“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”— George Bernard Shaw
It’s impossible to say which trip was the best, but a person never forgets his first time.
It was well past 2 a.m. during my first month of college. I was pledging my fraternity at the time, and too many of us piled into the house secretary’s car for my inaugural trip to the food mecca of Rochester. We didn’t take his vehicle because he was sober. In fact, I’m certain someone else drove. We took his car because he had a station wagon that could hold the most people. Since I was a low-life pledge, I had the pleasure of riding in the far back, stuffed in like a sardine.
After a fifteen minute commute from the suburb of Henrietta, home of R.I.T., we arrived in downtown Rochester. The sardine station wagon was immediately greeted by a slew of pimps and prostitutes. They were more than entertaining, with most of them having tongues as sharp as their pimp’s knives. Our group of drunk and loud Alpha males traded verbal compliments and insults with them as we waited to jam ourselves into an already crowded restaurant.
I was shocked at the number of people waiting to get food at three in the morning. But I soon learned that this level of crowd was normal for this time of the morning. Finally, after only a ten or fifteen minute wait our “plates” were served. Ever since that first bite, it has been a love affair that has lasted over two decades. If I was ever on Death Row, the answer to the final meal question is a simple one.
The Garbage Plate™ combines simple ingredients with a few exceptional ones to make an unforgettable culinary treat. While there were several individual noteworthy items (Tahou hots are fantastic) on Tahou’s menu, the real star was the world renowned Garbage Plate™.
The standard building blocks of the Garbage Plate™ are macaroni salad and home fries (the potatoes are cut slightly larger than a nickel). Customers can choose two sides from: home fries, French fries, macaroni salad, and baked beans. The building blocks are topped with several options, but the two most popular are two cheese burgers (topped with white cheddar) or hots, and then covered with the most glorious meat sauce ever created, with just a dash of mustard and white onion sprinkled on top. While there were hundreds of combinations, there is something magical about the mixture of starchy potatoes and the creamy mac salad that offsets the grease infusion of two cheeseburgers that truly brings the Garbage Plate™ to life.
The Tahou legacy in Rochester lives on. But, unfortunately, new ordinances limit establishments from being open 24/7, and the death of Nick in 1997 still reverberates throughout the organization.
Since I now live over 2,000 miles from my treasured culinary treat, I’m forced to prepare it myself. These days, I’m also on a very limited carbohydrate diet, so the Garbage Plate™ is strictly a cheat day meal for me.
Lightly coat a pot or pan with Olive or Avocado Oil. I use a full size Le Creuset pot because I find the depth of the dish reduces splatter when I blend the ingredients. Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add the hamburger and all of the spices. Once you have browned the meat, add the water, brown sugar, and tomato paste. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Use an immersion blender to finely chop the sauce. You’ll probably need to add a bit more water during the blending process.
Simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour, periodically adding a touch of water if necessary. You want it to be soggy, not soupy. I simmer it for several hours because the aroma fills me with an immense amount of joy.
Tahou Sauce Recipe
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic, diced or pressed through a garlic press
Don’t forget about the bread. I prefer a fresh baked loaf of Italian, cut thin. But, if you want to be authentic, you can leave the loaf out until it hardens to Tahou-level stiffness.
Lastly, you could use another hot sauce besides Red Hot™ to top off your plate. I never will, and you really shouldn’t, but one could.
Thank you Nick, your masterpiece still lives on in the hearts and stomachs of thousands of your followers.
Enjoy.