Every area has their own native food. In Cincinnati there’s Cincinnati Chili. Down South there’s grits and sweet tea (I don’t think they’re consumed together though). Nearby Syracuse has “salt potatoes”. Here in the Mohawk Valley we have our own native foods as well. Aside from Chicken and Vodka Riggies (we’ll save that for another entry), at most holiday parties in the area you’ll find Tomato Pie.
I had never heard or had tomato pie before moving to the area back in 1992. I’m not a huge pizza fan (it’s o.k. in moderation) and while tomato pie does resemble pizza, I really love me some tomato pie.
Tomato pie is put together like this: a traditional pizza crust, larger than a regular pizza, is covered with thick tomato or pizza sauce and then topped with grated romano cheese. It’s baked like traditional pizza however, most folks new to the tomato pie experience are surprised to find that it’s allowed to cool and served at room temperature. I find the sauce on tomato pie to be a little sweeter than traditional pizza sauce.
Having lived in this area for over 15 years, I’ve come to expect tomato pie at parties. I might even try making it for our next get together, even though there’s not a lick of Italian in me. (Though I have licked a few Italians in my day.)
Love tomato pie. It’s one of Pat’s favorites and Utica has the best. It was the one thing we looked forward to when we had jobs in Utica. Tomato pie and the best Italian bakery’s around.We spent more time driving around after the job picking up goodies then we did working and any money we made was gone by the time we left Utica and hit the casino on the way home.