Food unique to Erie

My wife and flew into Pittsburgh this summer on our way to Erie, Niagara Falls and Binghamton, NY.

We stopped at a grocery store, and knowing my mother enjoys ox roast, asked around at the store for some.

You would have thought we were asking for Martian meatballs. Nobody, at least nobody that we talked to, had apparently ever heard of ox roast.

What is ox roast? It's not ox. Ox roast is simply beef, spiced and slow cooked, then cut into very thin strips. It's delicious.

Ox roast isn't the only food one can buy in the Erie area but not in many other places.

Ever hear of Smith's? No, I don't mean the family down the street from you. Mention Smith's to anyone in Erie and they'll immediately know you're talking about the company famously known in the area for their hot dogs, ham, bologna, and other meats. Many native Erieites, including me, buy several pounds of Smith's meat when in the area and take it home with us. You just can't buy hot dogs like Smith's anywhere else, although you can now buy from them on the Internet.

Finally, how about elderberry pie? Elderberries are small, round berries grown on bush-like plants. They tend to be a bit sour, but made into pies they make an excellent dessert. Even in Erie, it can be hard to find elderberry pies for sale, probably because shucking the considerable number of berries needed for a pie is labor intensive. I've never seen elderberry pies anywhere else.

No doubt many areas of the country have their own special foods that are hard to buy elsewhere, but I'll stack up Erie food against any other region nationwide.