About Regional Flavor
It is rare to find a diner or town café in Vermont that does not serve genuine maple syrup with pancakes or French toast. Breakfast is the go-to meal hereabouts, but that good syrup also is the flavor foundation for creemees, the Green Mountain State’s version of custard, as well as for maple cream pie, maple donuts, and maple ice cream. In fact, Vermont just may be the nation’s #1 ice cream state, with small-batch farms and parlors producing pints of the creamiest anywhere. It is a place where traditional hidebound Yankee fare continues to thrive in the form of red flannel hash, Indian pudding, and American chop suey.
Vermont Regional Specialties
Corned Beef Hash
While corned beef hash is common all across the USA, it is at its best in New England, Vermont in particular. Its goodness in the Green Mountain State has to do with the vibrancy of diner culture, the prominence of breakfast, and the old Yankee tradition of thrift.
Maple Cream Pie
Restaurants throughout Vermont offer maple syrup at breakfast. Some maximize the syrup's goodness by baking maple cream pie. Cool, smooth, with a caramel-earthy flavor unlike any other kind of pie, a wedge of this stuff is fuel for a 100 miles down the road.
Cake Donuts
Cake donuts are not frivolous. Made with baking powder, not yeast, they retain enough oomph to be good dunkers and for just two to be a serving (unlike yeast-raised donuts, which can be eaten by the half-dozen). In addition to being ideal coffee companions, they serve beautifully as the bite one wants when drinking hot or cold apple cider. It's especially fun when the fruity zip of the cider is reflected in the dough of the donut itself.