"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue 21 Jun 2005 12:37:02p, Stan Horwitz wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
> > In article >, Andy <Q>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Fearless readers,
> >>
> >> Now this probably goes under the "You asked for it" category, but this
> >> morning I went back out for chicken fried steak and eggs.
> >>
> >> This time I went to Denny's. Waitress took my order and I said extra
> >> country gravy. Pleasant enough, she brought my coffee. After five
> >> minutes she came back and said "sorry we're out of country fried
> >> steak," and thrust the menu back at me! I claimed I got out of bed
> >> specifically for chicken fried steak and eggs. She looked quite
puzzled.
> >> I left.
> >>
> >> Damn. So, I drive BACK to IHOP, determined to get my breakfast, knowing
> >> full well I'm asking for it.
> >>
> >> I'm seated at IHOP and order my chicken fried steak and eggs. I ask to
> >> substitute biscuits for the pancakes. She says "OK, but it's 'country'
> >> fried steak and eggs."
> >
> > Okay. I just gotta ask, what's the difference between "country fried
> > steak" and "chicken fried steak?" Please forgive my ignorance; I am a
> > northerner!
> >
>
> No difference, really.
>
> --
> Wayne Boatwright տլ
> ____________________________________________
>
> Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
> Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

There may be no difference in many parts of the country. In the part of
Virginia where I grew up, however, chicken fried steak was battered, fried,
and served topped with a white gravy; country fried steak (or just country
steak) was floured, browned, and simmered for hours in a dark brown gravy
with lots of onions. Even today, I love country fried steak and cannot stand
chicken fried steak. But I find that restaurants now tend to use the terms
interchangeably, making it all but impossible to find the real country fried
steak. So I make my own fairly regularly.

Ron