Hoagie, Grinder, Hero: Where You Live Changes What You Call These Foods

“Do you want a tonic with that spuckie?”

What?

“Do you want a soda with that torpedo?”

What is happening here?

Both examples refer to the same food: the bubbly carbonated beverage commonly known as soda or pop or soda-pop, and the elongated sandwich commonly understood in North America to be a submarine, or sub.

The more obscure reference to “tonic” is specific to some old-timers in Massachusetts, according to Yankee magazine. And Boston is about the only place where “spuckie,” a shortened form of the Italian word “spuccadella,” is used to describe the sandwich.

Its shape explains why some people in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut sometimes call it a torpedo, but that’s hardly a universal term.

Some people in eastern Pennsylvania call it a “Zeppelin” or “blimp” because it is shaped like a helium-filled aircraft, but anyone who wants to be understood in sandwich-speak can usually get by if they call it a “hoagie” or a “grinder.”

The latter is a common term for the sandwich across New England because, according to one etymological theory, because its many ingredients give the molars a workout.

In New York City, the sandwich is called a “hero.” The term is believed to have originated in the 1930s, the reasoning being that finishing one required a heroic effort, according to The Restaurant Warehouse.

In Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut, a submarine sandwich is called a “wedge.” Bon Appétit said the term likely originated with a deli owner in Yonkers, New York, and offered two theories: Either wedge is shorthand for “sandwich,” or it is a reference the wedge-shaped bread that holds the ingredients in place.

Now, what are you going to drink to wash down that massive sandwich of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments?

Order a tonic anywhere but Massachusetts, and you may be asked if you want it for your hair, with vodka or to cure what ails you.

Generally, it’s common to ask for a “soda” in California and most of the East Coast, while “pop” is common in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. But in parts of the South, “coke” with a lowercase “c” is a generic term for any soft drink.

Still confused?

What people in different regions of the United States call the same food is a reflection of immigrant cultural influences, regional dialects and the availability of local ingredients. These influences can affect not only what foods are called in different regions, but also how they’re prepared.

Below are a few more foods that are called different things in different parts of the country.

Folks Cooked What On A Hoe?

The classic breakfast staple is known by several other names, including “flapjacks,” a term Shakespeare used in “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” according to Taste of Home. It’s still frequently used in Michigan.

The word is a combination of “flap,” referring to the flipping of the flat cake, while the origin of “jack” is less clear.

In most of the South, griddle or hotcakes are synonymous with pancakes, but in Georgia, they may be called “hoe cakes” because field workers used their hoes as makeshift griddles, according to Taste of Home.

And while a “johnnycake” is generally understood to be a flatbread made of corn meal, to people in parts of the Carolinas and New England, it’s a pancake.

‘Jimmie’ Some Sprinkles On That

Those colorful bits of candy on the top of ice cream cones and sundaes are universally known as “sprinkles,” but to New Englanders, they’re “jimmies.”

Why?

One explanation is that in the 1930, the Just Born Candy Company (the maker of Peeps, Hot Tamales and other well-known candies) decided to call the sugary candy toppings “Jimmies” in honor of James “Jimmy” Bartholemew, who operated the machine that turned them out, according to Food & Wine.

That’s not the only origin story, though.

Another is that jimmies is a direct reference to the fund established by Dr. Sidney Farber (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) in the name of one of his patients. As that version goes, Brigham’s ice cream charged an extra penny to sprinkle the tops of ice cream cones with the candies to raise money for The Jimmy Fund, which still exists today.

When A ‘Mud Bug’ Is A Delicacy

Whether “crawfish,” “crayfish” or “crawdads,” these tiny lobster-like crustaceans found in rivers, streams, lakes, swamps, and even ditches are the same species.

People in the South, especially Louisiana, call them crawfish, while people in the North and Northeast are more likely to call them crayfish. People in the Midwest and California are more likely to call them crawdads.

These freshwater crustaceans are considered delicacies, whatever they’re called — even in the Mississippi Delta, where they’re referred to as “mud bugs,” according to Grammarly.

Only In Minnesota …

Is what most people call a “casserole” a “hotdish” in Minnesota?

It can be. But hotdish is a specific regional subcategory of a casserole that refers to a one-pot meal served piping hot. A typical hotdish has a creamy sauce, a protein, a starch and a vegetable, while the term casserole is broader and can refer to any dish baked in a baking dish, including side dishes and desserts.

The term for the hearty one dish-meal first appeared in a Depression Era cookbook in Mankato, Minnesota, and it has since become a distinct part of the state’s culinary landscape, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and other sources. It replaced the regionalism “hot pot.”

The bottom line: All hotdishes are casseroles, but not all casseroles are hotdishes.

So don’t go to Minnesota and order a hotdish when what you really want is green bean casserole or peach cobbler.

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