What Is A Garbage Plate?

As the PGA Championship comes to Rochester for the Oak Hill Country Club tournament, a term you’ll likely hear a lot as the action takes place is “garbage plate,” but what exactly is it?

The garbage plate is a dish made famous by Rochester restaurant Nick Tahou Hots. The restaurant is a landmark in the upstate New York city, and Nick Tahou ran the establishment for over 50 years before he passed away in 1997. Before that, though, he made his unique contribution to the culinary world with an insanely stodgy creation.

The story goes that the dish came about after the restaurant was visited by some college students who asked for a meal with “all the garbage on it.” The owner didn’t disappoint, setting to work on the request and presenting a dish that, before long, became a local favourite.

Golf writer Robert Lusetich is one of the visitors to the city who has been tempted by the dish in the buildup to the tournament, describing it as “A1 drunk food." But what exactly is in it? As its name implies, indulging in one is probably not advisable if you’re on a calorie-controlled diet.

The dish is now popular throughout the city, so the ingredients can vary. However, the original garbage plate consists of home fries, macaroni salad, baked beans and French fries. From there, the customer can choose the types of meat to add (including hamburger, cheeseburger, hot dog, sausage, chicken tender, fish and fried ham), all garnished with chopped onions, mustard, ketchup and the restaurant’s hot sauce. Add some bread and butter on the side, and, per Health.com, you have a meal that was once voted the fattiest food in the state of New York.

Rory McIlroy spoke to the media before the tournament about what the area means to him. After all, he is familiar with Rochester as his wife Erica Stoll is from the area, and he’s a member of Oak Hill, making this week’s tournament something of a “home” game.

He couldn’t resist mentioning the famous dish, though, even if he insisted he hadn’t overindulged. He said: “I’ve only had one garbage plate in my life. I haven’t went overboard with that.”

Considering each garbage plate amounts to around 3lbs of food, it’s probably for the best given his status as one of the world’s elite athletes.