Foods unique to Philadelphia

You can't complete a visit to our historical city without
sampling the foods local to our area. To cure a gumbling
stomach sample one of the items below and you won't regret it!
The Philadelphia Cheesesteak-it all starts with thinly sliced
steak (about 1/16 of an inch thin), fried in oil and onions
(you can eliminate the onions, but why???) The steak is
chopped up while it is frying. When the steak is about
ready to be taken off the grill, add a few slices of
American (square) cheese. Cut a long Italian roll down
the center (make sure it's an Amoroso roll, other rolls
just don't taste the same) and put that on top of the
steak/cheese mixture. Slide it onto the roll, add the
toppings of your choice (fried onions, mushrooms, hot or
sweet peppers, ketchup, etc), slice in half and enjoy!
The Philadelphia Hoagie-The best of these can be found in
South Philadelphia. If you don't have a long Italian roll
to make these delicious sandwiches you might as well
forget it! What's a hoagie? You might think of it as a hero
sandwich, but it's not the same. Slice a fresh Philadelphia
Italian roll. Sprinkle lightly with oil. Then add shredded
lettuce, onions, your sandwich fillings and sliced tomato.
Finally, sprinkle with oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
A Philadelphia hoagie normally contains cheese (usually
sliced provolone). Pickles are almost never used in a
Philadelpia hoagie. The types of hoagies you can get are
Italian (Italian hams & salamis), Ham, Tuna (tuna salad),
Turkey (turkey breast) Cheese, just cheese, usually a few
varieties and Vegetarian. The hoagie variations you can
have are: dry (no oil), with mayo (no oil), no onions,
with hot peppers, with sweet peppers, no cheese and with
American cheese (instead of provolone). So what are you waiting for????
The Philadelphia soft pretzel-a true Philadelphia soft
pretzel is usually bought from a street vendor or small
"mom and pop" shop, seldom from a chain store. It is usually
fresh, soft and chewy and comes in a sort of slab in which
a number of pretzels are stuck together and is sprinkled
with just the right amount of coarse salt. When you go to
buy one, make sure that they are packed in a brown paper
bag. Plastic wrap tends to make them stale, soggy or hard.
Look for a golden brown color, if it looks good it probaly
is good. Usually eaten with mustard from a squeeze bottle,
but just as good without.
Tastykake-What are Tastykakes? Tastykakes are small cakes, pre-wrapped fresh at the bakery and made available to the grocer. The company was started in 1914 and only the finest ingredients delivered fresh daily to the bakery are used. Farm fresh eggs, Grade A creamery butter, real milk, cocoa, spices and natural flavorings. These exacting standards are still in use today as well as some of the original recipes. Some of the varieties of cakes that are made are: Butterscotch Krimpets, Jelly Krimpets, Chocolate Kandykakes, Peanut Butter Kandykakes, Creme Filled Butter Cream Cupcakes, Chocolate Juniors and Chocolate Cupcakes, to name a few. There's a kake to please any craving. Once you try one, you're hooked!
Other Philadelphia foods are: Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, Frank's Black Cherry Wishniak, Habbersette Scrapple, Taylor
Pork Roll and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. There aren't enough
descriptive words in the English language to give these great foods justice. Try them and let your taste buds decide!