One hears a lot about Pacific rim cuisine, but has anyone considered Atlantic rim cuisine, featuring the cuisines of Portugal, Spain (perhaps Basque), France, England, Ireland, Iceland, U.S., Brazil and Argentina?
If you grew up near the Hudson River you have probably heard of the Hudson Valley, but when we were out in Northern California we ran across a dish containing fois gras from the Hudson River Valley. This construction seemed a bit strange to us Atlantic rim types. But, we were in wine country where the appellations usually include the XXX River Valley so it did make some kind of sense.
An interesting fact about the Hudson River, which explains why New York City is the pre-eminent metropolis on the east coast despite the massive subsidies it pays to the rest of the country, is that it is the only navigable river which crosses the Appalachians! You can check this on a map. The Appalachian trail crosses the Hudson River not far from the Metro North Appalachian Trail station.
Back before the railroads really took off (the late 1900s) this was the primary trade route for mid-western farm goods seeking markets on the east coast or in Europe. This explains why they still make New York school kids sing the Erie Canal song even though the Erie Canal went obselete over a hundred years ago. The Erie Canal connected the Hudson to the Great Lakes.
For a good book on how New York City bankers used this advantage to set up a colony in Chicago (for grain, cattle and hogs) and later in Minneapolis/Saint Paul (for winter wheat), try finding a copy of Nature's Metropolis. It's a neat story.
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