Some blog posts are very much spur-of-the-moment for me, but this one's been brewing for a while. I'm not sure when it happened precisely, but at some point in the last six years, I realised that I had become a food snob.
San Franciscans will tell you this happens because we have such a fantastic array of restaurants in the city. Certainly the fact that you can eat in those fantastic restaurants for around $35 per head (if you go easy on the wine) is indeed a factor in inducing one's tastebuds to get a little bit hoity-toity. I suspect this is especially the case for me, having lived for ten years in a city that is the world's costliest for dining out)
However, my point is not that my tastebuds are demanding caviar and Cristal champagne, but that I've come to believe that certain parts of the world simply can't be beat for certain food stuffs. I would say, for example, that Seared Ahi Tuni and San Francisco (okay, and Hawaii) simply belong together. And while I'm on the subject, take the following oft-heard (at least by me) claims:
- "You can't get decent Mexican food in America outside of California."
- "If you want a good curry in the Bay Area, you have to go to Oakland."
- "You can't get a decent pint of Guinness outside of Ireland."
- "The only place you'll find edible bagels in the USA is New York."
None of that really makes sense does it? And yet it's true! You really can't get a decent cup of tea with scones and jam outside of jolly old England!
Anyway, I'm curious to hear what you uniquely can and can't get where you live!
p.s. This post provides all the explanation ever needed for why I link to this blog.
You can't get decent Pork Pie outside of England, you can't get decent pork scratchings except from the Dore Moor Inn in Sheffield, you can't get Walkers Beer and Onion crisps except from M1 service stations! And you certainly can't get decent Yorkshire puddings unless they're made by a bird from Sheffield!
Posted by: Emma | September 12, 2007 at 10:38 PM
Cornish Pasties should only ever come from (you guessed it) Cornwall (and certainly never from a petrol station).
Best fish and chips I've ever had are from Whitby (as recommended by Rick Stein), which is a shame as it is approx 300 miles from my home...
Had a curry with Mr Maxton in Brick Lane on Friday night - possibly not the best ever, but certainly cheap.
Best pies in the Premier League are - in my opinion - the chicken balti ones at Aston Villa (of course, now need to go and research the Championship) (btw, thanks very much to Sheffield Weds for the 3 points the other week).
Unfortunately Greenwich is not renowned for being a centre of excellence for dining out (too many tourists, so the restuarants don't make an effort), but we do have this place which is constantly winning awards and not as expensive as many others... http://www.insiderestaurant.co.uk/
Posted by: Matt | September 13, 2007 at 03:15 AM
This is so close to my heart!
You can't get good Mexican food outside of Mexico.
You can't get good ice cream outside of Italy.
It's hard to get healthy food outside of California.
I think my list could be endless. I'll stop now.
Posted by: Dushka | September 13, 2007 at 04:53 PM
I've got one more: you can't get a decent Yak butter tea anywhere off the Tibetan plateau. Actually, that's a lie, Yak butter tea tastes exactly as disgusting as it sounds.
Posted by: David | September 14, 2007 at 09:43 PM
You can't get a good cheese steak stromboli out of Philadelphia....or rather...you probably can't get one at all. They are delicious though!
Posted by: Jill | September 15, 2007 at 08:23 AM
Cheese steak stromboli? The first two words, I get...but the stromboli?! Do tell!
Posted by: David | September 15, 2007 at 10:04 AM
You can't get good tater tot casserole outside of University of Iowa's dining hall.
Posted by: Steph | September 15, 2007 at 05:05 PM
This is getting a little obscure. Will future commenters please explain words and foodstuffs not commonly used in English-speaking states/countries!
Posted by: David | September 16, 2007 at 03:13 PM
You can't get anything decent around here.
Matt's right about the Chicken Balti pies at the Villa. Not bad. Also recommended are Wigan. The mighty Arsenal pies are good, but not good value.
Posted by: ian | September 18, 2007 at 03:28 PM
You can't get cheap drinks or roadies outside of Wisconsin. Seriously, $14 for 8 very strong drinks, and they are in "to go" cups. Very safe, very cheap. ;-) We live in MN and adore our cabin in WI for that reason alone.
You can't get good Jell-O, cottage cheese and fruit combo salads anywhere. Gross. They are in abundance in the Midwest. Ish. I think I'm off topic.
Posted by: Susan Petterson Turzinski | September 20, 2007 at 10:02 AM
I am a loss for words. Who knew such combinations of foods were even legal. Clearly the ways of the Midwest are deep and mysterious!
Posted by: David | September 23, 2007 at 02:04 PM