/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Cheesesteaks from Philly or atleast the Northeast
Deep-Dish Pizza
NY Style Pizza
A proper sub (from a deli, not from Subway)
Chili
Wings, preferably something a little more exciting that standard buffalo wings
Chinese food (it is very different from every other country)
Mexican food if you're going to a state that borders Mexico

No state has the "best" BBQ. Its all just different. Do some research on the internet for the best in the area you'll be in.

Avoid Chicago Dogs. They are terrible and the only regional specialty I've disliked

>>4624232
Hahah Chinese food and Mexican food seems a bit generic! But ill check the others out!

Nothing on the dessert part?

1. Supersize big mac meal
2. Supersize chocolate sundae
3. Supersize Mississippi

You'll want to try Key Lime pie, and pecan pie for sure.

>>4624218

1. KFC, MCDONALDS, TRANS FATS
2. DEEP FRIED OREOS, DEEP FRIED SNICKERS, DEEP FRIED BUTTER
3. MCRIB

>>4624232
>No state has the "best" BBQ. Its all just different. Do some research on the internet for the best in the area you'll be in

I would only kinda agree.

So basically you have the following regional styles of BBQ that are really worth paying attention to if you're going for a more traditional route:

Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas: imo, Listen to these guys when it comes to doing cow up right. From what I've experienced, they're more up for smoking these days than actual barbecuing.
Deep South: This is the region you want to eat pig from. To a lesser extent chicken, but it's even debatable if you can actually barbecue chicken.
The Carolinas: These guys are interesting because many of the local sauces are mustard based, but beyond that, they're still fairly similar to the rest of the Deep South.

Some people will try to say St. Louis/Kansas/insert some other city here should be included, but I honestly think it's a waste of your time. Mostly what you see from places like that are knockoffs of what's done in the three regions I named, and generally they are less flavorful because the more toward the center/north of the continent you go, the more bland the food becomes. It's not bad by any means, but it's also not really worth your time trying to track down or imitate.

But as always, this is personal opinion and there will probably be a few dozen people telling me how I'm wrong in moments.

Stuff you should try:
http://www.nola.com/food/ should get you started.

Creole and Cajun foods are amazing. If you've eaten much French food, you'll recognize the influences and outright theft, but often with a distinctive twist that makes it well worth trying.

Oh, deserts?
The motherfucking pecan praline (if you want to sound like you're from Louisiana, pronounce it "prah-leens" instead of "pray-leens"). I'd stab a dozen babies in their soft spots with my cock to be able to live off of those and have an unlimited supply.

>>4624272
No, you are actually pretty spot on. Texas/oklahoma for beef and brisket. Deep south for ribs and pork. Both can do a chicken. Not sure of Carolinas, I've never had mustard sauce but it sounds good. Kansas and St. Louis, I don't like my sauce to taste like liquid sugar so I'd say no.

Protip: central Texas is great for sausage. Lots of German immigrants and descendants of German immigrants there.

peanut butter & jelly

For pulled pork bbq you want nashville/memphis hands fucking down. I lived there for 19 years before moving around and it is the best puller pork I've ever had. Traditionally it has cole slaw on the sandwich, which may make some hesitant, but its incredible. The cold, creamy crunch with the warm chewy smoky pork is a fucking mouthgasm.

>>4624232
Do not eat cheese steaks from anywhere that isn't Pat's, Geno's, Jim's or Tony Luke's and call it a true cheese steak

A burger, but not from a fast food shithole, go to a serious fucking burger joint and get yourself a fucking good burger.

>>4624312
Where are the burger

I for one love carolina's BBQ, they do some good fucking pulled pork.

>>4624317
You gotta research the good places for where you'll be. There's no standard for it, though if you're going to try a fast food one, go to Five Guys.

>>4624320
:DDDDDDDD

>>4624323
... wut?

>>4624232
seriously, do not listen to this guy when he tells you to avoid chicago style hot dogs. It's his opinion, which doesn't mean fuck all.

Frankly OP, you should try everything you've ever seen on TV and thought "man, I hope one day I can put that in my mouth."

I'm really not 100% on what desserts are exclusive to the US. I feel like at this point everyone's kind of mixed that category together.

>>4624284
Mustard sauces are alright, though they just wind up tasting like a smoked honey mustard most of the time.
Which isnt a bad thing by any means, but there's so little variety between them.

Also avoid any mustard based sauces made much more south than the carolinas. Louisiana in particular, cant make a good mustard based sauce to save their lives.

>>4624319
My only issue with Carolina BBQ is that when I was there, I didn't care for the mustard-based sauces on pork, but loved it on chicken, and when I tried a fairly wide variety of the tomato sauces (I lived in NC for 3 years), they all seemed...I don't want to say bland because they aren't, but I guess not as flavorful as I prefer.

The meat was done well though. Hell, and truth be told, most bbq joints in any part of the US can do the meat competently, but there's just something about the South and Texas where it's just better. Might be because we have the people who literally live for nothing but making BBQ and other people for whom continuing the family bbq joint is their pride and joy...oh, and one thing is for sure, the sauces are better.

>>4624325

>>4624218
>His cooking isn't great, but I enjoy Diners, Drive ins and Dives!

No you dont.

1. American staples is a funny thing. IMO, you'd do better to focus on regional specialties. Like Louisiana cajun food, Texas-german food and CHILI, Chicago Italian beef, Philly cheesesteaks, Californian seafood and Baja mexican food, New Mexican green chile (chile verde), Floridian Cuban food, Boston clam chowder and lobster rolls, etc. etc. etc.

2. Hmmmm, that's a tough one. New York Cheesecake, Pecan Pie, King Cake, Key Lime Pie, Kolaches, just to name a few.

3. Texas. TX has the best of all worlds of bbq. They can smoke brisket like no one else, the best smoked sausages, and can still do pulled pork and various other cuts as good as anyone. When I was growing up, we'd go visit relatives in TX (central TX, to be exact), and they'd always made and/or order a shit ton of bbq while we were there. Ribs, pork, brisket, chicken, sausage, turkey legs, giant thick cut pork chops, wild boar, etc. etc. I'll never forget those bbq feasts. North Carolina has some good pork bbq, that's for sure, and if you're just interested in that, I'd look into that, but Texas has the most diverse and good beef bbq.

>>4624338
Maybe my experience was different because the carolina BBQ I had was done by a professional team that makes a living off competitions, and they had a ton of different kinds of sauces they made that were all completely different types. I liked the mustard ones a lot though to be honest, as >>4624332 said it's a lot like honey mustard, though the kind I had was definitely pretty unique. No idea what they did with it.

>>4624232
Let me start off by saying this guy is either a fucking liar and is purposely trying to steer you wrong or is flat out an idiot

1. In no order
A. Deep Dish Pizza
B. A Steak, medium (and not from Golden Corral)
C. A Chicago Style Hot Dog
D. Corned Beef Sandwhich on rye with yellow mustard
E. BBQ Brisket (see 3. for further)
F. A good piece of fish or shrimp (this is very open ended)
G. An Italian Beef
The common theme here is generally meat.
All of those are largely geography based within the US

2. Why pie of course! Baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie as the saying goes...Any sort of pie will do. Otherwise if you're stateside check out any ethnic bakery. Immigrants brought over the good stuff to murica and an ethnic bakery of any kind will far out rank the donuts found at the grocery store.

3. A question with a number of variables but I personally would have to steer you towards Kansas City style BBQ. So Missouri/Kansas. Memphis, Tenn has good BBQ too. Carolina is fair and Texas is meh.

Try breaking your arm without medical insurance while being employed by someone who can fire you because you vote for the "wrong" political party.

That is America.

Succotash
Cornbread
Grits
Chili (WITH KIDNEY AND BLACK BEANS FAGETS)

>>4624366
Possibly, and it has been more than a few years since I lived there and I've noticed that most places are legitimately stepping up their game in the last few years.

>>4624375
>>>/pol/ is over there

>>4624377
No beans please.

>>4624377
You should be ashamed of yourself for sperging over whether or not beans should be in chili and not specifying a type of cornbread.

1. Green Been Casarole is as complex as American Food gets.
2. Pumpkin Pie from a can
3. It's pretty much all good, the only difference being the type of sauce different regions prefer.

>>4624408
You should be ashamed of yourself. GTFO.

>>4624408
>Green Been Casarole is as complex as American Food gets.

Really? Fuck at the pointless hate/ignorance.

>>4624218
Are you visiting? A lot depends on where you are.
I love me a good lobster roll, but if I were in Kansas, I would never order one there.

>>4624232
They probably just yelled at you for drowning it with ketchup.
Chicago dogs are great.

>>4624218
The south has the only real American food, everything else is just Euro stuff in bigger portions, and clam chowder. Pulled pork, ribs, barbecue, smoked everything, biscuits and gravy, grits, cornbread, mud pie, Cajun. All the good stuff is south of Dixie.

>>4624301
Hey hey hey.
Fuck you for your bad advice

Jim's is good. Pats and Genos are awful tourist traps. They only excel at being better than subway, but with the lines they aren't that much better. Tony Lukes is extremely mediocre

The best cheesesteak in the city is easily Chink's.

>>4625287
Southerner who has been outside the south for less than a month detected. You talk about Europe, but I doubt you even have a passport.

Staples: Mercan children grow on constant infusions of peanut butter. Pizza comes second, burgers third, I suppose for pizza and burgers, you need to know the territory. Local places are generally much better than big chains. Gotta ask the locals.

Desserts: Ice cream will make you Amerifat in no time. Hot fudge sundae. Chocolate malted milk shake. Are they popular in Britain?

BBQ: Other have said more than I could about this. Again, ask the locals.

Try all the cultural food (Mexican, Chinese, etc.). It sounds counter-intuitive, but most of that stuff is a blend of American and the other culture's food, not pure. It's also really good.

Also, if you are a stoner and going to Colorado/Washington (or dgaf about the law), try any edibles. I don't think the UK does them as much, and they're pretty awesome if you've never tried them.