OT: Most Pittsburgh-iest food?
- Thread starter HailtoPitt
- Start date
But you listed pierogi? Definitely wouldn’t consider that a Pittsburgh thing at all.
Whoever voted for pierogi needs to leave the friendly confines of Western PA and live a little. Pierogies are not a Pittsburgh food. I'd venture to say they are just as popular in Cleveland as they are in Pittsburgh. Also very popular in Buffalo and Milwaukee.
pierogi and haluski were popular in pittsburgh due to the polish/eastern european immigrants. think at one time in the early/mid 20th century, pittsburgh had one of the largest eastern european communities in the US.
no, it didnt originate in pittsburgh, was just popular with it's european immigrant culture.
Fish sandwich? I think someone just wanted to pronounce it as sammich and make a joke. which is quite dumb because i've never heard anyone ever actually say Sammich in a serious way, no matter how strong the pittsburgh accent is. just a really dumb joke imo
my guess to the original question would be your chipped ham then turned into Ham Barbeque. obviously a big part of that was Isalys. ironically, i believe isaly's actually started in ohio but it's expansion into pittsburgh put it on the map..
Isaly's was a big part of chipped ham. And as I recall, the order was for chipped chopped ham. That really distinguished it as a Pittsburgh item!
i agree.. on a side note, i feel like so much cuisine/culture in the USA was so strongly influenced by Veterans coming back from WW2.. you always here that a certain dish or food was popularized by returning WW2 veterans..
Heck, even the popularization of pizza in this country boomed from returning ww2 vets. I find that fascinating.. American vets spending time all over europe, northern africa and even the pacific islands.
Chipped chopped ham or chipped ham is a processed ham luncheon meat made from chopped ham. Chopped ham is a mixture of ham chunks and trimmings and seasonings, ground together and then packaged into loaves. By chipping or shaving the meat loaf against a commercial meat slicer blade, the resultant thinly sliced product has a different texture and flavor[1] compared to thickly sliced ham. In western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio, the slicing process is also referred to as "Pittsburgh style".[2]
Sometimes the chopped ham, once chipped, is mixed and heated with barbecue sauce before it is made into a sandwich. In the Pittsburgh region, sandwiches of "ham barbecue" or "barbecued chipped ham" are commonly served at home and available at lunch counters.[2] The chain Isaly's helped to popularize chipped chopped ham.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I've never been anywhere else where french fries are considered a salad topping.
Chipped ham bbq is something I haven't seen elsewhere. Fries & coleslaw on a sandwich is available in some other places just like fries on a salad are. But those are both generally accepted as Pittsburgh creations. I'd even argue that a big ass fish sandwich is a Pittsburgh phenomenon. I was out of town recently and saw a fish sandwich being served at a restaurant. Small piece of fish about as big as my fist on a hamburger bun. I remarked "it ain't a real fish sandwich unless there is enough fish for 3 or more meals on a giant hoagie roll".
But like I said, pierogies are just popular in the Burgh. But they are not uniquely Pittsburgh at all. People act like they are though.
im curious about the fish sandwich thing. to be honest, i cant say i've ordered a fish sandwich outside of pittsburgh so who knows, maybe it is.
We do seem to love our lenten fish frys more around here than other areas..
Salad with fries in it. Visitors get a kick of ordering a chicken or steak salad and it comes heaping with french fries. That is unique to here.
Foods like Pierogi and Kolbassi, Haluski are Eastern European staples that moved here. But Cleveland has these also. So does Chicago.
It's our penchant for putting fries on salad (or sammiches) that is unique.
Foods like Pierogi and Kolbassi, Haluski are Eastern European staples that moved here. But Cleveland has these also. So does Chicago.
It's our penchant for putting fries on salad (or sammiches) that is unique.
i dont know if "pittsburgh rare" is a real thing or some kind of joke that just grew legs.. if you google it, it shows up so maybe its real.
i like a bloody steak like the rest of the world but i just cant imagine ever ordering anything "pittsburgh rare."
i saw this online, no clue if it's legit:
i like a bloody steak like the rest of the world but i just cant imagine ever ordering anything "pittsburgh rare."
i saw this online, no clue if it's legit:
- Another story affirms that the term started in the various steel mills in and around Pittsburgh. The mill workers needed high calorie food for the heavy work and had only 30 minutes for lunch. The blast furnaces were heated to over 2,000 °F (1,100 °C). They would throw a steak on the side of the blast furnace (which was sterile due to the high heat), leave it for a few moments, and then turn it. The steak was seared but raw inside.
Dahn in the Mon Valley, we called it "Chip tam"
many old timers called it Chipped-Chopped ham. think that was a boomer thing though. i always referred to it as chipped ham..
A food-related national magazine came to Pittsburgh and was looking for someone to show off a pierogi recipe, so they interviewed and featured my mother and aunts who used my grandmother's recipe. Obviously the magazine associated pierogies with Pittsburgh, and I'm sure many others do as well.
I would consider pierogi more popular in Pittsburgh than anywhere else. And some places still don't know what they are.
Salad with fires? That has to have its roots in the steel mills. Regardless, it got my vote.
Just outside the city, where the Beaver River flows into the Ohio, Jerry's Curb Service claims credit for inventing the Pittsburgh salad. "It was on a fateful night in the early 1960s that the now famous Steak Salad was born," the website recounts. "A customer placed a rather unusual order—a steak sandwich, hold the bun, add fries and salad dressing. Not one to disappoint a customer, Donna Reed [wife of owner Jerry Reed] placed the order. She noticed the man cut up the steak, mixed in the fries and poured the salad dressing on top. Curious about this rather odd concoction, Donna decided to try it for herself, but with one small change. Donna placed her sliced steak, fries and salad dressing atop a fresh bed of lettuce." But did Donna's mysterious customer really invent the Pittsburgh salad? Hilltop Grill, across the Beaver River in Rochester, may disagree—they, too, claim to be the salad's originators.
www.seriouseats.com
Pittsburgh Rare: A Culinary History of the Steel City
Put simply, Pittsburgh is the best place in the world to call home. Those of us who have left haven't stopped thinking of ourselves as Pittsburghers. It's an identity that's ingrained in our way of life, from our "Pittsburghese" speech to our beloved Steelers to our unique fusion of culinary...
I know , when I was younger my family referred to stuffed cabbage as Pigs in a blanket . That was as Pittsburghie as I can think of .
i dont want to offend anyone but with regards to pierogi, can you really screw it up? I like them, dont get me wrong but if i made you a plate from the frozen ones at a grocery store and authentic ones made that day from some old lady in the strip or polish hill, could you tell the difference?
Yes. Mrs T’s and the like serve a purpose. And I like them. But Giant Eagle also carries a brand called Kasia. They’re not frozen and way better.
The Mrs Ts of the world use cheaper ingredients for price concerns. I’m far from a “foodie” and not a snob at all. But there’s a difference.
Of course I have. I live in Cleveland, and while people like pierogi, they are more popular in Pittsburgh. Just like paczki are more of a thing here in Cleveland. When I lived in eastern PA, they knew what pierogi are, but nowhere near as popular as in Pittsburgh. Heck, some "pierogi" where very differenly made in eastern PA. Larger and thicker dough in some places.
We may be missing one of the most unique culinary items in Pittsburgh --- or at least the area. The Cookie Table. What Pgh. wedding takes place without the cookie table?
Sorry, I should have added it. But is a cookie table a type of food? More of a tradition, I'd say.
Pot creates all sorts of crazy culinary creations .. So i'm told ...Just outside the city, where the Beaver River flows into the Ohio, Jerry's Curb Service claims credit for inventing the Pittsburgh salad. "It was on a fateful night in the early 1960s that the now famous Steak Salad was born," the website recounts. "A customer placed a rather unusual order—a steak sandwich, hold the bun, add fries and salad dressing. Not one to disappoint a customer, Donna Reed [wife of owner Jerry Reed] placed the order. She noticed the man cut up the steak, mixed in the fries and poured the salad dressing on top. Curious about this rather odd concoction, Donna decided to try it for herself, but with one small change. Donna placed her sliced steak, fries and salad dressing atop a fresh bed of lettuce." But did Donna's mysterious customer really invent the Pittsburgh salad? Hilltop Grill, across the Beaver River in Rochester, may disagree—they, too, claim to be the salad's originators.
Pittsburgh Rare: A Culinary History of the Steel City
Put simply, Pittsburgh is the best place in the world to call home. Those of us who have left haven't stopped thinking of ourselves as Pittsburghers. It's an identity that's ingrained in our way of life, from our "Pittsburghese" speech to our beloved Steelers to our unique fusion of culinary...
I recall in the 80's combining a steak m sandwich with a nutty buddy ..
Delicious ...
They're pretty big here in NE Ohio. Several restaurants serve them. Pierogi of Cleveland in Richfield is one of the most popular, but there are several others.
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