Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
It’s a Philly thing: Don’t pass up these foods when visiting Philadelphia
Yum! Let’s munch. Philadelphia and the rest of our area attract plenty of national attention. The city of Brotherly Love is known as a great place to visit.
Those coveted accolades are due, at least in part, to our delicious and distinctive food.
Listed below are some favorite Philly specialties:
• Soft pretzels-During the 70s you could buy these gut-filling babies, with a dab of mustard, just outside the Vet and Spectrum after a game or concert for just a quarter. You can still get these goodies from the street vendors, but the price has increased dramatically. It’s been said that Philadelphians eat 12 times as many pretzels as the average American. I believe it.
• Tastykakes— “All the good things wrapped up in one.” Krimpets don’t taste quite the same and they stick to the wrapper, since the Tasty Bakers switched from wax paper wrapping to plastic. That doesn’t stop me from buying. Who’s dumb idea was it to cut the amount of chocolate frosting on the Baked Tasty Klair Pies? Regardless, those pies are still a real deal when they go on sale at Wawa at two for $2.
• Scrapple—As a Philly Ride the Ducks tour guide, I described to the tourists what scrapple is made of— that is everything but the squeal. There’s something special about the crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside texture of some properly served scrapple.
Vince at D-K Diner will make just about anything that the diner has the ingredients for upon request, including a delicious scrapple cheeseburger. Yum!
• Breyer’s Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream—Until I had a little scoop from heaven, I didn’t know that it was food coloring which makes this stuff green.
• Water Ice—Who doesn’t just adore Swedish Fish water ice gelato at Rita’s?
• Italian Hoagie—Although you can smell it on me for hours, I like mine with extra oil and onions. They say it’s all about the roll and all about the water the rolls are made with. There’s just something special about our water here.
• Philly Cheese Steaks—In the city, you order it “Whiz, Wit.” The onions need to be sliced and fried just right. I get strange looks when asking for a cheese steak hoagie with lettuce, tomatoes, raw onions and mayonnaise. Mayo really shouldn’t work. But it does.
• Nick’s on Two Street in Old City will sell you a steak with two sunnyside up eggs, known as the Breakfast Steak. It is worth the trip. That’s something I’m going to ask Vince at D-K about. And why would anybody ever order a chicken steak when they could have rib eye?
• Pizza—See above; it’s all about that thin crust and the water used.
• Pork Roll—Yeah, it’s a South Jersey thing but we can claim it too. Vince recently made me a Cheeseburger with fried onions, pork roll and a fired egg. Yum! Yum! Must have gained a couple pounds and it is a sloppy meal, but I was still able to finish my fries.
• Roast Pork Sandwiches—The
Travel Channel chose the roast pork sandwich from DiNic’s in the Reading Terminal Market as the best sandwich in the ENTIRE country. It is simply that good.
• Want to know a secret? Roast pork at Wasko’s in Phoenixville might even be better.
• Yuengling Beer— On the brewery tour we held our mouths open and let the drops from the conveyer belts above us drip into our mouths. Oh my, at the end of the tour they give it away. Yeah! They might now make this tasty beverage in Florida, but the beer from America’s oldest brewery in Pottsville is the real deal. Yes, it’s the water!
• Herr’s Potato Chips—Who would have thought sour cream and onion chips would be that good? The free Nottingham tour is fun. They feed you hot chips just off the line. The family owns 600 head of cattle and they are feed them what’s left over. The Opps Store at the plant’s gift shop sells styles of chips that you can only dream of at bargain prices.
• Goldbergs Peanut Chews—Invented, and then made, in Philadelphia, for 85 years. These puppies are the most delightful candy. Delish!
• Philly Taco—Pick up a Jim’s Steak (when it reopens from the fire), run across South Street and get a huge slice of Lorenzo’s pizza. Wrap the steak with the slice and they call it a taco. Wonder if Vince can do this?
• Mushrooms—Who doesn’t enjoy this Kennett Square fungi grown in the Mushroom Capital of the World? Mushrooms are so cool— they grow in the dark. And they are perfect on cheese steaks. Nuff said.
Suffice to say, you have to eat to live and you have to eat good to live well, AND it’s all about the water.
We live in a special place with special foods. Hungry, banging away on my keyboard, I’m just sitting here teasing myself. I’ll need to talk to Vince again soon.