41 Traditional Foods
You Have To Try in Boston

Lobster roll is a Maine specialty consisting of cooked lobster meat that is, ideally, drizzled with melted butter and placed into long hot dog rolls. Additionally, the sandwich might include lettuce, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Traditional accompaniments include potato chips or french fries on the side. Some claim that lobster roll first appeared at Perry's in Milford, Connecticut, while others claim it was first prepared at Red's in Wiscasset, Maine. Regardless of the origins, the entire state of Maine continues to honor the tradition by offering more version of lobster rolls than the first inventor could have possibly imagined, starting an endless debate over how it should be made and who makes the best rolls. For example, most Mainers eat the roll filled with cold lobster salad made with mayonnaise, sometimes with the addition of diced celery and no melted butter whatsoever.Expand

One of the earliest and quintessential American dishes, New England-style clam chowder is a creamy stew made with briny clams, chunks of salt pork, sweet onions, potatoes, and milk. The dish was invented by the Pilgrims who had landed near Plymouth Rock in 1620. Hungry and with nothing to eat, they turned to delicious clams that are commonly found on New England's shores and cooked them in pots filled with water over an open flame. As for the word chowder, some claim it stems from the French chaudiére, denoting an iron cooking pot, while others claim it stems from chaudeau, meaning hot water. The creamy version we all know and love today started to become popular at the beginning of the 19th century, and by the end of it, there were also some regional versions of the dish. Some of them added crushed crackers, butter, or chopped fish to the already flavourful broth. Aromatic and sea-flavored, it is almost a sacred dish in New England, regularly celebrated with various competitions, festivals, chowder lovers societies, and boat races. Today, there are many versions of clam chowder in Manhattan, Rhode Island, Long Island, Minorcan, Hatteras, Delaware, and New Jersey.Expand

Although the name suggests otherwise, Boston cream pie is not a pie, but a cake consisting of two layers of sponge cake which are filled with a rich vanilla custard, while the whole thing is finished with a chocolate glaze, or in some cases, with sprinkled confectioners' sugar. It was named a pie because the first versions were baked in pie tins, which were more common than cake pans in the mid-19th century. The inventor of the Boston cream pie is a French chef named Sanzian, who worked in the Parker House, a hotel that claims to have served the dessert since its opening in 1856. Originally, the cake was served under the name Parker House Chocolate Cream Pie. Today, this classic cake is a favorite throughout the country, not just in Massachusetts where it became the official state dessert in 1996.Expand

Roast beef sandwiches encompass a large variety of sandwiches filled with roasted and sliced beef as their main ingredient. They may be served hot or cold. The meat should be succulent, slightly pink, and thinly sliced, while the buns are typically soft and topped with sesame seeds or onion pieces. As for the toppings, anything is possible, but in Boston, where roast beef sandwiches are one of the area's specialties, they are traditionally topped with cheese, barbecue sauce, and mayonnaise (called a three way when served together).Expand

This American sandwich belongs to the group of breakfast sandwiches and consists of bread that is often toasted or buttered, crispy bacon, fried or scrambled eggs, and cheese. It is often served with a cup of coffee on the side. There are numerous versions of this sandwich, depending on the types of ingredients used in it. The most common options regarding the choice of cheese include cheddar, Swiss cheese, or American cheese, while bacon may be replaced with ham, back bacon, or sausages. As for the commercial versions, McDonald's Egg McMuffin is the most popular variety.Expand

A breakfast sandwich refers to any kind of sandwich filled with foods that are usually considered a breakfast staple such as cured meats, eggs, cheese, and various types of bread. Before the explosion of breakfast sandwiches in the United States, they were often consumed by factory workers of the 19th century London, where they were called bap sandwiches, named after the soft (and back then, often slightly stale) rolls filled with fried eggs, crispy bacon, and melted cheese. During the industrial revolution, the breakfast sandwich became popular in the USA, filled with eggs, green peppers, onions, and ham. It was a staple of blue-collar workers, and the first recipe can be found in a cookbook that was published in 1897. With the rise of the fast food industry, these sandwiches became even more popular, and today they can be found in most fast food restaurants, delis, and convenience stores in numerous varieties.Expand

Pastrami on rye is New York's signature sandwich and a staple of many Jewish delis. This simple sandwich traditionally consists of delicate pastrami slices that are placed on rye bread, then topped with spicy mustard, and the whole thing is typically accompanied by kosher dill pickles on the side. It was originally invented in 1888 by a Lithuanian immigrant named Sussman Volk, who was also the owner of one of the first delis in New York City. Today, Katz's Delicatessen is believed to be the best place for a great pastrami on rye sandwich.Expand

Tuna tartare is an elegant starter originating from Los Angeles. The dish is made with a combination of raw tuna, avocado, egg yolks, green peppercorns, capers, chives, tarragon, mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. It was invented in 1984 by chef Shigefumi Tachibe at the Chaya Brasserie when a few customers came in wanting beef tartare, but one of them didn't eat beef, so the chef tried tuna, and it was an instant success. Nowadays, it's usually served as a visually attractive appetizer with crackers or toast.Expand

Johnnycake is a cornmeal flatbread, similar to a pancake, consisting of fried cornmeal, salt, and hot water or milk. It is a staple food in the Rhode Island area, where they are consumed at all times of the day - for breakfast, when they are drizzled with butter and syrup or broken up and combined with milk and sugar, or for other meals, when they act as a substitute for rice or potatoes, and sometimes even get served as a dessert. The name is likely based on jonakin, a word that is derived from another word, jannock, which is the term used by the slaves to describe a cake made of Native American corn. Another theory says it derives from journeycake, an English term referring to durable cornmeal cakes made with no butter or eggs which were carried in saddlebags and on ships during long journeys. It is believed that johnnycakes were invented by the corn-growing Native American tribes that were once the dominant group around Rhode Island. In addition to being popular in the United States, the modern version of the dish is still consumed in Colombia, Bermuda, and Saint Croix.Expand

In the United States, Sicilian pizza denotes a thick, square-shaped dough topped with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. The sauce is often placed on top of the cheese in order for the crust to be well-cooked. This pizza was brought to the United States (primarily New York) by Sicilian immigrants, and it was derived from sfincione. Although sfincione doesn't contain mozzarella, Italian bakeries in NYC had access to inexpensive mozzarella so it was only logical that they began to top their sfincione with it. Nowadays, Sicilian-style pizza is popular in numerous Italian-American communities in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.Expand