Trying New England Foods for the First Time

What is this, Amore? Today we're traveling to New England. We're going to try some mystery dishes from New England. What does that mean exactly? Well, you know New England is famous for its fish. Everybody knows that. We're going to try some dishes that you might not be familiar with and see if they are any good. And these are classic New England recipes. I'm so excited. Let's start it. First up is something called American Chop Suey. I think it's also known as American Goulash. Goulash? You know what goulash is? Yes, I know what goulash is. This is the American version, apparently. American version of goulash. Okay, I'm now an expert at goulash. And I hope the pasta isn't too squishy. I tried to cook it a little bit under so that it's not super gummy. We'll see. Fantastic! Wow, really? I love it! No way! Yes, what is this? I love it! American Chop Suey! So it has ground beef, green peppers, onions, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, some herbs and seasoning, and then it has elbow macaroni and cheddar cheese. Delicious! I love to do these videos from this part of America and cook by ourselves. I'm sorry, I'm confused. I thought you were not going to like this. I thought you were going to say, oh, it's like trying to be a ragu and they put macaroni inside. What macaroni? This is what we call macaroni. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's fine like a pasta. It is like a ragu. But it does taste different. To me, it kind of tastes like when I make sloppy joes from scratch. It tastes like a sloppy joe. It's a sloppy joe pasta. Oh my God. Sloppy joe pasta. You knew England, what you did. They take the sloppy joe and put it in pasta and call it a different name. Tell me the truth. But this is a 10 out of 10. It is a dish that you need to eat. When we go there, we'll try all the fish stuff. Right now, we're in a landlocked state. We aren't going to risk. Yeah, we don't want to risk and then take you down when we think you can up there. It's much better. Boston. Baked beans. Okay. I grew up eating them from the can. They were already pre-made. I've never made them from scratch before and I'm never going to do it again. Because it took way too long, guys. And what is this? I'm going to let you discover what this is. Brown bread in a can. Italia. Brown bread. Brown bread in a can. So what do we need to do with this can? Bake it? No. It goes along with the beans. You can eat the beans without the bread, but the bread goes with the beans. From what I read on the internet. Okay? Sorry if that's wrong. You can open this up. Let me open it up. But instructions, remove... Instructions, too. For opening the bread. Remove both ends of the can. If necessary, gently push the loaf out from one end with a spoon. This is exciting. Oh, it's dry. Okay. A normal person like me is never going to read the instructions, so probably... Only open one side, right? Of course. I didn't figure out how to do it. I don't know why you have to open both sides. For that reason. What are you doing? They said a spoon. Oh, a spoon. Gently push it out with a spoon from one side. So we need to push it from the other side, right? Like here? Did you open it all the way? How do you open this bread? Can we do normal people? It should come out all in one, like, log. You don't want to pull it out, rip it out, you know? You keep this thing and you push with your... Yeah, really get those metal shards deep into the bread. If you go to the zoo, it sounds like when you see an animal here. Oh, look. What did he eat, that animal? Right? Just a piece of bread from the New England people, from Boston. Man. I'm crying right now. It doesn't smell good. Impresentable. But I'm confused. Do they bake it in the cans? Like, they put the batter in and then they bake it and ship it? Or is it put in the can after it's baked? Texture-wise, it's like a really over-baked muffin, kind of. Right? Like, spongy. Oh. Too annoying. No. Too annoying what? We did it with the beans or without? Let's try it by itself first and then we'll eat it with the beans. Yummy. There's a flavor in here I've had before. Exactly. It's what I think it may do. I don't know what it is, but it's recognized, like it's... It's super recognizable. The texture is really chewy. I don't like it. I want to just taste the beans first before... I want to say, the beans, they're very, very, very picky about how these are cooked. Sometimes they cook them for like eight hours. I didn't cook them that long. Sorry. The beans are fantastic. Really? Boston beans are... It is crispy bacon, right? There's bacon inside. My God. Onions. My God. Molasses, brown sugar. I don't remember everything, but this is good. No, but... What do you need to do with this? I guess you put some beans on it. It makes the bread more edible. It makes the bread edible. Do we need to try it toasted? I don't follow that. They said you slice it, warm it up, and put butter on it. Bread is toasted, butter is on top, but not really spreadable. And we are cooking something else. I'm preparing something else because there's more to these beans than just brown bread. Why not leave just the beans alone by themselves and maybe eat a steak or some barbecue? Oh, I'm sure they do. I know that beans go with something, but there's other things that the beans are known for. I understand why now. The butter is needed. And why so much fix the butter? So you eat just the butter. And you can't tell. Toast it with the butter. Yes, it's another experience. It's good. Like approved? No. I don't approve because eating butter like this for Italian, it is a shame for your diet. For Italian perspective, it's not approved. For American perspective, who decides to buy a can and put some butter, you fix it. I know brown bread as the bread that you get from the cheesecake factory. And I always have that flavor in my mind. I thought it was going to be like this. This straight out of the can doesn't taste like that. But with the butter, I get more of that flavor of the brown bread. You're right, 100%. You see? It's good to describe. Because for me, this is a 0 out of 10 that may wash out my palate. Before you eat all the beans, we have to have the other part of the beans. If there's no bread, I'm happy. I'm taking these beans from you. I got to doctor them up. Don't hate me, guys. This is franks and beans. So there's a whole recipe list online where you actually cook the hot dogs in with the beans to prepare this dish. However, I took the cheater way and I just cooked some hot dogs and mixed them up in the beans. You know? To get the vibe, you know? It might not be the right way. It might not be the perfect way. But I guarantee you, there are some of you out there who literally cooked up the hot dogs and mixed them up with the beans for dinner the next night. Don't lie to me. Me. This, it is western food. Western is what you think of when you see... Yeah, cowboys eating beans and maybe they put a sausage. I grew up with bas perso and teresillo. Some people know, some people not. But they're eating always the beans like crazy. And to me, remember me, western. I love it. It's the best. Even the cheating method? Just cutting up the hot dogs? That was good. The beans already, the paste, the beans are... I'm proud of myself with those beans. I was intimidated. New England, you are amazing. You think we're done with the beans? No, now! I love these beans, but... You think we're done, but... Do you have just beans there? What are you going to do if you make a big pot of beans for dinner the night before and you have leftovers the morning after? I guess I eat more beans, right? For breakfast. For breakfast? For this recipe, I pre-cooled some beans. I was thinking, how we do it? I don't know if there's an actual name for this sandwich or if this is just something they do. But this was a very popular thing listed. Eat a cold bean sandwich on white bread for breakfast. Cool. For breakfast, eh? The sandwich like this is not bad. I'll try imagine if I woke up. I should do this review tomorrow morning. I saved it. It's giving the same kind of vibes as cold pizza. Like, oh, we have leftovers, let's eat cold pizza. I prefer cold pizza. No. No? I don't prefer any cold pizza, any of this. But I gotta say, a simple brioche? Niente. You know what would be really good? A bean grilled cheese sandwich. Let's make another recipe for beans in case the four days you still have the pot of beans and you don't know how to do it and you do it with grilled cheese beans. Yes, why not? Let's add more recipes. Yeah. When the beans are this good, you want to eat them as many times as possible. I'm just saying. But, guess what? Now we go to the next item, right? Yes. We gotta wash down the beans. Moxie is distinctively different, is what they say. If you sprung from Boston, you're tasting beans. Bean flavored soda. What you hate to do with leftover beans? You... And you make a dip or have a nice summer. I bet they have a bean flavored soda. So this is the state drink of Maine, I think. Okay. I have no idea what it's gonna taste like. I have absolutely no idea. Oh! What is that? I feel like I've had this flavor before. I have. The gums. Your gums. The red gums. Big red? The cinnamon gums? The cinnamon gums. There could be cinnamon in here. I'm getting like Necco wafers. You know those little chalky wafer candies that I had you eat a long time ago for the old-fashioned candy? What is that? What to say to Maine? Maine! Don't do drinks. It's not great. And aftertaste, it is not good. Your stomach is flipping and say, stop. But it kind of tastes like it has medicine in it, so maybe it's good for your stomach. So maybe your stomach will be happy after. Depends on the fact to eat all that beans. I gotta know what flavor this is. I gotta look it up. Because a unique mix of bitter, herbal, and medicinal notes. A combination of root beer and licorizia. Root beer and licorizia. So, chinotto and licorizia. Huh? I was just gonna say, maybe it's the root beer that I'm thinking about. So, not approved. Like the can. Not approved. Allora, latte. Coffee milk. You're supposed to make it how you would make chocolate milk. So you pour in some, I don't know how much, but let's be gentle at first. I think you go in based on how it should be like. How you taste it, yeah. Okay, go for it. You like it? I like it! What? You like it? I love it. I think I need more coffee, less milk. Yeah, I don't say don't put too much. It's better with more syrup, guys. It's less milky. It tastes more like the coffee. I like both ways. Is this a lazy person's latte in the morning? Like, I don't want to sit there and wait for the coffee to come out, so I'm just gonna take my syrup and pour it in the milk kind of deal? What are we eating? I don't know. You love this. I'm gonna give this, like, it's average to me. I don't love it or hate it. It's not gonna be in my diet, this. But, I just say, I don't want to take it down. Some think it, I mean, you can drink it. Like an iced latte. An iced latte. An iced, like, cold. Iced latte. American iced latte. It's the same. That's why I think, like, is it something you do when you're in a rush in the morning and you... Does this have caffeine in it? Is it actually coffee? For two tablespoons. Si. Two tablespoons. We definitely put two tablespoons at least in there. That's why I like it. Because it's sugary. The number one ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. The second one is corn syrup. So you got high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, coffee extract, caramel color, and potassium sorbate. This is the spike that you should... Oh, it has directions! Mix two tablespoons with eight ounces of milk. Okay, we did pretty good. We're pretty good. So this is it. It is sweet. It is, like, it is a good thing. I don't put in my breakfast list, like I said, I don't put in my breakfast list, but I don't want to take it out. It's too sugary for me, but I think it's good taste. It tastes good. I don't love it, though. I'm not going to reach for it. I'd rather have a real ice latte. I agree. With real coffee. I agree. We don't hate you, but we don't like you. Wild blueberry pie from Maine. They actually sell Maine wild blueberries in the frozen section of the grocery store. So this is not just some random blueberries that I got at the grocery store. We got real Maine wild blueberries. They're supposed to be smaller and sweeter than standard blueberries. This is a really simple recipe, and the blueberries apparently are the magic because they're supposed to be a special kind of blueberry. So, let's see. I don't like your face. It's fabulous! Hey, you scared me. I like this. It's so good. You scared me. I was thinking, you've got to be kidding me. It is delicious. It's delicious. The blueberry is something different. It's really different. These blueberries are on top of the line. So there's two famous desserts from New England. This pie and then Boston cream pie, which is like a layered cake with cream in the middle, and it's covered with chocolate. But I figured, okay, Boston Heather Bean moment, we're going to go with this. Yeah, everybody needs to have their moment. This is a great moment. I mean, this is 100% dessert. Does this redeem them from Moxie? Si. Okay. So you guys are good. You're good. You're safe. This is delicious. I would make this every summer, multiple times. I think this can compete with the Southern dessert. This could. This feels like a Southern dessert. Like, we have pie where you've got... I agree. You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to attack you. When it's good, it's good. And this is delicious, so good job. Oh, my goodness. He's back. I was never sure about the crepe ratio of ingredients, but I looked it up. They said it's three tablespoons of each, equal parts marshmallow with the peanut butter. And then you take both sides and you push them together like that. This is the school lunch of the New England children. Fluffernutter. Oh, that's a huge, gigantic bite. Wow, okay. I don't hate it. I don't love it. I kind of like it. Guys, I kind of like it. I'm sorry. I kind of like it. I never can say yes to send my children with this. I mean, it's junk. I know. It's junk. Peanut butter is not junk. It's junk. I cannot approve this sandwich. I'm sorry. No, I would never send my child, like you said, it's not a good lunch. I think it tastes good. You're going to get the pie. It tastes good. In my opinion, it's not approved. I can send Jessie to school with this. No. You're about to drop it on the other side. No, it's... You don't drop it. It's safe because the marshmallow is keeping all gluing together. So, it's a great sandwich. Wait a minute. You're ending on something that is not approved, but you have to think back and tell me, overall, New England food, what are your thoughts? You are a step lower than... Midwest? Midwest. Midwest, you're still on top! But, you are not bad. You are not bad. They had some really good dishes. You gave a 10 out of 10 for the American chopped seaweed. It's not your fault. Some states come up with, this is the best thing that they have. So, it's not your fault. Some states are good. Some states are, you know, with this. Like I see, Midwest still winning. Can another region beat them? Oh, we still have more regions?