I have lived in four states in my lifetime, and now live in Madison, Wisconsin. If you are a foodie like me and have moved around a bit in your life like me, that means that when you move from one place to another, there are going to be regional food items you miss from your previous dwelling. This week, I will write about the items I miss about the places I’ve lived–New York (Long Island), Cleveland (Ohio) and Nashville. Here we go…

New York

Pizza, pizza, pizza. With all due respect to you people in Chicago who like your pizza to be a couple inches thick, and everyone else who thinks a large pizza is like 14 inches wide, there is nothing like real New York pizza. Not that it’s all the same, but generally you get a thin crust (not too thin), and the perfect blend of sauce and cheese, a sprinkling of oregano, and that’s it. You take a slice of that 16 to 18 inch pie, fold it in half, and eat like a sandwich. Oh, and don’t forget the shake of crushed red pepper.

Jamaican beef patties–They sell them in every pizza place in and around New York. They also sell them at Jamaican bakeries and in the frozen food section of the grocery store. They are like empanadas–savory and spicy, and with that trademark yellow crust.

Potato salad–If you have ever had the potato salad they sell in German delis in New York, you won’t ever get potato salad anywhere else. I can’t even attempt to make potato salad, ever, because nothing comes close. One question–how do they keep the potato salad looking so bright white and not off white/eggy like store bought salad in any other state?

Nathan’s hot dogs and fries–Well, you can buy Nathan’s hot dogs in most stores. But the fries. I’m not even sure what it is…it’s not like they are super crispy or anything. They are thick crinkle cut, not under cooked and not over cooked–but the perfect companion to a glob of ketchup.

Bagels–Okay so we have Gotham Bagels here in Madison, and they are real New York style bagels. But it’s not near my house, so I have to stock up when I drive past.

Deli sandwiches–Do you sense a theme here? Yes, I miss delis, and you would too if you moved away from New York. There is nothing like a sandwich on a hard kaiser roll–with real meat like roast beef, turkey or ham that was cooked there and sliced thin right there. The roast beef and turkey you get anywhere else is not the same–it’s typically injected with broth and other stuff to preserve it and make it taste processed. Ugh.

I’m from New York originally, so I’m a bit of a bagel snob. There are all sorts of bagels–but the ones I know I don’t like are supermarket bagels. You know, the ones that are basically bread shaped like a bagel. Or, worse, the packaged whole wheat ones that are sold in the bread aisle and are also like bread, but are nothing more than whole wheat bread in a ring form. They’re also usually stale because no one buys them. There are frozen ones, which are sometimes okay, but still have a weird taste and texture (I won’t shout out brand names to protect the innocent, or guilty, as it were).

Then there are the stores such as Panera Bread, that are nationally ubiquitous and have decent bagels that I believe are cooked properly (boiled first, then baked). The problem is, they are not quite authentic, and part of the reason for that is the name of the company, Panera BREAD. They also use foo-foo flavors liberally. Bruegger’s makes good bagels too, but, well, they are a notch below the big boys.

Which brings me to this post. It took a while once we moved to Madison to find a good bagel store, but we did, in Gotham Bagels. And one of the first signs that I had arrived in a time warp from my days in New York was that Gotham Bagels had my favorite–the salt bagel. And today I noticed another flavor that is typical only of real New York style bagel shops–the pumpernickel bagel. Yum. I had one of each already today. But the salt bagel is amazing. It’s like a giant pretzel but with a bagel taste and texture. This one is slathered with cream cheese, but I also like this bagel with olive cream cheese (another NY thing but also one I’ve found at Bruegger’s or Panera) to give it even more sodium. (note: as always, don’t tell my doctor…I am taking my cholesterol meds and fish oil, anyway).

Hey, is it dinner time yet? I think I need another bagel.