Two People and a Truck

A couple weeks ago, at the Cyclone Truck Stop in Ames, IA, some guy ordered a side of cottage cheese with gravy on it. When the waitress brought it to the table, she and the diner talked about weird stuff people put on cottage cheese. The waitress claimed that she didn't find the gravy strange. She then said, with obvious disdain in her voice, I've even seen people put french dressing on their cottage cheese. BTW, I put french dressing on my cottage cheese.

After I thought about gravy on the cottage cheese, I decided it wasn't as weird as I initially thought. If one used mushroom gravy it would create a sort of truck stop version of beef stroganoff. This would be especially good for truck stops because instead of curdling the sour cream, the cottage cheese would be pre-curdled. (In case you don't cook, the art of good stroganof is mixing in the sour cream without curdling it.)

Last night I was eating at the J in Des Moines and some guy was putting fruit cocktail on his cottage cheese. At first I thought it was a bit weird, but after thinking about it, decided that it wouldn't be a bad combination.

So, after careful consideration, I have concluded that cottage cheese is nearly perfect truck stop food. First, it mixes with just about anything. (I'm not sure I'd recommend mixing cottage cheese with your butterscotch jello, but I won't condemn you if you choose to do that.) Second, it's pre-curdled, so it's hard to screw up a recipe when you use cottage cheese. Third, it may not be Muenster or queso fresco, but it's pretty darn exotic for a truck stop buffet (it ranks right up their with green jello and shredded carrots) and can turn an ordinary dining experience into something extraordinary!

Category: General