Inspired by the recent "Kentucky Hot Brown" discussion: I've run across what I believe is another regional food and was wondering if others on the net know of it, and could confirm or deny that it is a local item.
There is (or was -- haven't been there for some years) a restaurant in downtown Springfield, IL (the state capitol) called "The Sazerac". It's basically a tavern that serves food. What seemed to be their specialty was something called a "Horseshoe Sandwich". Basically, it is an open-faced sandwich that could be made with several different meats, which is served with a helping of French fried potatoes on top of the sandwich, the whole thing topped with a ladle-full of yellow cheese sauce.
Cheese fries (French fries with cheese sauce on them) are fairly common, I believe. This is pretty much in the same line except it puts the sandwich itself under the cheese fries. As I recall, the horseshoe sandwich came in hamburger, ham, and other versions (maybe roast beef? not sure...).
So I was wondering if the "horseshoe sandwich" is a downstate Illinois regional food, or if the name is used in other parts (and, if so, for the same thing or for something different). Is the same food item available in other locales under a different name? [I've never seen the exact same item for sale here in St. Louis, only a short distance from Springfield, IL, so I don't think it has spread in this direction.] I do not know the significance of the name -- nothing on the plate *looks* like a horseshoe, after all... :-)
I don't think I've ever seen a food book that was specifically devoted to cataloging and enumerating all these different regional foodstuffs. I've seen some on "road food" that talked about restaurants in various cities that sort of approached this in mentioning local items, and Calvin Trillin has written some about this sort of thing, but I've never seen an encyclopedic treatment of the subject. Can anyone point me to such a book? If not, there might be an opening here for a new book. Someone on the net would have a good platform to work from in compiling such a collection...
Regards, Will wmar...@stl-06sima.army.mil OR wmar...@st-louis-emh2.army.mil
In article <9107241532.AA04...@cs.utexas.edu> wmar...@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin) writes:
>There is (or was -- haven't been there for some years) a restaurant in >downtown Springfield, IL (the state capitol) called "The Sazerac". It's >basically a tavern that serves food. What seemed to be their specialty >was something called a "Horseshoe Sandwich". Basically, it is an open-faced >sandwich that could be made with several different meats, which is >served with a helping of French fried potatoes on top of the sandwich, >the whole thing topped with a ladle-full of yellow cheese sauce.
>So I was wondering if the "horseshoe sandwich" is a downstate Illinois >regional food, or if the name is used in other parts (and, if so, for >the same thing or for something different). Is the same food item >available in other locales under a different name?
Is the sandwich served anywhere else in Springfield? If it's only served in the one place then it doesn't qualify as a "regional" dish; it's just a restaurant's specialty.
By contrast, I'll mention a little known Detroit sandwich called a Dinty Moore. I didn't realize this was a regional specialty until I moved out of Detroit -- every deli and sandwich shop there serves it. It's not really exciting, a triple decker corned beef sandwich on white toast with lettuce, tomato and Russian dressing, apparently named after the now-defunct restaurant which originated it, but it counts as a regional food. Anyone in Detroit can tell you what it is and where to get one.
>I don't think I've ever seen a food book that was specifically devoted >to cataloging and enumerating all these different regional foodstuffs.
Jane and Michael Stern's "Good Food" is a sort of catalog of regional foods with accounts of the restaurants that serve them. It's not exhaustive (they don't mention Dinty Moores, for example), but it's a good start.
--- L.A.Z. Smith l...@smith.uucp l...@smith.chi.il.us Wheeling, Illinois leah%sm...@ast.dsd.northrop.com
>>There is (or was -- haven't been there for some years) a restaurant in >>downtown Springfield, IL (the state capitol) called "The Sazerac". It's >>basically a tavern that serves food. What seemed to be their specialty >>was something called a "Horseshoe Sandwich". Basically, it is an open-faced >>sandwich that could be made with several different meats, which is >>served with a helping of French fried potatoes on top of the sandwich, >>the whole thing topped with a ladle-full of yellow cheese sauce.
>>So I was wondering if the "horseshoe sandwich" is a downstate Illinois >>regional food, or if the name is used in other parts (and, if so, for >>the same thing or for something different). Is the same food item >>available in other locales under a different name?
>Is the sandwich served anywhere else in Springfield? If it's only >served in the one place then it doesn't qualify as a "regional" dish; >it's just a restaurant's specialty.
I have been to several restaurants in the Springfield area that serve these. But, they seemed to be only located in Springfield, IL. I have yet to see them in the Champaign-Urbana area (also in IL).
Maybe the Courier could start selling it? It would go great with their Skinnydippers. YUM :-)
Kris -- ********************************************************* "I don't wanna grow up, caus' if I did, I couldn't be a Toys "R" Us kid" kris%uigela.d...@garcon.cso.uiuc.edu *********************************************************
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