Everybody has a sure devotion to regional dishes, particularly these from the place we grew up, or from the cities we finally make our dwelling. They’ll remind us of our childhood or be linked to a specific sense of place, and sometimes stay intertwined with our personal sense of self. However which of those American dishes feels probably the most iconic? We determined to create a bracket and have Eater staffers go head-to-head to seek out out. Right here’s how we did it.
First, we solicited strategies from throughout Eater’s roughly 50-person Cities group. We appointed a committee of editor representatives from totally different areas of the nation to weigh the strategies, taking into consideration parameters equivalent to deliciousness, recognition inside and outside their location, and ties to particular geographic id, all whereas aiming to keep up a various mixture of areas, forms of dishes, and cultural influences.
As soon as the committee settled on a “Candy 16” of dishes, it appointed a workers consultant to “argue” for every dish in particular person face-offs (performed over chat and video calls). The consultant for the profitable dish wrote every accompanying blurb till we narrowed it down to at least one remaining champion, which will likely be revealed on Friday, August 9.
ROUND ONE
Lobster roll vs. half-smoke
These dishes may each come on a scorching canine bun, however that’s the place their similarities finish. The half-smoke is made with spicy pork and beef sausage, seared on a flattop, and served with onions, mustard, and chili; the Maine lobster roll is poached lobster meat, mayo, and maybe a sprinkling of celery. The place the half-smoke, mostly related to D.C. establishment Ben’s Chili Bowl, is hearty and comforting late-night meals, a lobster roll is wealthy however restrained, a pricy seasonal deal with that brings to thoughts heat climate, sea air, and waterside eating. Even with its storied historical past, the half-smoke stays an area attraction, however the Maine lobster roll takes the win as a coastal favourite with nationwide attraction — together with a superb, however very totally different, Connecticut model. — Stephanie Wu, Eater editor-in-chief
Winner: Lobster roll
Beignet vs. kolache
It’s attention-grabbing to pit two American regional pastries with European roots towards one another — New Orleans’ beignets are French and Texan kolaches are Czech — however on this battle, the mighty Texas baked good wins. Sure, sugary, doughnut-like beignets are clearly iconic, however you may get well-done beignets exterior of the Louisiana metropolis. Kolaches are Texas by means of and thru, with a candy pastry dough full of all types of fruits, delicate cheeses, or poppy seeds (versus their savory counterpart, the klobasnek). The large attraction of the candy makes it much more Texan — it’s not a fancified delicacy just like the beignet, however relatively an on a regular basis workhorse of a pastry, a staple at fuel stations, bakeries, and residential pastries. And fact be advised, I wouldn’t belief a kolache exterior of Texas. — Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Austin editor
Winner: Kolache
Fried cheese curds vs. disco fries
You could possibly argue that fried cheese curds and disco fries (crinkle-cut French fries nestled underneath a blanket of brown gravy and melted cheese) are cousins: They each sit on the tantalizing intersection of salt, fats, and dairy. Finally, although, fried cheese curds take the cake because the extra iconic hometown dish. Disco fries, a New Jersey diner traditional, are an unbeatable drunk meals, it’s true — however they will’t fairly match the regional character of the curd, the defining delicacy of America’s dairyland. Gleaned from vats of recent Wisconsin milk, these squeaky, rubbery bites of cheese are remodeled into the right bar meals with a malty beer batter, a deep fry, and a facet of ranch. — Justine Jones, Eater Twin Cities editor
Winner: Fried cheese curds
Coney canine vs. Chicago canine
It was a Midwest sausagefest when Detroit’s mighty Coney canine (coated in chili and dotted with yellow mustard and diced onions) challenged the Chicago-style scorching canine — with a salad on the bun garnished with yellow mustard, onions, neon inexperienced relish, celery salt, tomato, dill pickle spear, and spicy sport peppers. In the long run, the Chicago canine’s bombastic symphony of candy and savory on a pillowy poppy seed bun proved an excessive amount of to beat. Although a coney is a really scrumptious model of a chili canine, a chili canine isn’t distinctive to Detroit. In the meantime, Chicagoans are so obsessive about their scorching canine that you will discover them in native Dwelling Depots. There might be just one sausage king. — Ashok Selvam, Eater Chicago editor
Winner: Chicago canine
Korean taco vs. Nashville scorching rooster
When the Los Angeles-born Korean taco (popularized by Roy Choi’s late-night favourite Kogi meals truck in 2008) confronted off towards Nashville’s scorching rooster (created by a scorned lover to punish her womanizing man within the Nineteen Thirties), the taco got here out on prime for its melding of flavors and foodways. Los Angeles’s Korean and Mexican communities have been interconnected for generations within the schoolyard, on the workplace, and, lastly, with Choi’s dish, on a plate. Although cayenne-laced fried rooster doused in chile-infused scorching oil deserves reward for its tongue-searing, punishingly scrumptious profile, the joys of consuming sweetly marinated galbi, tucked into heat griddled corn tortillas and topped with salsa verde and a tangle of vivid scallions, makes for a three-bite sensation that tells the town’s story higher than any historical past guide. — Cathy Chaplin, Eater LA Senior Editor
Winner: Korean taco
NY slice vs. Mission-style burrito
Pit the Mission-style burrito towards the foldable, thin-crust New York slice, and it’s a conflict of hometown meals titans. Whereas each can declare some frequent floor — portability, as an example, and availability — there are myriad causes to crown the Mission-style burrito because the winner, together with the power to customise. Select between tender cuts of steak, grilled rooster, al pastor, shrimp, tripe, lengua, sauteed greens; rice or no rice; refried or pinto; guac or not; all doused in freshly made salsa — there’s no fallacious reply. Get it California-style, with french fries; or dorado, with a plancha-seared exterior, for optimum crispness. It’s an all-in-one meal swaddled inside a heat tortilla and rolled in heat-trapping foil, the equal of a heat San Francisco hug within the fog. — Dianne de Guzman, Eater San Francisco deputy editor
Winner: Mission-style burrito
Loco moco vs. inexperienced chile cheeseburger
New Mexican inexperienced chile cheeseburgers went up towards Hawai‘i’s loco moco in a giant, beefy spherical one showdown, and whereas there’s nothing fairly just like the scent of Hatch inexperienced chiles roasted over a fireplace, loco moco took the crown. The up to date Hawaiian staple — made by layering white rice with a burger patty, smothering it in brown gravy, and topping it with a sunny facet up egg — scored factors for being intimately related to its hometown and endlessly customizable. Each hometowns take satisfaction in these dishes (the inexperienced chile graces a few of New Mexico’s license plates and stars in lots of native dishes), however loco moco exemplifies how Hawai‘i residents flip inexpensive meals staples into scrumptious meals cooked and loved with delight. — Lauren Saria, former Eater San Francisco editor
Winner: Loco moco
Philly cheesesteak vs. BEC
The Philly cheesesteak, historically made with thinly sliced items of seasoned rib-eye steak, peppers, fried onions, and melted cheese (provolone or saucy, processed whiz) in an extended hoagie roll, simply defeats the ever present bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich of New York Metropolis. Whereas the BEC (usually served on a kaiser roll) might be discovered on nearly each block of the Large Apple, it’s mainly change into each main metropolis’s typical breakfast chunk. But it surely doesn’t examine to the magic of Philly cooks sauteing meat well-done on an oiled grill whereas scorching onions in the identical flavored grease, earlier than topping it off with cheese that can immediately soften in a traditional Amoroso’s hoagie roll. — Ernest Owens, Eater Philly editor
Winner: Philly cheesesteak
Test again Wednesday, August 7, for spherical two.
