# What was this U.S. breakfast dish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527 "2008-12-10T06:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/121 "2008-12-15T19:08:50Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Since we’re talking breakfast, I’d like to throw in another worthy contender - the favorite of foxholes and messdecks the world over, the incomparable SOS, or creamed foreskins on toast. > > Civilians of course know it as creamed chipped beef on toast. > > It’s getting harder to find outside of military circles, but I can still get it for breakfast at my VFW hall, or make it at home. It’s tough, though, scaling down a recipe intended to feed about a hundred people. 😉 The diner near me has that on the menu. I’ve never been brave enough to try it, but I may have to tomorrow morning. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/122 "2008-12-15T19:19:30Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Since we’re talking breakfast, I’d like to throw in another worthy contender - the favorite of foxholes and messdecks the world over, the incomparable SOS, or creamed foreskins on toast. > > Civilians of course know it as creamed chipped beef on toast. > > It’s getting harder to find outside of military circles, but I can still get it for breakfast at my VFW hall, or make it at home. It’s tough, though, scaling down a recipe intended to feed about a hundred people. 😉 I grew up with SOS. It looked disgusting, but I remember it being yummy. I wonder if I could find a recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/123 "2008-12-15T19:53:42Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I grew up with SOS. It looked disgusting, but I remember it being yummy. I wonder if I could find a recipe. Who needs a recipe? My mother always made it with a package of dried beef, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Oddly, I didn’t loathe the stuff (given my otherwise-total hatred of anything containing mushrooms). Guess all the salt from the beef pretty much totalled the tastebuds! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/124 "2008-12-15T20:08:30Z")
Well, no sausage in the house, so I’m making me a big batch of hamburger gravy for lunch. Like sausage gravy in nearly all aspects except I use sage for seasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/125 "2008-12-15T20:10:51Z")
Funny, I was just wondering about hamburger gravy the other day. I mean, gravy is grease. Hamburgers have a lot of grease. But I’ve never had the nerve to try making gravy out of hamburger grease. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/126 "2008-12-15T20:32:08Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Since we’re talking breakfast, I’d like to throw in another worthy contender - the favorite of foxholes and messdecks the world over, the incomparable SOS, or creamed foreskins on toast. > > Civilians of course know it as creamed chipped beef on toast. > > It’s getting harder to find outside of military circles, but I can still get it for breakfast at my VFW hall, or make it at home. It’s tough, though, scaling down a recipe intended to feed about a hundred people. 😉 “Take one fifty gallon cookpot, add 20 whole chickens…” ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/127 "2008-12-15T20:33:38Z")
Stouffer’s actually makes creamed chipped beef as one of their frozen red box entrees. All that’s missing is the shingle! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/128 "2008-12-15T21:47:20Z")
All this talk of biscuits and no mention of sorghum syrup. Am I the only one who eats the stuff any more? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/129 "2008-12-15T21:54:12Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > All this talk of biscuits and no mention of sorghum syrup. Am I the only one who eats the stuff any more? Had some the other day. Then I laced up my spats and started up the Hupmobile. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/130 "2008-12-15T21:57:21Z")
Man, I’d forgotten about hamburger gravy! My roomie still makes it on rare occasions as a comfort food. She also loves SOS. That’s one I’ve managed to avoid thus far. **spoke-** , can you still find sorghum molasses? I’ve not seen it in years. I used to go to one particular restaurant primarily because they had sorghum on the table for the biscuits. OK, I have now Googled “cocoa gravy”. That is just _so wrong_! ---
**Author:** ![warmark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/58f4c7/32.png) [@warmark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/131 "2008-12-15T22:10:11Z")
My SiL’s family makes sorghum molasses every year. That’s some good stuff. Especially if you whip it in with some butter, then put it on your biscuits. And you may think cocoa gravy is wrong until you try it. I’ll admit it must be a more southern mid-West thing, though, but it’s quite tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/132 "2008-12-15T22:19:01Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > And for my money, American style (smoked) bacon makes a better gravy than sausage. Cooking sausage often doesn’t produce enough grease to make good gravy. Right on! I have been adding bacon grease to the sausage grease for years when making biscuits and gravy. Only way to go, in my humble opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/133 "2008-12-15T22:23:23Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > **spoke-** , can you still find sorghum molasses? I’ve not seen it in years. It’s not easy to find. It used to be that supermarkets in rural parts of the state carried it, but not any more. I can get it at the DeKalb Farmer’s Market here in Atlanta, though. You also see it at produce stands in rural north Georgia. Blairsville, Georgia, has a sorghum festival every year (at which they make syrup with a mule-driven mill, hold biscuit-eating contests, and engage in other sorghum-related activities). So any time I’m up that way I pick up a jar or two. (Of course it comes in _jars_ these days, but when I was a kid wearing spats and riding in my Hupmobile, it used to come in paint-can-like containers.) Also (and here’s a word to the wise) Cracker Barrel restaraunts will serve sorghum molasses with their biscuits, but you have to know to _ask_ for it. And even then, a lot of their servers don’t know it as “sorghum” but only as “molasses” (even though what they have is usually of the sorghum variety, at least 'round here). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/134 "2008-12-15T22:31:57Z")
Just checked, and the sorghum currently in my pantry (which I picked up at DeKalb Farmers’ Market) came from [Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill](http://muddypondsorghum.com/) in Monterey, Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/135 "2008-12-15T22:40:10Z")
Hormel makes chipped beef for SOS: [http://www.hormelfoods.com/brands/hormel/HormelDriedBeef.aspx](http://www.hormelfoods.com/brands/hormel/HormelDriedBeef.aspx) I think I am going to teach the boys how to make biscuits and gravy on the next Boy Scout campout. First, I teach my son this critical skill this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/136 "2008-12-15T22:50:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Funny, I was just wondering about hamburger gravy the other day. I mean, gravy is grease. Hamburgers have a lot of grease. But I’ve never had the nerve to try making gravy out of hamburger grease. It needs some help. Sausage has spices added in the making of it. Hamburger is just beef. I use lean beef and fry it in a bit of peanut oil, then add some butter at the end if necessary before adding the flour. I usually mince up some onions and garlic to cook in with it. And I like sage and pepper, but anything would probably work. I also like to put it on top of macaroni (which I just polished off about a half hour ago) or rice. Sacrilege, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/137 "2008-12-16T02:23:10Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I also like to put it on top of macaroni (which I just polished off about a half hour ago) or rice. Sacrilege, I know. Not sacrilegious if done right. This looks like most of the way toward loco moco - just need the fried egg on top. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/138 "2008-12-16T07:54:12Z")
Thanks (from the bottom of my congested heart) for all the answers, recipes and home cookin’ tips. I really appreciate it. I now know more about gravy, southern style, than I have any right to. Although it could have been chicken a la king, I will try out a few of your recipes. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/139 "2008-12-16T12:43:04Z")
It’s all good. We got Tim-Tams over here last week. (Pepperidge Farm’s, through Target.) so I consider it an even trade. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527/140 "2008-12-16T12:56:03Z")
Huh. I’m from Texas, but I’ve never tried Biscuits and Gravy (which I do see in Texas, it just never appealed to me as I find the biscuits to be delicious by themselves), but now I might try some next time I find it. Anybody know if Army chowhall gravy is any good? I know their biscuits tend to be at least twice as heavy as biscuits from other places (and about 10 times heavier than the super-fluffy crackbiscuits that Popeye’s Chicken sells) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-u-s-breakfast-dish/476527.md?page=8)