# When is the last time you ate creamed beef on toast (Shit on a Shingle)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818 "2016-10-27T01:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/81 "2016-10-28T16:51:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I cook the roux a little before adding anything else. The beef goes in before thickening, which puts salt into the gravy, and takes salt out of the beef. In addition to salt and pepper, I also put in one good shake of cayenne pepper. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > That’s not creamed chipped beef on toast, what most people who know what SOS is think of when they hear ‘SOS’. > > First, it’s never made with mushroom soup. Second, even if it’s made with sausage instead of dried beef, it’s ‘gravy’. Sausage gravy, roast beef gravy, whatever gravy. SOS is specifically dried beef in a sauce made of roux, milk, and seasonings. When it’s SOS, it’s a ‘sauce’. When it’s sausage, it’s a ‘gravy’. Unless it’s creamed tuna. Then it’s TOS or TOT. You add cayenne pepper. I add onions, mushrooms, garlic, canola oil, MGS and yeast extract. Plus I can make it with a can opener. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/82 "2016-10-28T18:18:11Z")
My father developed a taste for it when he was in the Air Force. We didn’t have it much though because my mother didn’t like it. About five years ago, I happened to see some dried beef in the store and decided to try it again. It was O.K. but not something I feel the need to eat again anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/83 "2016-10-28T21:22:54Z")
Holy moley. On the 3rd page already for SOS in just a couple days. Wow. At least 30 years ago. Maybe near 40. And that’s for the tuna-cream version. For a beef-cream version well over 40 years. (I think some of that is still rotting in my colon somewhere.) ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/84 "2016-10-28T21:56:08Z")
Had some this past Tuesday, served over very crisp home fries with sautéed onions, and 2 easy-over eggs on top of the whole mess. I always season it liberally with black pepper(I bring my own mill) White toast on the side to mop up everything. I don’t know the reason for the popularity of SOS here in Philly, other than the amazing taste. We used to be a big Navy town, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was right down the end of Broad St. Perhaps the local eateries started making it to get the sailors’ business when they came into town. Might have something to do with the proximity to the Amish out in Lancaster county. SOS seems like a cheap, easy and filling meal. My mom made it every Sunday, she loved the stuff. She’d buy the beef in jars(at one time you could get it sliced VERY thinly, i.e. “chipped” at some delis) Whichever she used she’d cut it into thin strips and put it in a colander and pour boiling water over it, in the hopes of making it less salty. Then it got sautéed, or as she called it, frizzled, in butter in a skillet, until the edges curled. Added flour, milk, plenty of black pepper and maybe some Tabasco sauce. LOVED it over mashed potatoes, a good way to soak up the salt too. I fondly remember the ground beef variety I used to get in the service(AF) There was always a grease slick on top of the stuff, which I want to tell myself was butter and not something I’d rather not know about. :roll eyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/85 "2016-10-28T22:23:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Oh, yeah? What about tuna mac? Hm? :dubious: In my world, that thing you mentioned does not exist. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/86 "2016-10-28T23:44:15Z")
In the early 50s. Then, “dried beef” was just about the cheapest beef you could get, per serving, so Mom could afford it. Creamed peas on toast, too, from canned peas. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/87 "2016-10-29T03:26:23Z")
Never mind eating it, I’ve never heard of it before. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/88 "2016-10-29T12:34:12Z")
I’ve heard of this food many times, including the nickname, but have never seen it IRL. Not sure of seeing it on diner menus either. I’ve had corned beef hash plenty of times, and those Deviled Meat spreads in tins, but never seen them drenched in a cream sauce. Eck. I’ve had Beef Wellington with a white creamy kind of gravy, that’s as close as I think I’ve come to having a hot beef dish with cream. 45 years old, NYC born and raised, lived in a few other parts of the US for a few years. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/89 "2016-10-29T13:02:45Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > Not since the 70s, but that’s exactly what the old man would call it. Said they ate it often in Vietnam. Yup. That’s why my stepmom only made it when my dad was away on business trips. He refused to ever eat it again. She liked it. Same with creamed tuna on toast, and asparagus on toast with cheese sauce. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/90 "2016-10-29T13:04:52Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Last time I had it was sometime in 1952 or 1953. Courtesy of an Army mess hall. This, but like 1993. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/91 "2016-10-30T00:05:28Z")
West coast Canuck weighing in. Had it as a kid in the late 1960s. Mom made it, dad called it SOS, brother and I bust up laughing, mom refused to ever make it again. Same thing happened when dad called raisin pie “fly pie.” Mom still has a vivid imagination. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/92 "2016-10-31T08:08:33Z")
Never heard of it. And never a big fan of putting white gravy on sliced bread. Did do it with beef gravy, but usually just to sop up the gravy. White gravy, I’d eat on its own. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/93 "2016-11-01T00:33:51Z")
tuesday night chipped beef i remember, last time was the 70’s. Mom’s scratch the bottom of the barrel cooking. Nah, it looked alright and if hungry enough… the texture is what put me off every time. WHy it sounds good now. Must’ve been the “gravy” I truly don’t know why wait im getting an ancient whiff of it. Something sour, maybe the meat/ canned? not her best moment, but my opinion was not asked. No one else around was eating that stuff it had to be the Pennsylvania dutch cook in her ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/94 "2016-11-01T04:25:03Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > [http://www.stouffers.com/our-dishes/Creamed-Chipped-Beef/151](http://www.stouffers.com/our-dishes/Creamed-Chipped-Beef/151) > > Yummy, serves two, or me. > > In the navy, we called it creamed foreskin. Must be a regional thing, I’ve never seen this for sale in Southern California. I’d be willing to give it a try, if I ever saw it. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/95 "2016-11-01T14:59:13Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > Must be a regional thing, I’ve never seen this for sale in Southern California. I’d be willing to give it a try, if I ever saw it. I’m a native Southern Californian, and it was in the freezer section of the supermarkets in the '70s until I left in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/96 "2016-11-03T02:26:47Z")
Rarely on toast, but I’ve had it some time in the past year on some combination of home fries, biscuits , bagel, or fries. Maybe on toast and home fries. As I’ve mentioned before, the place where I grew up (I’m only 35) had a couple restaurants that specialized in it and had long lines out the door in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/97 "2016-11-03T19:36:27Z")
Mama always made it with ground beef, but that’s pretty much exactly how I remember it. And my dilemma of what to have for dinner is solved. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/98 "2016-11-06T20:11:14Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > I never have, but the thought of creamed **tuna** is making my stomach turn. 😛 Love it. I used to make it alot when I had more eaters around the house. I ofte use celery to add some crunch or canned mushrooms or green chiles. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/99 "2016-11-06T21:18:10Z")
One of my favorites. It’s salty and covered with white sauce — what’s not to love? Mom made it often when I was a kid; I’ve made it a couple of times since. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818/100 "2016-11-06T21:19:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Describe ‘done right’, please. A typical recipe for this is: heat butter in a pan, add flour (and salt and pepper), stir in milk and cook until thickened, add shredded beef. Unless you’re doing something additional, **it doesn’t get any blander than that**. Add the fact that the chipped beef usually comes from a can, and you’ve got **salinity that matches the Pacific Ocean**. Emphasis mine. You do see the oxymoron here, don’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-last-time-you-ate-creamed-beef-on-toast-shit-on-a-shingle/769818.md?page=6)