Thread Starter
TS
Maybe it was my block... I grew up near Reading, Pennsylvania. We definitely used "coke" as the generic term in the '70s.
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Regional food terms that non-locals don't understand
- Thread starter KevinF
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Maybe it was my block... I grew up near Reading, Pennsylvania. We definitely used "coke" as the generic term in the '70s.
I'll have to pay attention when I'm in the Reading area (I attend Penn State Berks); I'm curious now. It's possible it's maybe changed over time too. Although, they have some different expressions there. Like what I'd call a game of telephone, you know where you tell someone something and it gets passed down a line of people, they call whispering down the lane or something like that.
I'm originally from Ohio so grew up saying pop, but I've lived on the east coast for 15 years now between PA and NJ so I primarily call it soda now. I now get shit from my family back home about calling it soda. lol
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The old timers used to call it tonic around here in Massachusetts, but that's changed to soda. One time my grandmother asked me to go to the store to pick up some washing soda and I was like huh then nicely jested her about the term.
Thread Starter
TS
Yeah, in the 20 years I've lived in Massachusetts I've never heard somebody say "tonic".
I have heard "bubbler" in place of "water fountain".
As a rule of thumb, most of the foods denoted by those kinds of local terms are mildly disgusting... Cheese-whiz? Give me a break...
Wait...what...are you eating?? Peelers?!?
Ummm. I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me.
kinishes
Grits. I know what they are. I just don't understand why they are.
It's a blank canvas. What the artist (cook) does with it is what makes it magical.
I'd forgotten "tonic". Before I met my wife, I had a girlfriend who always lived in Mass, as did her parents and grandparents (and maybe before that). She said "tonic" and "bubbler" (and "so don't I" for that matter).
It's just coarse-ground polenta.
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I guess I've never had artistic grits. I will admit, though, that my experience with grits is very limited.
I'd agree normally, except on a properly made cheesesteak in Philly it's really good.
No, polenta is ground corn meal, normally coarser than American corn meal, while grits are ground dried hominy, which is dried corn kernels processed with lime (calcium carbonate). Mexicans make hominy to soften the corn kernels and shed the skins, then grind them into masa to make tortillas and tamales. For some reason, Americans got the idea to redry the hominy and then grind it into grits, which are then rehydrated while cooking them to make a porridge. Go figure. But I also like both grits and polenta.
Texas sheet cake, which originally is just a rich chocolate sheet cake with a boiled chocolate frosting. Now days it seems to come with a creamed chocolate frosting.
*cough*calcium hydroxide*cough*
It is just a starch. A bland vehicle to transport the actual flavor of the "real" food. Like rice, pasta, couscous, mash potato, etc. Every culture has something similar.
The issue with some of the trendy restaurants is that they have a tendency to under cook the grits. They often try to create something "new & improved". Grits like most common starches are peasant food. It is often the least expensive and most plentiful part of the meal. Most cultures have perfected they way they prepare the starch component of their meals. Some of these new chefs are trying to reinventing the wheel. Often with less than impressive results.
Don't tell me. You live in Utah.
Not according to a lot of online links and some cooking shows i've watched. Though admittedly info seems to be all over the map.
Case in point, the two recipes on this page, one for polenta and one for grits, both just specify "cornmeal"...
https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/good-eats/episodes/true-grits
and apparently some hominy is just white corn and isn't treated with anything.