It has been months since Reid Warren first wrote in to ask for the recipe for the hot-dog slaw at the Dine In Car at the corner of Liberty Street and Akron Drive. Considering that the Dine In Car has been out of business for many years, I had just about given up hope on ever finding the recipe.
Then I got an e-mail from Ralph Tuttle, a retired service-station owner in Fontana, Calif., about 50 miles south of Los Angeles. "I made tons of slaw when I worked at the Dine In Car in 1957-1958," he wrote.
I don't know if I was more surprised to hear that someone still knew the recipe or by the recipe itself. "There are only two things that are needed: cabbage and mayonnaise," Tuttle wrote. "Shred cabbage and add mayonnaise."
I had a hard time believing that was it, so I gave Tuttle a call. He wasn't surprised that I was surprised, but he insisted that cabbage and mayo were the only ingredients.
The Dine In Car didn't even add salt and pepper.
Tuttle, who was born and raised in the Ogburn Station neighborhood, has many fond memories of the Dine In Car. He made 60 cents an hour when he started, and he thought that was pretty good money for a 14-year-old kid.
He not only made slaw there, but also did a fair mount of "curbhopping," or taking orders from customers who pulled up in their cars. He said he worked there about the same time as the late Kermit Williams, who started Kermit's Hot Dog House in Southside. In fact, he said, the last time he ate at Kermit's in 2004, the slaw still tasted like the Dine In Car's.
The Dine In Car was across the street from Smith Reynolds Airport, and did brisk business in hot dogs and hamburgers. "People used to line up, get their food and go watch the planes take off at the airport."
For anyone making the slaw, Tuttle warned that they are guaranteed to fail in reproducing the taste of the Dine In Car's slaw-topped hot dog.
"You'll never get it to taste like the Dine In Car, because of the way they made the hot dogs and toasted the buns," he said.
Tuttle also sent me a link to a Web site that has some great memories of the Dine In Car and other bygone food spots around Ogburn Station: www.fmoran.com/ogburnst.html.
By the way, for people who want more than mayo and cabbage in their slaw, the Recipe Database online at www.journalnow.com has two other recipes for hot dog slaw.
Help
■ Recipe Swap would like a recipe for Ropa Vieja, a Cuban dish of slowly braised shredded meat with tomatoes and seasonings.
■ Laura Reynolds would like a recipe for beet salad similar to the one served at The Carriage House restaurant, with oil, vinegar and spices, possibly cloves and cinnamon.
■ Norma Segraves would like a recipe for a tomato pie made with a pie crust topped with layers of tomatoes, cheese, onions, fresh basil, mayo, more tomatoes and cheese, and crushed Ritz crackers. (This is similar but not quite like one in the Recipe Database online.)
■ Send requests or recipes to Recipe Swap, c/o Michael Hastings, Food Editor, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102; or e-mail to mhastings@wsjournal.com. Please include name, address and a daytime telephone number. Previously published recipes are available in the Recipe Database at www.journalnow.com.
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