With the presidential race coming close to an end and constituents preparing to cast their ballots, I’d imagine we are all quite exhausted by the election talk. So instead of focusing on the candidates or their platforms, let’s focus on what really matters; the food that built their character. Whose trademark food from their hometown is better?
After looking through a list of popular food choices in each of the candidates hometown, I decided on featuring one for each.
Kamala Harris: Soul Food
Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California. Oakland was deeply influenced by the African American community, which led to soul food being one of the most ubiquitous food items you can find in Oakland.
Soul food – not to be mistaken for southern food – was born from enslaved African Americans using their limited resources to cook exemplary dishes. According to Briticanna this became a form of cultural pride and soul food entered the limelight during the Black Power movement in 1966. Now in many cities there are plenty of opportunities to find soul food and it is enjoyed by almost all Americans.
Many soul food dishes contain ingredients such as pork, chicken, yams, okra, lima beans, corn, rice and other materials at their means. Some common soul food dishes are fried catfish, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken and southern fried okra.
Donald Trump: New York-style pizza
Republican nominee and Former President Donald Trump was born in New York City. When many travel to New York City they make it a mission to get themselves a slice of New York-style pizza.
The New York-style pizza found its beginnings when Italian immigrants brought Neapolitan-style pizza to New York City. The first American pizzeria opened in 1905 in the neighborhood of Little Italy in Manhattan by Gennaro Lombardi. The pizzas sold for five cents and its employees went on to open more pizzerias in New York City. Bursting into popularity pizza quickly took over New York City and now you can get a pizza on almost every street corner.
New York-style pizza grew past its Neapolitan pizza base. New York-style pizza has sugar and olive oil added to its dough. The dough is hand-tossed and the tomato sauce is heavily seasoned. The by-the-slice pizza is meant to be folded in half and enjoyed on the go, perfect for the fast paced world of New York City.
If you can’t make it all the way to Oakland or New York City, but still want to try some great food from the candidate’s hometown, then here are places in Chico that offer Soul Food and New York-style pizza.
Soul Food: While there are no places in Chico that currently advertise Soul Food, you can find many enjoyable recipes online.
New York-style Pizza: Celestino’s located in East Avenue Marketplace
So, forget the platform; whose hometown food is better?
Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected].
