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Does The Northern U.S. Have Its Own Cuisine?

Thrillbilly Jim

Thrillbilly Jim

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I reposted this on my Facebook page and it started a pretty big debate. So, I thought I would ask the question here. Does the Northern U.S. have its own cuisine? And, if so, what is it?
The cuisine of the South is fairly easily defined and recognized as “Southern food”, “country cooking’”, or “soul food”. We’re talking fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, bbq, shrimp & grits, corn bread, peach cobbler, sweet tea, etc.
I usually think of Italian food for Northern cuisine, but that’s from Italy mostly. You get regional items like Buffalo chicken wings, NE clam chowder, Philly cheesesteaks, but does that count? There are a lot of deli’s up North, but they usually derive from European/Jewish influence.
What are your thoughts? Really interested to here everyone’s opinion.
 
I’m north. I like to cook. I’m overweight.

You form your own opinions....
🤣
 
I pretty much make everything on your list.

Huge Country Fried Steak fan. Got really good at it a few years ago. Honestly though the place at the end of my road has The Best CFS I’ve ever had and there is no 2nd. Every south vacation I go on it’s the only thing I order in hopes someone does it better. So far, nope.
 
It’s a meat and potatoes kind of region. Throw in some noodles and you have a good old hotdish!
 
Wisconsin has cheese curds and beer brats, and all other types of cheese and sausage. Minnesota has Jucy Lucys (or Juicy Lucys if you prefer). WI and MN both have tater tot casserole, except MN calls it hotdish. Everyone seems to have an awesome fish fry on Fridays.

Those are my favorites, I'm sure there are more.
 
We aren’t known for anything that I can think of. Tater Tot Dish is pretty bad ass tho.
 
MattyD-MPLS said:
We aren’t known for anything that I can think of. Tater Tot Dish is pretty bad ass tho.
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Tater tot anything is good by me! Big fan of cheese curds too.
 
I don’t know why but when I think of northern US food I associate it with German food.
 
New England Clam Chowder
 
We're in one of the many 55+ parks in Fl about 6 1/2 months and most people are from the north (NC to cold for me). They have a pot luck meal every couple of weeks and I have been to only one in fifteen years, told my wife that I can't eat the yankee crap. Will admit that I am a picky eater, not much green and not much mixed, no caseroles. generally no left overs. They even mess up mashed potatoes.
 
Nah, we are in too much of a hurry to wait all day for something to cook.
 
greg19 said:
Nah, we are in too much of a hurry to wait all day for something to cook.
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That kind of defines all the things I consider foods from the Northeast and the Midwest though. Hot dogs, pizza, deli, chowder, sandwiches like reubens, cheese steak, lobster rolls, Italian beef, etc. They are all fantastic grab and go meals. Also lot's of good bread stuff like Bagels and donuts.
 
rumstove said:
Wisconsin has cheese curds and beer brats, and all other types of cheese and sausage. Minnesota has Jucy Lucys (or Juicy Lucys if you prefer). WI and MN both have tater tot casserole, except MN calls it hotdish. Everyone seems to have an awesome fish fry on Fridays.

Those are my favorites, I'm sure there are more.
Click to expand...
MattyD-MPLS said:
We aren’t known for anything that I can think of. Tater Tot Dish is pretty bad ass tho.
Click to expand...

I would call this Mid-western more than Northern.
 
J.B. Cobb III said:
I would call this Mid-western more than Northern.
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By this logic, I think it would be tough to say they don’t. New England seafood is legendary. Then you have NY with pizza and delis. You have PN and their amazing sandwich creations such as the cheesesteak.

Southern Food has been a popular label, but it’s still rather geography based.
 
rumstove said:
Wisconsin has cheese curds and beer brats, and all other types of cheese and sausage. Minnesota has Jucy Lucys (or Juicy Lucys if you prefer). WI and MN both have tater tot casserole, except MN calls it hotdish. Everyone seems to have an awesome fish fry on Fridays.

Those are my favorites, I'm sure there are more.
Click to expand...
Hotdishes are much better than casseroles! :ROFLMAO: I think that the MN/WI culinary delicacies consist of high contents of cheese, potatoes, and meat... so really we like our carbs and fats! And deep-fried anything!
 
I think @JB summed it up pretty well. Seafood is our calling card here in New England.
 
The cuisine of any area is dependent on the cultural history. Southern cooking derived from the plantations and what those people had to work with. Northern cities were populated with so many different cultures from all over the world that each brought their own style. No one culture had enough influence in the north to define any particular style to influence large numbers of people. That diversity is what makes the cuisine interesting.
 
I grew up in Wisconsin/Minnesota and also spent 20 years in Northern California. The big difference here is way more people use outdoor grills and smokers than my California neighbors which is weird because here it requires more effort to shovel your grilling area several times each winter. Nearly all of my buddies have more than one grill, a griddle, and a smoker. It’s not surprising that Weber grill got it’s start and is based in Chicago and brought back yard grilling to the masses.

The German heritage is evident here with many local meat markets making a dozen or more varieties of bratwurst and sausage. Not surprisingly cheese consumption is high here as Wisconsin produces half of all the the specialty cheese in the U.S. My kids were cheese snobs by the time they got into 1st grade, lol.

FWIW, the quality and variety of restaurants is much higher here in Minneapolis than it was in Sacramento. A simple thing like a good pizza was tough to find in Sacramento and here there are a dozen great pizza joints within ten minutes of our house.
 
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I think its regional... but then isn't alot southern food 'regional'.. you got Texas bbq vs Carolina, but then like tex-mex, new Orleans cuisine, etc
 
We have Soup.....kidding.... seriously I think the the best restaurants that I have eaten are are in ME or MA or CA. But that’s just me...
 
I would agree the Northern US is more regional in cuisine. Like you and others have mentioned some great foods from the different areas vs the Southern style is more consistent to a cuisine.

However, give me Northern specialties over Southern cooking every day. Pizza, Cheesesteak, clam chowder, wings, and all the rest blow southern cooking away.
 
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