Posted by Kanga.
After my recent post about eating at a Turkish restaurant, our devil’s advocate, Rupert, goaded me about being in one of the most multicultural cities, but not writing about American food.
1. We didn’t come here to eat American food.
2. Not going to be of much interest to readers back in the U.S., because they eat it every day.
3. Some American foods are hard to find here.
For example, we are still in search of a good American breakfast. Take today’s candidate for example:
First, there may be some region(s) of America where beans are breakfast food, but I have not witnessed this. Beans for breakfast are a British thing. Also, that was a tasty potato cake, but definitely should not be listed in the menu as hash browns. Hash browns should look like a haystack, not a round patty. The meats are limited to non-pork in most restaurants here, so cannot hope to come close to real bacon, sausage or ham. These were a turkey sausage (hot dog) and soggy beef bacon. There were pancakes on the menu, but I didn’t order them. Perhaps I should have.
What do I consider a classic American breakfast?
1. Eggs – cooked any of a variety of ways – fried, scrambled, poached, boiled
2. Hash browns – shredded potatoes, pan fried until crispy brown on the outside (I like ’em salty, too)
3. Pork – bacon, sausage, or ham, maybe even pork chops
4. Some people prefer beef – steak or chicken fried steak (steak breaded and pan fried)
5. Bread – pancakes, toast, or muffins
6. Juice – usually citrus – orange, grapefruit
7. Coffee with free refills – this is vital and no one here understands the economics of this.
Why this combo? This comes from American farmers who got up before the sun, needed a hearty meal that could get them through the day, was quick to cook, and came from their own farm. Therefore, eggs, meat, potatoes, and bread.
We’ve found one restaurant chain that comes close – Coco’s. They have good pancakes and omelettes, but they only have “country potatoes” not hash browns. And, of course, no free refill coffee.
There is another restaurant, who shall remain nameless, who has the audacity to serve the triangular potato patty, like McDonald’s serves, and call that hash browns and charge a ridiculous amount for it.
So, our search for a good American breakfast continues. It may have to begin and end in our own kitchen. I suspect that is the only place I’ll find coffee refills.
Sometime in the not too distant future, I’ll tell you about meatloaf.
