5 Most Disgusting Things to Eat in New York State

To locals, these dishes are fierce points of regional pride and the ultimate nostalgic comfort foods. To the uninitiated tourist, they sound—and often look—like massive culinary disasters or strange science experiments.

Here is a breakdown of the most wonderfully weird and outwardly disgusting things you can eat in the Empire State.

1. The Rochester Garbage Plate

Invented at Nick Tahou Hots in Rochester, this dish is exactly what it sounds like: a chaotic, massive pile of mismatched food that looks like someone emptied the leftovers from a summer barbecue directly onto a single plate. A traditional "Garbage Plate" consists of a base of macaroni salad and home fries, topped with two cheeseburgers or hot dogs, and then entirely smothered in a spicy, greasy meat sauce, chopped raw onions, and yellow mustard.

Why outsiders hate it: It looks like a massive, gloppy culinary accident. By the time you get halfway through it, the macaroni salad, burger grease, mustard, and hot meat sauce have all congealed together into a beige, sloppy mush.
Why locals love it: It is the undisputed king of Upstate New York late-night food. The cold, creamy tang of the macaroni salad perfectly cuts the heavy, spicy warmth of the meat sauce. It is chaotic, deeply fulfilling, and exactly what you need after a night out in Rochester.

2. Gefilte Fish in Jelly

Walk into any historic Jewish appetizing store in New York City (or look in the kosher aisle of a local supermarket), and you will find glass jars filled with something that looks more like a science experiment than dinner. Gefilte fish are poached balls of ground, deboned fish (usually carp, whitefish, and pike) suspended in a clear, gelatinous fish broth.

Why outsiders hate it: The visual is entirely unsettling. Pale, greyish fish orbs floating in a jar of thick, quivering, fish-scented jelly is a massive mental hurdle for anyone not raised eating it.
Why locals love it: It is a deeply nostalgic, historic staple of Passover and Shabbat dinners. When served cold with a heavy dollop of incredibly sharp, bright purple beet-horseradish (chrein), the pungent heat cuts right through the sweet, mild flavor of the fish.

3. Syracuse Salt Potatoes

If you attend a summer clam bake or barbecue in Central New York, you will undoubtedly be served a bowl of potatoes that look like they survived a volcanic ash cloud. Created in the 1800s by Irish salt miners in Syracuse who boiled their lunch potatoes directly in the local salt springs, the dish consists of small, unpeeled young potatoes boiled in an aggressively hyper-salinated water.

Why outsiders hate it: The visual is alarming. When the potatoes dry, the salt crystallizes on the outside, making them look like they are covered in a thick layer of white mold or freezer burn. Furthermore, eating potatoes coated in pure salt crust seems like a fast track to high blood pressure.
Why locals love it: The extreme salt concentration raises the boiling point of the water, cooking the starch faster and preventing the potatoes from getting waterlogged. The result is a potato with a perfectly tight, snappy skin and an interior that is as smooth, dense, and creamy as butter. Dunked in actual melted butter, they are the ultimate summer side dish.

4. Pickled Beef Tongue (NYC Kosher Deli)

While the tourists line up for the towering pastrami sandwiches at Katz's or the Second Avenue Deli, the old-school regulars are ordering the pickled tongue. Whole cow tongues are cured in a seasoned brine for days, boiled until tender, peeled of their tough outer skin, and sliced warm for sandwiches.

Why outsiders hate it: Even when sliced, it still very clearly looks like a massive tongue, complete with the anatomical grain and slightly bumpy texture of the muscle. The idea of "tasting something that can taste you back" is a massive turn-off for the uninitiated.
Why locals love it: It is one of the most tender cuts of meat on the entire cow. Because it is a heavily worked muscle packed with fat, slowly curing and boiling it turns it into a melt-in-your-mouth delicacy. Sliced thick on fresh rye bread with a heavy smear of spicy brown mustard, it is softer and richer than both pastrami and corned beef.

5. White Hots

Travel to Rochester or the Finger Lakes region, and you will quickly learn that a standard red hot dog is just a backup option. The "White Hot" (most famously made by Zweigle's) is a pork, beef, and veal sausage that is left uncured and unsmoked, resulting in a completely pale, ghost-white appearance.

Why outsiders hate it: It looks completely raw. Biting into a hot dog that looks like a pale, boiled, sickly ghost sausage goes against all the visual cues we associate with a nicely charred, snappy summer frankfurter.
Why locals love it: Because it isn't heavily smoked or cured with nitrates, the actual flavor of the meat and the intense mustard and spice blend really shine through. When grilled, the natural casing gets an incredible "snap," and it is the absolute best vehicle for absorbing the chaotic toppings of a Garbage Plate.

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