Driver Lifestyles

Road Life: Food Review

One of the "benefits" of an trucking lifestyle is traveling to exotic places and meeting interesting people.

Well, OK, so maybe some of those places aren't that exotic and a lot of the people you meet work on a dock or at a truck stop, but hey, there's lots of good food out there, right?

Ahh, the food.

I'm no gourmet, but I like food, and my years on the road in expedited trucking enabled me to taste some regional specialty foods that I would have never otherwise encountered.  You definitely will not find the foods listed below at a five-star dining establishment, but they are plain and simple delicacies enjoyed by millions, not just a select few food critics.

Cincinnati-style chili is featured prominently in this report because:

1.  It's my hometown favorite.

2.  See reason number 1.

Cincinnati Chili
Cincinnati-style chili is a regional style of chili served over spaghetti or as a coney sauce and is not chili as most Americans know it.  Cincinnati chili is unique and quite different from its Tex-Mex cousin which is the original chili.

One of the main differences between Cincinnati and Texas chili is that the Cincinnati recipe calls for some sweet spices such as cinnamon, allspice and even cocoa.

Cincinnati chili is mildly spicy, but as one author puts it, "it would not rate as even a 'two-alarm' on a Texas scale."  Extra spiciness is never more than an arm's-length away, however.  All chili restaurants keep hot sauce on the tables.

The story of Cincinnati chili appears to have begun long ago with a Greek immigrant who opened a chili stand to sell his version and the dish became very popular. Just who this mythical Greek entrepreneur was is not quite clear, however.  Two of the major fast-food chains and several other restaurants like to imply that he was their founder.

According to the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cincinnatians consume more than two million pounds of chili each year, topped by 850,000 pounds of shredded cheddar cheese.

While served in many regular restaurants, it is most often associated with several fast-food chains in the Cincinnati area, including Skyline Chili, Gold Star, Empress, and Dixie.

Cincinnati chili is mostly served in restaurants around the Tri-State area, with locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. However, it now can be found in locations in Florida, Michigan, and West Virginia.

I was introduced to this area specialty when I moved to the Cincinnati area in the 1970's and it's been a regular staple of my diet since that time.  I've tried all of the chain restaurants and many of the single-store chili parlors over the past 30+ years and have discovered that there is no really "bad" Cincinnati chili - just some are better.

One of those that's better is Camp Washington Chili, a Cincinnati chili institution since 1940.  Camp Washington Chili has been featured on the CBS Morning News, in National Geographic Magazine and many other publications.  The James Beard (a famous chef, I take it) Foundation honored Camp Washington Chili as an 'American Regional Classic' restaurant.

Note:  An important component of the Cincinnati chili dining experience is the utilization of Oyster Crackers.  These are crushed over the chili to "sop up" the excess  sauce, resulting in a kind of chili "mush" that tastes better than it sounds.

A guide to Cincinnati chili variations found in area restaurants

*Two Way - spaghetti topped with chili 

*Three Way -  spaghetti topped with chili and grated cheddar cheese

*Four Way - spaghetti topped with chili, grated cheese and chopped onions

*Five Way - kidney beans or chili beans, heated separately, placed on the plate then topped with spaghetti, chili, onions and grated cheese.

*Cheese Coney - smaller than standard-size hot dog in a bun, covered with chili, grated cheese and onions (optional) and mustard (also optional).

Chicago-style hot dogs
Chicago-style hot dog – as served in the Windy City – is a steamed all-beef, natural-casing hot dog on a poppy seed bun, topped with mustard, onion, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, peppers and a dash of celery salt — but no ketchup.

The style, once known as a "Depression sandwich," is generally acknowledged as having originated at Fluky's, a Maxwell Street stand, in 1929.

Chicago-style hot dogs are usually steamed to a temperature around 170 degrees Fahrenheit before adding the toppings. They can also be grilled, though these are referred to as "chardogs" in Chicagoland.

The natural casing of the hot dogs give them their distinctive "snap." The most common dog weighs 2 ounces and is made by Vienna Beef.

In Chicago, two of my favorite Chicago-style dog palaces were Portillo's and the Superdawg drive-in.  I even relish (sorry, couldn't resist) the dogs that are found on the over-the-highway service centers.

The Chicago-style dog has developed a following in other parts of the Midwest; I've enjoyed this culinary masterpiece in Cincinnati and Elsmere, Kentucky (in a Shell gas station with hot dog stand inside). 

Fried bologna sandwich
The balogna is cut very thick, 1/2", & fried, served on a hamburger bun with a sweetish hot sauce with lettuce,tomato, & pickle.

The G&R Tavern in Waldo, OH has specialized in this all-American sandwich since 1962. and has been featured on the Food Network, the Travel Channel's "Taste of America" and on CBS.  The tavern goes through about 1,000 pounds of German bologna per week, cleaved from 2-foot-long rolls of bologna, each weighing about 18 pounds

I had experienced fried balogna sandwiches as a child haven't we all) but a slice of Oscar Meyer's heated in a frying pan and slapped between two slices of bread just didn't do it for me.  It was after I tried one of the "professionally" prepared sandwiches that I came to appreciate what the fuss was all about.

Hint:  Try a bologna-kabob, they're great!
 
Loose meat sandwich
In 1926, so the story goes, a butcher named Fred Angell of Muscatine, Iowa combined a special cut and grind of meat with a selected set of spices and created the loose meat sandwich.  He sold his creation in one of America's first quick service casual dining franchise resaurants, Maid-Rite.

The Maid-Rite sandwich's meat is not formed into a patty, making it similar to a sloppy joe only without the tomato-based sauce.  It's served on a hamburger bun with mustard, dill pickles and chopped onion.  A spoon is essential to pick up the meat that drops out of the bun.

Maid-Rite has over 70 locations, located in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, and Ohio.

I first tasted the Maid-Rite in Iowa.  The whole idea of a dry sloppy-joe, at first, seemed kind of silly, but when it's cooked right (not too dry), it's a great meal.  A Maid-Rite with an order of fries and a chocolate shake will keep your hunger satisfied for the next 200-300 miles.

Those are just a few of my favorite food memories from the road.  More will be featured in a future article and I'd like to include your favorites as well. Send them to [email protected]