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Iconic adirondack food?

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  • Iconic adirondack food?

    My BF and I are planning a trip throughout the Adirondacks at the end of the month and were wondering, are there any iconic/classic adirondack foods? EG. Maine has lobster rolls, Philly has cheesesteaks, Maryland has crabcakes... Is there any food that a trip to the adirondacks would not be complete without? We wouldn't dare call a trip complete without sampling the local vittles.
    Thanks!

  • #2
    Hmm I don't know how Adirondack it is but I wouldn't want to miss homemade bread and pie at Noonmark Diner in Keene.

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    • #3
      Probably anything maple. You are too early for moose and deer and too late for fiddleheads.

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      • #4
        In the western Adirondacks, it has to be Croghan Balogna and squeaky cheese curd (made every Thursday, best when still warm fresh from the vat).
        "Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Wldrns View Post
          In the western Adirondacks, it has to be Croghan Balogna and squeaky cheese curd (made every Thursday, best when still warm fresh from the vat).

          I don't think cheese curd is especially Adirondackian. I love them and they are ubiquitous wherever cheese is made, especially Quebec and Wisconsin. They are also found in the deep South.

          that said if I were in Lewis Cty I would certainly stop by for cheese curds for my poutine.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by yellowcanoe View Post
            I don't think cheese curd is especially Adirondackian. I love them and they are ubiquitous wherever cheese is made, especially Quebec and Wisconsin. They are also found in the deep South.

            that said if I were in Lewis Cty I would certainly stop by for cheese curds for my poutine.
            Cheese curd is paired with Croghan Balogna because they are most often found and sold together in the small stores and shops around the western and northern fringes of the Adirondacks. As a kid I used to quite often paddle by a cheese factory not far from home while fishing. If I stopped by, a worker would hand me a bag of curd, still very warm and very squeaky on the teeth. Downstream the river would run white from the discarded whey that was dumped directly into the water. Those were the days.
            "Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

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            • #7
              Mud?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by yellowcanoe View Post
                Probably anything maple. You are too early for moose and deer and too late for fiddleheads.

                http://www.adkmuseum.org/resources/d...y_Spring10.pdf
                OK I'm going to pick on you YC because I remember you said you went to Cornell...

                Maple is as prominent or more so down in western and southern NY than it is in the park - and even more so in Canada.

                We don't have any Moose though, and they are few and far between in the park. Again I would think Maine or Canada for them.

                Deer, meh... they are everywhere in NY. Especially all the cornfed porkers we have down in this part of the state.

                Fiddleheads I'll give you. I believe I could find some close to home, but I've never heard of anyone eating them in the rest of NY. I've never heard of eating them in the park, but I'll buy it.

                Probably all the types of mushrooms found in the park could be found downstate.

                What is unique to the Adirondacks IMO. It isn't the food. To me it would be the rock. Go look at rocks - that is my suggestion.

                Oh and the waters are unique I think. The sand in the area is very dark brown so all the water looks like yummy dark amber beer.

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                • #9
                  I really don't want to quibble. I almost hit a deer two days ago at Paul Smiths so you can put your pen and statistics away. Tannin stained water is common both here and in the Adirondacks. It does not come from sand. Tannin is from evergreen trees.

                  We also after missing the deer nearly got 20 turkeys milling on the shoulder. Same as at home.

                  Now the original question was NOT what species are most abundant but what is most often regarded as a regional food. I suspect there is more hunting overall in the Adirondacks and occasionally some of this might surface on a menu.

                  The balsam fir is somewhat iconic in the Adirondacks..look at all those cute overpriced balsam stuffed pillows. Balsam tea is good but I have not seen it for sale. Also gathering sap from balsam blisters for a healing agent and bandage.

                  Again not to quibble, but maples exist in the US South too. Look at a distribution of Acer Saccharum. It does not go far north..the Adirondacks are pushing its northern limit.
                  Night time temps have to be below freezing so you dont find sugar stands far south. Its projected the range will move north in comng years.

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                  • #10
                    Don't get all riled up. I was just teasing. I thought you might remember some of this from living in 'upstate' NY.

                    I think deer hunting is as common down here as it is in the Adirondacks. Deer are a problem here (a pest, overpopulated with no real natural predators). Deer hunting is BIG, BIG, BIG in western and southern NY. I used to eat venison half the year because that is what we and everyone else had.

                    I see way more turkey on the side of the road in the ADKs... but they are very prevalent downstate. They seem to be more shy where I am.

                    Again I will say yeah, there are maples in a large part of the US. But can you go to a farmers market every Sunday and buy maple syrup, candy, sugars, etc? I can here. We used to make the stuff too. And there are quite a few big'ish syrup producers in this part of the state.

                    Funny you mention balsam because that is the smell that is stuck in my head for the ADKs. I have a very scent related memory - and the prevalence of balsam fir is one of the things I associate with that region.

                    My point is I don't think there is any food that I can think of that is purely Adirondack. Everything else, being a NY'er, I can associate with the rest of upstate NY as well.
                    Last edited by l'oiseau; 07-16-2013, 11:46 AM.

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                    • #11
                      Iconic Adirondack Food

                      Brook trout & venison cooked over a campfire.

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                      • #12
                        Spruce Gum although I don't think it is sold in many shops these days.
                        "There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go." -from "The Call of the Wild" by Robert Service

                        My trail journal: DuctTape's Journal

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                        • #13
                          I can't imagine why DT... that sounds awful. Did you ever try it? I'd rather go with the trout and the venison.

                          Saranac beer (Adirondack Lager), but that really isn't Adirondack. Are there any breweries in the park?

                          All about Spruce gum:

                          In the late 19th century, a new fad swept the nation. Chewing gum was decried by newspaper editors and public pundits as “an essentially vulgar indulgence that not only shows bad breeding, but spoils a pretty countenance.” Nevertheless, the June 14, 1894 edition of the Malone Palladium commented, “No observant person can have failed to note the marked growth of the habit of chewing gum…in all parts of the country and among all classes.” The paper noted that even the “late Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York was a firm believer in spruce gum chewing.” The gum-chewing craze began in the conifer forests of Maine and the » Continue Reading.
                          Last edited by l'oiseau; 07-16-2013, 02:38 PM. Reason: Added Spruce Gum Link

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                          • #14
                            Hawk Vittles!
                            'I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.' - Henry David Thoreau

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Adk Keith View Post
                              Hawk Vittles!
                              Heh. I was just thinking that... and Mountain House, freeze dried veggies and fruit, gorp, granola bars.

                              Usually if we eat out it will be for breakfast. Mmmm... a tasty coffee and omelet at Blue Moon.

                              Soup and salad at the Old Mill in Old Forge has been a tradition if we have time. Various pizza joints...

                              A couple from Jersey asked me last time I was up where they could get a good burger. I couldn't give them a place for the life of me. I don't think I've ever been blown away by a park burger that I didn't cook myself.

                              Throw some meat in your cooler and go out in the woods for a few days. Cook that up and it will taste like the best Adirondack meal you could ask for!

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