Weird New England Foods Outsiders Just Don’t Understand

Every part of the country has its food quirks. Spend a little time in the Midwest, and suddenly casseroles are called “hotdish.” Go to the South, and people will try to convince you that boiled peanuts are a normal snack. I lived in Charleston, South Carolina, for a time, and they were at every gas station.

But here in New England? We’ve got some foods that make visitors stop mid-bite and say, “Wait… what?”

Take the fluffernutter, for example. I learned about this on Fluffernutter Day last year (which, by the way, is on October 8th, 2026). So, of course, I had to try it. Off to the store I went for marshmallow fluff. If you grew up around here, it’s practically a childhood rite of passage. Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on white bread. That’s it. No fancy ingredients. Just sweet, sticky nostalgia. To people outside New England, though? It sounds like something a five-year-old invented during a sugar rush. But IYKYK.

Then there are steak tips. This one really confuses people who move here. Go to most parts of the country and ask for steak tips, and you’ll probably get a confused look. Around New England, though, they’re everywhere. I had my first New Hampshire Steak Tips at Tuckaway Tavern. Tender chunks of steak, marinated in something sweet and savory, grilled up, and served with fries, rice, or both. Backyard cookouts, local pubs, neighborhood restaurants: steak tips are basically part of the regional food menu DNA.

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And of course, we can’t have this conversation without talking about maple everything.
Yes, maple syrup on pancakes is normal. Everyone understands that. But in New England, we take maple to a whole different level. Maple Weekend. Maple candy. Maple cream. Maple cotton candy. Maple baked beans. Maple glazed donuts. Maple ice cream. At some point, it stops being a flavor and becomes a lifestyle.

And honestly, that barely scratches the surface. Coffee milk in Rhode Island. Brown bread in a can. Whoopie pies that look like cookies but eat like cake.

To outsiders, some of these foods might seem a little odd. Especially the first time you hear “fluffernutter.”

But to people who grew up here? They taste like home.