Cuisine Shovellier

["Derick Wuen" <cullend@webone.com.au>]

A friend of mine helpfully informed me today that SBS TV repeated an item on
French restored Pacific 231G last night.

As part of the show, the crew were shown cooking herring on the shovel held
over fire. I was asked whether herring was a traditional french railway
dish.

Quel horreur! I don't know the answer!

I do know that <bacon and eggs a la pelle> is a favourite Australian dish,
much emulated by amateur chefs du chemins de fers after that famous cooking
demonstration "A Steam Train Passes".

I also know that rubbing down the shovel with loco sand and hosing off with
cab hot water jet improves the cleanliness of the utensil err shovel, and
the resulting palatability of bacon and eggs. You never know what else might
have been on the shovel.

Any answers for how traditional <hareng a la pelle> is in french railway
practice? Or is it a red herring on the part of the TV show?

What are your favourite tried and true recipes for <cuisine shovellier> ?