Cincinnati Food Adventures
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 6:05 pm
Cincinnati is an interesting place, culinarily, in that where many towns have specialties that you can get other places, but they do it best where it's from (NY/Chicago pizza, Philly cheesesteaks, etc.), Cincinnati's most popular local dishes are found ONLY here, because nobody anywhere else wants them. Have you ever been to a "Cincinatti-style chili parlor"? Of course not, because they are all here.
CHILI
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I wrote most of this before remembering there might be some of you who don't know what CIncinnati Chili is. It's not chili. It's a sauce featuring the distinct texture and look of fresh dog diarrhea, which you put on things, mostly spaghetti and tiny hot dogs. The taste is indescribable, but significantly more delicious than fresh dog diarrhea. Trust me.
Now, having been here before and knowing the joy of it, we actually had Cincinnati chili pretty regularly down in Nashville, because you can buy it in cans at certain grocery stores. But it's better in the restaurants, and since this is Cincinnati, there are fifteen chili places on every block. 12 of the fifteen will be Skyline Chili joints, and the other three will be Gold Star Chili joints. There is a fierce rivalry between them, even though they sell the exact same things.
I thought I was a Skyline man, because those were the cans we always got. But driving up to check out the house, I got three "Cheese Coneys" from Gold Star. A "Coney" is a standard Cincy Chili menu item, which is a half-length hotdog, on a half-length steamed bun, topped with chili, and of course as with everything else, a ten-pound pile of shredded mild cheddar. Sitting there in the parking lot after going through the drive-thru, I was convinced these were the greatest things anyone could ever eat.
Of course, then we moved here, and got Coneys from a Skyline, and I'm convinced those are the best things, etc., etc.
Some website a few years ago ranked the 50 states on how good their most famous local dish was, and Ohio came in 52nd. They had to make up two more states just to put Cincinnati Chili as low as they possibly could on the list. I cannot even fathom how anyone could hold that opinion, because it's just fantastic, no matter where you get it. Well, except for the frozen Skyline burritos you can buy in grocery stores here. Those are only really, really good.
GOETTA
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Where many might have at least heard of Cincinnati Chili, most people have never heard of goetta, and nobody outside a 20-miles radius of where I'm sitting right now has ever eaten it. It is the Cincy version of haggis, essentially. Many places have their regional version of this thing, and goetta is the one we have here. It's generally sold in tubes, and you cut slices from the tube and fry it. It's made of Random Beef Parts, oats, and various herbs/spices. Other than Skyline (or maybe Gold Star?) chili, it's the best thing that there is. The Costco here sells 40-oz jars of New Mexican Hatch green chiles. The first week here, I made New Mexican-Cincy fusion cuisine by constructing a green chili/goetta breakfast burrito. It is unlikely anything will ever be better than that, and I'm not restricting this to just food.
"Glier's Goetta" is the ubiquitous brand that every store carries thirty-nine tons of. Today I found "Queen City Goetta", which is the only other brand I've ever seen. I got me a TUBE, and will be trying it out in the morning.
There is more, which I can't remember right now (next thread: Cincinnati breweries uurp!!) but these two are the big hitters, and they have given me nothing but joy since I've arrived.
CHILI
=======
I wrote most of this before remembering there might be some of you who don't know what CIncinnati Chili is. It's not chili. It's a sauce featuring the distinct texture and look of fresh dog diarrhea, which you put on things, mostly spaghetti and tiny hot dogs. The taste is indescribable, but significantly more delicious than fresh dog diarrhea. Trust me.
Now, having been here before and knowing the joy of it, we actually had Cincinnati chili pretty regularly down in Nashville, because you can buy it in cans at certain grocery stores. But it's better in the restaurants, and since this is Cincinnati, there are fifteen chili places on every block. 12 of the fifteen will be Skyline Chili joints, and the other three will be Gold Star Chili joints. There is a fierce rivalry between them, even though they sell the exact same things.
I thought I was a Skyline man, because those were the cans we always got. But driving up to check out the house, I got three "Cheese Coneys" from Gold Star. A "Coney" is a standard Cincy Chili menu item, which is a half-length hotdog, on a half-length steamed bun, topped with chili, and of course as with everything else, a ten-pound pile of shredded mild cheddar. Sitting there in the parking lot after going through the drive-thru, I was convinced these were the greatest things anyone could ever eat.
Of course, then we moved here, and got Coneys from a Skyline, and I'm convinced those are the best things, etc., etc.
Some website a few years ago ranked the 50 states on how good their most famous local dish was, and Ohio came in 52nd. They had to make up two more states just to put Cincinnati Chili as low as they possibly could on the list. I cannot even fathom how anyone could hold that opinion, because it's just fantastic, no matter where you get it. Well, except for the frozen Skyline burritos you can buy in grocery stores here. Those are only really, really good.
GOETTA
=========
Where many might have at least heard of Cincinnati Chili, most people have never heard of goetta, and nobody outside a 20-miles radius of where I'm sitting right now has ever eaten it. It is the Cincy version of haggis, essentially. Many places have their regional version of this thing, and goetta is the one we have here. It's generally sold in tubes, and you cut slices from the tube and fry it. It's made of Random Beef Parts, oats, and various herbs/spices. Other than Skyline (or maybe Gold Star?) chili, it's the best thing that there is. The Costco here sells 40-oz jars of New Mexican Hatch green chiles. The first week here, I made New Mexican-Cincy fusion cuisine by constructing a green chili/goetta breakfast burrito. It is unlikely anything will ever be better than that, and I'm not restricting this to just food.
"Glier's Goetta" is the ubiquitous brand that every store carries thirty-nine tons of. Today I found "Queen City Goetta", which is the only other brand I've ever seen. I got me a TUBE, and will be trying it out in the morning.
There is more, which I can't remember right now (next thread: Cincinnati breweries uurp!!) but these two are the big hitters, and they have given me nothing but joy since I've arrived.