What things you assumed to be universally true, but were specific to your area?

[arbcoind]

There is a restaurant in Pittsburgh PA called "Pittsburgh Rare".  It specializes in the above mentioned steak.  Seared on both sides, raw AND cold in the middle.  I personally don't like it.

We clink glasses with silverware at weddings to get the bride and groom to kiss.  The bride often dances with guests for the bridal dance.  She wears an apron and expects one to put cash in it.

Grits are cream of wheat and I hate both.  Our iced tea comes plain with a slice of lemon.  New Year's Eve dinner is kolbassi with sauerkraut.  I like black eyed peas, but you can't get them near here. 

Oh and we have Pittsburgh-eze.  No place else talks like us....an at.

Gina

[RenStarr]

Another kinda of food that is very regional besides BBQ, and that's Mexican food.  I guess we all are products of what we're used to, so for me good Tex-Mex is hard to beat in the Mexican food dept.  I've been from one coast to the other, and everyone has a different take on good Mexican food.
So for me...........
>  West Coast - too bland.  At least at the places I've been which were mainly SC area.  Went to a place once with some of the wife's family and they all talked about how the food was very spicy.   
>  New Mexico/Arizona - lots of green chili's with not much cheese and no sour cream.  Actually pretty tasty with some fair heat. 
>  Deep South - Not many options in the places I've been.  I've got relatives in Ala., Tenn., Carolina's, and most of them didn't grow up eating any type of Mex food, therefore they don't. 
>  North East - Mexican food up there is Taco Bell................please.
>  Midwest - about the same as the Deep South.  Wife's relatives are scared of any type of peppers.   

Even within Texas there are differences.  And much like BBQ, everyone has their own opinion on what they think is best.  Hint Hint........if you like fajitas, shrimp fajitas are fabulous!!

[crazyrennie]

Don't know where this came from
my biologic family puts salt on watermelon-
anyone else do this?

[crashbot]

We clink glasses with silverware at weddings to get the bride and groom to kiss.  The bride often dances with guests for the bridal dance.  She wears an apron and expects one to put cash in it.

Grits are cream of wheat and I hate both.  Our iced tea comes plain with a slice of lemon.  New Year's Eve dinner is kolbassi with sauerkraut.  I like black eyed peas, but you can't get them near here.  

Oh and we have Pittsburgh-eze.  No place else talks like us....an at.

Gina

Strange. After moving here from Europe we lived near Pittsburgh for a long time, since we have quite a bit of family there I never noticed any of that.

[Dustin]

Don't know where this came from
my biologic family puts salt on watermelon-
anyone else do this?

We did it in Alabama. I still salt my watermelon, and cantaloupe and honeydew, as well.

[crashbot]

I've lived in PA, NC, IL, ID, and TX and spent nearly 12 years in the Army. Aside form a few regional nuances with food and language, I never really noticed anything THAT different  between states.

I guess it is different being from Europe, as all we have to do is cross a border and things can drastically change.

[Blue66669]

I believe in the great state of BBQ and Tex-Mex. I believe in the Taco Stand outside of the club when you're wasted. I believe in roadside tamales. I believe in Luby's Cafeteria and their LuAnn Platters. I believe in buffalo burgers, and steaks that are hot off the prairie. I believe in Certified Angus Beef, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.

I believe in TEXAS! WEWT!

*oh, and Rani, I also eat peanut butter and syrup on toast*

[crashbot]

Taco stands outside of the club are one of the reasons I still live in Texas.

[will paisley]

I believe in the great state of BBQ and Tex-Mex. I believe in the Taco Stand outside of the club when you're wasted. I believe in roadside tamales. I believe in Luby's Cafeteria and their LuAnn Platters. I believe in buffalo burgers, and steaks that are hot off the prairie. I believe in Certified Angus Beef, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.

I believe in TEXAS! WEWT!

One thing I definitely miss about Texas is the food.  Don't think I ever had bad Mexican or barbecue the entire time I lived in San Antonio. And boy could that town throw a street party. I honestly think NIOSA puts more food on a stick than any faire.  Even the chain restaurants were magnificent - Bill Millers had better barbecue than nearly anything I can get around here, and I still prefer Taco Cabana fajitas to any other I've ever had anywhere.  Since I moved away, I've become an Indian and Thai food addict, since that's the only authentic spicy food I can find up here.

(As an aside, I'm puzzled by the general disdain held for "Tex-Mex", which I consider to be a misnomer anyways.  I've been to plenty of Mexican restaraunts in San Antonio which most people would dub "Tex-Mex".  The thing is, all the staff are Mexican, most of the people eating there are Mexican, if you can't speak Spanish you can only order by pointing at the menu (which is in Spanish), the bloody cash register reciept's in Spanish, and saying you're from INS will empty the place out quicker than a bomb threat.  Granted, they're not serving Yucatan peninsula-style moles, but how could that "Tex-Mex" food possibly be any more Mexican?)

[crashbot]

Yep, the food here is great. I suppose this is why we have quite the pleasantly plump population! I think there are a few places in the country where the food is usually always very good. Texas, the Old South, parts of New England,  Northern California, and parts of the Midwest. Everything else pretty much sucks.  

Tex-Mex is just Mexican food with a different influence. Just like all "American" food isn't the same.

[Kehle]

Mexican and Tex-Mex are different. If you go to most Mexican restaurants outside of Texas, you won't be getting the same food as you would at a Tex-Mex restaurant. Mexican Texans love Tex-Mex too, but you go to Cali or Florida and it's a different world in Mexican foods. Maybe to some the difference is subtle enough not to notice, but to this Texan it's enough I don't like Mexican that isn't Tex-Mex. But we don't call it that just because we're full of ourselves (which we are, Texas is awesome.)

And I've always eaten my grits with milk, sugar, and butter.

[Valiss]

By the way, this thread isnt limited to food. Feel free to post about words/phrases, items, customs etc. that are specific to your area.

I was told by someone from the south that Malt O Meal = grits. When I was a kid it was called Malt O Meal. To this day I dont know anyone who call it "grits". It was served for breakfast in the exact same way are Cream of Wheat, oatmeal, or any other hot cereal. As such, it was/is served with milk, sugar, syrup, butter, fruit, etc. So when I went to a 'southern' style restaurant later in life and thought I'd try this "grits" I heard about, I was surprised that they brought me what essentially is like oatmeal to me. I'm sitting there thinking, why would anyone want oatmeal/malt o meal/etc along side some BBQ? To this day is still sounds odd and I'll only eat "grits" as breakfast.

I'm in the same boat with the whole 'chicken and waffles' fad that came through here a couple of years ago. I mean, I like chicken and I like waffles, but togehter?
Uh, no thanks. For me it's like ordering bbq ribs and getting pancakes with it. But that probably explains why those places closed down around here.

[DonaCatalina]

Grits is not malt o'meal.
Grits is ground hominy.
Malt O'meal is a combination of malted and Farnia wheat.
Phrases:

If you are indeed a Yankee, please don't say "That dog is not right for that"
when you are trying to remember to say "That dog just won't hunt"

[Anna Iram]

Salt on watermelon and cantaloupe, unless it's really sweet, but never on honeydew or apples.

You haven't had bland Mexican food until you've tried it in Maine. Maybe not in the larger cities, but what I've had in the smaller towns around the ski resorts was merely tomato sauce without the heat.

I think of Tex Mex as being very Americanized Mexican. To American tastes and a style you probably wouldn't find in Mexico itself, but has become common here. Like the combo platter with melty cheese all over the top. I might be way off base here.

Most of my relatives are die hard sweet tea drinkers. It's what's on the table at most gatherings. I prefer regular non sweetened Iced Tea. Sweet tea to me is a whole 'nother thing.

Grits are corn based. like hominey. * Ha. Thankyou Dona! Just saw your above post.*Seriously, I'm just teasing you all about how you eat your grits. I just do think it's odd. Like putting sugar on your corn on the cobb.   A side note, in Lousianna that serve grits and shrimp as one dish. It's an odd thing.

Speaking of phrases, when I lived up in Maine, everyone said "wicked good". Is thst just a Maine thing? I never heard it when I lived in the NYC area.

[arbcoind]

Words commom to The "Burgh:

chipped ham...thinly sliced ham
dippy...as in you can dip something into it
grinnie...chipmunk
gumband...rubber band
jumbo...lbologna lunch meat
nebby...prying into affairs of others
redd up...clean up
slippy...slippery
city chicken...baked pork on a stick
jagger...thorn or biars
yinz...plural for you

and we have the Picksburg Stillers...

Gina