by Flack » Sat Jun 08, 2013 7:02 pm
Last year when Aardvark came to visit Yukon, Oklahoma, I showed him around town and took him to several local restaurants. When he returned home to Rochester, he mailed me several things having to do with Rochester including a jar of "garbage plate meat sauce". I did not know what a garbage plate was and to be honest the sauce was confusing and mildly gross sounding. Why would anyone want to eat something that looks like garbage?
Last week I found out first hand.
Last week's vacation led us from Oklahoma City to Chicago, Cleveland, Niagara Falls, and on this day, Rochester. Aardvark was kind enough to not only give us the coordinates of the only-somewhat-shady Nick Tahou's, but to meet us there along with his wife. While I've been looking forward to ordering a garbage plate for quite some time, convincing my wife that something named after garbage could be delicious took a bit more work, and the kids were right out.
Ordering your first garbage plate is a bit intimidating. Essentially you'll be asked to order two meats from column A and two "base" items from column B. There are approximately 10 things in each column so for your first time it can be a bit overwhelming. It took me five minutes to settle on a cheeseburger/sunny-side-up egg on top of home fries and macaroni salad. My wife went with scrambled eggs and a grilled cheese sandwich on top of home fries and beans. 'Vark and Mrs. 'Vark on the other hand are pros, and ordered something like "cheeseburgerdoubleregular". It was literally one word and it took them less than five seconds to order. I'll do better next time.
God, I hope there's a next time.
The origin of the name "garbage plate" is evident from the moment you receive your order. Mine literally looked like someone took a shit into a Styrofoam container. Susan's looked worse; the grilled cheese sandwich looked like a hobo's snack dropped onto a pile of dead hobo. Seriously. Everything on my plate looked like someone had already eaten it at least once.
After the first bite goes down, you forget what the slop looks like. The meal is like the punch line to a joke where Bill Cosby, Helen Keller, Jim Henson and Gallagher walk into a bar. In the beginning you just know these things aren't going to combine into something worthwhile, but by the end it seems so obvious. The yolk from my egg ran down into the home fries. The meat from my cheeseburger mixed with the macaroni. It all came together like the closing ceremonies at the Olympics.
Ok so I've been drinking and these analogies are terrible, but trust me -- a garbage plate is not terrible. The sauce on top of the whole thing ties it all together, adding a single cohesive hotness to its eclectic ingredients.
With the sauce that 'Vark so kindly shipped me, now that I've experienced one first hand, I plan on trying to reproduce that goodness in my own kitchen. Not sure if it's possible to duplicate, but man, my gullet is begging me to try.
Last year when Aardvark came to visit Yukon, Oklahoma, I showed him around town and took him to several local restaurants. When he returned home to Rochester, he mailed me several things having to do with Rochester including a jar of "garbage plate meat sauce". I did not know what a garbage plate was and to be honest the sauce was confusing and mildly gross sounding. Why would anyone want to eat something that looks like garbage?
Last week I found out first hand.
Last week's vacation led us from Oklahoma City to Chicago, Cleveland, Niagara Falls, and on this day, Rochester. Aardvark was kind enough to not only give us the coordinates of the only-somewhat-shady Nick Tahou's, but to meet us there along with his wife. While I've been looking forward to ordering a garbage plate for quite some time, convincing my wife that something named after garbage could be delicious took a bit more work, and the kids were right out.
Ordering your first garbage plate is a bit intimidating. Essentially you'll be asked to order two meats from column A and two "base" items from column B. There are approximately 10 things in each column so for your first time it can be a bit overwhelming. It took me five minutes to settle on a cheeseburger/sunny-side-up egg on top of home fries and macaroni salad. My wife went with scrambled eggs and a grilled cheese sandwich on top of home fries and beans. 'Vark and Mrs. 'Vark on the other hand are pros, and ordered something like "cheeseburgerdoubleregular". It was literally one word and it took them less than five seconds to order. I'll do better next time.
God, I hope there's a next time.
The origin of the name "garbage plate" is evident from the moment you receive your order. Mine literally looked like someone took a shit into a Styrofoam container. Susan's looked worse; the grilled cheese sandwich looked like a hobo's snack dropped onto a pile of dead hobo. Seriously. Everything on my plate looked like someone had already eaten it at least once.
After the first bite goes down, you forget what the slop looks like. The meal is like the punch line to a joke where Bill Cosby, Helen Keller, Jim Henson and Gallagher walk into a bar. In the beginning you just know these things aren't going to combine into something worthwhile, but by the end it seems so obvious. The yolk from my egg ran down into the home fries. The meat from my cheeseburger mixed with the macaroni. It all came together like the closing ceremonies at the Olympics.
Ok so I've been drinking and these analogies are terrible, but trust me -- a garbage plate is not terrible. The sauce on top of the whole thing ties it all together, adding a single cohesive hotness to its eclectic ingredients.
With the sauce that 'Vark so kindly shipped me, now that I've experienced one first hand, I plan on trying to reproduce that goodness in my own kitchen. Not sure if it's possible to duplicate, but man, my gullet is begging me to try.