# Your National Dish Of Shame **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 20, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784 "2022-05-20T19:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/282 "2022-05-25T20:07:21Z")
That is the one. We lined up for donuts and chili-fries after marathon D&D games. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/283 "2022-05-25T20:15:16Z")
My older sister had an apt down the street with a few roommates when she was at UCLA. We used to visit for the buttermilk donuts (the best!). Coincidentally, her apt was next door to the apt our uncle lived in when _he_ was at UCLA. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/284 "2022-05-25T20:19:04Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > We used to visit for the buttermilk donuts (the best!). Yes! 🧑‍🍳 ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/285 "2022-05-25T20:37:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > But, like most dishes of this type, it was great for about four bites or so before becoming a Herculean effort to finish. Like, all your tastes buds light up for those initial forkfuls, and then just turn off while your body asks you “why are you doing this to me?” If I may say so, that’s a very evocative description of the experience. The worst for me was in the northern town of Alnwick (pronounced Annick) where I had, in a chippie, something called (IIRC) a Dutch Smokie - a greasy bright pink sausage which seemed to be made from smoked bacon. The first bite was heavenly; I got to the end in the knowledge that I would never make that mistake again. j ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/286 "2022-05-25T20:55:44Z")
The British version of poutine is thick chippy shop chips with melted cheese and gravy. British gravy, brown and thick, the traditionally beef-based kind, not the same as the white gravy you get in the southern US (I’m assuming you also make beef-based gravy as well sometimes). It’s very very unhealthy of course, but that’s partly the point of it really. You don’t go to chip shops for health food. Some older working-class households over here still reminisce lovingly about dripping on toast, which sounds similar to the Hungarian fat on bread thing except without any spices. Literally the dripping from fat served on toasted white bread. It was always poverty food, is thankfully a thing of the past, and has never made its way to even the most hipster cafe (or greasy spoons, either). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/287 "2022-05-25T21:11:42Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I remember an Arlene’s Donuts on Santa Monica Blvd (but I think technically they were in West LA). It was an outside counter mostly and definitely could be described as a shack. I think they had food beyond donuts. Where was your Arlene’s? > [@DrDeth](#): > > That is the one. We lined up for donuts and chili-fries after marathon D&D games. > [@carrps](#): > > My older sister had an apt down the street with a few roommates when she was at UCLA. We used to visit for the buttermilk donuts (the best!). Coincidentally, her apt was next door to the apt our uncle lived in when _he_ was at UCLA. Those of us who went to USC had to make do with the chili cheese fries from [https://originaltommys.com/](https://originaltommys.com/) at Beverly & Rampart. Their chili burgers were great as well. Next time I hit LA I’m going back there for both college delicacies no matter how badly my now-aged innards will deal with the full frontal assault. Do NOT scrimp on the diced onions. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/288 "2022-05-25T21:18:38Z")
Chili really is best with chopped raw onions. Just avoid people immediately afterward. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/289 "2022-05-25T23:26:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Those of us who went to USC had to make do with the chili cheese fries from [https://originaltommys.com/](https://originaltommys.com/) at Beverly & Rampart. Their chili burgers were great as well. I used to work there, but back then they did not have fries, so no chili fries. “No fries, chips!” There are some other locations, including one in Valencia, off I5. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/290 "2022-05-25T23:39:53Z")
Work there? _Tres_ cool! Back in the day there were two Tommy’s, and the second one wasn’t all that old. Their website says they now have 30 in SoCal, plus 3 in greater Las Vegas. I really need to get back to the original; I can’t quite imagine that an outlet in a snooty strip center in a 2000’s construction 'burb has the same grungy vibe as good old inner city LA. The cooking might be similar, but the experience won’t be. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/291 "2022-05-25T23:57:43Z")
True. I remember being there ( I worked security) at like 2-3AM, and the lines were amazing. “Cholos”, Cops, TV stars, Dudes in Tuxes, women in evening gowns, truckdrivers, Doctors & nurses, party girls= a whole slice of LA life, all lined up to get a Chiliburger. They should make a film, it’s be like _CarWash_, but better. (Although, that theme song is really hard to beat). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/292 "2022-05-25T23:57:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > US (I’m assuming you also make beef-based gravy as well sometimes). The default gravy in most of the US is brown gravy. White gravy is a Southern thing, as you noted. I think I was well into my teens before I had even heard there was such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/293 "2022-05-26T00:00:55Z")
Thanks. I assumed as much, but with UK-US terms you can never be totally sure. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/294 "2022-05-26T00:08:18Z")
_Really_ generally, white gravy (and its derivative sausage gravy) would be slopped over biscuits, chicken-fried steak and maybe your breakfast platter of eggs, hash browns and bacon. Brown gravy would be the default for anything else, unless you’re weird. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/295 "2022-05-26T00:12:05Z")
Yeah, I was about to say, I’m pretty sure brown gravy is also common in the South and the white gravy has specialized uses, but I couldn’t say anything definitive, not having spent too much time there. We also do chicken and turkey gravies as well (which can be brown, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/296 "2022-05-26T06:31:28Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > You’ll see in the Wiki link that there are several kinds, some of which may even warrant pride, but I’m referring to the shameful U.S. combination of cheap hot dogs and pastry dough. Probably related to the Schinkengipfeli from Switzerland. Think salt with butter and flour. Small bits of meat. No one makes them fresh - they are made in a factory, frozen, waiting in the freezer at the grocery store. They’re even available at the store at the gas station. > **[Schinkengipfeli](https://www.helvetickitchen.com/recipes/schinkengipfeli)** > > Perfect for apéro (or anytime), these ham croissants are flaky on the outside and savoury on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/297 "2022-05-26T08:07:15Z")
I think I can top most of the pig in a blanket examples here. When I was about 6 or 7, one of my friends invited me to dinner, telling me they were having pigs in a blanket. I had no idea, never heard of them before. The smell when I walked in should have warned me. Pork sausage and rice, wrapped in cabbage leaves, and boiled to death on the stove top in a gigantic pot of water. The filling was boiled so long it had absolutely no discernable flavor or texture to it. It was all I could do to eat one without letting on how bad it was. Compared to that, hot dogs wrapped in dough sounds like high class fare. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/298 "2022-05-26T08:28:40Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > > [@Smid](#): > > > > I heard someone in the US then battered a pizza and fried it. I mean hows the bread supposed to absorb all the fat??? > > We have pizza puffs around here. They’re widely available at hot dog and burger joints, mostly from a Chicago manufacturer called [Iltaco Foods](https://iltaco.com/pizza-puff/). They’re pretty cheap and low quality but I had a few in my youth, though not in 20-25 years at least. And the fat’s already built into the cheese and very poor quality Italian sausage crumbles! The typical way to eat them is to wait until they’re cool enough to handle, then bite and spurt molten hot filling on your tongue so you can’t enjoy food for 3 days. That said, I suppose if I could wish a hot pizza puff to appear in front of me now, I might go for it. > > More characteristic image at top: > > [Pizza puff - Wikiwand](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pizza_puff) that’s the restaurant version of these > **[Totino's™ Pepperoni Pizza Rolls™ | Pizza Bites | Totino's US](https://www.totinos.com/products/pepperoni-pizza-rolls)** > > You know classics are classics for a reason. Totino’s™ Pepperoni Pizza Rolls™ combine a classic pizza topping all in one tasty bite! Buy a 50 count packet. there are homemade /gourmet versions around apparently also > **[Homemade Pizza Rolls - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Homemade%2BPizza%2BRolls&form=RESTAB&first=1&tsc=ImageHoverTitle)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. although these I already know are disgusting because the chip they’re based on is … [https://www.totinos.com/products/takis-fuego-mini-snack-bites/](https://www.totinos.com/products/takis-fuego-mini-snack-bites/) And there are 2 versions of pigs in a blanket 1. is a long breakfast sausage rolled up in a pancake although these days the store version is made like a corndog and for dinner an American hot dog rolled up in a premade biscuit or croissant dough ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/299 "2022-05-26T09:16:02Z")
Here in New England, a ubiquitous side at Italian restaurants is “garlic knots”, a piece of pizza dough tied in a knot, soaked in garlic oil, then baked. They are are very dense and doughy, and greasy as well. I keep trying them because they are included with most entrees, but I am always disappointed. I usually leave half a garlic knot on my plate. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/300 "2022-05-26T09:33:05Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I think I can top most of the pig in a blanket examples here. When I was about 6 or 7, one of my friends invited me to dinner, telling me they were having pigs in a blanket. Where was this, it doesn’t sound like any UK version, which are typically baked in an oven alongside turkey at christmas. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/301 "2022-05-26T09:47:34Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > …Pork sausage and rice, wrapped in cabbage leaves,… That sounds more like one of the many variations of [cabbage rolls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage_roll), specifically the Romanian dish sarmale. Haven’t tried making it yet, although it’s been among my recipes for years. I’ve always loved cabbage in any form, but I understand that some people don’t like the way it smells when cooked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784.md?page=16)