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75 Classic New England Foods
New England cuisine has a well-deserved reputation for being seasonal, hearty, and comforting. From American Chop Suey to Yankee Pot Roast, here’s an A-Z list of 75 classic New England foods worth celebrating. Did your favorites make the list?
With its fertile farmland, coastal waters, and flavorful influence from generations of immigrants, it’s no surprise that New England cuisine has a reputation for being seasonal, hearty, and comforting. From American Chop Suey to Yankee Pot Roast, here’s an A-Z list of 75 classic New England foods worth celebrating. Did your favorites make the list?
75 Classic New England Foods
American Chop Suey
It’s a comfort food dish with many names, but here in New England, a concoction of noodles, seasoned beef, and tomato-y goodness nearly always goes by one name and one name alone – American Chop Suey.
Anadama Bread
Maybe the most New England of breads, and popular for good reason – sweetened with molasses, Anadama is terrific for toast and sandwiches.
Apple Cider
Not to be confused with hard apple cider, which contains alcohol, “regular” apple cider is bold, raw apple juice that hasn’t been filtered to remove the pulpy bits (once filtered, it’s juice). They love it so much in New Hampshire they made it the official state beverage.
Apple Pie with Cheddar
Fall is for apples, and apples are for deep-dish pie baked in a buttery, golden crust. Don’t forget the wedge of sharp cheddar on the side!
Autocrat Coffee Syrup/Coffee Milk
What do you get when you add Autocrat coffee syrup to ice-cold milk? In Rhode Island, you get the official state drink – coffee milk.
B&M Brown Bread
In New England, one of the most popular varieties of brown bread is made by B&M in Portland, Maine, and it’s sold in a can.
Baked Bean Sandwich
What do you do with leftover Saturday night baked beans? Put them (cold, of course) between two slices of thick white sandwich bread and call them Sunday lunch.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Baked Beans
Seasoned and simmered to perfection, there’s a reason baked beans are a New England classic. Can you envision a potluck, ham supper, or summer cookout in New England without them? We won’t even try!
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
A Vermont original that took on the world, one sweet bite at a time. The famous ice cream company got its start in Burlington, Vermont back in 1978.
Blueberry Muffins
Anyone who has spent a summer in New England knows what a delightful flavor fresh blueberries can be. One favorite way to enjoy them is in a batch of homemade muffins…
Blueberry Pie
Another (even more popular) blueberry dish is a traditional pie made with wild Maine blueberries. They don’t call it the official state dessert for nothing.
Boiled Dinner
You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy this New England staple made (mostly) with corned beef and cabbage, but it doesn’t hurt. Neither does a pint of frosty green beer.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Boiled Lobster
It’s hard to explain how something so simple could also be a regional culinary icon, but boiled (or steamed) lobster is it. Served with melted butter, a sturdy set of crackers, and sometimes (for tourists and messy eaters) a bib, the lobster dinner is a New England dining experience that’s not to be missed. In a 2015 web poll, our readers voted this #1 of all the classic New England foods.
Boston Cream Pie
The original “pie in cake’s clothing,” this beloved combination of golden sponge cake, pastry cream, and chocolate ganache is so popular in New England you can even find it in doughnut form.
Brown Bread
Steamed brown bread made with molasses, cornmeal, and rye flour is an old-fashioned favorite, especially alongside a plate of baked beans.
Cabot Cheddar
Another New England-born favorite whose fame has spread. Cabot Creamery, now owned by 1,200 farm families, got its start in the northeast corner of Vermont back in the early 20th century. Pass the cheese, please!
Cape Cod Chips
Kettle-cooked and extra crunchy, Cape Cod potato chips have been a Cape Cod (and beyond) favorite since 1980. Did you know their logo is a woodcut of Nauset Light in Eastham, MA?
Chop Suey Sandwich
The Chop Suey sandwich, or Chow Mein sandwich, is a bit of a head-scratcher (it’s exactly what it sounds like — chop suey noodles ladled onto a hamburger bun — and just as messy), but it’s shown up on menus in Rhode Island and the Fall River area of Massachusetts since the 1930s.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Cider Doughnuts
It’s a cider maker’s tradition to use some of the freshly pressed juice to make lightly tangy, apple-scented doughnuts, and no trip to the apple orchard is complete without one (or several) of these fall favorites.
Clam Cakes
A favorite in Rhode Island, clam cakes (or fritters) are kind of like clam doughnuts – a deep-fried batter containing chunks of chopped clam. In 1947, we suggested they be served as part of an Easter menu, but really, they’d be perfect anytime.
Clam Chowdah
It doesn’t get much more New England than this. A warm bowl filled with fresh clams, butter, milk or cream, potatoes, maybe some onions or celery, common crackers to thicken it up… is anyone else suddenly feeling hungry? Fish chowder is pretty good, too.
Clear-Broth Clam Chowdah
A popular chowder choice in Rhode Island, clear-broth chowder favors clam broth over cream, but still packs plenty of clams, potatoes, and fresh aromatics.
Coffee Ice Cream
We love the deep flavor of coffee here in New England, and that includes ice cream. Chocolate chips or crushed Oreo cookies are optional, but encouraged.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Cold Lobster Roll with Mayo
More common in northern New England, this roll typically comes in a buttered and toasted top-split New England hot dog roll, but the lobster meat is cold and lightly dressed with mayonnaise. Variations include a bed of shredded lettuce, diced celery, and dusting of paprika.
Common Crackers
Hearty and crunchy, yet subtle in flavor, the common cracker is a true Yankee workhorse. The original way to thicken your chowda.
Connecticut Shad
Each spring, American shad make their way up the Connecticut River to spawn. Named the state fish of Connecticut in 2003, the locally-famous shad is notably celebrated each spring at the Essex Shad Bake.
Corn Chowdah
A lot like clam chowder, but with corn (preferably fresh in the summer). Particularly beloved by Yankee vegetarians.
Crab Cakes
We know crab cakes are most often associated with the mid-Atlantic coast, but we’ve got ’em up here too, and many (especially the Maine peekytoe) taste just as great.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Cranberry Sauce
Even if we secretly love the stuff in the can (Ocean Spray, if you please), most New Englanders have a recipe or two for homemade cranberry sauce for the Thanksgiving table.
Del’s Lemonade
Frozen lemonade never tasted so good – a true Rhode Island classic.
Dunkin’ Donuts
Maybe it’s the daily large regular or the old-fashioned cake doughnut to dip into it. Then again, it could be the hundreds of munchkins consumed throughout the average childhood or the iced coffees we clutch in our adult gloved hands in February. America might run on Dunkin’, but New England got there first, and our love runs a deep orange-pink.
Fenway Franks
The culinary icon of New England baseball got a fresh start in 2009, and now, thanks in part to a bold, new recipe, Fenway Franks are more popular than ever.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Fluffernutter
Flip open a few lunchboxes in a New England elementary school cafeteria, and I suspect at least one of them will contain a Fluffernutter sandwich – a heavenly, sweet combination of white bread, peanut butter, and marshmallow Fluff. They’re good grilled, too. Either way, you’re going to need that glass of milk…
Franks & Beans
The quintessential Saturday night tradition is still a classic. Take warm baked beans, then add hot dogs. Brown bread is good, too. This is Yankee comfort food at its finest.
Frappe/Cabinet
When is a milkshake not called a milkshake? In New England, of course, where it’s a frappe (or a cabinet, if you’re from Rhode Island).
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Fried Clam Bellies
“Go belly or go home!” is the cry of the passionate fried clam belly fan. A summertime favorite made with whole-belly soft-shell clams, lightly battered and deep-fried to sweet, golden perfection. Often served at seaside shacks with a side of tartar sauce.
Fried Clam Strips
Fried clam purists turn up their nose at strips (contrary to popular belief, they aren’t rubber bands, just cuts of larger surf clams without the bellies) but strip fans say they prefer the chewy strip to the sometimes sandy belly. You can thank Howard Johnson’s either way.
Grapenut Pudding
What do you get when you add nutty Grape-Nuts cereal to a classic custard recipe? The New England comfort food diner favorite, Grapenut Pudding. We like the cereal in ice cream, too.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Harvard Beets
The origins of the name are a little murky, but if you like your beets a little bit sugar-sweet and a little bit vinegar-sour, flavored with a hint of cloves and smoothed with a little butter, then you’re already a fan of Harvard Beets.
Hermits
With spicy molasses flavor and chock full of raisins, hermits were a popular seafaring New England cookie, noted for their ability to last on long voyages. Not as common today as peanut butter or chocolate chip, but we still love them!
Hood Golden EggNog
It’s just not Christmas until the first cartons of Hood Golden EggNog appear on store shelves. The recipe’s been a secret for more than 50 years, but as long as Hood continues to churn out batches of creamy, spicy, egg-y goodness, we don’t mind being kept in the dark.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Hoodsie Cups
The saving grace of those who can’t decide between chocolate or vanilla ice cream since 1947. Just add the flat wooden spoon and dig in.
Hot Lobster Roll with Butter
More common in southern New England, where it is served in a buttered and toasted top-split New England hot dog roll, with the lobster meat warm and tossed with butter. Variations sometimes include sherry butter, or a round roll.
Humpty Dumpty Chips
A Maine potato chip favorite with a memorable cartoon mascot. Popular flavors include “Sour Cream & Clam” and “All Dressed,” a flavor that combines barbecue sauce, ketchup, and salt & vinegar.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Indian Pudding
Warm and fragrant with molasses, Indian pudding is a traditional cornmeal-based New England pudding. Topped with melty vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, it’s an old-fashioned bowl of heaven.
Jimmies
Sure, you can find sprinkles on ice cream nationwide, but only here in New England do we call them jimmies. Credit for their creation is claimed by Brigham’s, a Boston-area ice cream company that got its start back in 1914.
Joe Froggers
200-year-old New England cookie royalty, Joe Froggers are large, molasses-infused cookies (originally frog-sized) that date back to colonial times.
Jonnycakes
Made from 100% Rhode Island Flint Corn (spelled johnnycakes if they’re not), these cornmeal “cakes” are thick or thin depending on what part of the Ocean State you’re in.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
The Boston-based department store may be long gone, but the recipe for sweet and sugary Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins remains a New England favorite.
Louis’ Lunch Hamburger
Long credited as the birthplace of the “hamburger sandwich,” Louis’ Lunch in downtown New Haven, Connecticut draws hamburger-lovers near and far with their take on the all-American classic — a ground-steak patty between two slices of toast. Condiments are forbidden, so don’t ask.
Maple Candy
Prized for its crumbly-meets-creamy texture and deep maple flavor, maple candy is made when the sap is heated beyond the syrup stage to the crystalline stage, where it’s then whipped and poured into decorative molds to harden. Hold on to your cavities!
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Maple Creemee
In Vermont, maple-flavored soft serve ice cream isn’t ice cream, it’s a creemee (or creamie), and it’s delicious. Local lore has it that the more e’s in the word creemie (or creemee), the better the soft-serve ice cream is.
Maple Syrup
New England’s own “liquid gold,” maple syrup is what’s left when maple sap is heated until the water evaporates, leaving a concentrated (delicious) syrup behind. One taste and you’ll forget all about Mrs. Butterworth’s, if you ever knew her at all.
Maple Walnut Ice Cream
More maple? Why not! Another popular New England ice cream flavor, maple walnut is maple-flavored and studded with chunky walnuts.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Moxie
We think Maine’s favorite soda tastes like a subtle, not-too-sweet blend of wintergreen and licorice, but others…well…they toss around words like medicine, motor oil, and “root beer that’s gone really funky.” A true carbonated Maine classic since 1884.
Necco Wafers
Love ’em or hate ’em, Necco wafers are a longtime New England candy classic. Made here from 1847 to 2018 (they’re now part of the Spangler Candy Company of Ohio, best known for their Dum Dum Lollipops), the powdery sugar wafers also come in rolls of all-chocolate flavor. We love the Sweethearts come Valentine’s Day, too.
Needhams Potato Candy
Mainers love potatoes so much that they even found a way to mash them up with coconut and dip them in chocolate. Eat one needham and love them for life.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
New Haven Pizza
For many, no visit to New Haven is complete without a stop at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally’s Apizza, or both! Sometimes, New Haven coal-fired pizza (known locally as apizza) is the reason for the whole trip.
Parker House Rolls
The signature buttery dinner roll recipe at the Parker House Hotel. Famous fans included Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and most of the Kennedy clan.
Pumpkin Pie
The first Thanksgiving took place here in New England, so it’s only right that we hold a more recent Thanksgiving tradition – the pumpkin pie – in such high regard. We’re also partial to One-Pie brand.
Quahogs
Ever ask, “What’s the official state mollusk of Rhode Island?” It’s the quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria). These hard-shelled clams are most prevalent between Cape Cod and New Jersey, but they especially love Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. Ever wonder, “How do you pronounce that?” Around here, it’s “ko-hog.”
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Red Flannel Hash
What do you get when you swap out some of the potatoes in a batch of corned beef hash with beets? The result has flannel-esque patches of red, so we call it Red Flannel Hash. Crack in a few eggs and call it Sunday breakfast.
Red Snapper Hot Dogs
Known for their neon red color and natural casing “snap,” Maine’s Red Snapper hot dogs are a backyard barbecue and camp grill favorite.
Rhubarb Pie
New Englanders know the sweetest rewards for surviving a long winter are the first fruits of spring. Rhubarb, along with its pal the strawberry, is one of the most anticipated, and nowhere does its tart flavor shine brighter than baked into a tasty pie.
Salmon and Peas
An old-school New England 4th of July favorite, the classic combination of salmon and peas has more to do with the calendar than anything else. The late-June ripening of peas and the annual summer migration of salmon made this dish an inevitable July mainstay.
Salt Cod
A staple in frugal Yankee kitchens (well, it used to be), salt cod is cod that has been dried and salted. Before eating, it’s soaked in water and re-hydrated. Popular dishes using salt cod include “Cape Cod turkey” and codfish balls.
Sky Bar
Why settle for one flavor when you can get four? A classic “made in New England” candy bar, Sky Bar has four chocolate squares with different fillings – caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Steamers
Signs of summer in New England include watching the Red Sox, battling black flies, and sitting down to a heaping tray of steamed clams (known as “steamers”), served with bowls of broth and butter for swishing and dipping.
Stuffies
Stuffed quahogs, a.k.a. “stuffies,” are Rhode Island’s favorite term for a delectable mixture of breadcrumbs, diced clams, and spices baked on the half-shell.
Succotash
A culinary combination of corn and beans, succotash was one of the first foods that the Native Americans of coastal New England shared with the Plymouth settlers.
Tollhouse Cookies
Today it’s the most popular cookie in America, but the very first chocolate chip cookie was invented right here in New England by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts back in the 1930s.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Top-Split Hot Dog Rolls
With a toasted, buttery outside and a soft inside, flat-bottomed, top-loading New England style hot dog rolls are arguably some of the best buns in the world.
Tourtiere (Pork Pie)
Tourtiere is a savory French-Canadian meat pie. It’s thought that Quebec immigrants moving south introduced the recipe to New England, where it remains a holiday favorite.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Whoopie Pies
Two hamburger-sized rounds of soft, domed chocolate cookies (nearly cakes in texture) sandwiching an inch or more of pillow-y vanilla filling has made the whoopie pie one of the all-time favorite classic New England desserts, and the official “state treat” of Maine.
Yankee Pot Roast
Whether the “Yankee” in Yankee pot roast is a nod to the dish’s American regional origins or (as some suggest) a joke about New England frugality, a good Yankee pot roast embodies the traditions of simplicity and patience rewarded.
Did your favorite classic New England foods make it onto our list? What did we miss? Let us know!
A shorter version of this list was first published in 2015.
Aimee Tucker
Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Home Editor and the Senior Digital Editor of NewEngland.com. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.
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Just returned from our annual trip to New England. First day picked up Hood’s Egg Nog. As a young man, so looked forward to the Holidays for this treat, but was shocked to realize this wasn’t what I remember. Consistency was thinner, flavor was not as intense. I guess my new fav is Southern Comfort Egg Nog, sorry Hood fans. The sea food is still the best anywhere. Went to Sole Proprietor in Worcester and had a most amazing Sea Food medley. Was amazed that I could not find Eclipse Coffee Syrup, but was able to find Fluff, thank God! Have to bring these treats back for my Sister, my Son, my Daughter, best not come back without them or I’m in trouble.
At Howard Johnson’s – after my clam strips …. Orange Pineapple ice cream !!! Brought hermit cookies back to NY after trip to the Cape – neighbors loved them and 2 even put their heads together and researched and perfected a recipe and make them regularly !! Good to have friends like them !!!
Great list! What about scallops, the Atlantic Sea version. They seem to be in lots of restaurants in New England. I love scallops, whether fried or baked with bread crumbs and butter.
Born and raised in New England and still live here today. I love New England and would never leave, although I could do without the long cold winters. With that said, my mom also made a traditional favorite every so often, Salmon pie. My Mémé and Pépé immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and brought their Canadian traditions with them and Salmon pie was one of them. I am so grateful that my mom taught me all the Canadian traditions. R.I.P Mémé, Pépé, mom and dad.
The ONE and only…..
the lobster barn
Hancock St, Abington, MA
Back in the early 2000s, I was doing a Systems Audit on a small town up to the mountains in Maine. The Office Ladies at Town Hall weren’t going to cooperate, until they saw my lunch – A Red Jordan’s Dog, a bag of Humpty Dumpty chips, and a bittle of Moxie. After that, I was one of the family.
To me, that is the quintessential Maine lunch. Or supper. Or even breakfast if you’ve a mind to. And they have to be Humpty Dumpty BBQ chips. Add a Whoopie Pie for dessert! All downed with a nice view of the ocean or a lake or a river.
About to turn 64 and in Florida now. But still love fluffernutters, Underwood deviled ham, and when I get back north, fried clams or steamers from Essex. In early Sept. visit ended up at Woodman’s. So good.
Clam cakes and tourtiere are family traditions. We also love almond slush that you get from the convenience store in Lawrence, MA.
Rhode Island was famous for Saugie’s Hot Dogs!
FREIHOFER”S!!
Loved Hunts Potato Chips, warm heated in a popcorn case at Duxbury Beach
‘Simpson Springs tonics(soda), birch beer and sarsaparilla
shephard’s pie made with lamb …Irish so where do we get recipes for all these goodies?
Am a great fan of shepherd’s pie. I always use lamb, as well. Fry up ground lamb with a little slat and pepper and a chopped medium onion. Drain of excess grease. In the same pan, reintroduce a little grease, add some flour and then some stock or milk to make a gravy. Season as desired. Stir into the lamb / onion mixture. I like a 1 lb bag of frozen peas and carrots, cooked lightly and drained. Also need some mashed potatoes. About 2-3 medium should do it for a pound of lamb. Make mashed potatoes with butter and milk or cream and salt and pepper to taste. Place lamb and gravy mixture in a 8×8 or so baking dish, cover with the peas and carrots then cover completely with the mashed potatoes. dot with a few dabs of butter. Bake until potatoes are brown around the edges and well heated throughout. I always bake at 350F. Basic comfort food in my household! Enjoy.
I remember Stateline Chips made in CT but now Canada. Can still be found occasionally in smaller mom and pop stores. Also, Undina soda from Higganum CT especially white birch. The best ever. To this day I never go to Maine without buying a Needam coconut square. Was fortunate to have a Mom who was a great cook and a big Sunday meal (ALWAYS at 2:00pm) and leftover meat in gravy bowl for Tuesday nights supper.
For all you folks looking for New England “stuff” that you can’t get where you live, try amazon.com. People love to hate amazon.com but you can get just about anything you can think of there – no I don’t work there. For example, Country Kitchen split top hot dog rolls are there and “guaranteed fresh delivery.” Enjoy!
A classic Black and White (ice cream soda).
Great list. So many favorites. Glad to see salmon wiggle and crackers, blueberries and milk among the foods listed. We would have crackers, blueberries and milk in August for a quick, easy and cool supper.
My husband freezes them then pours a bowl of milk over them and eats them as they thaw.
Finnan haddie is the bomb.
No mention but true New England feast.
How could you leave out Freihofer’s? And Koffee Kup?
Homemade warm red apple sauce served with wonder bread and butta.. Rhode Island memories
Also Gifford’s Ice cream in Central Maine and Big G’s Sandwiches in Waterville Maine area! Huge sandwiches with homemade bread and many of them having sprouts on them. And the pu pu platters for sure! They didn’t know what we were asking for at Chinese in PA, and here the “crab Rangoons” it says “cheese wontons” sometimes and they have just a few red flakes in them but can’t taste any crab! Also the moxie of course and we looove red hot dogs and Maine Lobster Rolls and Maine Lobster bisque, too! The mosquitoes are terrible and so is the snow that never melts soon enough, but beautiful fall colors and closer to the coast! When we visit Maine we also like to go to Storyland or Santa’s Village in NH! I still need to try a Needham, and love the fresh corn on the cob!
The list should include linguica, chourico, and Hoo-Mee chow mein.
How about Kale Soup? Yummy….I am sooo Homesick!
Absolutely!!! You’ve not gone to New England (or Fall River, MA) without having a Chourico Sandwich!!! Yummmm… I order it online now! Shipped to OHIO!!!
A lot of good stuff here. You should add Bar “Bah” Pizza from Southeastern mass to the list.
I’d do almost anything to be able to buy a Spumoni Ice Cream Roll. Not anywhere out west. We won’t even discuss split top hot dog rolls or anything else on the list. Sigh….
hermit cookies? uh uh. squashed flies to every kid at hot lunch. i think the syrup in a mini jug was spelled Zarex. Chinaman’s hat, anyone? welsh rabbit?
We used to pour Zarex on snowballs for a homemade snow cone. I liked it better than the drink.
I remember Zarex syrup. They advertised it on Bozo. I never liked it, I’m not sure if my Mom mixed it right. LOL
One of the things that I always think of wen in R.I. Is cold pizza strips or bakery pizza. Wen ever I visit my family, I always grab a box n bring it bck to the cape to have my friends try it. People are amazed that there is a pizza that it cold n had no cheese on it, n I always tell them how freaking good it is. I swear if someone opened up a real authentic Italian bakery on cape cod, they wld make a killing!!! N I wld b there favorite customer. Lol.
Nothing new to add but favorites include Spruce gum, fiddle heads, steamers (ah steamers, I don’t touch ANY seafood here in the mid-west), Needham bars (I thought they originated in Needham MA but my recipe is from Maine), Tourtiere (best half venison and half pork, this was the dish you rated your friends mothers cooking ability on), Whoopie Pies, Italian Sandwiches (Choo choos diner Berlin NH and Moes Dover NH), They make Italians out here but no, just no), Creamed Salmon and peas definitely New England but I hated it was never real fond of succotash either, but Indian pudding yeah. Seafood from the dock to the pan no middle man no comparison. Birch beer. Maple everything except I actually know more people in Michigan’s UP that tap their own than I did growing up in NE. Fluffernutter (when you say fluff fluff fluff oh fluff and peanut butter). Narragansett Beer adds during Patriots and Red Sox games. Wild strawberry jam, did anyone else have to go out and harvest enough tiny wild strawberries for their mother to make jam? (only she always picked more than I did).
love the list. a lot of comments on shepards pie. i use cream corn , mashed potatos. i caramelize onions in butter, take them out, fry the hamburg, then add them back. my grandmothers recipe brought to ri from bellows falls, vt. i have relatives and friends who request it. also use a lot of caramelized onions in my corn chowder. also from nana. american chop suey also a favorite. saugys on a toasted n. e. roll with relishes and beans. i am going to stop now–have to eat.
The North Shore roast beef sandwich! Kelly’s is OK, but there’s a lot of competition, but Minos in Lynn is my personal favorite.
Minos in Marblehead is also very good. Do you remember Bill and Bob’s on the Salem/Peabody boarder?
Thanks for the memory on Bill and Bobs. I live on the West Coast now and have to explain to friends that fast food of my childhood wasn’t burgers but roast beef sandwiches and clam rolls. No one can relate!
still there last time i was by… They were the original RB sandwich guys up there, Kellys tries to doit but not as good. NE Subs are classic, any number of great sub shops and NE Onion rings are the best, thin, light batter sweet onions not to be confused with heavy, hard crusted thick rings that come out of the freezer.
Kelly’s went commercial and ruined their products. Aweful hard to beat out Woodmans in Essex -still maintaining after 100+ years of doing the same thing. Miss Sunbeam Bread, and Mrs Parker’s Donuts since they closed down that bakery. Occasionally you can find Friend’s Beans on the store shelf-Think B&M makes em now. American Chop-Suey was a North Shore staple on a lot of Tables in Lynn, Ma back in the Day. Somebody could make a killing on a New England Recipe Book here just on what was left out.-
Anybody from Danvers Mass have a copy of Tapley Treats, a school cookbook published in the early 1960’s? Mines gone, and these old recipes have me hungry for home. Thank you!
https://bookshop.org/p/books/mother-tapley-s-recipe-book-tasty-down-east-cooking-katherine-e-tapley-milton/8687836?ean=9781988345444
I found a Katherine E. Tapley-Milton cookbook on Amazon
Hope this is close to what you are looking for
Just a suggestion: I would go on line and type in “used book stores in New England”. I am not looking for that particular book, but you may find your book at one of the several stores listed.
Indian Pudding and a day out with Grammy in Lawrence. Maybe it was Morten’s Restaurant, Essex Street.
Wonderful times and I’m back to 1957 sitting in that booth sharing Indian pudding with Grammy.
“Jimmies” only a New England thing? Nope. I’m from Philly and native Philadelphians always ask for chocolate “jimmies” on their frozen custard cones whether we are in the city or “down the shore”. We eschew “sprinkles”.
Patè Chinois
A few additions from a Hartford CT Yankee: 1) New England Greek Style Pizza may not be New Haven Napolitano, but it’s all over NE and it’s a classic many of us grew up on from the local “Pizza House” or “Pizza Palace.” 2) Clams Casino is very much a native dish, mostly thought to come from RI. Other commenters have rightly offered up grinders and birch beer as must-list. As for shots or jimmies, we used them interchangeably until we turned 21. But never sprinkles.
We went with our kids to New England a lot & especially to New Hampshire where we frequently ate cranberry stuffed pot roast that was so good. Loved to have a recipe although I have kinda made up one. I love New England.
Yikes! Sugar On Snow didn’t make the list? This former Vermonter is surprised, and his father, from The County up in the Northernest part of Maine, would wonder why Fiddleheads and Ployes aren’t on the menu.
Had Sugar on Snow every year until I moved to Colorado…. Haven’t had it since! We used to make it every time it snowed. Miss the Fiddleheads too… So many memories in this list!!!
I was wondering why Fiddleheads did not make the list as Black rasberry ice cream did not either. You can get the ice cream with Rasberry and Choc together but nothing like just plain Black rasberry.
I agree… NO fiddleheads???? And try that raspberry ice cream in a hot fudge sundae. From Shady Glen.
Yeah I was surprised that fiddleheads and the italian sandwich were both absent.
Vermonter here, totally agree with all of you!
Allies Donuts and pizza strips (aka Rhode Island pizza) in RI, Italians from DiPietro’s in South Portland, ME, stuffies and clam cakes from Aunt Carrie’s in Pt Judith RI, steamed cheeseburgers in CT, B&M beans, black raspberry ice cream, orange sherbet pushups, Emack & Bolio ice cream, Del’s frozen lemonade, birch beer, clam pie from Pepe’s in New Haven, snow pudding with creme anglaise, American chop suey, saugy dogs, Gulden’s spicy brown mustard, Autocrat syrup, Kenyon cornmeal, baked stuffed Schroeder, coffee Awful Awful (awful big awful good). Thanks for the article from central VA.
P is for Polar seltzer. Made in MA.
L is for Love your article & running commentary
Thank you, Annie! I had a lot of fun writing it. And great suggestion! I hope you’ll accept this standalone ode to Polar for now. ???? https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-nostalgia/polar-beverages/
Okay, I read almost all of the comments. You missed a favorite of Rhode Islanders everywhere…NY system weiners all the way!
Great suggestion! Here’s a link to a 2015 piece on Olneyville New York System Hot Wieners to help make up for the omission here. ???? https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/food/olneyville-new-york-system/
I loved Sasparilla “tonic”. Did anyone else eat leftover baked beans with fried eggs for breakfast? My mother made “french-meat” spread for sandwiches and I took fluffer-nutter sandwiches to school several times a week. We’d also fry pastrami or bologna for sandwiches.
Spam ground up with green pepper and onion, in a sandwich. My grandfather’s favorite lunch.
Fenway franks? What about Flo’s hotdogs with Flo’s dog relish, mayonnaise and celery salt!! Now THAT’S a New England favorite!!♥️
Yes!
Fun list! But where are GRINDERS??? No, as a resident of “sub” land, I can confidently say a sandwich by any other name is NOT as good (and my heart belongs to State Line potato chips)!
Great list, but where’s the porketta?
Always used tomato soup in American Chop Suey!
JOHNNY CAKES ? RICE PUDDING WITH RAISINS ? JUST EVERYTHING!!!!! NO OTHER PLACE IN THE WORLD CAN COMPARE TO NEW ENGLAND…….MISS IT ALOT ????
As a native Rhode Islander who’s lived here my entire life, gotta say I’ve literally never heard anyone call a milkshake anything BUT a milkshake. Frappes I’ve only ever heard used in reference to Starbucks frappes and I literally saw “cabinet” used for milkshakes MAYBE once, on a Friendly’s menu in like. The mid to late nineties when I was still a child. Terminology wise, it’s a fairly outdated and unused term outside of maybe a single chain restaurant or two, as far as I’m aware, so I honestly dunno why people still insist that it’s a thing widely used around here.
I am 33 I still call them cabinets or milkshakes. My first job was at a local diner so I maybe biased. I never once called them a frappe though.
I worked at an ice cream shop area of a pharmacy when I was in high school. A milk shake was always just that–milk and flavoring whipped up. A frappe added ice cream to the mix.
Right, that was the difference!
That’s how I was brought up: a milkshake is just syrup, not a frappe until you add ice cream
I think most older Rhode Islanders still go with cabinet.
Coffee Cab’s
DRAKES COFFEE CAKE? OYSTER CRACKERS?
What about creamed chipped beef on toast? One of my mother’s quick evening dinners when there wasn’t time for anything else. Also known as s**t on a shingle.
Yes! and Finnan Haddie or salt cod soaked overnight, cooked with a white sauce and served over potatoes – true winter food, along with a pot of stew always simmering on the back of the wood stove (served with dumplings of course)
No one mentioned Snow Pudding. My mother made this and my husband’s mother made this (MA). My sister in law still makes this a lot.
With creme anglaise. My mom made it in a copper ring mold that was her grandmother’s.
Please leave recipe
No Shady Glen? The Cheeseburger Bernice and home made icecream is the best. Stop by when you’re in Manchester, CT. I live in AZ now and miss it so much.
I was a soda jerk in 1960s in Brockton, Ma. A milkshake had milk and flavoring, a frappe also included ice cream. Our chop suey sandwich was right from a can and put into a cold hot dog roll, top cut, of course! Loved this list.
Grateful to see this list! I miss NH and New England so much. So grateful my kids where young and had so many of these food items. Some I still make in the South, but nothing takes the place of living in the bountiful area of New England. Hope to return one day!
I miss so many things in New England living here in Charlotte. Luckily I visit a couple times a year!! Pupu platter from Kowloon and a roast beef sandwich from Kelly’s or Harrison’s is always on the list
I agree, I miss those same things.
Me too!! Did you ever get to China Sails–now Fantasy Island in Salem? Kelly’s was always the best.
I miss New Hampshire too I live in miami now but would love to move back home
In Middletown, Ct. absolutely nothing better than Vecchitto’s ices. Flavored ice, crushed to perfection and served in fluted paper cups..
And O’Rourke’s steamed cheeseburgers!
Don’t miss the cold and snow…..do miss the food!
It is bad enough that it is October and I now live in Il., but it’s really adding insult to injury to tease me with all the foods I grew up with and dearly miss. Wonderful article!
You got the lobster rolls turned around. Maine lobster roll is with melted butter. Connecticut lobster roll is with mayonnaise And boiled dinner is made with smoked shoulder , not corned beef. You forgot Portuguese linguica and chourico!
The Connecticut Lobster Roll is nothing but a buttered roll, buttered lobster served fresh of the griddle. The Maine lobster roll as mayo.
Coffee ice cream! Pretty unique in this part of the world. And Amato’s Italian Sandwiches. Maine Classic sandwich!
The Italian in Maine is the best kind of sub sandwich. Exemplar of the type: DiPietro’s in South Portland.
YES to ALLIES DONUTS!!!
You missed one of the best… A classic backyard clambake with the wood fire and rockweed!
We always cooked our New England dinner on the rocks with seaweed, Lobsters, clams, mussels, corn. Had to start when the tide started going out so by the time it came back in it didn’t put out the fire.
Born and raised in New England (now live in Ohio), college in Boston, the list brings back great memories. However, where are Devil Dogs?
Devil dogs – whoopie pies in the shape of hot dogs
I was born and brought in MA, moved to NH six years ago. Oh, how I miss Granite State potato chips. While vacationing in York, Maine last week I discovered Anthony’s Food Shop and Fox Family potatoes chips. If you’re ever in Maine stop at Anthony’s for delicious burgers. sandwiches and pizza. Get Fox chips while you’re there….you won’t be disappointed!
First, corned beef is not Irish. Second, a New England boiled dinner in our house was always made with smoked shoulder. Fun reading this list.
SAME comment, The yanks serve CBeef, they serve ham and Salmon in Ireland… and we always had boiled shoulder with potatoes, carrots, cabbage for boiled dinner.
Using Daisy Ham. Loved it. I was born in Worcester, now in Springfield MA. Loved New England and all its great food. Has anyone ever gone to Coney Island? Downtown Worcester. How about Wachusetts potato chips?
We used Daisy Ham for ham, green beans and potatoes all simmered together. Yum.
Eg to differ with Jimmies being a New England term. I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and you will never here a true Philadelphian call sprinkles anything but jimmies!!
Coming from Connecticut – we called them “shots”…. and long sandwiches stuffed with meats are “grinders”.
Yes, I remember “grinders” as I was growing up in Connecticut! I’ve lived in Tennessee, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Texas, and everyone there calls them subs as in submarine sandwiches. I now live in Arizona and they are mostly called subs here, however, I have found a few restaurants here in Arizona that call them grinders.
FABULOUS LIST! I still make many of them at 89. Especially Tourtieres at Christmas.
Two big misses: clam pizza (a white pie with clams and garlic, it’s a Connecticut thing) and sugar on snow. Methinks this list needs to go to 100 foods.
I moved up to New Hampshire from Virginia back in the 70’s and lived in the country there for 13 years before coming back to Va.
The Grinders, Pizza, and seafood are just the best up north for sure. But one thing I found suprising was that the deer hunters here throw the fresh deer liver away! Are you kidding me? Fried deer liver was the first thing we had for supper in NH after a hunt. I liked it with onion gravy. It’s wonderful if you appreciate fried liver.
Only very few hunters around here I know have tried it. That’s ok, they can give it to me.
I grew up in Essex Junction, VT. This list sure hit home as I live in Pa now. There are so many recipes on there that take me back to my childhood. My mother used to make many of those items from scratch. Now that fall is almost. Upon us, I’m going to start cooking again.
I also grew up in Essex Junction. Small world! I live in NYC now and can’t find half these foods here.
Tapioca Pudding should definitely be put on this list, and Wacky Cake also.
Yes! Tapioca and wacky cake! My mother made tapioca so often and I still make my grandmother’s wacky cake. It’s my husband’s favorite.
No Allie’s Donuts?! Incomplete list.
Great article bringing back 80+ years of eating most on list, even cooking several myself. Grew up in Vermont, lived in Springfield, MA for 11 years, 48 years near Pittsburh, PA, now Lewes. DE. Still purchase Maple syrup each year from Friend in Reading. VT and Crowley’s Cheese. Learned to have CC with Apple Pie from my father. thanks for rerunning this article as must have missed in past.
You forgot Pizza Bagels from Katz Bagels in Chelsea!!!
This list made me smile. While I live in Florida, I am a true New Englander at heart and New England will always be home. I have tried every food listed and love almost every one.
I now live in Virginia, but more than once I have asked for frappe, until I get a puzzled look, then I realize I should ask for a milk shake.
Kayem Franks, Kale-Linguica Soup, Chow Mein Sandwiches!
Wow!! I love this list! Makes me miss home ( Massachusetts) Even more! I live in indiana now and miss soooooo much of this list! They still don’t understand when I say ” my kind of hot dog/Frankfurter bun” .. They don’t get it!! I mail order my Tri-Sum chips to this day! And buy brown bread and pack it in my suitcase !
Loved this article!
Don’t forget Charleston Chews!
I remember many of the 75 favorite foods. While living in Milton, MA and even when we moved to Western NY, Saturday night was baked beans and franks. Rhubarb pie made from freshly cut rhubarb. Hoodies Ice Cream Cups. Having Charlie Chips delivered as well as condiments from S S Pierce. Thank you for the memories. Being from WNY now, have you heard of roast beef on kummelwick with Miller’s horseradish sauce or Weber’s mustard, Bison Onion Dip?
Good beef on weck in Batavia! And white hots.
loved this article. I’m currently in Fl. trying to move back home to New England and today I got 2 lbs. of Penuche from Vermont Country Store. So excited. One is for my Grandaughter. Tasting it made my day.
My father was from Boston, so we grew up in NJ with many of the favorites mentioned. My aunt in MA would treat us to penuche when we visited – a fudge made with brown sugar rather than chocolate. I can’t find it here in NJ. Yummy. We have baked Indian pudding at Thanksgiving, apple pie with cheddar cheese, steamers, lobsters, etc. Love it all.
Great list! What about the Newport Creamery Awful Awful and the chourico sandwich?
I’m from NJ and my mom made several of these items: coffee milk, Yankee pot roast,
fluffed butter & p.nut butter sandwiches, fried clams, we usually had birch or root beer soda. We had NE clam chowder, American chop suet. Homemade biscuits, blueberry pie, Boston creme pie! Awesome cook – I was never late for dinner. We (my husband and I) honeymooned in New England. Wish we could move there.
They all are very good.
Please add spinach pies to your list and nix Del’s in favor of Me
Lemon????
Mince pie!
My sister and I make mince meat every year. Our mother made sure we knew how to make it to keep the tradition alive. It’s so much better than store bought!
I really miss maple walnut icecream and fried clams wit bellies. The strips out West just don’t have the taste!
Well, this was a trip on the nostalgia train, thanks for the memories. Is it just me or does Rhode Island try to make up in original food what it lacks in size??? (Proud inhabitant of the Ocean State.) The birthday parties of my childhood always had Hoodsie cups on the menu. My dad loved nothing better than a good coffee frappe from a drugstore soda fountain, of course. Mom hailed from Fall River, enough said on the topic of those chow mein sandwiches! Rhubarb pie – has me pining for June already. We were lucky enough to have a random patch that grew back every year at the base of a large tree stump in our backyard. usually had enough fruit for a pie and a warm crisp. Necco wafers, an acquired taste. We used to use them when we played “going to mass”, they were our communion. (I kid you not.) Sky Bars – brilliant idea, something for everyone.
Just the white necco wafers for communion.
Simpson Springs “tonic” Coffee Soda, Cream Soda, Birch Beer.
From Easton Massachusetts.
i really miss the hot wieners and coffee milk.
I came from England to Greenfield, Mass. in 1966
I couldn’t eat most of the food listed here then, it was all so foreign! Roll on 45 years and I consider most of this food delicious and so typically New England.
Your list was wonderful and the comments of regional favorites so good! It should make everyone want to go home to New England.
My dad used to own a soda fountain and as a kid we used to make all sorts of concoctions. I was taught that the difference between a frappe and a milkshake was the scoop of ice cream added to the mixture.
I’m a New England girl of 36 years and SoCal gal of 10. Things I took I assumed were available everywhere, because they are common fair in MA, and miss soooo much:
MacIntosh apple
Pupu platters and DUCK SAUCE!!!!
Haddock and Schrod
Fish and chips done correctly
Steak tips
Scali bread
Properly New York style pizza on every corner
Fried dough (not same as funnel cakes)
Loconaco (Greek sausages with orange peels)
Ice cream stands that people go with sweethearts or walk to after dinner (not gelato on the promenade during a shopping spree)
I could go on and on…I miss New England (in case you didn’t catch on to that ????)
Made me homesick!
Thanks to everyone for all of the great memories. Still living in NH as a life long NE resident and eat most of this stuff on a regular basis. Our Super Bowl party foods/ desserts are usually themed toward the place or the teams. Fingers crossed the Pats make it in again, I am creating quite the list for this year ????
Originally from NH now living in Az I miss Schonland Franks
Granite State potatoes chips
Missing the food from Rhode Island, do not forget Central Falls kill Bossi, spinach pies will be skimpy is from concert is pizza on Federal Hill, do not forget vendor ravioli either Yum Yum
Bread pudding with hard sauce
Crescent Ridge Dairy in Canton, MA, still makes the best frozen pudding ice cream ever. Close your eyes when you taste it and you’ll think you’re back in the ‘50’s.
You cannot know how homesick for NewEngland you can be until you have lived on the west coast !!! Born in Maine and am homesick daily. Could not survive without Yankee Magazine and this daily dose of “ home”
The same here with Yankee magazine subscription. I pack what we don’t have here in Colorado when visiting home, Cortland apples, Vermont maple syrup and jar of green tomato relish. From time to time, I order several items from Vermont Country Store such as the cheese and syrup. One of family members sometimes ship me the apples from Granville, Ct. farm. Miss Grandmother’s homemade baked beans and brown bread.
Portland’s famous Amato Sandwiches made on Nappi Bakery Rolls, the best evah! Ken’s Place on way to Old Orchard Beach for their great big fried clams in batter and the Old Orchard Beach Pier French Fries with Vinegar could not beat that! Not mentioned here! So many wonderful food in NE. Thanks for the great list! I go back each year for those wonderful Italian Sandwiches and fried clams!
I’m looking for flat wooden spoon for my hoodsie.Want it for me and my grandson.Thought it was the coolest thing using them
i think when you guys get to “the 100 list” you should include chicken pot pie and zarex
I was born and raised in Boston and there was nothing better than a hot dog and fries from Sullivan’s at Castle Island in Southie! Also grew up on bumble bee tuna, Cain’s mayo, sloppy joe’s! French dressing, Baker’s Chocolate Factory in Dorchester (now condos) Hood milk/ice cream, calling pouched eggs dropped eggs! Necco wafers, sky bars, can’t remember brand name but the ham that comes in a can with a turn key to open it – almost like a sardine can but much larger) my mom cooked it with pineapples and cloves on top – was a frequent Sunday dinner! North end pizza, pub style pizzas (Lynwood in Randolph & the Town Spa in Stoughton are 2 of the best just south of Boston.
I think you mean Krakus Polish ham. It came in a big heavy cans with a key to open it. We had that every Easter growing up.
It’s the best ham. Slice thin for ham sandwiches. I still buy it
This list really takes me back. This is about a brand, but does anyone remember Rosedale cottage cheese? Very authentic and tangy which is what made it different. The only company that makes anything close is Nancy’s from Springfield, OR. But Rosedale was the best!
Need to make a correction. Living in Fall River, MA an American Chop Suey sandwich and a Chow Mein sandwich are two completely different things! American Chop Suey is elbow noodles with a tomato based meat sauce and noodles are cooked in the sauce. Chow Mein is more Asian inspired beef and soy sauce based broth thickened and served with a crunchy Asian noodles. Both equally scrumptious and messy! JJs hot dogs in Fall River. Raspberry Lime Rickey from Peaceful Meadows in Middleboro! Coffee Milkshake from Newport Creamery. Don’t know how New England of a staple this is but Sam’s Meat Pies from Fall River have been around forever and sell out each day!
Sorry correction: Awful Awful (coffee milkshake) from Newport Creamery, ditto on the Poutine, and don’t forget Willow Tree Chicken Salad. Blount factory in Warren, RI makes all of the New England clam chowder and soups for Legal Seafoods, Panera Bread, Kirkland brand (Costco) and more.
Italian Sandwiches! They got their start in Portland Maine:)
We used to get these at a place called Amato’s (in or near Yarmouth) and take them out to Cape Elizabeth, sit on the rocks and eat them while looking at the ocean. What a wonderful memory, thanks for reminding me.
Rummel’s Ice Cream. Waterville, Maine…
Harris Donuts in Waterville Me.
(Old) Bolleys Hot Dogs, College Ave. Waterville, Me!
Flo’s Hotdogs with her famous hot sauce, mayonnaise and celery salt in Cape Neddick, Maine!
Omg I LOVED Bolleys! Im in Arkansas now and I miss my youth!
What a great list! But PLEASE add Hobb’s Popcorn from Salem Willows Park in Salem, MA!!!
And the Chop Suey Sandwiches from Salem Lowe
Stop it you too!! Salem Willows was my stomping grounds in high school. Loved, loved the pop corn and also to chop suey sandwiches. My friends and I went there for lunch when I was working in Salem. this blog is making me really really homesick. I live in Florida now, but miss the North Shore of Boston so much.
Looks like I can’t spell. Not too–but two. I just found this site today and I guess I am excited about speaking with people who live in the same area–the “good old days”.
This list has brought tears to my eyes, and grumbles in my stomach! I have, UNfortunately, been living in rural Colorado for a decade now. I would just about give my left arm for a Raspberry Lime Rickey (Brigham’s, or Dick and June’s in Beverly, MA); the BEST donuts anywhere at Kane’s in Saugus, MA; a simple, perfect Cheesesteak Sub; a real Boston-style pizza; Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee was mentioned, but none out here; Friendly’s greasy burgers and fries; and the ultimate Roast Beef sandwich and Onion Rings at Kelly’s in Revere or Saugus, MA. Even a Chicken Kebob salad can’t be had here…no one has ever heard of them! Oh, to be able to move back to Boston and enjoy food again….
Sounds like you live in WP, CO. We just left there and wow, you are right! This list made me hurt too! WP, CO where Typhoid Mary lives as a permanent cook (we were always sick with food poisoning when we did dare to go out) and the produce was the rotten leftovers from Co Sprgs. We moved away thankfully and my heart goes out to you. I think I cried when I saw real produce again and to be able to eat real food again.
I live in a hole-in-the earth place called Montrose, on the “Western Slope” of southwestern CO. It is a dive town if I ever saw one, especially being from the “Big City” near Boston. You never get accepted here if you weren’t born here type of place. Ugh. The produce here can be fair-to-slightly better, if you know where to shop, and don’t mind paying an arm and a leg for it. This time of the year, I miss apple picking, apple cooking, hayrides, apple cider donuts (have to make my own if I want them), and fresh apple cider. No PYO out here. Also no real foliage – people get excited about the aspens turning yellow, but nothing beats the red maples, the varied oaks, and all the other beautiful colors one can see driving along Rt 95, Rt 16 in NH, and the Kancamangus Highway, plus anywhere in Vt. I am so homesick I cry sometimes.
I’m surprised you left off Fiddleheads and McIntosh Apples
Yes, fiddleheads should be on the list!
Cretons and fiddleheads from The County in Maine. Almost all of the others listed brought back memories. But, the two I mentioned remain Yankee country – despite fiddleheads growing in popularity outside of New England. Cretons (ground pork boiled in milk with spices, then chilled) was a delightful breakfast spread to put on hot buttered toast with tea/coffee/ chocolate and fresh eggs served sunnyside up.
Cretons spread is the best. My French Grand Mother made it for me as well as my mother. I’m near 70 and I make it now for my wife. She loves it.
How about corn pancakes made with corn just cut from the cob?? That is, left over corn after you’ve had all you can eat for supper.
I was saddened recently to learn Hoodsies no longer has the little wood spoon that I remembered as a child. I discovered this when I went to the grocery store to get a package for my grandson. The package also only has 8, not 10. Way back they started out as a package of 12!
Flo’s Hot Dogs, Cape Neddick, ME!
New Englander for 40+ years, but in Ohio or Florida for the past 30. Every couple of years we go back and “eat out way through New England” . Great list, but does anyone recall what locals (I grew up inLynn) called Coffee Jello in the 50s and 60s? We remember it at the cafeteria downstairs at Burrow’s and Sanborn’s.
Lee’s Snack Bar in Rockland, MA served more Coffee Gelatin than all other deserts combined – the favorite of truck drivers! Now I’m wanting some!
Polar Birch Beer!
Polar Corp. in Worcester makes “Birch Beer”
My husband is from originally from Virginia and would always rave about Blue Crab as if it were the best food in the world, once I showed him “steamahs” for the first time, he was hooked. Now that we’ve relocated (and I left my beloved Massachusetts) for Indianapolis, we now take as many vacations back to New England as frequently as possible to enjoy the delicious foods. Blue Seal Kielbasa, State Line Potato chips, Muckie’s Hot Dogs, Smoked Salmon on a stick from the Maine building at the annual Big E fair.
Poutines, in the Acadian neighborhoods like the one my native Gardner. poutines, not those Johnny-come-lately fries with cheese gravy, but the ones made with grated potato and salt pork center which are boiled forever, usually with all the extended family of in-laws and cousins getting together to make enough of them to be worth the bother.
Born and raised in New hampshire. Now live in Oklahoma for 55years, how I miss the food That I Was Brought Up On.
Have had and loved everything on the list
Glad I never left New England. Have travelled the world and we have the best food!!
What about Cains mayonnaise? Can’t get that outside of NE. I grew up eating it & can’t find another like it. Miss it since I moved to Kentucky. Can’t stand that national brand.
I grew up on Cains too. When we moved to TN I ordered a case to be delivered to our new home. Now I have found Duke’s. Not the same but a new love. No sugar added and so good.
Moved to Providence, R.I. from Cuba in December 1957; working the first few years in a factory (Calart), I remembered ordering Chinese food on Fridays, fried rice and chow mein, (a dish of celeri cook in a white sauce). Does anybody remember that dish and have a recipe.
Look what I just found by an amazing commenter at chowhound.com:
4 cups chicken broth 1/4 cup peanut or veg. oil 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts 1 tbs diced red bell pepper 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper 2 cups diced celery 4 cups diced nappa cabbage 1 cup pea pods cut in halves 2/12 tsp. salt 2 tbs cornstarch dissolved in1/2 cup water
Heat pan to very hot and add oil, salt and chicken, stir fry about 30 seconds and add chicken broth and stir until chicken separates. Add all vegetables, leaving them on top of chicken. Do not stir. Cover and cook until light boil. Stir until fully mixed then cover and cook until vegetables are tender to your liking. Add cornstarch slurry slowly until desired thickness is reached.
Might you be talking about Sub Gum Chow Mein? I have been looking for a recipe for that for FOREVER, I hope you find one.
lived 30 of my 65 years in RI but for last 25 years in so California. Miss all these delicious dishes. Only thing missing is rum raison ice cream aka frozen pudding. Just made a patch for our poker groups dessert.
Rum rasin pudding! I forgot about that!!
I miss Sports Bars at Fenway and Fontaine’s Chicken from West Roxbury. Loved going to Bailey’s in Boston for a Raspberry Lime Rickey and my Mom would bring some fudge home for my dad. I don’t think I ever realized all hot dog rolls weren’t top cut……..
Wait, what?!? A hot dog roll that is NOT top cut?!? Sorry, but tell those folks that would be a grinder roll, NOT a hot dog roll… People “from away” simply don’t know about such delicacies… ????
Native Bostonian. I still talk to my wife about Fontaine’s. Chicken Alabama, with a side of onion rings. And please don’t forget about the rolls.
I grew up in Greenfield,MA. Mom made many of the foods mentioned. Some we bought.What a trip down memory lane 70 years ago. Some I still eat even here in Missouri. Great article
Overlooked The No Name restaurant on the old Babson Fish Pier version of Fish
chowder all fish right off the boats – no potatoes in a buttery broth with a little paprika sprinkled on the top Nothing like it … a classic
STATE LINE CHIPS????
We used to visit an elderly relative in Springfield, MA and on the way would have lunch and Stateline Potato Chips……………..they were so good…..now Cape Cod chips taste very similar and are great.
Born and raised in Boston, there is NOTHING better than the food from home! this list has a bunch of my favorites… and makes me want to move back if only for the food! Hermits! whoopie pies! boiled dinner! top split rolls!! oh please someone export these to St. Louis!!
Pizza. Pizza isn’t a traditional New England food. And, to only mention one place in one state. Just isn’t fair to the other pizza places. Pizza by Alex, Biddeford, Maine. Their single sized pizza is so good. That after University of New England graduates move on. The Call Alex’s to have the pizza shipped cross country. And, Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips is now owned by a Canadian Company. The export Maine potatoes to Canada. Then, import them back into the USA as potato chips. Still great chips even with the detour. Fluffanutters, should in all realty be their own food group. Love the list!
I agree! Whenever I get back “home” must go to to Alex and bring back a dozen pizza. Green pepper and onion is my fave. Also must get to Saco to get my fill of Rapid Ray’s hamburgers! I’m old enough to remember when the original Ray’s truck was park at the corner of Hill and Main in Biddeford. Also, can’t forget George’s Italian sandwiches. They’re the best!!!!
Hot wienaaaahs!
Olneyville wieners in Olneyville….the best. Nick’s and JJ’s in Fall River also worth the stop!!! I am a big fan of wieners…….as long as they are NY system.
Loved the list and the comments. I am not from New England originally but I live here now. I love the list because I can learn about new dishes that I never heard of and want to try! Thanks. Loving New England!!
Born, raised in Marblehead. Just received a packet of “joe frogers” from my wondeful cousin who lives soemtime in New Hampshire. Boy first I’ve had in 70 years. So goodddddddddddddddd!
Is there any way I can buy New England franfurt rolls out here in Utah (Salt Lake City)? If so, where? I’m also going to buy some maple syrup to make some of the maple syrup recipes. By the way, I’m originally from New England and there’s a lot I miss, especially certain New England foods.
I’m a New Englander, now stuck in southwestern CO. We’ve just started seeing Pepperidge Farm Top-sliced Hot Dog Rolls in our Kroger/City Market stores lately. They’re really good, if not quite the identical shape, but very fresh and tasty! They come in original and potato, if I’m not mistaken. Otherwise, I have not been able to find a way to get those perfect hot dog rolls for a decade now!
There’a no Ah – So Sauce on this list either !!! They advertise it as ” New England’s best selling BBQ sauce ” but I wouldn’t put it in that category ???
Hi Michael. We hope you’ll be happy to see we have an entire post on NewEngland.com dedicated to Ah-So Sauce. You can see it here: https://newengland.com/today/food/new-england-made/ah-so-sauce/
I’m surprised there’s no Coney Dogs on this list !!! ??? Nick’s has been around since 1920 and is a must for anyone visiting the Fall River MA area .
Surprised that there is no mention of Mrs. Budds Chicken Pot Pie.
Fricasee chicken! Kentucky Wonder pole beans with salt pork. Ditto for blueberry pancakes, Wise potato chips, cream cheese and olive sandwiches and apple crisp!
In Connecticut this list is missing Hummel Hot Dogs.
Grilled cheese and Campbell’s Tomato soup for supper while watching the tv show “Lassie”.
Wise potato chips, Squamscott tonic, melted american cheese over saltine crackers, tomato sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches
Great memories of some of my favorites.
Don’t forget Awful Awfuls and cream cheese and olive sandwiches
Hi,I am so hungry after reading all these posts. When I was young we livedin Waterbury CT and my mother used to make a recipe she called “Chili Sauce” I don’t believe it had Chili peppers in it. It was more like a sweet relish. Anyone ever head the expression?
Yes we used to buy it at the A&P. So good!
Yes, my great grandma left us her recipe and I can some every fall. The recipe calls for only six chili peppers but it is still sweet and smells wonderful while it is cooking.
Didn’t see Spruce gum mentioned anywhere.
Or Clark’s Teaberry gum…
Gotta remember to transport a couple of dozen split top hot dog rolls back to Florida. As far as I can tell they don’t sell them in Florida. It’s a shame since thousands of Floridian are transported New Englanders. Also, has anyone besides my best friend eaten blueberries, crackers and milk as a substitute for breakfast cereal?
I ate blueberries ,crackers and milk all the time growing up. I still eat them now and again.
Both Publix and Winn-Dixie supermarkets in southeast Florida carry Pepperidhge Farm top-split hot dog rolls in the bread aisle.
Crown Pilot Crackers gone now but we made welsh rabbit with them-broke them up in a bowl with milk like cereal-put in chowdah and many other things.
“Hot weenies” from New York System or Coney Island System in East Providence. 10 cents each or 3 for a quarter. (I’m showing my age here). The cook would line up 8 or 10 on his arm and apply the ingredients one after another. We didn’t worry too much about sanitation back then, but we’re still here…
Candy on the snow! A thick maple syrup drizzled on packed snow. Good for removing loose fillings.
omg I thought I was the only one.
Potato chips were once strictly regional……what was yours? Maid-rite,Hunt’s,Boyd’s,Winslow’s,Vincent’s,Chef Price Hunt,Tayters,Wachusett? Eating them at the beach,getting your fingers all greasy and sandy……aaaaahhhhhhh.
Winslow and Hutchie’s–from Marblehead.
Grammys fav ice cream – frozen pudding. Mom’s fave- pistachio. Dad’s fave- black raspberry. My fave- coffee or coffee chip IF THEY DONT HAVE FROZEN PUDDING.
Shepard’s pie in my house was layered ground beef, corn and mashed potatoes on top. If you made it with peas or green beans, you probably came from a French Canadian family or possibly Italian. I don’t know if it’s a New England recipe, but it was made at least monthly in fall and winter in my family, originally from Tewksbury, MA. Another memory of state line chips and another brand, was it tasterite? They left a film of grease on the roof of your mouth. What were those hot dogs from Lawrence?
The Franco-American version of shepherd’s pie is called, Pâté Chinois and it contains similar ingredients: ground beef, creamed sweet corn and mashed potatoes. I believe traditional shepherd’s pie (various veggies) is from the UK & Ireland, but don’t hold me to it.
Lawton’s hotdogs
Which closed and is now some other business
Oh yes still make it with corn. Miss New England and all its goodies
Wonderful list but it’s missing oyster stew.
Salmon pea wiggle. Eggs poached in maple and then use the reduced maple syrup to make maple butter for toast. Apple pan dowdy. Does anyone remember chocolate Milanocket cake from Maine? Recipe maybe?
I remember growing up in Gloucester MA. my mom would buy 1/2 gallons of ice cream, 1/3 coffee ice cream, 1/3 vanilla ice cream, 1/3 orange sherbert. Oh so good
That was called “Country Club”–used to hand pack it when I worked as a soda jerk in high school.
Stop and shop in Massachusetts used to sell country club ice cream it had 1/3 coffee 1/3 vanilla and 1/3 orange sherbet it was the best combination
My roots came from the east coast, born in Pittsburgh, PA, then moving to my father’s home state of New Jersey, where I spent the next five years of my life before settling in San Francisco’s Bay Area, California where I spent the next 30 years before moving to Seattle, Washington; then my final move to Sydney, Australia, living there for the past 8 years. I am so ready to go back to my eastern seaboard roots, taking it a bit further and settling in New England for the remainder of my life. I am so very excited by the much anticipated move back to the states in the New England area….colorful Autumns, fire-flies, with ring-dings in hand…frozen custard at the Cape, here I come!
You forgot Saugy hot dogs…another Rhode Island creation. The very BEST hot dogs in the world!
They really are great……and when you boil them or cook in an electric frying pan and they split……………..oh, the best……..Saugy’s are great.
I loved your list , brought back many memories. I’d like to add Cucumber Sandwiches with Mayo, A& W Root Beer, Cains Sandwich Spread on toast, Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich !! All so New England, I’m staying here !!
Love cucumber sandwiches and baked bean sandwiches. Still eat them
Used to eat cucumber sandwiches with Siedner’s (sp??) mayo and also ate green pepper sandwiches with same mayo…….it tasted like Kraft Miracle Whip of today.
Loved the entire list…would like to add Dynamite sandwiches, specific to Woonsocket, RI. Autumnfest would not be the same without them. I still make them down here in FL for all of us transplanted from Northernn RI and MA.
Humpty Dumpty Bar-B-Que potato chips!
salt water taffy made at the Goldenrod in York Beach, Maine……….you can watch the entire process through the storefront windows…..they have small fans blowing the smell out to the sidewalk
Thanks for putting this awesome list together! Here’s a few favorite foods in Maine that should be added. The Maine Italian sandwich, made with ham, white american cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and thinly sliced dill pickles topped with olive oil and salt and pepper, all on a foot long delicious soft bread. Another favorite dish in Maine is Chinese pie, a classic Maine casserole made of seasoned ground beef, canned creamed corn, and mashed potatoes, topped with many pats of butter and baked until the mashed potatoes turn a very light golden tone. and last but not least please add one of Maine’s favorite pastries, called a Bismarck, filled with a raspberry sauce and whipped cream…yum!
Georgette, in MA we’d call your Chinese Pie “Shepherd’s Pie,” and in Northern RI we called it Pot de Chinois (still Chinese, but with a French Canadian accent!).
What a wonderful trip down memory lane! Please add Roseland Pizza in Derby CT, Birch Beer soda with fried clams and onion rings, cannolis from Wooster St in New Haven CT. Again, thank you for all the time it took to put this article together. We live in Evans, GA but I will always be a New Englander!
Miss fatty boiled hot pastrami sandwichs
cream cheese and date-nut bread sandwiches
Great list. I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. we called soda ” Tonic” and sub sandwiches “Spukies”
Friendly’s fribbles
In Westerly RI we called them grinders. I haven’t had one as good since I left
Grew up in Arlington heights, MA and now live in South Texas, I miss the fried whole belly clams, lobster and frozen pudding ice cream. We are baked beans for breakfast on Sunday at the farm
Really miss frozen pudding ice cream, whole belly clams ,pork strips,chow mein sandwichs. Live in Snellville ,GA and miss New England for the last 37 years. Never should have moved.
I’m from southeastern Massachusetts right on the RI line and miss living there. Really, really miss New England food and the great shellfish. Live in Georgia now.
I had clam cakes (fritters) in Rhode Island. Very little clam in them (one had none). Try the clam cakes at the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, for real clam cakes….
Oh, my gosh! When I was a student in southern Connecticut, I would drive my old Corvair to the Lobster Shack for Saturday lunch, turn around and drive back to New Haven – loved that Corvair, loved to drive, but most of all loved the Lobster shack! Thanks for the memories! I’ll just have to make a pilgrimage to the shack next summah…
I miss New England this list brought back memories. Yankee magazine is like a little bit of home. Thank you. Where ever I goi will always consider New England home
Underwood Deviled Ham is missing from the list as well as Teddie Peanut Butter.
Pearl Kountry Klub hot dogs made in Randolph, MA. The BEST hot dogs! Unfortunately, can’t find them here in FL. Thanks for the list…it made me so very homesick for my beloved New England!
Lime rickey and raspberry lime rickey….best drink ever. Fried clam rolls and fried scallops. Born and raised in Massachusetts and even though I have been gone for nearly fifty years, I will always be a New Englander at heart.
Oh yes! Lime rickeys! I thought I was VERY grown up when I was a little girl and went to Newberry’s and sat at the (marble) counter all by myself and ordered a lime rickey – a little bit of heaven that was. Wish I had the recipe though, I’ve never quite been able to duplicate that taste.
You missed Rhode Island tomato pie pizza. Sometimes called bakery pizza. Sold by the strip, just a very unique tomato sauce, nothing else.
Aww..enjoyed the list and all the comments. From NH but in SD for 29 years. I miss New England! Thank you for the memories!
Friendly’s Jubilee Roll, Brigham’s ice cream, Ho Jo’s, salt water taffy
Would like a list of New England factories,food and others,that offer guided tours.We will be visiting for a family reunion in June.
Cape Cod Potato Chips Hyannis MA, Ben and Jerry’s Waterbury VT, Cold Hollow Cider Waterbury VT
Vincents Potato Chip Salem MA
Molasses honeycomb (or foam) candy !!!
Yess’em it’s Essem franks! And, “Mr. Kirschner, you sure make a gooood hot dog.” Both owned by Kayem of Chelsea, MA, now…an iconic New England brand. To wash it all down, a Polar Cola before a Table Talk pie while watching Candlepins For Cash. All that, so New England, so every day. Well, unless you live in Boston’s north end and it’s Wednesday…because in Boston’s north end, Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day! “Anthony! Anthony!”
Talk about Memory Lane, it was wonderful to see the oldies but goodies.
AWESOME!!! REMEMBERED ALL OF THESE WHEN I WAS RAISED IN HARTFORD , CT !!!!! MISS IT ALOT!!!
Maple Leaf Franks in natural casing. Sold loose at the deli. Ohhh, that glorious snap; a sound, and textural feeling I can remember like it was yesterday.
How about Chorico Sandwich from Fall River, or a Chow Mein Sandwich from Asia Restaurant also from Fall River. Coffee Ice Cream.
Hi Roland! Great ideas! Coffee Ice Cream is already on the list above, and you’ll find the Chow Mein Sandwich on our list of Classic New England Sandwiches here: https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-nostalgia/classic-new-england-sandwiches/
Born in MA and now live in VT, could never leave New England. Love the memories, food and the Region. Thanks for the list, makes me hungry.
Something special from Bouchard Family farms in Arostook county Maine is “Ploys” a French Acadian buckwheat crepe that is fabulous with butter & “real” maple syrup for breakfast. Later in the day ploys are the daily bread with stews or creton spread. On the coast sardines & crackers should be eaten daily for longevity. Crab rolls are made similar to lobster rolls but much sweeter. You also forgot fiddleheads (young maiden head ferns) a springtime treat.
Can’t believe that fiddleheads aren’t at the top of the list. People from all over travel to Maine to get fiddleheads. Untill you’ve tried them, you don’t know what you’re missing
Grew up in Brunswick, Maine. My dad loved sardines, saltines and a slice of sharp cheddar. He lived to be 97!
Love this list. I’ve been away for 52 years but remember it all! Yes, Grinders were left off – skipped school with a bunch of friends to have a feast!! And I haven’t n heard the word Bulkie since I left. Thanks so much.
When I was a little girl, my Mom would make us bologna sandwiches on bulkie rolls. She would sing to us “We’ll go to Coney, and have bologna–on a roll”. Silly I know but it brings back such wonderful memories.
Oh, I am feeling soooo nostalgic for these foods. I was born in New London, CT and grew up in Duxbury, MA. So many wonderful memories of these special foods that my dear Mother and Grandmother often made. Thank you for bringing back such special memories of growing up New England. My heart will always be there!
I was born in Worcester, MA. Sixty years ago but have been been a FL cracker for almost fifty of those sixty years, I remember Table Talk Pies. Yum you all.
“Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.”
Hot Weiners from Olneyville RI, dough boys/fried dough, cold pizza from RI,
i’m orginial from Vermont , moved to NH and now living in Alabama. I do miss New England and miss the food even more. love your list and I will be sending it to my brother who is die hard Vermonter and now living in Tenn. can’t get brown bread, clams, lobster my favorite foods down here and the good Shultz hot dogs. thanks again for the list. just makes me miss New England even more.
I LOVE your work you folks do its is why we buy your magazine
Charleston Chews
You forgot fish cakes, and frozen pudding ice cream, and I’d also agree about creton–we used to get in in Lewiston Me., and I still make it here in Florida–yummily!!
Perhaps not as well known, but mock cherry pie (i.e. cranberry-raisin) was a family favorite of ours. Old(er) editions of Fanny Farmer cookbooks contain the recipe!
Stateline Potato chips…….CT / MA
Awesome list!
GRINDERS …..!!!!
Tri-Sum potato chips made in Leominster, MA and Wachusett potato chips from Fitchburg, MA 1939
Poland Spring water!
I would add Wise Potato Chips, Carvel Ice Cream, and Hot Whites.
Great list! Thanks! Grinders. swordfish
I was born and raised in Lewiston Maine and all these recipes and products just make me want to go straight home.I miss it sooo much.I now live in Mesa Az.,BUT,my heart is in Maine.I cannot thank you enough for putting all these on here.
Thank you for that nice comment, Jeanne! That’s exactly why we wanted to put this list together. Sending you warm thoughts from home!
What about the school lunch favorite, Chinese Pie? Ground beef layered with cream corn and topped with mashed potatoes.
Bulkie rolls!
Mac and cheese made with Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar (NO Velveeta or American cheese!)
Barbara, you’re singing my song re mac-and-cheese!!! One change I’ve made in the last few years is substituting Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock for the milk ~ give it a try, you might just like it!!!
Sticky buns as created by the Dog Team Restaurant in New Haven VT (forgot that one)
FRESH corn on the cob. Apples from the orchard. Apple Crisp a La Mode!
Blueberry pancakes, with a touch of mace, to go with the maple syrup. Corn pudding – a holiday is not a holiday in my home without corn pudding. Jordan Pond popovers. Publick House sweet rolls.
And black raspberry ice cream – my mom’s favorite!
Italian Grinders
… Italian Sandwiches, and their poor cousins… Grinduhs… from Larry’s Variety in Rumford. Yum!
Oh my God, surprised to see Larry’s Italian sandwiches! Rumford girl now living in Florida but miss everything in Maine except the long winters. Especially the good foods.
Pizza strips from the bakery. Oh and dough boys! Spinach pies
You left out Red Snappers! The red hot dogs! And you left out Italian Sandwiches! Both Maine favorites forever!! And you left out Giffords Ice Cream . . .
Hi Donna! Red Snappers are on the list — you must have scrolled right past them! Italian sandwiches are a great suggestion for when we expand the list to 100. ????
Yes, Italian sandwiches! Also salmon pie, cretons, ketchup potato chips (though that might be more Canadian that only recently started to sneak down into New England), fish chowder, and molasses cookies.
Plum Pudding, As a child I lived in Fall River, Mass and we ate Plum Pudding with a Hard Sauce. Also Left over baked beans from Sat warmed up on Sunday Morning with Bacon and Eggs. I live in Pa now and miss my New England Food.
Nice list, Aimee!
Berries are so very loved! Strawberry shortcake should be on this list!
Absolutely! Made with fresh picked wild strawberries and a slightly sweetened buttermilk biscuit as the base (never those little sponge cakes) and topped with homemade whipped cream from the local dairy’s heavy cream… The first celebration of spring, pure heaven in a bowl! Always went with Mayday – anyone else remember Mayday? When children made little baskets of wildflowers and hung them on the front doorknobs of people they loved, knocked, and ran away giggling before the door was opened…
Those franks and beans are SAUGYS & BEANS on Saturday Nights throughout Rhode Island for 147 years. In Rhode Island, you don’t ask for a hotdog, you ask for a Saugy!
Saugys! Rhode Island’s classic hot dogs! http://www.saugys.com
You forgot an Amato’s Italian Sandwich!!!!
Wonderful list,really enjoyed it. Can’t wait for another visit to Maine and pick up lots of goodies.
What’s not to love about All Yankee foods.
Mariners have the most delicious foods ever. Red hot dogs clams and Maple ice cream so yummy . So enjoy getting these treats when I get home for my visits….
Pare’s Warren RI clambake!
Hi Ed! What did we miss? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
Unless something is included from all of the six states of New England, which your list clearly does not include, then your list is incomplete and you should try again.
We can now enjoy autocrat coffee ice cream here in southern Mass and Rhode Island. I must say it’s the best coffee ice cream I’ve ever had.
Some of these are my favorites and brought back memories.