Tag: Pennsylvania

One of America’s Best Buffets Is Nowhere Near Las Vegas

It’s a trip back in time, at very reasonable prices.

From Food & Wine:

My introduction to Pennsylvania Dutch cooking came the summer my parents decided to send me to live on a farm in Lancaster County. I know exactly what they expected me to glean from the experience, and I’m proud to say I learned absolutely nothing I was supposed to.

Beyond a newfound respect for the intelligence of pigs, and an addiction to Turkey Hill brand iced teas, what I really came away with was an abiding affection for the often brutally simple cuisine. We’re talking about a group of people who, at least back in those days, considered ketchup an extravagance. That kind of simple.

It’s easy to understand why some people don’t get Lancaster’s Shady Maple Smorgasbord—at all. I absolutely get why, upon encountering the 200-foot buffet, a good number of diners are more than a little perplexed. How much desiccated cooked veg does one groaning board need? How many lightly-seasoned cold salads, or eggs pickled in bright red beet juice, can one consume in one sitting? Are they seriously serving baked ribs, without irony? Does the gravy go on everything, or only most things?

My own first trip to Shady Maple, years after I’d last indulged in the local cooking, I had no such questions. Entering the buffet area, I was transported to Mrs. Hoover’s poorly-lit kitchen, back in Ephrata. There were the baked meats. The lima beans. The potato rolls—the real potato rolls, ones made fresh. This time, however, I could go back for seconds, and not risk another lecture on the evils of gluttony. A trip back to a simpler time, but without the bad bits. In these tumultuous times, what more could you ask for?

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