Hangtown fry

Hangtown fry

A "hangtown burger" made using a hangtown fry, a ⅓-poundchuck steak,sriracha sauceof roasted red peppers, and babyarugula
Place of origin	Placerville, California
Main ingredients	Eggs,baconandoyster

Hangtown fryis a type ofomelettemade famous during theCalifornia Gold Rushin the 1850s. The most common version includesbaconandoysterscombined witheggs,and fried together.

History

Oakland Mayor, Visiting Newspapermen, Other Dignitaries to Sample "Hangtown fry"Breakfast
"Hangtown Fry," a delectable breakfast dish which had its origins at the Cary House in the early mining days and has since appeared on tables of the nation's leading hotels and restaurants, will be served to members of the visiting press delegation, Oakland's Mayor Clifford Rishell and other dignitaries attending the Wagon Caravan Breakfast at the fair grounds Sunday morning.
MayorA. H. "Sandy" Murray,who issued invitations to the mayors of Oakland and San Francisco to attend the Caravan festivities this week end, has been assured that Mayor Rishell will be present. Mayor Robinson of San Francisco had an important prior official obligation.
Lloyd Raffetto,owner of the Raffles Hotel, says the story of the origin of Hangtown Fry, though well known here, is worthy of repetition.
A well-heeled miner who has been panning a rich sand bar for several weeks and eating his own sorry cooking came into the Cary House and demanded:
"What is the most expensive meal you serve to a hungry man for breakfast?"
He was told that fresh eggs, then selling for about a dollar apiece and hard to get, was considered the No. 1 breakfast, or that a breakfast of fried oysters might be considered a first line delicacy.
"Well, give me three or four eggs and put in some oysters," the miner said, "And throw in a couple slabs of bacon, too."
The resulting dish was so pleasing that others (presumably those whose pokes were full of dust and nuggets) followed suit, and the recipe became famous.
For guidance of those whose appetites are whetted by reference to the good old days, here is Raff's recipe:

• Saute two or three slices of bacon. Add a few oysters and saute them.
• Add beaten eggs, about three per serving, so that the eggs surround the oysters and cover the bacon. Season to taste.
• Serve by turning the pan's contents out upside down on a serving platter. The browned bacon will then be on top.

The dish was invented inPlacerville, California,then known as Hangtown. According to most accounts, the dish was invented when a goldprospectorstruck it rich, headed to the Cary House Hotel, and demanded the most expensive dish that the kitchen could provide. The most expensive ingredients available were eggs, which were delicate and had to be carefully brought to the mining town; bacon, which was shipped from the East Coast; and oysters, which had to be brought on ice fromSan Francisco,over 100 miles away.

The dish was popularized byTadich Grillin San Francisco, where it has apparently been on the menu for 160 years.Later variations on the dish include the addition of onions, bell peppers, or various spices, and deep frying the oysters before adding them to the omelette.

According to theEl Dorado CountyMuseum, "No dish epitomizes California and its Gold Rush more than Hangtown Fry. It was created at a location central to the Gold Rush at the same time the great state was being born. And, like the miners who worked the river banks and hillsides, and the population that followed, it is a unique blend of many things, both those produced locally and those that have arrived from elsewhere."

In the 1962 episode, "The Hangtown Fry" of thesyndicatedtelevisionanthology series,Death Valley Days,hosted byStanley Andrews,Fabrizio Mioniwas cast as Paul Duval, a young man falsely condemned to the gallows in Placerville when the community was known as "Hangtown." In the story line, Duval orders a made-up recipe ofbaconandoystersin the form of an egg omelette in hopes of postponing his execution while his girlfriend, Ann Alton (Nancy Rennick), frantically seeks information to clear him.Helen Kleebplayed Ann's mother. The recipe is still available in some California restaurants.Three versions are included in Booth Seafood Co's compendium of James Beard's 1954seafood cookbook.

Variations

Food writer and chef Mark Bittman created his own version of Hangtown Fry in one of his Minimalist cooking videos forThe New York Times.

See also

• Hangtown
• List of egg dishes