Me too. Had some just a couple nights ago. But, in my book,SOS is something altogether different!
Chipped beef was the original. That stuff ain't cheap, though. Somebody got the bright idea to substitute hamburger. When I was a kid, we had hamburger gravy. It was brown though, and had some spices. Still served on toast.
There is a difference between the fancy little glass jars of 'chipped beef' sold in supermarkets and the 50 gallon drums of the stuff served in American military 'mess' halls with a milk gravy. On toasted white bread. Hence the vernacular for faeces on a shingle (SOS). --- JL
Quoted message said:
-- Dan Abel [email hidden] Petaluma, California, USA
Chipped beef was the original. That stuff ain't cheap, though.
Evidently it was cheaper in the days before refrigeration was common. But those little 3/8 ounce packages of paper-thin-sliced beef in the refrigerator section sure make a convincing, less-expensive alternative, although I think I would prefer honest corned beef to that stuff if I could slice it thinly enough, or maybe even ham.
Melinda, waving hi to another sonic.net person, hoping they are as deliriously happy with sonic as she is
But, there's always some bozo that can mess anything up.
No kidding. I remember when I worked at a major corporation many moons ago, and one week they put bratwurst on the menu. Being a just-north-of-Pennsylvania-Dutch-Country transplant to the San Francisco Bay Area, I was absolutely ECSTATIC that they were going to have German food on the menu.
Then I got to the cafeteria for lunch and about lost it.
Some bozo (as you so tactfully put it) took those lovely bratwurst, butterflied them, breaded them in best Chicken Fried Steak fashion, and pan-fried them. *retch* They weren't even recognizable as bratwurst. I was heartsick.
Chipped beef was the original. That stuff ain't cheap, though. Somebody got the bright idea to substitute hamburger. When I was a kid, we had hamburger gravy. It was brown though, and had some spices. Still served on toast.
We had Hamburger Slop at school I loved it. And I've never made it, not even once. I'll have to remedy that.
You guys are giving me so many great ideas I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of them!
Chipped beef was the original. That stuff ain't cheap, though. Somebody got the bright idea to substitute hamburger. When I was a kid, we had hamburger gravy. It was brown though, and had some spices. Still served on toast.
There is a difference between the fancy little glass jars of 'chipped beef' sold in supermarkets and the 50 gallon drums of the stuff served in American military 'mess' halls with a milk gravy. On toasted white bread. Hence the vernacular for faeces on a shingle (SOS).
50 gallon drums.. you're FOS!
There are no ingredients in a military kitchen that a person can't easily lift by hand. The heaviest item by far are spuds, they are typically in 100lb wooden slat, wire reinfored, crates, onions the same. Next are 60lb sacks of flour/sugar, each sack containing six 10lb bags... same for dried beans. Everything else weighs about 50lbs or less... cartons of tins weigh no different from those at your local stupidmarket. Frozen meat is in 40lb cartons.
The US military uses exactly the same Hormel chipped beef sold to civilians, only it's packed in 2 1/2lb tins that look like prego cans of Spam... 3 tins for every hundred portions. Creamed chipped beef is the most expensive meal the US military serves, which is why it's not served very often and why the ground beef version evolved.
Chipped beef was the original. That stuff ain't cheap, though.
Evidently it was cheaper in the days before refrigeration was common.
Refrigeration has nothing to do with it... real dried chipped beef requires no refrigeration, it's preserved by drying and salting... if what you buy requires refrigeration it's not dried chipped beef.
Actually dried chipped beef was always expensive relative to fresh meats and other preserved meats. As a rule of thumb the more water removed and the leaner the more expensive the preserved meat product.
