mmmm, hamburgers and blueberry pancakes. :) I'll only eat homemade blueberry pancakes anymore. I've been spoiled for way to long with my dad's (Goodweed) recipe. I think buckwheat blueberry pancakes with just a tiny drizzle of honey on top are my favorite. Blueberry pancakes in general are a regional favorite especially when the wild blueberries are in season. The favorite hamburger in this area seems to be the grilled hockey puck, aka a burger so burnt on the grill you might as well be eating a hockey puck and could use them to play street hockey with. I've heard people swear they are the best way to eat a burger and complain that properly cooked ones aren't done enough. :glare: Personally, I think black and crunchy enough on the outside to chip a tooth on while rubbery or sawdusty on the inside is gross, but I seem to be in the minority in this town.
 
Here in northeastern N.C., pit cooked pork barbecue is a traditional favorite. Collard greens,, butterbeans cooked slow with a piece of side meat or ham hock, brunswick stew, fish muddle, cornbread(generally fried as opposed to baked), well... this list could grow quite long. and as it is nearly suppertime...I reckon I will let that do.
 
I always wondered where the edge of the great dismal swamp was located, Hoot.
 
eggs, scrambled with thin slices of bitter melon, crumbled tofu and meat stripped from fish bones. braised pig's ears. purple sweet potato buried in a smoldering pile of leaves. sugar cane from irate, machete-wielding farmers. wild onion crepe.

... breakfast menudo stew of hominy beans and cow tripe.
 
French Canadian here too Rock - I'm Acadian - the cajuns are deported Acadians, who the queen deported when they refused to fight in the war.
I'd have to add seafood to your list. Lobster, crab, shellfish, seafood soup
Dandelion wine! My grandpa would make my mom and her siblings go out to the fields and pick dandelions for this.
Anything molasses.. molasses pie.. molasses pancakes...
 
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From the Upper Midwest of US, lefse (like tortillas from riced potatoes), hotdish (cream of anything with noodles or rice, some sort of protein, chopped celery, etc.), beef and pork. Horseradish, rhubarb. Lutefisk (blech - nasty stuff cured in lye).
 
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We eat everything, from Italian to Japanese, Cajun to English. I can't think of anything traditional, my paternal Grandmother was Czech, but never taught us any recipes.
 
Regional Favorites for U.P. Michigan Fruit pies, especially blueberry and raspberry, cherry, and rhubarb, but includes apple (transparent apples), pumpkin, Pecan pie made with maple syrup instead of corn syrup, cream pies of all types, pudding pies, etc.

Boiled dinner made with meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, and cabbage is a favorite. Meats for this dish include a choice of ham, venison, ham hocks, corned beef, chuck roast, or ground beef. The traditional pasty is made with a 3-2-1 pastry dough, and filled with ground beef, diced rutabaga, diced potato, chopped onion, and seasoned simply with garlic, salt, and pepper. The filling is placed in the center of an 8 inch round of rolled dough which is folded from one side to the other, making a half-moon shape. The pasty is usually served with gravy or ketchup. Some pasty makers (a few of us anyway) like to place a dough divider in the pasty and place the above filling on one side, and a fruit filling on the other, providing both the savory main course, and the desert in one wonderful pasty. Enough dough must be left on the pinched edge to roll toward the center to make a handle by which the pasty is picked up and eaten.

Pizza pasties are a local favorite. The household I grew up in was not typical. We ate a lot of spaghetti, goulash (macaroni with ground beef , bell pepper, onion, and herbs), pot roast, beef stew, meat pies, fried, roasted, or grilled chicken, rabbit, fresh brook trout, fresh Rainbow trout, yellow perch, venison, lots of root veggies, pancakes and waffles, eggs and bacon, breakfast sausage, wonderful baked beans, wonderful chili with lots of kidney beans, onions, celery, chili powder, and ground beef, in a tomato base.

Regional sandwiches include bacon-lettuce & tomato, liverwurst, open faced roast beef, open faced pork, and open faced turkey each with appropriate gravy. Americans everywhere love peanut butter and jelly (provided there are no peanut allergies).

Corn on the cob with hamburgers are common. Local favorites are the Paul Bunyan and Big C hamburgers, both exceeding 1/2 lb. in weight. Most people prefer their fish dipped in beer batter and deep-fried. I like mine dredged in flour and pan-fried. Smoked fish of all kinds are common to this area, smoked with maple or alder wood.

Pulled pork isn't common except at my house.:mrgreen: Pork ribs are a favorite. However, most folks around here overcook them, and cook them with a sugary barbecue sauce, that usually is burnt by the time the ribs are removed from the grill. They also grill them over heat with no lid, or cook them in a slow cooker, heavy sigh.

Our restaurants are nothing to brag about. But there are a few great cooks around these parts, especially with game or fish. None of them cook professionally. Well, that's all I can think of for now.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

P.S. West Pier has the best burgers and fries in town.
 
Regional Favorites for U.P. Michigan Fruit pies, especially blueberry and raspberry, cherry, and rhubarb, but includes apple (transparent apples), pumpkin, Pecan pie made with maple syrup instead of corn syrup, cream pies of all types, pudding pies, etc.

Boiled dinner made with meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, and cabbage is a favorite. Meats for this dish include a choice of ham, venison, ham hocks, corned beef, chuck roast, or ground beef. The traditional pasty is made with a 3-2-1 pastry dough, and filled with ground beef, diced rutabaga, diced potato, chopped onion, and seasoned simply with garlic, salt, and pepper. The filling is placed in the center of an 8 inch round of rolled dough which is folded from one side to the other, making a half-moon shape. The pasty is usually served with gravy or ketchup. Some pasty makers (a few of us anyway) like to place a dough divider in the pasty and place the above filling on one side, and a fruit filling on the other, providing both the savory main course, and the desert in one wonderful pasty. Enough dough must be left on the pinched edge to roll toward the center to make a handle by which the pasty is picked up and eaten.

Pizza pasties are a local favorite. The household I grew up in was not typical. We ate a lot of spaghetti, goulash (macaroni with ground beef , bell pepper, onion, and herbs), pot roast, beef stew, meat pies, fried, roasted, or grilled chicken, rabbit, fresh brook trout, fresh Rainbow trout, yellow perch, venison, lots of root veggies, pancakes and waffles, eggs and bacon, breakfast sausage, wonderful baked beans, wonderful chili with lots of kidney beans, onions, celery, chili powder, and ground beef, in a tomato base.

Regional sandwiches include bacon-lettuce & tomato, liverwurst, open faced roast beef, open faced pork, and open faced turkey each with appropriate gravy. Americans everywhere love peanut butter and jelly (provided there are no peanut allergies).

Corn on the cob with hamburgers are common. Local favorites are the Paul Bunyan and Big C hamburgers, both exceeding 1/2 lb. in weight. Most people prefer their fish dipped in beer batter and deep-fried. I like mine dredged in flour and pan-fried. Smoked fish of all kinds are common to this area, smoked with maple or alder wood.

Pulled pork isn't common except at my house.:mrgreen: Pork ribs are a favorite. However, most folks around here overcook them, and cook them with a sugary barbecue sauce, that usually is burnt by the time the ribs are removed from the grill. They also grill them over heat with no lid, or cook them in a slow cooker, heavy sigh.

Our restaurants are nothing to brag about. But there are a few great cooks around these parts, especially with game or fish. None of them cook professionally. Well, that's all I can think of for now.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

P.S. West Pier has the best burgers and fries in town.

What's a 3-2-1 pastry dough, GW?

I love burnt sugary BBQ sauce!:pig:
 
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French Canadian here too Rock - I'm Acadian - the cajuns are deported Acadians, who the queen deported when they refused to fight in the war.
I'd have to add seafood to your list. Lobster, crab, shellfish, seafood soup
Dandelion wine! My grandpa would make my mom and her siblings go out to the fields and pick dandelions for this.
Anything molasses.. molasses pie.. molasses pancakes...

And fiddleheads! When I was in grad school in New Brunswick, my roommate was from Quebec--she and I went out and harvested fiddleheads. And, don't forget cod cheeks!
 
Lol! I like my burgers made with good quality beef and still a bit pink in the middle. Add some relish, some pickles and a fried egg and I'm a happy girl!
 
Thanks guys! I've learned a lot just from the few replies :) We don't have many fancy restaurants in SA but I prefer it that way. We have great food, great people and lots of atmosphere. Nothing beats being able to put on some shorts and a t-shirt and still being able to get a good meal have some local beer and not having to worry about a stuffy crowd!
 
What's a 3-2-1 pastry dough, GW?

I love burnt sugary BBQ sauce!:pig:

3 parts flour, 2 parts fat, 1 part water, by weight. It isn't as flaky as a traditional pice crust made from 3 cups flour, enough shortening cut in to make it look like pea gravel, and 1/8 cup ice water. But it is still tender and great for pasties, fry pies, and such.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Here in northeastern N.C., pit cooked pork barbecue is a traditional favorite. Collard greens,, butterbeans cooked slow with a piece of side meat or ham hock, brunswick stew, fish muddle, cornbread(generally fried as opposed to baked), well... this list could grow quite long. and as it is nearly suppertime...I reckon I will let that do.


I grew up in NC...I miss southern food.

In Pittsburgh, traditional foods are pierogies, french fries on everything, eben salads, Primantis sandwiches, which are meat, slaw, fries
 
Texas is so regional, it really depends on where in Texas you grew up. I am from Southeast Texas which is more akin to Cajun country just across the Sabine river than anything else. Crawfish boils are pretty staple for celebrations. We had rice farms just down the road from us and rice pretty much went with everything.

East Texas is very much like the Deep South, but they don't really eat grits and butterbeans like other parts of the South.

My godmother is from South Texas and makes awesome Mexican food. There's something called "migas" which is a mix of leftover bits of corn tortillas, tomatoes, onions, and bellpeppers sauted together with scrambled eggs. There's something else she makes with cut up dried beef but I can't remember the name. Then there's this one dish that's basically fresh Mexican cheese fried slightly in a skillet which you eat with tortilla chips.

I think it's funny how people from the Carolinas argue about what sauce is the best for barbeque. Personally, from a Texan, I think good barbeque doesn't need sauce at all. We mostly cook brisket so its a little different scenario than a pork shoulder, but on a good brisket, every slice will have a lining of fat on one side that is extremely flavorful and just melts in your mouth. That's the best sauce of all!
 
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