On Wed, 23 May 2001, K.Feete wrote:
> And, no, you can't get too much further from Virginia than this.
> <grin> I do get a little homesick every now and then, mostly because
> my family is so far away and I can't hop home for the weekends any
> more. And there is some degree of culture shock. Like when I try to
> cross roads- or when they try to serve me spagetti on toast for
> breakfast....
Actually, the weirdest thing I ever saw done with spaghetti was something
I met up with in Virginia. :)
There's something called "Cincinnati chili". First of all, it's got beans
in it, which means that calling it "chili" is inaccurate from a Texan's
point of view, the availability of Wolf brand chili with beans
notwithstanding. Secondly, it's got enough tomato in it to make it too
sweet for it to be labelled "chili". And lastly, it's served over
spaghetti.
The only place I've seen the stuff was in Charlottesville; my mom had a
brochure for a number of businesses in Charlotesville in her car, and
while my sister and I were visiting her (I'd flown up to DC to visit my
sister, and we drove down to Blacksburg together for a long weekend), my
sister found the brochure, and was all over the idea of stopping in
Charlottesville for lunch on the way back (and since we were planning on
going to Richmond anyway, it was reasonably convenient). My sister had
had it once in Ohio, not in Cincinnati, but somewhere else. The place
brings out a little sample tray of all 3 types of chili they serve:
Cincinnati, Texas and vegetarian. The Texas chili was dryer than any
chili I've ever had here, the Cincinnati chili was too sweet, and the
vegetarian chili wasn't anywhere near hot enough, so I ended up having a
burger. (It was a fairly good burger, too, lots better than what they
serve you when you order a burger at The Outback.)
But my sister was happy, and I certainly wasn't UNhappy, and that was what
counted at that point. :) (And we went on to have a nice time at the
cemetary in Richmond.)
Julia
