Foodie road trip: Iconic dishes you have to try in NJ, surrounding states

Looking to enhance your summer vacation this year?

One way to do it is starting with food, says foodnetwork.com.

Foodnetwork.com, the website for the best food content, recommends tasting the iconic local flavors that share history and define its geography in it's new list of The Most-Iconic Food in All 50 States.

Travelers should not settle for the same dish wherever you go, so layoff the cheeseburgers.

▶▶ Pork roll or Taylor ham? Whatever you call it, the BlueClaws have it on their new menu

So what is New Jersey's most-iconic dish?

In New Jersey, Disco Fries are the main staple of the Garden State and originates from North Jersey.

Sorry pork roll or taylor ham lovers. Smothered fries is the go-to dish for the entire state.

The magazine says Disco fries are New Jersey’s answer to Canada’s poutine and The Tick Tock Diner in Clifton lays claim to originating them. While the dish has been around longer than the days of disco, the name allegedly came about in the 1970s at diners when John Travolta wannabes stumbled in after a night of dancing and drinking. Disco fries are crisp French fries smothered in melted mozzarella and warm gravy.

Dishes that most-define CT, DE, NY, PA

This list also includes neighboring states, Pennsylvania and Delaware. This is what the popular food magazine said about each state's dish:

Connecticut: White Clam Pizza

Few other pizzas are as revered as Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana’s white clam pizza. Pepe has served its charred and chewy pizzas since 1925 on New Haven’s historic Wooster Street. The clam pie, in particular, has inspired hundreds of imitators with few matching the intoxicating combination of Pecorino Romano cheese, fresh garlic, olive oil, oregano and clams. Combining the Connecticut shoreline’s love of seafood with Pepe’s signature chewy and charred crust, Pepe’s is the place for an authentic Connecticut pizza experience.

Delaware: Fries with Vinegar

When in Delaware, the beach is everyone's summer hideaway and a stop for a bucket of hot fries at Thrasher's on the boardwalk is as obligatory as a nap on the sand. Thrasher’s has been serving beach goers the best and freshest fries since 1929. A liberal dousing of apple cider vinegar is not quite as mandatory but comes highly recommended by devotees of the snappy, salty, memory-making result. Just keep watch for dive-bombing seagulls.

New York: Buffalo Wings

The favorite finger food of sports fans, Buffalo wings get their name from the city of their inception. There’s seemingly no such thing as a bad wing in Buffalo, but the establishment that rises above all others is the place where the wing was born. It started almost by accident as an experiment on March 4, 1964. Anchor Bar co-founder Teressa Bellissimo’s son Dominic asked his mother to whip up a snack for his intoxicated friends late one night while he was tending the bar. Teressa deep-fried the wings that were normally used as the base for stock, then flavored them with a secret sauce. While similar recipes have become mainstays on menus across the US, Teressa’s tightly guarded master recipe is only available at Anchor Bar.

Pennsylvania: Philly Cheesesteak

Thinly sliced and griddle-fried beef, with or without onions, topped with Cheez Whiz, American or provolone (you choose), and piled into a long crusty roll — this is the Philly icon. Though Pat’s and Geno’s are the household names, many locals prefer John’s Roast Pork, where the steak is cooked to order and the rolls are seeded. The family-run sandwich shack has been around since the 1930s, and though named for another classic Philly sandwich, it's the local go-to spot for cheesesteaks too.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Disco Fries vs. Pork Roll: New Jersey's Food Fight Settled?