St. Louis Classics

by Mark Ellwood, Posted Jan 22nd 2010 @ 4:00PM

Yesterday, we learned all about how St. Louis came to be the home of fast food. Here are some of the local delicacies that keep the city true to its hundred-year-old claim on fantastic junk food.

St. Louis Pizza

"We lovingly call it pizza on a cracker. Outside St Louis, everyone hates it and think it's the most abominable thing," laughs food historian Suzanne Corbett, who favors the version from Imo's. Its other hallmark is the gooey cheese, known as provel, which smothers the entire plate. Made from a combination of cheddar, Swiss and provolone, it was specially invented as a topping for local pizza by a local dairy (though the trademark's now owned by Kraft).

Rich and Charlie's Salad
Provel's a crucial ingredient in this salad, too. "It's a mainstay of all the St Louis Italian restaurants, and is known as Rich and Charlie's even if you're not sitting in that restaurant," Corbett explains. To make it at home, she says, combine iceberg, romaine, artichoke hearts, thin red onions and some provel, dress it in red wine vinaigrette and let it sit to wilt slightly.

Toasted Ravioli
Not toasted, but deep-fried, and served with meat sauce. "A couple of different restaurants vie for the title of inventing toasted ravioli," says Catherine Neville, editor of local foodie magazine Sauce. "A chef was said to have accidentally dropped ravioli into the deep fryer and thought it was delicious. It's been a menu staple ever since."

Maull's BBQ Sauce
The local BBQ dip. "Like any other place, we have our own signature BBQ sauce – it's tomatoey and a little bit on the sweet side," Corbett confides.

Cold Cuts
The European heritage is the reason that cold cuts are so outstanding here – for Italian treats, go to Volpi's on the Hill, and for meaty German staples, like Bavarian brats, G&W is unbeatable.

Gooey Butter Cake
"Everybody's mum made it growing up," Neville says. "And it's very sweet, like a coffee cake, except richer." Think of it like as a crunchy vanilla cake with extra thick and creamy frosting. "It's the most devilishly decadent concoction – the more goo the better. I've been known to scrape off the goo and leave the crust behind," laughs Corbett. It's now often served with a strong espresso to cut through the richness.

Ted Drewes
Home of the "concrete," a scoop of frozen vanilla custard (creamier than ice cream, it incorporates eggs into the recipe) that is pureed in a blender with a choice of thickeners from chunks of chocolate bar to a slab of cherry pie. The name, of course, is a nod to its jawbreaking consistency.

Filed Under: Local Delicacies
Tags: featured, maulls BBQ sauce, rich and charlies salad, st louis, ted drewes

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-23-2010 @4:17PM The call it 'The Lou' for a reason! said... Everything in St. Louis is deep fried and covered in horrible process cheese. They take the most delicious things and add huge glops of white velveeta-esque yack, and they do it to every possible and unlikely food product. It's like the whole city subsists on canival food, which is a conclusion unto itself. Further, they're proud of it, which is unbelievable!There is nothing in St. Louis you can't find better elsewhere.
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1-23-2010 @4:51PM Ellen said... Your article reminded me of all the things I miss about my hometown. Whenever I go back, we have to make a pilgrimage to the pizza shrine (Imo's) and for the best sandwiches (Amighetti's). Although as I remember it, Rich & Charlie's salad had Parmesan, not provel, and I miss the KC BBQ sauces more than Maull's. But a hot summer evening in Ted Drewe's parking lot, working on a concrete & listening to a Cards game on the car radio, there's a bit of heaven on earth.
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1-23-2010 @9:14PM Mike said... You can't have St. Louis classics without mentioning Lion's Choice roast beef sandwiches!
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1-24-2010 @12:03AM Colleen said... Maull's barbeque sauce. They had a classic slogan: "Don't baste your barbeque, Maull it!" which always conjured up images of wild animals attacking a styrofoam plate of barbeque. LOL!

I live on the East coast and have seen toasted ravioli on some menus but they're not the same. Cheese instead of meat ravioli, not crunchy enough. So yeah, I have to go visit my family (whether I want to or not) if I want to get toasted ravs or Lion's Choice (good addition, Mike), or my favorite concrete, chocolate chip with extra malt.

Now I'm homesick.
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1-24-2010 @11:57AM Gena said... Can anyone reading the comments tell me what the picture at the top of the page is? It looks like a bacon dish with some kind of topping. I'd like to know, if possible.

We make "bacon candy" mostly at Christmas by dregging bacon in brown sugar and broiling it ... but it gets a candy coating which is shiny. The picture doesn't look like bacon candy.

Thanks to anyone reading this and super-thanks to anyone who can I D the food above.
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1-24-2010 @1:54PM Cynan said... I believe that is the Toasted Ravioli.

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1-25-2010 @3:06PM Steven Ruza said... Looks great! - Steven Ruza
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1-25-2010 @6:01PM St. Louis Woman said... I often make Rich & Charlie's salad for company and everyone loves it! (I live in Richmond, VA now) . I make it with parmesan cheese. When I go back to St. Louis, Ted Drewes is a must!
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1-26-2010 @9:58AM NurseHypno said... Rich and Charlies or Pasta House, same delicious salad!!!!! It is made with Parmesan but a waitress once brought me some of the Provel to add to the salad ( I was a consistent regular, several times a week!) and I was hooked and got it continously after that. Thank goodness Pasta House finally expanded to Cape Girardeau where my family lives as I can now get my fix every year at Thanksgiving or Christmas when I go home. When I was stationed overseas in the Air Force, long before they went commercial with the salad dressing, I was such a regular customer that the restaurant I mostly frequented got special permission from the owners so that I could get a gallon at a time direct buy each time I came home and take it back with me so that I could have their salad in the Philippines and in Germany by making it myself and adding their own dressing. I love the Provel cheese and would love to get it out here in Delaware but can find no source. I understand that Schnucks in Missouri now carries Provel in the deli section but we don't have Schnucks. If anyone knows how one can get some Provel out here, please let me know.

Another St. Louis speciality is Arcobassos!!! Talk about a decadent salad! Their Lasagna is to die for! And, yes, I love Amighetti's, the best sandwiches ever! Never cared for Imo's at all, tho.
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1-27-2010 @4:38PM Wendy said... What!? No mention of Helen Fitzgerald's wings? I know it may be a relative newcomer, but come on, and what about the Bread Company? Here on Long Island I constantly remind my local Panera manager where they started - and I was actually introduced to them by my mom (RIP) at what I thought was the first one on Manchester Rd. in Kirkwood before she passed in 1992. Not sure how long they've been around. We can get pretty good cervelat here, and brats, too, but there is NOTHING like gooey butter cake ANYWHERE else. "The Lou", you take the bad with the good. Have to say, though, that it's tough to beat a Brooklyn pizza OR bagel anywhere else in the world, but I still love you , St. Louie.
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2-11-2010 @5:57PM Richard said... I live in Saint Louis and I think the food here is great. We probably have more good Italian restaurants per capita than any town outside of Italy along with a very strong German tradition plus Vietnamese, Bosnian, Greek and many other ethnic treats. When visiting here, one should stop at City Diner on South Grand Boulevard, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard and when it reopens,The Bevo Mill. Saint Louis is not only the Gateway to the West butalsothe Gateway to Good Food.
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2-28-2010 @7:38PM Max said... I have two kids at home under the age of 3. We find it harder and harder to get out to eat with the family. Try taking two young children out to eat at a restaurant, its almost horrifying lol. I found a place that provides me with all the "secret" recipes of restaurants like Applebees, Carrabba's, Cheesecake Factory, Chick-Fil-A (for the kids) and many more. Not only can we save money by cooking at home but we enjoy the great food of eating out. No more packing up the car, being embarrassed by temper tantrums (The kids and my wife’s :) or waiting in long lines. I suggest you give these recipes a look if you love eating out. http://tinyurl.com/secretrecipies
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