November 4, 2002

8:45 AM

"Deep-fried chicken livers, crusty and delicious as any chicken liver ever, anywhere. Utterly wonderful, served with peppered cream gravy on the side."
Michael Stern - co-author (along with his wife) of numerous pop-culture classics - pontificates on the subtle joys of roadside diners, collaborative cuisine and comfort food. If all the talk of chicken-fried steak makes you want to hit the road, use his site to hunt down some choice noshing stops. Or just whip up some down-home grub yourself. Personally, I like a big ole pot of ravioli with a ketchup and butter sauce. Mmmm....
posted by Polo Mr. Polo (9 comments total)

Doumar's Cones and Barbecue in Norfolk, VA serves ice cream in cones made on the original cone-making machine (invented at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition). Their limeade's pretty good too.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:07 AM on November 4, 2002

It's been a while, but the Chicken Fried steaks at the Cottonwood Inn in LaGrange, TX used to be so big they hung off the edge of the plate - they we're to die for....
posted by Pressed Rat at 9:21 AM on November 4, 2002

I used an early edition of RoadFood on a cross-country trip in the early eighties. Barbecue in Idaho! We tried restaurants we'd never have known about otherwise, and had a ton of fun! But Jane and Michael Stern are really co-authors of almost all their stuff, aren't they? so "their site" rather than "his site", I'd say -- definitely a team.
posted by anitar at 10:57 AM on November 4, 2002

It always surprises me that they don't have chicken fried steak all over the country.

It's a staple of my diet, here in Austin.
posted by Espoo2 at 12:39 PM on November 4, 2002

Trying to explain chicken fried steak to people in the UK is like trying to explain brown sauce to people in the US -- it'll never quite make it.

However, I worship at the altar of Johnny Reb's in North Long Beach, CA -- gravy that Elvis would love. (google cache link, simply because dailydiner has done broke)
posted by Katemonkey at 2:17 PM on November 4, 2002

...chicken fried steak all over the country.
It's a staple of my diet, here in Austin.

War on Cholesterol, anybody?
posted by matteo at 3:12 PM on November 4, 2002

Ohmigod! I Luuuuuuuuuuuuuv the Sterns! Their Encyclopedia of Bad Taste is on my top 10 favorite books of all time.

And I regularly consult their book: Chili Nation: The Ultimate Chili Cookbook With Recipes from Every State in the Nation
(I especially like the Washington D.C. recipe.)
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:11 PM on November 4, 2002

Does anyone know of one site that is dedicated to recipes for traditional american food like this? I know I could go to allrecipes but the thing is, I'm not american and don't recognise most of the food for what it is, (eg - I would never know what chicken fried steak is, but I want to try it now!) having never eaten it. But I'd like to try making some of these at home. So any suggestions?
posted by Jubey at 5:16 PM on November 4, 2002

Does anyone know of one site that is dedicated to recipes for traditional american food like this?

Here.
posted by Wet Spot at 6:22 PM on November 4, 2002