Try the Hangtown Fry
More disturbing to me than this lassoed figure is a piece of history that has somehow survived the decades -- the Hangtown Fry, an omelette stuffed with oysters and bacon. The story behind such an abstract concoction is much disputed. Many believe that, in 1849, a miner returning from the banks of Hangtown Creek tossed his pouch full of gold dust and nuggets onto the bar at the El Dorado Hotel and called for the most expensive meal in the house. The cook relayed that they were eggs, which had to be packed carefully to survive the rough drive from the coast; bacon, which was shipped from the east; and fresh oysters, which had to be iced to make it up from San Francisco Bay. The prospector requested all three, and the cook slathered together a combination that became known as the Hangtown Fry.
The only place in town today that regularly serves the Hangtown Fry is Chuck's Restaurant, which got its recipe from the old Blue Bell café, though the Hangtown Grill offers it as an occasional special. I head for Chuck's at breakfast time hoping to spy one being made without having to actually try it.
"Does anyone ever really order a Hangtown Fry?" I ask the head waitress. "Of course," she says, not at all amused by my question. She scans the half-full dining room. "Well, nobody right now." Perhaps it's more a late-night, post-pub delicacy, I muse, though this is not something I dare confirm with the icy waitress.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/1999/10/22/placerville.DTL
