Ask Lemmy

Norwegian, here. Lutefisk is incredible if done right, but it's easy to fuck up severely. So if someone were to try and cook something based on my recommendation, I'd suggest Fårikål or Pinnekjøtt instead, as they're both incredibly easy to make and quite tasty.

Philly area

Yes cheesesteak, hoagie, soft pretzels.

But I believe strongly that a roast pork Italiano sandwich loaded up with sharp provolone, roasted long hots, and broccoli rabe is the best Philly sandwich.

Go a little out into the suburbs around Norristown, and you'll also find the "Zep" a sort of pared-down hoagie, one kind of meat, cheese, oil and spices, tomatoes, and plenty of onions.

I'm not going to wade into the minefield of which sandwich shops are best except to say Pat's and Geno's are garbage, but maybe worth it for the experience if you're a tourist. Avoid anywhere that advertises as a "Philly Cheesesteak" look for cheesesteak, steak sandwiches, or even just steaks. For a Zep I don't think it's controversial to say Lou's ro Eve's are the places to go.

Tomato pie- close relative of pizza, thick sort of focaccia-like crust, square, thick tomato sauce, dusting of Parmesan cheese, served cold. Staple of many parties here.

Also in the suburbs - Franzones pizza, Bridgeport is the original location, but the original owner sold it to a relative and opened the one in Plymouth/Conshy location and another in Manayunk. You're going to either love or hate the pizza, thin crust, very sweet sauce in a spiral on top of the cheese. There's a few imitators out there but Franzones is the original.

This is the right time of year for them so "Irish Potato" candies. Sweet cream cheese and shredded coconut, rolled in cinnamon. Nothing Irish about them but they kind of look like potatoes.

Zitners Easter eggs- chocolate candies with various fillings.

Goldenbergs Peanut Chews- chewy molasses candy with peanuts covered in chocolate

Mallow Cups- like a Reese's cup but full of marshmallow and coconut instead of peanut butter

Scrapple - don't ask what's in it, just eat it.

Pork roll (kind of a jersey thing, but ubiquitous in Philly too) it's basically round spam

Pepperpot soup- this is old Philly food, like revolutionary war Philly, it's damn hard to find these days but every few years some local restaurant gets the idea to recreate it. It's a hearty, slightly spicy beef and trip soup. There's some Caribbean pepper pot soups that are kind of similar.

From approximately the french Alps: Ravioles du Dauphiné or Tartiflette

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raviole_du_Dauphin%C3%A9
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartiflette

I've lived all over the U.S., so here are some of my favorites:

Texas:

• Beef barbecue. The classic is beef brisket, but a lot of places have great beef rib, too.
• Tex Mex: fajitas hit the spot every time.
• Breakfast tacos, especially with leftover smoked brisket from the day before, or some other smoked meat like smoked sausage. Undeniably Texas, undeniably delicious.

Louisiana:

• Boiled crawfish, with red potatoes and corn and andouille sausage. Some people overcook their potatoes and corn, but even then there's still a charm to it. But the whole experience of a crawfish boil is everything great about food culture: socializing around a big table, making a big mess, teaching kids and newbies how do engage in that task of peeling crawfish. The Vietnamese riffs on these traditions are also great, and Viet-Cajun is a great genre of food in general, too.

The American South in general:

• American Southern style fried chicken. It's just great.
• Pecan pie. Easily my favorite American dessert.

Southern California:

• Burritos. Something about the fresh made flour tortillas in Southern California are just better than everywhere else in the U.S. So a good burrito provides flavor from the fillings, and also flavor from the wrap itself, in a way that all the parts just complement each other.
• Ensenada style fish tacos (yes, I know this originates south of the border but it is "local" to the general region). There's just something refreshing about fish tacos with a crunchy cabbage slaw, fresh lime juice, a crema-based sauce, eaten outdoors. Can't beat it.

New York:

• Bodega style breakfast sandwich. The basic concept is universal across the U.S. (egg, a breakfast meat like sausage or bacon, and cheese on some kind of roll, bun, or even bagel, griddled with generous amounts of butter), but something about the New York bodegas just make these taste better when you're on the go.

Chicago:

• Deep dish pizza. Looks kinda dumb, but it's delicious.
• Chicago style, "dragged through the garden" hot dogs. Every component makes this ensemble great.
• Italian beef sandwiches. I don't know why these aren't more popular outside of Chicago. Get it dipped, get a little messy with it.

As an Australian, I'm going to say Pavlova because it's the only thing that comes to mind when I think of favourite foods

I call bullshit on new zealand's claim with their so called unnamed chef that probably didn't even exist

Grünkohl!

Indian with a sweet tooth here. My vote goes to Halwa. It is a broad category of sweet dishes that can be made using different ingredients and each one of them are delicious in their own ways. They range from quick ones made of whole wheat flour, samolina or gram flour to tedious carrot and dry fruit ones. A bowl of home made Halwa is the very definition of comfort food for me.

Do you mean local like within my own city or regionally/by country?

Countrywide: Hotdogs are the first thing I think of when I think "American food."

Statewide (California): The sour dough bread bowls at the San Francisco wharf are amazing as fuck.

In my city: The best thing here are taco trucks. There's even a whole dedicated parking area for a bunch of them to gather downtown called "Grub Hubs."

Tex mex breakfast taco.

Egg, bacon, cheese, tomatillo salsa.

Good for any meal. Takes less than 15 minutes from start to clean. Delicious and filling.

Ghormeh Sabzi - or The story of how my SO got me by my belly. Iranian stew mandatorily served with rice crowned with it's Tadigh crust.

Palt. Potato dumping filled with meat.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palt

Brazil: Feijoada, it is a traditional food that is pretty much "just" pork and beans, but its fucking rad lol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoada

Does British curry count? Cornish pasties are good too. Also cheese but that is more of an ingredient than meal.

Australian here. I'm going with Vegemite with avo and toast. If I travel for too long, I end up missing it a lot.

Mission style burritos are tasty.

I also like California style pizza so long as the toppings aren’t too weird.

UK here and the best thing I can think of is a full English in a bun, there's a butty van near me where they taste amazing. it's basically a heart attack in a bun with how much oil is on there but it's so good.

The Seattle Dog.

Basically, a hot dog with cream cheese and sauteed onions.

Its not as common as it once was, afaik you can only get it from street vendors in a few spots, or maybe way overpay for one at a restaurant or two.

... It is from Seattle, Washington State, USA.

Ontario, Canada. For me it's Shawarma poutine.

Classic poutine is already amazing, and there are all sorts of variations, but shawarma poutine just hits the spot like no other. It still has the fries, gravy, and cheese curds, and they add chicken swarma, hot sauce, and toum (garlic sauce).

Maximum comfort food, especially to watch a movie with in the winter.

🇨🇦 I feel like I’m supposed to say poutine but honestly…

Beef patty in coco bread! It definitely didn’t originate here but it’s a pretty common street food besides bratwursts.

Now for a truly local pick, Beavertails! It’s like a big flattened donut you can put anything on, ranging from simple cinnamon and lemon, candy, or something savoury like cheese.

Hard to say. NZ cuisine is like British cuisine, but it got stuck in the 80s.

The Flat White. But that’s not strictly food.

Or maybe a potato top pie.

Chicken Rice - Singapore

A semi local but a "screamer" is pretty great, it's a slush or slerpy with soft serve icecream on top or mixed in and probably the best answer to the flavourless ice you get at the bottom of the cup

Rootbeer is of course a great slush flavour for this

Sarmale

Most of the US is a culture pot so the food I like is not really local.

The only things I can think of as a state famous thing is that San Francisco, California is known for sourdough, and Seattle, Washington is kinda known for the Seattle (Hot) Dog.

Used to be Käsespätzle, but i had too much in december and november that i have grown sick of it.

Now i guess it would be A potato soup & apple noodle (not a pasta. A yeast dough with apple cinamon sugar filling

Steak and cheese sub. Yeah, you can get one in a lot of places, but I haven't had a good one outside of New England.