Food: Maine vs Mass

ABOVE: Tim, who is a construction superintendent, built the Honey Dew behind him....

My dad and I got talking about food (big surprise that the two of us would talk about food, right?) the other day, and the disparity that exists between food "up here" and food down in Massachusetts. Although not "too" far away, you would be surprised at the huge differences in quality AND availability that each state offers. I thought I would try to categorize some of the things that Mass SCORES with as far as food goes--and, for a brief moment, even reflect on things I miss from my time in Massachusetts. Obviously, I welcome your feedback....

BONE IN CHINESE SPARE RIBS: Down in Mass, at places like Maui and Cheng Du, you always had to specify if your spare ribs were to be bone in or without the bone. And, actually, until I was a teenager, I dont even remember there BEING that many boneless ribs. Today, in Maine, that is ALL you can get. In fact, I cannot find one Chinese restaurant up here that has REAL spare ribs

BREAD: While on the topic of Chinese Restaurants, bread must be a mass tradition too. Whenever you went out to eat at a Chinese Restaurant, the waiter ALWAYS brought over bread and butter before your meal came. It was always as hard as a rock, but I didnt care. I have such fond memories of dipping the bread into the hot mustard, and then having my dad yell at me that I was rude and gross for doing so.

NEWBURG SAUCE: A bit hit down in Mass, at all the "Capey" and "Plymouthey" places; even at Edmunds, the restaurant at which I worked in high school, Newburg sauce was always a constant on the menu! It is one of my favorites, and you NEVER see seafood newburg up here. In fact, what got me thinking of this whole post to begin with was my telling Hank that The Senator had seafood newburg on the buffet on Easter....

FISH: This is a mass thing: You see fish advertised on menus as sCrod....or sCHrod. The one with JUST the c in it means that the fish you are eating is a small cod. The one with the "ch" in it means you are eating "catch of the day" and it could be pollack, haddock, cod, or the like. Growing up, my mom and nana always used to get broiled scrod or schrod. Up here, I dont think I have EVER heard the term....

LINGUICA: The most amazing sausage known to man. Score one for the Portuguese. Down in southern NE, like Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton, you have your pick of the spicy sausage. Up here, even at Joseph's butcher shop, finding it is impossible. Kevin at Josephs told me "I dont order it...folks up here dont like it...."

PIZZA: The pizza up here just sucks. It is really sad. .Even the places everyone RAVES about up here as having the best pizza are borderline "average" when you consider Massachusetts places. The BEST pizza I have had up here is a "normal" one by Mass standards. Score one for Timmy and MummaandPuppaKappa: The Greeks down in Mass know how to do pizza right. Alas, rednecks do not. It is like in that movie "Pleasantville" when all of the sudden everyone could see in color?? That is what it would be like if my central Maine friends came down and went to Lindo's or Papa Gino's or Town Spa, or such and such...

COFFEE SHOPS: Dunkin Donuts rules up here...there are a splattering of Starbucks, surprisingly. Personally, I do my coffee at Hillman's. BUT, if we had a HONEY DEW donuts, that would all change. Honey Dew remains the STRONGEST thing I miss about Mass. The best coffee. Jay doesnt know how lucky he is to have Honey Dew in his byackyard. And this place has donuts that...well...are actual donuts. And they usually have hot girls working there. And their mascot is a cute bear. And yeah

HASH: No,, not that kind. I am talking corned beef hash. It isnt a quality thing necessarily...it is an availability thing. My friend Wick always said "you can always tell how serious a place is about breakfast if they have hash on the menu." He is right. Butcher's Choice used to have it regularly. And I think the Flatlanda has it on special sometimes. But, other than that, you dont find hash that much; it remains a CONSTANT on Mass breakfast menus though. Mel's Diner always had the best hash, as I remember. Jay, you will have to chime in and tell us where to get the best hash. Jay is the hash man for sure.

ROLLS: Of the potato variety, I mean. Martin's Potato Rolls. They arent even made in Mass; they come from PA, I think. But they are a big deal down there. Cant get them up here. Nice, buttery, soft rolls. A burger isnt a burger without one. Whenever I see my dad, he always gets me two things: A pound of Honey Dew coffee and a few packs of Martin's Potato Rolls.

Your comments?????