Uncle Sal and the Inconspicuous Ingredient (Episode 160)

In the Lazy Lounge Uncle Sal slid into a booth across from Ryder Wachtor. Ryder said, "Looks like you got a little crumb on your shirt there."

Uncle Sal looked down at his Naked and Shameless t-shirt and plucked a crumb off of it. "I just had a chocolate chip cookie over at that Bean There Cafe. Looks like I was saving a piece for later."

"Bean There? Never heard of it."

"It's this new place, run by a guy Giacomo knows. Guy by the name of DooDoo."

"His name is DooDoo and he runs a cafe? I think I'd have to pass."

"Course his real name ain't DooDoo. It's Duane Dudek. With that name, it don't take grade school kids long to come up with a nickname like DooDoo. They all still call him that, even though he introduces himself to everyone with his middle name Jerome."
Uncle Sal flagged a waitress down and ordered a Bannockburn and a plate of spicy fries. "Well, his old schoolmates are as likely to call him Jerome now as they were to call him Duane after he got his unfortunate nickname."

Wachtor looked at Uncle Sal's drink and said, "That looks disgusting. Who puts tomato juice in whiskey? So, what's this cafe all about?"

"It's really good. He makes a lot of standard things: pasta, jambalaya, omelets. And the thing is, every dish has a common ingredient." Uncle Sal glanced up at the television to catch the score of the Wombats game and gritted his teeth when he saw that the manager had brought the awful closer in. "And you'd never guess what the ingredient is. I mean, I don't know what he does with this special ingredient that makes everything taste so good. It's mind-blowing."

"So what's the ingredient? Beans?"

"No, it's bean sprouts. Course he doesn't tell his customers that until after they've finished their dishes."

"He puts bean sprouts in everything? And you ate there?"

"I've eaten there a few times already. It's really good."

"So, wait a minute. Didn't you say you had a cookie from there?"

"That's right."

"And he puts bean sprouts in cookies?"

"Like I tole ya, he puts bean sprouts in everything. I had my doubts when I first went there too, but I'm telling you, you've never had cookies like this. Or jambalaya, or pancakes."

Wachtor cringed. "Pancakes with bean sprouts. I don't know if I can get past that idea. And I can't believe you're eating there."

"Heck yeah, I'm eating there. Sure it sounds pretty unusual, but it tastes good when DooDoo Dudek's cooking sprouts, Ry Wachtor."

This episode featured:
Dusty Cooke as Uncle Sal
Serge Skillett as Ryder Wachtor
and
Jellybean Merengue as the cookie crumb.

Tune in next week when Uncle Sal says, "Give your mother a kiss, or I'll kick your teeth in."