Longman & Eagle has (had? They’re temporarily closed) a wild boar SJ that is ok. I found it a little heavy on a seasoning I don’t remember, either sage or rosemary. That was probably 12 years ago and the last SJ I’ve had. I aleays get the blue cheese burger at Moody’s.
I should clarify that Moody’s Pub is the only restaurant that I’ve seen have Sloppy Joes on the menu. Didn’t mean to imply that that’s the only one there is.
In a very small area of Wisconsin, they refer to Sloppy Joes as Hot Tamales. We even had a thread on that phenomenon long ago, but I’ve no idea how to find old threads anymore. It was always on the meal rotation in my house as a kid.
I also learned to love the Detroit chain Coney Island’s loosemeat hamburgers, served in a hot dog bun.
I love Sloppy Joes. Before the pandemic, I used to eat one every two weeks before playing D&D. We’d eat at Ruben’s in Haifa, Israel, and I’d have the Expert Sloppy Joe’s, which is their regular SJ (beef, onion and sauce) with Portobello mushrooms and truffle aioli, in a hollowed-out ciabatta. Delicious, and pretty sloppy.
A Sloppy Joe should not taste like either barbecue or spaghetti sauce. When I make them from scratch, I use ground beef; tomato sauce; chopped onion, green pepper, and garlic; salt and pepper. Maybe a little chopped celery and dried mustard powder, just to make it interesting. That’s all. No basil, oregano, or any other herb that would make the mixture taste like spaghetti sauce.
Manwich is okay, but like most other dishes, it’s not as good as SJs made from scratch. I keep a couple of cans around just for convenience, and have Joes maybe every other month. Each batch lasts 4–5 days.
Oddly, they actually are called “barbecues” in some places (Upper Midwest is where I’ve seen it in recipe books.) I’ve always considered a sloppy joe as a loose meat sandwich with a barbecue-type sauce on it (NOT a liquid smoke barbecue sauce, but a real barbecue sauce.)
For example, here’s a Wisconsin recipe for “barbecue sandwiches”:
Sloppy Joe’s were a Halloween dinner tradition in my family, and I’d usually pick them for my birthday dinner, too. I’ve tried a few scratch recipes, but the McCormick’s mix works just fine.
Sloppy Joes were one of the first things I learned to cook when I was a kid and my mother had to work late. Her recipe had cider vinegar in it and I always add that even now as I love the tanginess. This thread has me wondering though if anyone else does that?
I prefer a savory sloppy joe as opposed to one that is too tangy. I am wary of joes at parties because folks like to fancy it up with pickles/relish and mustard. Bleck
Manwich is ok for me, but i like Mrs. Tree’s recipe: Dr. Pepper sloppy joe! Sorry, no link, but it’s easy to find. It’s very simple- ketchup, brown sugar, peppers, onions, and Dr. Pepper.
Pumpkin pie sloppy joe is always a big hit at Halloween parties. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it
Yup. Also I hated super-wet ingredients in a super-soft bun. Sloppy Joes were also a regular part of my childhood and while my step-brothers were excited about them I was the curmudgeonly odd man out. The meat slurry tasted fine, but I loathed the texture of that disintegrating bun.
See now, a hollowed-out ciabatta might be just the thing. Kinda the opposite of those childhood wonder-bread buns made of sugar and paste that we had.
Something else entirely IMHO. A genuine Sloppy Joe in my lexicon is based on ground beef.