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SOS


Murph

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SOS, food of the gods if made right. Most Army mess halls make the very best. Swanson's frozen is an acceptable substitute. I love it over fried potatoes/hash browns/a rosti. My old mess hall at 2/36 Infantry in Germany made the very best, the very best I have ever eaten.

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SOS, food of the gods if made right. Most Army mess halls make the very best. Swanson's frozen is an acceptable substitute. I love it over fried potatoes/hash browns/a rosti. My old mess hall at 2/36 Infantry in Germany made the very best, the very best I have ever eaten.

 

Agreed, but no place around town makes it. :(

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Found a place in town that makes it with chunks of sausage. Ambrosia; and they serve it over hash-browns.

 

If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

 

The headstone on my SOS-induced coronary should properly read 'Died Happy'.

 

 

Shot

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  • 3 weeks later...

SOS is really easy to make at home. If you just don't want to cook, many restaurants do a credible job of it over biscuits.

 

Murph, there's a place up here named Whites, which has been open at the same location since the 30's. They make a breakfast called The Mess, which is hash browns mixed with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, onion and green pepper, covered with a sausage SOS style gravy. It's way too big for one normal person to eat, and costs about $8, IIRC.

 

There is something about the military setting for some items, though. I love a good omlette, and just about any competent eatery can turn out a decent one, but the one that sticks out in my mind was in our hospital mess hall in Germany. For the oncoming night shift, the young lady who was cooking made a ham and cheese omlette that I haven't seen the equal of anywhere. That, with hash browns, toast, and coffee, fueled many a night shift in Augsburg.

 

So, do people prefer their SOS with ground beef, sausage, or chipped beef? I like all three.

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The best SOS I've ever tasted came from the Mess SGT of B/1-66AR/2AD circa 1976 . . . SSG Cintron, a Puerto Rican delight of a Mess SGT.

 

I once asked him why his SOS tasted better than all the rest and he told me that he added chopped onions, plenty of ground black pepper and (most importanly) plenty of garlic salt to the mix. He used only ground beef, as in the US Army Recipe at the time. But browning ground pork sausage and using the rest of his recipe is fantastic as well.

 

Later on, with time, various companies (McCormick, etc.) began marketing various mixtures of seasoning salts and steak seasonings, which improved upon SSG Cintron's "secret ingredient" of garlic salt. To date, the best one to use on your own SOS is McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, which is more ground pepper and garlic based than it is salt based, as seasoning slalts usually are. I now use McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning on most of my grilled meats (steaks, burgers, pork chops, etc.) and find that they nearly always turn out with a fantastic taste. I highly recommend it.

 

Edited to add:

 

SSG Cintron also added a touch of Worcestershire sauce to the mix. Now, just what is a touch? Well, he made a recipe that would feed 60 soldiers, a "a touch" was one entire large bottle. At home, I'd say four or five good shakes of the bottle will do it (don't overdo the Worcestershire sauce).

Edited by Rocky Davis
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The best SOS I've ever tasted came from the Mes SGT of B/1-66AR/2AD circa 1976 . . . SSG Cintron, a Puerto Rican delight of a Mess SGT.

 

I once asked him why his SOS tasted better than all the rest and he told me that he added chopped onions, plenty of ground black pepper and (most importanly) plenty of garlic salt to the mix. He used only ground beef, as in the US Army Recipe at the time. But browning ground pork sausage and using the rest of his recipe is fantastic as well.

 

Later on, with time, various companies (McCormick, etc.) began marketing various mixtures of seasoning salts and steak seasonings, which improved upon SSG Cintron's "secret ingredient" of garlic salt. To date, the best one to use on your own SOS is McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, which is more ground pepper and garlic based than it is salt based, as seasoning slalts usually are. I now use McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning on most of my grilled meats (steaks, burgers, pork chops, etc.) and find that they nearly always turn out with a fantastic taste. I highly recommend it.

 

 

Sounds like the recipe that my youngest daughter's godfather used to make while he was first cook for the 25th Infantry Division, out in Hawaii, back in the 70's. Years later, we both worked for Ford Motor and one morning, as I was getting off work, I stopped by the kitchen to pay my respects to him before going home, only to find him to be working on the final stages of a 40 gallon batch of sos in a steam kettle. When he saw me coming through the double doors of the kitchen, he yelled. "Get yerself' a plate and some bread!" to which I quickly did so. He loaded me up with a plate full of this wonderful stuff and I allowed him to carry on the conversation while I stuffed my pie-hole full of shite on a shingle. Outfriggingstanding!

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Ahhh, I think I know the stuff.

'Biscuit' had me confused, its a savory pancake or just toast no?

 

I guess that you could even say that a burrito is a rolled up version of SOS.

 

Something else interesting is that chipped beef is basically unknown in Australia: we have ground beef, really mincemeat, but nothing that approximates the description of chipped beef that I have read. I can see an association though with the flakes of skin that can accompany shingles...

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Sounds like the recipe that my youngest daughter's godfather used to make while he was first cook for the 25th Infantry Division, out in Hawaii, back in the 70's. Years later, we both worked for Ford Motor and one morning, as I was getting off work, I stopped by the kitchen to pay my respects to him before going home, only to find him to be working on the final stages of a 40 gallon batch of sos in a steam kettle. When he saw me coming through the double doors of the kitchen, he yelled. "Get yerself' a plate and some bread!" to which I quickly did so. He loaded me up with a plate full of this wonderful stuff and I allowed him to carry on the conversation while I stuffed my pie-hole full of shite on a shingle. Outfriggingstanding!

 

Note that I edited my post above - forgot to mention theWorcestershire sauce.

 

A US Army Mess Hall breakfast is about the best breakfast one can have - I've always maintained that belief.

 

Two eggs to order, hash browns or grits, your choice of meat (bacon, sausage, ham or SOS), toasted or untoasted bread OR your choice of pancakes or French toast or (sometimes) fresh-baked pastry, cold cereal, hot cereal, fresh fruit, orange or other fruit juice, milk, coffee . . . all for a mere pittance of money (if required to pay).

 

On my last day of Active Duty at Ft. Hood, I stayed at the Guest House prior to leaving for good. I ensured that I went to III Corps Mess Hall for my last breakfast before leaving post for good. I wanted to have just ONE more of those meals before I left. There's only one Mess Halll that I rate as good as III Corps Mess Hall, and that's the Mess Hall at the Armor Training Center in Boise, Idaho - which (by 1999) had won four Phillip Conelly Awards for Best Mess/Food Service. Instructors there warned us that, if we were not careful, we could gain up to ten pounds by the end of two weeks, for we were served theree massive meals per day every day . . . and it was fantastic food.

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I still find the Usaian use of 'biscuit' for pikelet or scone to be amusing.

 

I find that the use of the word "pikelet" is also amusing.

 

For here is a USAian biscuit:

 

http://hubpages.com/hub/Best-Ever-Biscuits

 

Usually served with breakfast meals with butter and jelly or jam or covered with cream gravy (made from bacon or pork sausage drippings) or SOS. Also served at lunch or dinners with such meals as fried chicken, chicken-fried steak or other Southern US homecooking specialties.

 

Here's a man that loves his biscuits:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqTWQiTlhKQ

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I guess that you could even say that a burrito is a rolled up version of SOS.

:blink: Not even close.

 

Something else interesting is that chipped beef is basically unknown in Australia: we have ground beef, really mincemeat, but nothing that approximates the description of chipped beef that I have read. I can see an association though with the flakes of skin that can accompany shingles...

Sliced beef, chipped and formed. Whats so mysterious about that?

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Note that I edited my post above - forgot to mention theWorcestershire sauce.

 

A US Army Mess Hall breakfast is about the best breakfast one can have - I've always maintained that belief.

 

Two eggs to order, hash browns or grits, your choice of meat (bacon, sausage, ham or SOS), toasted or untoasted bread OR your choice of pancakes or French toast or (sometimes) fresh-baked pastry, cold cereal, hot cereal, fresh fruit, orange or other fruit juice, milk, coffee . . . all for a mere pittance of money (if required to pay).

 

On my last day of Active Duty at Ft. Hood, I stayed at the Guest House prior to leaving for good. I ensured that I went to III Corps Mess Hall for my last breakfast before leaving post for good. I wanted to have just ONE more of those meals before I left. There's only one Mess Halll that I rate as good as III Corps Mess Hall, and that's the Mess Hall at the Armor Training Center in Boise, Idaho - which (by 1999) had won four Phillip Conelly Awards for Best Mess/Food Service. Instructors there warned us that, if we were not careful, we could gain up to ten pounds by the end of two weeks, for we were served theree massive meals per day every day . . . and it was fantastic food.

Hummmmmm..

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The big deal about winning a Phillip Connelly Award is that the judges are SO picky about everything - was the published menu adhered to, was kitchen sanitation kept up throughout the day, was food prepared and served on time, with hot foods hot and cold foods cold, was food presentation appealing to the eye, was food taste such that eating was a very pleasant experience, and then there is dining room cleanliness and decoration, having the served foods arranged in a logical location both on the serving line and at self-serve areas of the Mess Hall, was the work effort of the Mess Staff well-planned, efficient, etc. Then, there is the inspection of the kitchen, dining room and food storage areas AND detailed inspection of the Mess Records to deal with as well.

 

No doubt about it - when your Mess Hall displays a Phillip Connelly Award on its walls, that Mess Hall is something special.

 

If I remember correctly, there was one judging of Field Mess Operations and one judging of Garrison Mess Operations of each participating unit Mess Hall.

 

At the Gowen Field Armor School Mess Hall, I found out early on that I would have to skip lunch or I certainly WOULD gain ten pounds in two weeks and would also be ready for nap time during afternoon training. I would load up at breakfast, skip lunch (and study) and then be ready for dinner when it was served that evening.

 

 

They had some damn good SOS.

Edited by Rocky Davis
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:blink: Not even close.

Sliced beef, chipped and formed. Whats so mysterious about that?

Nothing mysterious, just not known here.

 

Not available at supermarkets or butchers.

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Rocky, you heathen. It's a dining facility. :P

 

Some traditions are worth keeping. "Mess hall" is much more evocative.

 

"Dining facility" sounds like it belongs on a cruise ship, somehow...

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Rocky, you heathen. It's a dining facility. :P

 

It wasn't when I first got in . . . the name (Mess Hall, Mess Section, Mess Records, Field Mess, Mess Sergant, Mess Kit, etc. then) stuck forever (with me, at least).

 

Then, later on, someody decided the give the order that sounded like when you do a "find and replace" action with word programming . . . "find every occurrance of the word 'Mess' and replace with the word 'Food Service.'' Later came DFAC etc.

 

Have you ever had a piece of clothing or shoes that is hopelessly out of fashion now, but wasn't when you bought it, and somebody brought it to your attention and your response was "Well, fashion, like most things, has a circular pattern. I'm just hanging onto my leisure suit and white loafers until they come back into fashion again."? Well, I'll continue to use the word "Mess" until the use of that word comes into vogue again (in my lifetime, I hope!). :P

Edited by Rocky Davis
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