-=> JIM WELLER wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-

 SD> My mom told me that when you visit an ethnic restaurant, check
 SD> to see if the locals from that ethnic group are eating there.
 SD> If they are, it's a good place to eat

 JW> That's generally true. But sometimes convenient location comes
 JW> into play. A lot of people think highway places will have good food
 JW> if there's lots of truckers there. But sometimes it's because they
 JW> have good parking or they are midway on an 8 hour trip. Edmonton to
 JW> High Level is 8 hours and Valleyview is midway. It's a small town
 JW> with 9 restaurants; 3 of them are right on the highway and they
 JW> all have good truck parking so there are choices. But from High
 JW> Level to Yellowknife is another 8 hours and Fort Providence is
 JW> midway in the middle of the bush. It has just one place and it is in
 JW> fact the only one along that whole stretch of road. It also has the
 JW> only gas station on that leg of the route.

When I was being an over-the-road trucker I soon learned the fallacy 
(or, at least the "iffyness") of "Truckstops all have good food". Some
did and some were "ptomaine heaven". I used to look for shopping/strip
malls with a nice restaurant in an "out lot" with room to park my rig.

Sometimes I'd see signage along the Interstate for a restaurant with a
notation of "Truck Parking". The problem was, often the parking lots
were jammed with semi-rigs. Especially if there was decent grub to be
had within. 

 SD> I usually will ask the wait staff what they would eat off the
 SD> menu.

 JW> That's also smart. I was once in an old school Italian place that
 JW> had over 20 veal dishes on the menu. I asked the waiter to narrow it
 JW> down to 3: "What's the most popular scaloppine, your favourite one
 JW> and the cook's favourite?" Then I picked.

One of my favourite places in Detroit was the "Little Warsaw". I soon
learned to order "whatever Grandma is cooking". Grandma ran the kitchen 
and I was never disappointed.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Polnische Jaegertopf (Polish Hunter's Casserole)
 Categories: Pork, Beef, Casseroles, Vegetables, Wine
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      1    Pig's Kidney
    300 g  Pork
    200 sm Frying sausages
    200 g  Ox liver
      8    Shallots
    200 g  Mushrooms
      1 cl Garlic; crushed
      1    Celeriac
      3 tb Butter
      1 ts Salt
    1/2 ts White pepper
    1/2 ts Paprika
      2 tb Tomato puree
    250 ml Dry white wine
      1 tb Soy sauce
 
  This dish is best accompanied by sauerkraut and steamed
  potatoes or country bread. Drink beer with it.
  
  Split and clean the kidney thoroughly and put it into a
  bowl. Pour over it some boiling salted water and leave to
  soak a couple of minutes. Then dry it, and cut it into
  slices. Peel the shallots. Cut the pork, liver and peeled
  celeriac into 4cm cubes.
  
  Put the fat into a large casserole, and lightly brown the
  shallots and celeriac. Add the offal, meat and sausages
  and fry the lot together 5 to 10 minutes.
  
  Clean the mushrooms, and add them, together with the
  garlic and tomato concentrate (puree) to the dish. Then
  add salt, pepper, paprika and pour over the wine. Bring to
  the boil, cook fast a couple of minutes to eliminate the
  alcohol, cover and simmer slowly until the meat is tender
  (about 40 minutes). Stir in the soya sauce, and correct
  the seasoning.
  
  German Cookery Cards. (Eint"pfe).
  
  From: Ian Hoare
  
  Date: 04 Dec 96 National Cooking Echo
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
 
MMMMM

... What were electric eels called before electricity was invented?
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