Essentials: The Illinois Horseshoe
"A glorious mess of a thing"
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My first experience with this beautiful Midwestern disaster was on a plastic tray at Raymond Grade School in central Illinois. And boy, was it a sight to behold. One cheap slice of soft white bread. One beef patty. A heaping pile of french fries. Objectively gross “cheese” sauce drowning the whole thing. They called it the Horseshoe, and for me, it was love at first sight.
Little did I know that most kids didn’t get to enjoy this sloppy delicacy during school lunch. In fact, most humans don’t eat it at all. That’s too bad. Purportedly invented in the 1920s at the Leland Hotel in Springfield, the Horseshoe is a glorious mess of a thing. A bad decision waiting to happen. But a delicious bad decision, nonetheless.
If you ever find yourself in my old central Illinois stomping grounds, there are a number of different ways you can have a Horseshoe. They are all probably much better than the cafeteria version I was raised on. Lucky you. —Austin L. Ray
Austin L. Ray is an award-winning journalist who has written for Rolling Stone, Good Beer Hunting, Creative Loafing (RIP), The Outline, The A.V. Club, Atlanta magazine, Vulture, The Oxford American, First We Feast, more than a few places he’s forgotten over the years, and one terrible gas station periodical. He loves gardening, making people laugh, listening to rap music, hoodie weather, and Twitter. Zach Galifianakis once screamed in his face.
Kevin Necessary is a freelance illustrator and editorial cartoonist. He is currently the editorial cartoonist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. His cartoons are syndicated by GoComics, and his cartoons have been published in a variety of publications such as The Week and Politico. A Cincinnati native, Kevin will fight to the death defending Cincinnati chili. He lives with his wife, Julie, and three cats, Huckleberry, Grayson, and Bonnie.