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Rochester, NY food!

Garbage plate? Boss Sauce? Country Sweet Sauce? Meat Hot Sauce?

By NoShameIn / Tee MeePublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Garbage plate from Stevie T's

A few years ago, I left my home town Rochester, NY to a town in the mountains of Oregon. Culture shock for sure. The scenery, the weather, their form of English dialect, their relaxed way of life, dogs were in every establishment, the foliage, even the smell of the air was different.

One night while at a local bar, I ordered chicken wings and asked for Country Sweet Sauce. The bar tender looked confused, so I asked for Boss Sauce. Her clenched eyebrows and tilted head let me know that she was clueless. We started talking and I asked her if she knew what meat hot sauce was or a garbage plate. Again, no clue. Zweigles and thin crusted pizza also eluded her.

I was baffled that "they", the bar-tender and some of the locals over hearing our conversation, had never heard of, no less tasted some of my favorite foods. It was then that I realized that many of these dishes were my hometown's foods. I grew up with this knowledge of these foods being part of my everyday life. Assuming it was common knowledge.

In New York, you can pretty much go into any grocery store, corner store, convenient store and some gas stations and purchase these items. There are little limitations on available foods. NY has access to food from all around the world, almost all the time. Our major grocery chain called Wegmans, has an entire isle or two dedicated to international foods. Wegmans and international food isles were also things the small town did not know existed or have access to.

While conversating, my wings were brought to me with a side of ranch dressing. I cannot tell you all how upset I was when I bit into my dipped flat-wing. I was expecting bleu cheese dressing. The laughter that came out of a friend of mine... I was not amused. The bar tender thought I was crazy when I asked her why she gave me ranch as opposed to bleu cheese. A debate began... All parties involved learned a few things that night.

So, those of you who have never experienced any of the foods I named above and have no idea what I am talking about, much like my former bar-tender and a few West-coasters, I will explain!

Country Sweet Sauce originated in Rochester, NY. The sauce has a thickness similar to honey, when stored in a cool area. Its tangy sweetness can have a little kick depending if you ask for the HOT, BBQ or MILD. Country Sweet has a restaurant that offers a list of meats including fried shrimp, breaded chicken wings, ribs or steak subs to be smothered in any of their sauces. Joined with one or two of their many sides, food for the soul!

Boss Sauce is also a Rochester, NY native. It began as a mom's secret sauce. She passed it down to her son and bam, the "boss of all sauces" came about. Its consistency makes the sauce convenient to use it for a marinate, dipping or after sauce. Boss sauce comes in HOT, MILD and HOT/MILD Thicker-Richer. Many pit Boss Sauce and Country Sweet against each other. I love them both! And keep them stocked in my house like many do Ketchup.

Here in Rochester, NY there is a consistent argument about if doughy pizza is better than thin-crust pizza. Doughy pizza usually has a crispy crust but the dough between that and the toppings is similar to fresh baked bread. Thin-crust can be as thin as a piece of paper, not an exaggeration. Spun in the air or rolled out until the dough is almost translucent. So thin, the proper way to eat it, is to bend it in half, folding it in to itself. If grease doesn't drip down your hand, then it was not made right! I prefer thin crust. Side note: The proper way to slice a pizza pie is straight across a few times, creating triangles. Not little squares.

Zweigles is a brand of hotdogs that offers many types of hotdogs, sausages and other meat products. White or red, skinless and pop-open, flavored or basic sausage, all beef or multi-meat. There are many options. I am going to talk about the Pop-open hotdogs. My favorite! They have a thin layer of skin that keeps all the juices inside of the hotdog so when you bite into it, the juice wets the bun and may even burn your tongue a bit. May sound a little off putting but the burn and anticipation is much like the sting of your first sip of tea or coffee.

When Rochestarians ask for hot sauce, we may not be referring to Red Hot. Meat hot sauce is a big thing here. Almost any restaurant that offers burgers or hotdogs, has their version of this sought-after sauce. Often being ranked by the customer within their judgements of other restaurants meat hot sauce. Meat hot sauce can be flavored many different ways but always with hamburger meat in, as small as you can get, little chunks. Some use cinnamon or nutmeg. Some use red pepper or hot peppers. Some put honey or sweetener in their recipe. The most popular meat hot sauce here is Nick Tahoe's. The home of the Garbage plate! (One of the locations is now called Stevie T.)

"A Garbage plate?" You ask. Yes! That is what it is called. The most common is two cheeseburgers atop mac salad and home-fries, smother in meat hot sauce, onions and spicy yellow mustard. With two pieces of French bread. The cheeseburger can be replaced with hotdogs (usually split down the middle Zweigles and seared on the flat top grill), hamburgers, chicken fingers, and even fried eggs, amongst other meats. The home-fries can be substituted for French fries or hash-browns. The mac salad for baked beans and sometimes coleslaw. You can also add things like bacon and ketchup or have them hold the mustard and onions. To each their own! When eating, the goal is to get a piece of all elements in every bite. The Garbage plate is known as the best thing to eat so you don't get a hang-over!

Needless to say, I left Oregon and came back home. However, when I went back to visit months after my return home, I brought my new associates a bottle of each and a couple packs of Zweigles. I made them garbage plates and showed them how to use the sauces properly. I will simply say, there were no left overs!

No matter where you are reading this, I am excited for you to try one or all of these! The smell and taste of all of these items are nostalgia for us Rochestarians. They are an everyday norm. You will find at least one at every BBQ. My daughter gets upset when we unknowingly run out of Boss Sauce and/or Country Sweet.

You can order any and all of these foods on their .com websites!!! ENJOY!!!

Stay safe, Have fun and Happy Reading!!!

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About the Creator

NoShameIn / Tee Mee

https://www.amazon.com/author/teemee

Barnes&Nobles: Tee Mee

https://books2read.com/u/mK6voP

https://www.wattpad.com/user/NoShameIn

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