Well, cheese-steaks and Tasty Cakes are pretty good.

Would have ideally liked the Jays to get someone with a more pronounced platoon split than Francisco to pair up with Thames or Snider. I guess it'll be nice that he can cover for Bautista's days off without being a complete sinkhole vs RHP, though. Never even heard of Gailey before today.

#1: Cheesesteaks and Tastykakes.

#3 Well, I got the whole thing backwards it seems. Guess I should've referred to local Toronto products, whatever those might be. Pucks?

Mmmmm, poutine.

A Google search for "Famous Toronto Food" reveals something called a "Peameal Bacon Sandwich," of which I have never heard before.

Well Toronto does have the annual Burlesque Festival in which pasties are worn, but I'm not sure if they are the edible and delectable Cornish variety pasties.

Peameal bacon sandwiches are quite good. Although you don't have to go down to the market to get them, they're quite easy to make yourself.

Poutine's not an especially Toronto food, though obviously like any civilized city it's easy to find.

Being as I just arrived in Toronto last night after a year's absence I happen to have in mind several Toronto foods that I've missed (none of them exclusive to Toronto by any means in terms of style of food).
Perfect in Agincourt. Sadly, the food isn't perfect, but it's the place to be at 4am in Scarborough!
Kom Jug on Spadina
Armenian Kitchen
Any number of 18 pounds of food (personal choice: octopus) + bottle of soju for $15, Korean places on Bloor and Christie
Ghazale (perfect for after record shopping at Sonic Boom)
Various Hakka places whose names I don't know because they're never in English (Or really any place that serves Manchurian Chow Mein)
And sausages outside SkyDome. (Though unfortunately the Jays have no games scheduled while I'm back for Christmas..bad luck) There are some good eats in the UK, but unfortunately I'm not quite on board with their intepretation of "sausage" just yet.

EDIT: and how could I forget Pho 88! Mmmm tripe and ice pickled lemon.

Montreal has poutine, smoked meat, and Montreal-style bagels. All of which are utterly delicious. Toronto's a larger city, but I've never heard of a peculiarly Torontonian food.

What cities have the best foods associated with them?

Boston: chowder, lobster rolls
New York: pizza, traditional Jewish (bagels, pastrami, smoked fish)
Philadelphia: cheesesteaks
Chicago: pizza, sausages
Dallas: chili, barbecue
Miami: cubanos
Atlanta: soul food
New Orleans: po-boys
St Louis: barbecue
San Francisco: burritos, cioppini
LA: I assume some particular Mexican dish(es), but I don't know LA

Montreal really punches way above its weight. Montreal and New York have independent traditions of Ashkenazi Jewish cooking (smoked meat / pastrami and Montreal / New York style bagels) in which New York's are better, but not by terribly much - NYC gets credit for having great cured fish which Montreal doesn't. And I'd take New York style pizza over poutine, I think, but it's pretty close. Add in that Montreal is about a fifth the size of New York, that's a hell of a city for food traditions.

Boston looks good, but it's based on the lie that Boston is a fishing port. It actually isn't - the fish comes into Gloucester, over an hour north. If you want great, fresh, reasonably priced chowder and lobster, you need to go to the north shore or Maine, rather than the city itself.

Chicago's rating depends on your feelings about Chicago-style pizza (I think it's dumb), but they get big points for sausage and hot dogs.

If you could give one city in the Carolinas credit for Carolina-style barbecue, along with its own soul food tradition, plus boiled peanuts, that would be a nice little get. I'm giving Dallas credit for cuisine that's really Texan and greatly country Texan - if you give both Texas-style chili and Texas-style barbecue to one city, that's a top contender.

New York, LA, and New Orleans are really the only three cities with significant local cocktail traditions. San Francisco would get some credit for California wine. and the Northwest would get credit for their brewing.

I'd also add Montreal crepes. By no means Montreal-specific in a global sense, but as far as I know the beat the rest of North America on crepes.

EDIT: Does Calgary get credit for the Caesar? Or I guess it's been adopted so broadly that it's now a national drink and its place of origin is merely trivia?

Wait, "Caesar" is a drink?

What is the deal with you people?

EDIT: It turns out that a Caesar is a Bloody Mary with Clamato in place of tomato juice. I think no one should get "credit" for that.

New York, LA, and New Orleans are really the only three cities with significant local cocktail traditions.

What are the local NY cocktails (besides the obvious - Manhattan)?

The first martinis appear in print within a short period after the manhattan does, in the same areas. There are debates over the origin of the martini, but I think the best evidence locates its origin in New York.

The first "cocktail" tradition (drinks made with spirits, sugar, water, and bitters) developed in New York in the early 19th century. Cocktails and cobblers and smashes and crustas - these are all to significant degrees New York drinks. The first sours are found in New York.

For drinks simply named after New York, the Bronx cocktail is a great one (gin, dry and sweet vermouths, bitters, a spoon of orange juice).

EDIT: As I'm looking through my cocktail books, I can see I gave San Francisco short shrift. It really has its own tradition as well.

[14] Thanks, didn't know about the Martini.

Wait, "Caesar" is a drink?

What is the deal with you people?

It's probably the most popular drink 'round here. Gotta be extra spicy though. I don't know what a "bloody mary" is.

St Louis: barbecue

I suppose people associate St. Louis with bbq because of St. Louis style ribs, but I have to say that St. Louis is actually a terrible bbq city. Only one decent place around (Pappy's). The real mecca is across the state in KC.

#10 is right. I've lived in Toronto all my life, and there is no food specifically associated with Toronto.

Heh, I was wondering why there were 18 posts on a BenFran trade, now I'm wondering why there are only 18 posts on a poutine thread.

Cleveland fans, how was Francisco defensively? He was sold as a Corner OF who could play CF to Phillies fans; turns out he stunk defensively. He didn't have any good instincts whatsoever.

MCoA, thank you for not listing Rice-a-Roni, or clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, under San Francisco. Not sure about burritos though. We have every kind of food under the sun, here. I would say sushi.

Not sure about burritos though.

I am! The Mission Burrito - what most people think of as simply "a burrito" - is a product developed and still best enjoyed in San Francisco. I had one two weeks ago at Taqueria Cancun. Though I have to say that the tacos al pastor at Taqueria San Jose were a whole nother step better in quality. I think one issue here is that I like tacos more than I like mission burritos, though.

It turns out that a Caesar is a Bloody Mary with Clamato in place of tomato juice.

Who tasted tomato juice and said, "Hmm... this needs fish"? Want some Clamato? No thanks, I just had some flounder apple on the way over...




RIP Richard Jeni

San Francisco food => China Town

St. Louis being listed for midwest bbq over Kansas City is ridiculous.

I'd also take Austin BBQ over Dallas all day.

The bbq CW is Texas has the brisket, Memphis has the ribs, Carolina has the pork, and KC has the sauce. St. Louis BBQ sucks. They are known for toasted ravioli.

Good to know about midwest barbecue. I am mostly ignorant of Midwestern and Southwestern food traditions, and in retrospect I should have just left those open for others to fill in.

From what I've had of Carolina and South Carolina barbecue, I really love their sauces (vinegar and mustard based, respectively). the vinegar is shockingly good with properly slow-cooked, fatty pork. The big rich sauces - and admittedly I haven't been to KC for the real thing - seem to me unecessary given good pork.

San Francisco food => China Town

While admittedly a lot of what is seen as "American" Chinese food was developed in San Francisco's Chinatown, that's not a food history I'd be terribly excited to explore. My (admittedly shallow) experience with SF Chinatown was that it's got amazing history, but most of the best food no longer resides within its boundaries. When I was doing my SF food research before the conference, there was a pretty clear consensus that the best Chinese food in the bay area is now in the suburbs. (Where most of the Chinese people have moved.)

Philadelphia: cheesesteaks

Hoagies, soft pretzels, scrapple. We have an excellent history in regard to things like potato chips and cakes, especially if you couple the PA Dutch communities. Basically, Philadelphia is about delicious, DELICIOUS, garbage food.

Yeah. My favorite thing about traditional Philly cuisine is that the vast majority of it seems to be sandwich-based. My sister-in-law lives in center city, and I think she's growing annoyed that I want to hit up DiNic's for roast pork every time we visit.

Soft pretzels, though? I never had one that tasted special in Philly, but I guess I've never had one that tasted special anywhere.

Philadelphia is about delicious, DELICIOUS, garbage food.

As is Montréal.
Toronto is lovely in its way with many fine places to eat, but I think the most successful regional dish is probably the butter tart. Oh Greg, Sonic Boom has moved around the corner into part of the Bathurst Street ground floor of Honest Ed's.

Philadelphia is about delicious, DELICIOUS, garbage food.

As is Montréal.

On a certain level, everything I listed in post #10 is a "garbage food". Poutine is probably the greatest garbage food ever invented. The smoked meat or pastrami sandwich, any quality barbecue, sausages - these are all about the mystical unity of meat, fat, and salt.

Something about Philadelphia food just feels, I dunno, garbage-ier than any of the others. Perhaps, on reflection, it's that the roast pork and the cheesesteak are more fat-forward than most of the other foods on the list.

#27 I went to a place with Bill Clinton photos on the wall that was amazing right in China Town. This was probably 10+ years ago and I would guess that there are a bunch of good chinese places in the 'burbs too.

As far as BBQ goes what's up with the pad of butter on the steak in Texas? Was that just the place I went?

Also not the US but I ate at a churrascaria in Rio across the street from Copacabana beach that was pretty memorable as well.

these are all about the mystical unity of meat, fat, and salt

Word.
Halifax has the Donair, which should make some sort of regional 2AM food list. England's currries often fit the bill, but they really need to discover roti, in my opinion. Hmm... there's some good roti in Toronto too. Off to Bacchus.

From what I've had of Carolina and South Carolina barbecue, I really love their sauces (vinegar and mustard based, respectively). the vinegar is shockingly good with properly slow-cooked, fatty pork. The big rich sauces - and admittedly I haven't been to KC for the real thing - seem to me unecessary given good pork.

FACT.

St. Louis BBQ sucks. They are known for toasted ravioli.

Frozen custard, so good.

There are some good eats in the UK, but unfortunately I'm not quite on board with their intepretation of "sausage" just yet.

One of the things I miss most about the UK is the sausages, or bangers. My uncle used to own a butcher's shop in Barnsley, and made the most amazing sausage rolls. You can have sausages for breakfast with a Full English, for lunch in sausage rolls, and for dinner in bangers and mash (with mushy peas). Sigh...

For Seattle, ignoring coffee, which isn't "food" as such, it's got to be teriyaki.

I've been to Toronto once and it appeared that the distinctive local food was shawarma. I think there are more shawarma places within 2000 feet of Ryerson University than in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania put together.

Oh Greg, Sonic Boom has moved around the corner into part of the Bathurst Street ground floor of Honest Ed's.

Crazy, the city is not as I left it.

One of the things I miss most about the UK is the sausages, or bangers.

I do enjoy the variety, Lincolnshire and Cumberland I like. I find I enjoy them in dishes where I squeeze out pieces of meat (soups or stir frys). But I miss a nice, massive German or Italian sausage. The thing is the English make a lot of interesting mustards that would go well with that kind of sausage, but they seem to exclusively go in for the little ones.

One English breakfast dish I'm really enjoying (to the disgust of most of my Canadian friends) is black pudding. Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside and tastes of molasses. What a food actually consists of is of no concern to me.