Author Topic: Beans Beans Beans... What Did You Grow Up On? - Regional Foods & Brands  (Read 9251 times)

Offline Phillip Dampier

  • Mayor - BetterMost, Wyoming
  • Town Administration
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,347
    • BetterMost
We all know Better Most isn't a real brand, but thinking about nostalgic foods, how about a thread about the unique foods and brands in your area that say home and family to you?

Here in Rochester, NY - we are known for a variety of products that originated here and/or are made here - Cool Whip, Jell-O, Ragu & Francisco Rinaldi sauces, the R.T. French's spice company, and perhaps the most unusual thing of all to ask an out of towner: "would you like a red or white hot?"  Yes, here in Rochester and lots of western NY places red hot dogs are sold right next to the white hot dogs, all thanks to Zweigles, a Rochester sausage and hot dog institution.

If you are lucky enough to have a Wegmans supermarket in your area (another gift from our city to yours), you might find them.

For baked beans, there is one major local favorite - Grandma Brown's, which is very popular in both Rochester and Buffalo.   Some slices of bacon and lots of brown sugar and into the oven... a picnic favorite around here...

What's your area's greatest foods and brands?

You're a part of our family - BetterMost, Wyoming

Offline twistedude

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,430
  • "It's nobody's business but ours."
    • "every sort of organized noise"
Duriong WWII (a lot of you may not know!--in fact, probably ALL of you), there was very strict butter and meat and sugar rationing.  But all I remember is 1) the white margerine, with the dark orange bubble in the center, which you had to spread yourself throughout the big cube, thus making it butter colored. and 2) a WONDERFUL recepe my mother had for sour cream pancakes (sour cream was NOT rationed!--it was so much better than pancakes made with butter!

My whole childhood, otherwise, and even during ther war! seems to have been awash with meat, sugar--and lots and lots of salads, which my mother mixed in a wooden bowl, which she would rub every day with garlic, and only riinse after meals. She would make the dressing in one of ther big wooden spoons, ands stir it with the wooden fork...they were delicious.

Chicago, 1941-45
"We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?" --"Nine Lives," by Ursula K. Le Guin, from The Wind's Twelve Quarters

Offline Phillip Dampier

  • Mayor - BetterMost, Wyoming
  • Town Administration
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,347
    • BetterMost
Duriong WWII (a lot of you may not know!--in fact, probably ALL of you), there was very strict butter and meat and sugar rationing.  But all I remember is 1) the white margerine, with the dark orange bubble in the center, which you had to spread yourself throughout the big cube, thus making it butter colored. and 2) a WONDERFUL recepe my mother had for sour cream pancakes (sour cream was NOT rationed!--it was so much better than pancakes made with butter!

My parents used to tell me about that.  They used to fight over who got to either break the dot and add it or who got to mix it up.  Apparently it was sold both ways.

Quote
My whole childhood, otherwise, and even during ther war! seems to have been awash with meat, sugar--and lots and lots of salads, which my mother mixed in a wooden bowl, which she would rub every day with garlic, and only riinse after meals. She would make the dressing in one of ther big wooden spoons, ands stir it with the wooden fork...they were delicious.

I wonder how much of our society in our current war reflects at all on life during WWII.  I sense it's probably closer to what we went through during Vietnam, because I'm sure most Americans felt far more threatened by the Japanese and Germans than we ever did against Saddam or Ho Chi Minh.  It is amazing how weird things are when unexpected things you take for granted happen.  During a budget crisis a few years ago, they turned off all the expressway lights at night.  It was a very bizarre sensation.  Last year's Katrina impact on gas (and having it be unavailable at many stations here for a time) was unsettling as well.  All minor I'm sure compared to the profound impact a world war has on a country.
You're a part of our family - BetterMost, Wyoming

Offline isabelle

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 865
  • And French-kissing, too!
I am from Brittany, in the North West of France. The traditional food here is pancakes (brown wheat for main course, sweet pancakes for desert). But in MY particular part of Brittany, we call the main-course pancake "Galette'. At weekends, when we used to go to the seaside , we would always stop on the way back home to get us each a "galette saucisse", which is this brown-wheat pancake in which you roll up a grilled sausage - yummy!
Otherwise, we Bretons are known for loving butter, and SALTY butter at that, whereas in the rest of France they have salt-free butter - tasteless to us!
« Last Edit: April 06, 2006, 09:59:13 am by isabelle »
" - I'm vegan now."
"-Vegan? I thought you were still Church of England"

Offline Phillip Dampier

  • Mayor - BetterMost, Wyoming
  • Town Administration
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,347
    • BetterMost
Otherwise, we Bretons are known for loving butter, and SALTY butter at that, whereas in the rest of France they have salt-free butter - tasteless to us!

I think I discovered that when our local grocer started carrying French-made butter.  Our grocer carries the President brand of butter, made in France, and when they say "salted" they mean it.  The salt almost seems more like sea salt - it's different from the usual salted butter.  The European butters with a higher butterfat content are relatively new to a lot of Americans.  Our butter, typically sold in more narrow sticks, usually contains less butterfat and is milder in flavor.  The big brand for a lot of us is Land 'o Lakes.  Plugra butter is also sold, among others.

Unsalted butter is fine for cooking/recipes, but is practically tasteless to me as a spread for bread or table use.
You're a part of our family - BetterMost, Wyoming

Offline Lynne

  • BetterMost Supporter
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,291
  • "The world's always ending." --Ianto Jones
    • Elizabeth Warren for Massachusetts
So, from time to time, I've been doing some research about brands local to TN....and here's what I've discovered...
Bush beans were the favored brand in the 1960's...national brand today.  One of my favorite camping meals is Annie's mac and cheese with the vegetarian baked beans and sliced SmartDogs.  For the carnivores, Bush's distributes the Showboat pork-n-beans...not elk, but you make do, right?

« Last Edit: April 20, 2006, 10:24:32 pm by Lynne »
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Lynne

  • BetterMost Supporter
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,291
  • "The world's always ending." --Ianto Jones
    • Elizabeth Warren for Massachusetts
And for dairy products, PET and Mayfield seem to be the two choices from the 1960's.  I knew about Mayfield - they're still around today, but PET is almost solely condensed milk now.  I was clued into PET because they're a sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry seen recently in Walk the Line but haven't found a logo for them.  Purity is the prominent brand today.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2006, 10:21:58 pm by Lynne »
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Lynne

  • BetterMost Supporter
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,291
  • "The world's always ending." --Ianto Jones
    • Elizabeth Warren for Massachusetts
OK...the last of the shameless TN promotion...they're not Ol' Rose, but we make do...In this narrow instance only, George is leaps and bounds better than Jack, but of course, Jack has better PR.  And both are made within 15 miles of me.
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline opinionista

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 2,939
Well, I actually grew up on beans! My mother made me eat them when I was a kid, but I never really liked them. Now I don't eat them. But my brother and sister do, they even crave on beans.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline ednbarby

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,586
Hey, Phillip, don't forget that the Rochester area also gave us Honey Brown beer and Pink Catawba (blech) wine.  I try to explain the concept of red and white hots (aren't the white hots made from chicken, or are those made from pork too?) to people not from that area and they look at me like I have three eyes.  Also, do you remember when the biggest competition for McDonald's was Carrols, not Burger King?  I think maybe Carvel custard originated there, too, but I'm not sure.

I lived in Dayton, Ohio for a while, and bratwurst (or brat for short, pronounced brawt) is big there, and they do have red and white versions of it.  ("Would you like a red brat or a white brat?")  Not the same as white hots - more like Italian sausage.  Then there's the famous Skyline chili, originated in Cincinnati.  Really more of a spicy spaghetti sauce than a chili - they serve it over spaghetti and with shredded cheddar cheese on top call it a "three-way."

Here in South Florida, the regional tastes really have been brought here by people from other areas.  There are a lot of Cuban and Jewish influences - the Cuban coffee will knock your socks off (it's like a triple shot of espresso) and you can throw a stone in any direction and hit a Jewish deli.  Can't think of anything that originated here, though, other than the Boca Blonde beer made at the local Brewwzi's restaurant.  We do have those coconut patties, I guess, which are like York peppermint patties except it's all coconut inside instead of a sugary goo.
No more beans!