A language learners’ forum

Are there any kinds of regional foods you once had easy access to, but now never get to eat them because e.g. they were mostly home-baked? Or just fell out of fashion?

When I was a nipper in the north of England a sort of heavy gingerbread cake called 'Parkin' was a treat. Up where we were it was made with ground oatmeal, wheatflour and some rye meal (plus the ginger and treacle or syrup). You could get this in shops in some places, but mostly it was baked at home

Slowly, as more and more people stopped baking like before, it became harder to get. Whenever I found it n a shop or bakery, it wasn't quite as good. The rye in the mix gave it better texture along with the oats. Obviously I also live in the wrong country now, but I missed it so much I decided to resurrect it for myself. I've made variations using just oats and rye and less syrup because rye is naturally sweetish and moist. You have to be careful though because it must be baked hard and left to settle and go moist in a closed tin.

Another thing I can't get here are crumpets. I did work out how to make them (and scotch pancakes too), but they are labour-intensive for me. Now I realise that grandmother must have got up at the crack of dawn to make the things she did.

I can crumpets no problems. But I grew up in the USA and I can't get cornbread for love nor money.

rdearman wrote:I can crumpets no problems. But I grew up in the USA and I can't get cornbread for love nor money.

Providing you can get cornmeal (in the UK), cornbread is super easy to make.

As for me, I can’t recommend eating anything from Idaho. In case you’re wondering, we don’t see potatoes as special. From the neighboring state of Washington, there are Aplets and Cotlets, which are similar to Turkish Delights: https://www.libertyorchards.com/product/Aplets_and_Cotlets/Aplets_and_Cotlets

Horse hard salami. Seriously. Was able to get it in Kyrgyzstan. Of course can't in the US.

Things I miss from Ireland:
The brown bread a certain B&B served every morning. I somehow assume they just got it from the grocery store, but I still haven't come across it anywhere else.
The potato cake another B&B host served every morning.
A really nice cup of tea.

Eierballen/egg balls. They're kind of like scotch eggs, but not quite. I grew up in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands, and apparently they're a regional food from there. I only realized this after I moved away and couldn't find them at snack bars anymore. Very sad.

Horse meat (not salami). The meat of those valiants steeds is sweater than beef, but you can condition it with cumin and then it's fine. Only problem: where to buy it.

Runzas... ground beef and cabbage baked inside a bread roll... only available in a very specific region in the US.

Sarsaparilla (also fairly regional).

I also can't get anything peppermint here (Switzerland) except for tea or the actual plant, which is super sad around Christmastime. I don't know how many times my first year here I broke down crying in the supermarket because I wanted something they didn't carry.

I recently tried bitterballen in the Netherlands and I really liked them. Of course I can't get them here in France.

As for very traditional Norwegian cuisine, I can only eat it when I go back to visit Norway. There is no way to get moose filet, reindeer meatballs or lutefisk in the countries where I've been living the last 25 years. (Smoked salmon yes, but that is no longer regional, it has become an international success available everywhere in the world.)

My mother used to make blandaball. These are round-shaped "balls" a bit bigger than a tennis ball, that are made of potato, four, fish and onion, and cooked in salt water. The colour is grey (so they don't look very appetising, but they taste surprisingly good). They're normally served with bacon, melted butter and some vegetables on the side. It is a typical dish from the north-west of Norway, and I've never seen it on the menu of any restaurant in Norway. When my mother got too old she stopped making them (it's a lot of work) and since then I've never tasted them again. Maybe I should try to make some myself...

MaggieMae wrote:Sarsaparilla (also fairly regional).

When I was young in the 1970s I was able to get Sarsparilla in glass bottles. So damn good. Haven't seen it for years.

Close, but no cigar: birch beer.