We, Pennsylvanians take our food, including any discussion of it, seriously. I learned that the hard way when, many years ago, I wrote one of my first articles for Only In Pittsburgh about the best pizza joints in the city. Whoa, did I get roasted (rightfully so, looking back), but it was eye-opening how passionate many of us are about food. We know what we love and, more importantly, what we don’t love. While I admittedly love good food, I’ve never had one Pennsylvania favorite: Philadelphia cheesesteak and it’s for a pretty simple reason.
I could easily blame the fact that I’ve never had a Philly cheesesteak, despite living in Southwestern Pennsylvania for a significant portion of my life and an hour outside of Philly in South Jersey for a few years, on being a vegetarian.
The truth is, though, that I didn’t give up meat until I was much older. I grew up on burgers made on the grill, begged for a hot dog and popcorn when my parents took me to Hills as a kid, and had jumbo (you might know it as bologna) and mustard sandwiches in my lunch at school.
Unfortunately, I missed out on a lot of good foods during my meat-eating days because I’m picky. I’ve always loved the smell of a Philly cheesesteak and they always look so good, but, well, I never tried one because…picky.
I might be forgiven, though, (right?) because I’ve spent the majority of my time in Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh, where sandwiches (and salads) come topped with fries (thanks, Primanti Brothers), fries come topped with cheese and, for non-veggies, bacon (hello, Potato Patch), and if it’s not Heinz, it’s not ketchup.
Despite lacking in my first-hand knowledge of what counts as a really good cheesesteak – drop recommendations in the comments – can we all agree that they’re just the tip of the culinary iceberg in Pennsylvania? Have you had an egg salad sandwich, or maybe a chipped ham (or chipped chopped ham sandwich) from Isaly’s? Heavenly.
Or how about homemade pierogis? Nothing tastes as good as pierogis at a local church fair in July or August. You might even be able to get a bowl of haluski, too.
Let’s not forget a classic hoagie or sub (it’s hoagie in Pittsburgh), and we can find some of the best at Wawa and Sheetz. (Which is your favorite?)
So there’s my confession. I’ve never had a Philadelphia cheesesteak. What classic Pennsylvania foods have you not yet tried? Let us know in the comments! Take a peek at these classic Pennsylvania dishes that are worth a taste.
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