"An Ode to Sloppy Joe"

[Laurence Horn]

Since Barry forbore to point it out, I thought it might be worth
calling attention to the above article (with a title that makes it
sound as though "Sloppy" was Billy Joe McAlister's unruly brother) by
Andrea Strong in yesterday's Times Living section (10/9, F3).  There
are all sorts of recipes and origin stories presented, and at least
one legitimate-sounding authority (Leonard Zwilling of DARE) is
cited, along with some rather speculative-sounding versions of the
history, involving Hemingway, Cuba, Key West, and such.  As far as
approaches to the item itself are concerned, my vote is with either
the expensive "Asian-tinged" version (pulled pork in a fiery
tomato-based sauces brightened with ginger, garlic, and Vietnamese
chili paste, piled onto a scallion bun with fresh mint and cilantro
leaves)--sounds great but a very distant cousin of the Joe) or the
Cuban Sloppy Jose (not the term the article uses) of ropa vieja
(marinated skirt steak with a spicy sauce of tomatoes, garlic, cumin,
chilies, etc.).  There is, however, a printed recipe for a more
traditional Sloppy Joe, with tomato puree, ground beef...and chipotle
in adobo.  I'm OK with all of these, but then I'm no purist on Sloppy
Joes.  It's not like messing with egg creams, after all...

larry