Many regional foods being left out of the mainstream

grumpyoldman

grumpyoldman

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with the invention of the internet , i fail to understand why so many foods from differant parts of the country/world are unknown
for example : where i grew up in tthe deep south ( U.S ) everyone eats creamed style corn ,otherwise known as fried corn .
yet where i live now in the southwestern ( U.S ) and other parts of the country , no one has ever heard of it, it can't be because it tastes bad , when i serve it to freinds they go nuts about it , this applies to many other dishes form that part of the country, as well others, i'm sure i'm not alone being baffled at this happening from other places in the country as well as other parts of the world
 
grumpyoldman said:
with the invention of the internet , i fail to understand why so many foods from differant parts of the country/world are unknown
for example : where i grew up in tthe deep south ( U.S ) everyone eats creamed style corn ,otherwise known as fried corn .
yet where i live now in the southwestern ( U.S ) and other parts of the country , no one has ever heard of it, it can't be because it tastes bad , when i serve it to freinds they go nuts about it , this applies to many other dishes form that part of the country, as well others, i'm sure i'm not alone being baffled at this happening from other places in the country as well as other parts of the world
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I grew up in Florida and lived there for over 30 years...I never heard anyone say creamed corn is fried corn. Fried corn sounds like corn kernels fried in butter in a saucepan or maybe a corn cob dipped in batter and fried (would that even work, I dunno but it sounds like it would taste good but would be hard to eat). I can't stand creamed corn the way that most people make it (cloyingly sweet with added sugar), but I had a version of it that my cousins in SE Texas near the Louisiana border made that is savory and smoked. It's amazing!

But I can only think of a few US foods that I haven't heard of. When I first moved to the Akron, OH area , I found out they have a regional food here called sauerkraut balls. They're okay. It's basically corned beef and sauerkraut with some spices and some sort of binding agent, rolled into balls then breaded with bread crumbs and deep fried. My DH likes them so I figured out a way to make them taste better than the ones they serve in the restaurants. Then there is something called Cincinnati chili that TastyReuben could tell you all about. It's basically chili over spaghetti but the chili is way different than normal chili. I am not a fan. And then there is Goetta, another Cincinnati food that I had never heard of until recently--and it was here on this forum.

If it weren't for this forum, there are a lot of international foods I would know nothing about as well. Some foods are just called by different names here than they are in other countries, but then there are various foods (blood sausage for one) that I have learned about here. Some of it I wouldn't want to eat I think...
 
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Different cultures have different food traditions and as people have mentioned many times before America is vast so it’s not really a surprise different regions have different dishes.
Europe is small size wise in comparison and yet the cuisines vary wildly and some of those I’m not interested in, even if they are delicious they’re just not part of my repertoire.

Creamed corn is a delight but I still only make it at Christmas.
It’s just not part of our shared culture and I think that’s why some foods don’t travel, food is a communal experience. I can’t imagine for a moment serving sweet potato pie, or anyone wanting it and that’s purely a cultural thing.

I suspect people in Asia look at our food and boggle at how their far more flavourful food hasn’t taken the world over!
 
the names of some things may be differant from place to place but the basic dishes should be known , the name "fried corn " comes from it being cooked on top of the stove in a cast iron skillet , its nothing but fresh corn that has cut off the cob very fine , in the skillet add about 2 tablespoons of vegatable oil and add the corn then add salt and black pepper to taste then on a med heat stir it while it cooks and thickens ...thats it
, anyone that tries it will tell you it tastes nothing like the junk that you buy in a can , it goes well with just about anything
 
but you would think with the internet, people would be posting dishes and the whole world would be trying them
 
I think most people eat what is convenient and accessible. That’s certainly what I see amongst many people I know.
Being adventurous with food isn’t necessarily a common trait.

When I make creamed corn four family members will be delighted and have seconds and six don’t touch it. It doesn’t fit with their idea of what should go on that plate.

I suppose there’s safety in familiarity.

There were a lot of polish foods on our supermarket shelves for a long time (seasonal workers before Brexit) and I tried most of them. I did not like the vast majority. Their palates have been brought up enjoying food prepared a different way, a very sharply savoury or plain way that to me tasted wrong.

I get a little bit of a similar thing with American recipe’s I use. The sugar content is often far too high for our palates.
I usually have to reduce the sugar element by at least a third, sometimes by half and when I don’t I regret it.
We just don’t cook with and have not been brought up to enjoy sugar that way.
Weird ay, when you consider the majority of American are European genetics it must be purely cultural, but for whatever reason we’re all a bit different.
 
grumpyoldman said:
the names of some things may be differant from place to place but the basic dishes should be known , the name "fried corn " comes from it being cooked on top of the stove in a cast iron skillet , its nothing but fresh corn that has cut off the cob very fine , in the skillet add about 2 tablespoons of vegatable oil and add the corn then add salt and black pepper to taste then on a med heat stir it while it cooks and thickens ...thats it
, anyone that tries it will tell you it tastes nothing like the junk that you buy in a can , it goes well with just about anything
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Ah, so it's not really "creamed corn" at all, but fried corn. The kind my cousins make has a little cream in it and they also use an immersion blender for a few quick pulses to thicken it, then it is put in a foil pan and in the smoker.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I think most people eat what is convenient and accessible. That’s certainly what I see amongst many people I know.
Being adventurous with food isn’t necessarily a common trait.

When I make creamed corn four family members will be delighted and have seconds and six don’t touch it. It doesn’t fit with their idea of what should go on that plate.

I suppose there’s safety in familiarity.

There were a lot of polish foods on our supermarket shelves for a long time (seasonal workers before Brexit) and I tried most of them. I did not like the vast majority. Their palates have been brought up enjoying food prepared a different way, a very sharply savoury or plain way that to me tasted wrong.

I get a little bit of a similar thing with American recipe’s I use. The sugar content is often far too high for our palates.
I usually have to reduce the sugar element by at least a third, sometimes by half and when I don’t I regret it.
We just don’t cook with and have not been brought up to enjoy sugar that way.
Weird ay, when you consider the majority of American are European genetics it must be purely cultural, but for whatever reason we’re all a bit different.
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I agree about the sugar content, but I think you must be referring to baking sweet goods? I don't really have a sweet tooth and don't eat much in the way of cookies, pies, etc. I don't add sugar to regular foods, except a bit of sugar with the yeast to proof it, and maybe a little sugar to a huge pot of tomato-based pasta sauce (along with red wine and the usual suspects). Hmmm. Also hush-puppies and cornbread, I add a little sugar to those.
 
I'm from the south as well and cook creamed corn on the stovetop in a skillet. My southern, farm-housewife grandmother cooked it in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop, she had several, and it was always called creamed corn.

Never heard it called fried corn, and would never associate fried corn with creamed corn.

A lot of people, I'd say most actually, stick with foods they know and are comfortable with. The people on this forum and other cooking forums are not your average eaters and cooks. There's a reason we joined these forums and it most certainly is not because we like to eat the same old foods.
 
grumpyoldman said:
but you would think with the internet, people would be posting dishes and the whole world would be trying them
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just try to get people to eat something simple - like grits . . .
or hominy / scrapple / liver / tongue / sweet breads . . . very very long list of "never tried it, but hate it" stuff.

some items/names just turn people off - likely from 'old eaters tales' they've heard all their life - assumed it was true and never ever tried it.
 
CookieMonster said:
just try to get people to eat something simple - like grits . . .
or hominy / scrapple / liver / tongue / sweet breads . . . very very long list of "never tried it, but hate it" stuff.

some items/names just turn people off - likely from 'old eaters tales' they've heard all their life - assumed it was true and never ever tried it.
Click to expand...
I never liked grits growing up in the South where it's a breakfast staple, but I love them when I'm the one cooking them. Creamy, cheesy, buttery...yum.
 
i really did'nt intend for this thread to be about "fried corn" it was meant to be about why with the internet we all haven't been exposed to more reginal foods from the world over
but getting back to the "fried corn" on Aug 2nd or 3rd i will be posting photo's of how fried corn is made from shucking the corn , silking it , creaming it and cooking it , for anyone that loves sweet corn and wants to try it , this will show you how , and i promise you won't be disappointed
JAS_OH1: i have heard of people adding cream to it but we don't , as to pulseing it in a blender thats a new one on me so is the smoking part ? look for the pictures i post in aug. and i think you will agree the blender is not needed
 
grumpyoldman said:
i really did'nt intend for this thread to be about "fried corn" it was meant to be about why with the internet we all haven't been exposed to more reginal foods from the world over
but getting back to the "fried corn" on Aug 2nd or 3rd i will be posting photo's of how fried corn is made from shucking the corn , silking it , creaming it and cooking it , for anyone that loves sweet corn and wants to try it , this will show you how , and i promise you won't be disappointed
JAS_OH1: i have heard of people adding cream to it but we don't , as to pulseing it in a blender thats a new one on me so is the smoking part ? look for the pictures i post in aug. and i think you will agree the blender is not needed
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They don't put it in a blender. Immersion blender aka stick blender. They don't cook it on the stove, it cooks in the smoker so a few little pulses with the stick blender creams it a bit. Adding a bit of cream keeps it from drying out in the smoker. And no sugar added (some garlic though).

The smoking thing is southeast Texas style. I'd never seen it before but man is it good!
 
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People have to seek things out usually, to discover them. Some things you can happen upon, but just randomly surfing the internet isn’t the most efficient way to it.

grumpyoldman , surely you’d acknowledge there are regional foods you’re not aware of, yes? No one can be aware of everything, so it shouldn’t be a stretch to realize some folks haven’t heard of what you call creamed corn, in the same way you may not have heard of, say, ponhaus (just guessing).

As to the corn, what I call fried corn is more of an Amish/Mennonite thing - whole kernels cut off the cob and literally fried in a skillet, in a little bacon grease, usually some ham or bacon added, along with some onion.

What I’d call creamed corn is more like a very thick chowder, about as thick as cornbread batter, with the liquid being partly mashed up corn and partly milk or cream, and whole kernels in there as well.

We mainly ate fried corn at home growing up, but not a lot of creamed corn.
 
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