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I have heard of loose meat sandwiches often here in the Midwest, but always associated them with pulled pork barbeque and the like. As a child I always assumed the phrase “loose meat” arose from the fact that the filling was all mixed up in a pan with sauce and tended to fall off the bun easily –ya know, being, in essence, the opposite of a “tightly packed meat sandwich.”
Much to my interest (and chagrin) while watching a cooking show shot in New Orleans, I saw a woman making sandwiches and she referred to a large roast hank of meat as having a “loose” side and a “tight” side… “Loose meat,” she said, comes from the fattier side of the cut.
So, of course, now I'm wondering if this is a regional term or a culinary one and does a “loose meat” sloppy joe guarantee the level of fat in good ol' southern BBQ?
Also, where is this Maid-Rite utopia and which interstate do I take to get there?
Interstates 35 and 80 go through their headquarters town of Des Moines, IA. Mapquest.com can help you with the other towns listed in their new franchsees. The closest one to me is in Lebanon, MO on I-44 (near the path of Route 66, get your kicks). A next nearer one is in Osage Beach near the Lake of the Ozarks, quite a tourist destination. It is unfortunate that they do not list all of their franchisees. I think the first one I saw/visited was in Webster City, IA; the second one in Rolla, MO, also on I-44. The Maid-Rite was on the path of Route 66.
Emmett
2 Things:
Not only are Maid-Rite sandwiches delicious, they were also the inspiration for Rosanne and Jackie's restaurant serving loose meat sandwiches on "Roseanne".
Secondly, we still say tyme machine in Wisconsin, it always gets a laugh from those of you from beyond the cheddar curtain. But what takes the cake is the day I was chided for calling an ATM a tyme machine, instead of the much more obvious and not at all hilarious "Shazam".
I'm 30 years old and it seems older people still tend to call it a ‘Tyme Machine', but younger people (and I) call it an ‘ATM' (automated teller machine.) Outliers exist, surely, but that is my observation. The way that I hear it often referred to (and it's difficult for me to resist) is calling it the ‘ATM Machine' which would be redundant.
Liz said:
Secondly, we still say tyme machine in Wisconsin, it always gets a laugh from those of you from beyond the cheddar curtain. But what takes the cake is the day I was chided for calling an ATM a tyme machine, instead of the much more obvious and not at all hilarious “Shazam”.
A correction is in order.
The restuarant on Rosanne was not inspired by Maid-Rites. It was inspired by a local eatery in Ottumwa, Iowa called "Canteen Lunch in the Alley" (or as the locals call it, "The Canteen").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canteen_Lunch_in_the_Alley
Tom Arnold, Rosanne's one-time husband, grew up in Ottumwa, where The Canteen is a beloved landmark. She and Tom were known to eat there during the run of the show. The layout and furnishings of the TV restaraunt are nearly identical to The Canteen.
To the uninitiated, their loose-meat hamburgers (also called Canteens) are similar to Maid-Rites, but Ottumwans would vehemently argue Maid-Rites are inferior to the local sandwich. Ex-pat Ottumwans have them shipped across country, and usually make pilgrimages to the Canteen whenever they are in town.
Maid-Rites are tasty and popular around Iowa, and for this former Ottumwan, are the next best thing to home.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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