Are you a “dinner” or “supper” kind of person? How about a “sub” or a “hoagie” lover? A Sac Foodies colleague recently asked us to share our experiences with food regionalisms in an effort to help a friend writing a book on the subject.
Mimi Harrison is an author of books that celebrate words and language. Her latest work-in-progress focuses on regional differences in words and phrases for the same thing. Thinking back to sayings we had heard before, we realized there are probably many more regionalisms out there than we’d imagined. We’ve come up with a few good ones, and now it’s your turn. Let us know what food regionalisms you’ve heard by leaving a comment on this post or on our Facebook page – we will choose one as the winner of a copy of the Sacramento Zagat guide!
Liz – “I had always used the word soda until I moved to Colorado and everyone said pop!”
Cecily – “I’ve heard some East Coast friends of mine refer to ordering a pizza as ‘ordering a pie.’”
Brooke – “I grew up in Colorado with California parents and I called everything a soda or a coke, no matter the brand.”
John – “I grew up with ‘grinders’ in Kansas City. A meatball grinder was a meatball sandwich made by cutting off one end of a long Italian roll, hollowing out the middle, stuffing it with cheese, sauce and meatballs, shoving the end back on, then toasting it briefly. Yummy, melty, hot, good.”
Maria says
I’ve heard some friends from the Midwest refer to cantaloupe and honey dew melon as simply “melon,” whereas I’ve always called them “cantaloupe” or “honey dew.” Maybe I’m being too specific! 🙂