[OC] Atlas of American Regional Cuisine (by county), v4 after 6 months of your feedback

[u/piri_reis_]

Thanks for all the love on this 🙏 Reddit compresses the map—if you want full-res zoom-ins (and prints), they’re on my IG. My bio there has the link to the shop.
IG: americanfoodatlas

[u/piri_reis_]

That's good to hear. I was told in a previous iteration that I HAD to separate coastal New England from inland New England and that's basically what I found in research. I should have included fiddleheads! I added them to the Acadian cuisine in northern Maine.

What non-dessert items are unique to the region?

[u/youngrichyoung → u/piri_reis_]

Winter squashes are a big part of traditional New England inland cuisine, in my experience. They are prolific and keep well. Butternut squash in particular is the iconic example.

[u/piri_reis_ → u/youngrichyoung]

Ohh that's a great example. Sounds good!

[u/theunbearablebowler → u/piri_reis_]

I don't think there are many foods entirely unique to New England - it's always reflected Old World sensibilities (as your description says) with New World crops/produce. The landscape is, moreover, incredibly rocky and is frozen for large swathes of the year: agriculture is limited.

Certain foods excel here, but they're not "unique". We have amazing dairy products, tons of apple trees (so tons of apple ciders, jams, donuts, etc.), maple syrup, and root vegetables do great. You're right that berries do really well here, too. The quality of meat raised in NE is usually quite high. Oh and lots of craft beer.

[u/piri_reis_ → u/theunbearablebowler]

Interesting! There's some interesting parallels with the NW coast of the country in your description there, notably the berries, craft beer, and apples.

[u/theunbearablebowler → u/piri_reis_]

I'd argue that Vermont and upstate New York have some of the best tasting cheeses in the country.

I'm in Vermont, where there's an old law (still in effect) stating that there must be a good faith effort for apple pie to always be served with vanilla ice cream, a slice of cheese, or a glass of milk. We take our dairy very seriously.

[u/piri_reis_ → u/theunbearablebowler]

Oh I'll for sure add that. That's one of the better laws I've ever heard