Sandwiches, sandwiches

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Is there any food that's a better example of the kitchen's bounded infinity? The definition is so confined -- food between bread, and I reject attempts to include "wraps," tacos, or other foods that happen to be handheld and carb-shrouded, because the sandwich set doesn't need expansion -- but allows for so much. I'm not even gonna think about burgers, which fit the bill but have perhaps come so into their own that even if they're technically part of the band, they spend all their time making solo albums that are just as successful.

New Hampshire:

The meatloaf sandwich, always with ketchup and/or cheese, white bread, cold, never with gravy like elsewhere.

The hot pastrami bomb: pastrami (sometimes with hard salami tossed in) grilled until almost crispy on the edges, with green and red bell peppers and pickled banana peppers, onions, mushrooms, and provolone, on a big grinder roll.

The lobster roll, which ... well, it sucks. But it would be weird not to mention it.

The meatball grinder, with dark red sauce, sometimes peppers and onions, sometimes provolone; distinctly different in New Hampshire and the general north-of-Boston area, where most of the old Italian joints are Greek-owned and a lot more fennel and marjoram come into play.

New Orleans:

The muffuletta, plain old cold cuts (salami and mortadella, usually) piled on an enormous round of bread with provolone and Central Grocery's world-famous olive salad. The olive salad makes it, as definitively as peanut butter makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich: outside Louisiana, some people even erroneously call the salad itself "muffuletta," in some kind of reverse synecdoche.

Poboys -- soft shell crab dressed with nothing but Tabasco; hot sausage with ham gravy; French fries with roast beef gravy and lots of hot sauce.

A pistolette full of hot roast beef and gravy, not quite a poboy, not quite anything else.

Duck confit, cashew butter, pepper jelly, and greens, at Bayonne.

Roast pork, pickled vegetables, bean sprouts, some kind of hot soy sauce dressing, on a baguette in Little Vietnam.

Texas:

Chicken-fried steak, the coating almost as crunchy as potato chips, but the meat as tender as a hamburger, with peppery cream gravy on a buttered and toasted bun.

Slow-smoked brisket with Rudy's barbecue sauce, between just enough bread to keep your fingers dry.

Indiana:

Breaded pork tenderloin on a bun with mustard and hot sauce; like a McChicken or chicken-fried steak (depending on where you get it), but with pork.

Elsewhere:

The Chacarero, a grilled meat sandwich on a corn flatbread-like tortilla, with mashed avocado, steamed green beans, tomato, and cheese.

The Philly cheese steak, with provolone or Cheez Whiz depending on which side of the city you're in.

Peanut butter and jelly, with a hundred combinations to itself -- my favorite's crunchy and raspberry on pumpernickel.

Grilled cheese, again a huge subgenre, and again my favorite's got pumpernickel (with Muenster and chive cream cheese).

Vaca frita, Cuban fried leftover beef, mixed with hot peppers and onions and cheese and mojo and dumped onto a bun.

The Cuban sandwich, pork and pickle and cheese and a little butter pressed until the cheese just melts and the bread is grilled.

Pulled pork with vinegary barbecue sauce and extra napkins.

The Italian beef, which I've only had Indiana echoes of: sliced marinated roast beef, jus, and giardiniera, on a sub roll.

Chicken, apples, and Muenster; or roasted turkey breast, cranberry sauce, and cornbread-sage stuffing; both of them at the Tailgate, across the street from Mt Holyoke College.

Pate campagne, garlic salami, Creole mustard, and pickled red onions, at Martin Wine Cellar in Metairie. Corned beef, pastrami, and Swiss cheese on an onion roll, at same.

Rare roast beef, grilled chicken breast, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella, and the late, lamented pesto aioli on a Kaiser roll at the late, lamented Foodie's, also in Metairie.

Egg over medium, shredded leftover chicken, Creole mustard and a wedge of Cheddar, on a biscuit.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder what it says about my mental geography that I listed Metairie (the nearest suburb to New Orleans, and where most of the actual shopping district is) in "elsewhere" instead of "New Orleans." I suspect it's because both of the places there were deli/gourmet shops as far as their sandwiches went, not very distinctly New Orleanian. (Although Foodie's was one of the last places left on Earth that carried Creole cream cheesecake.)

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:50 (twenty-one years ago)

My favorite sandwich is made at the Italian deli just down the road from there I work:

Rare roast beef, thinly sliced red onions, cheese (American?) and a horseradish spread on focaccia bread. Mmmm, it's the only sandwich I will NEVER get tired of ordering.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

is a sub roll the same thing as a french roll?

― oops (Oops), Monday, 27 September 2004 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not positive, but google says it's at least close -- I tend to group any elongated roll for subs/grinders/etc into "sub roll" unless it's for a poboy. The picture on this page says it's of French rolls -- sub rolls, in my mind, would include ones that didn't have that split part on top.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 27 September 2004 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Anything from Primanti Bros in Pittsburgh (recently immortalized in a repulsive episode of "Elimmidate"), where they put the cole slaw and the fries in the sandwich. Woo!

― ng, Monday, 27 September 2004 21:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Pittsburgh is supposed to be a total sandwich haven -- I've only been there once, when a flight got cancelled (although my ex lived roughly nearby for a few years and says good things about their steak sandwiches and chili dogs).

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 27 September 2004 21:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Sub rolls seem a bit wider and a bit softer in the crust.

I think Sandwiches pretty much highlight the food-cultural divide between the US and Europe (well, the UK anyway)

― Porkpie (porkpie), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 08:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm biased, because I grew up there -- but Pittsburgh is definitely worth a (weekend) trip, Tep. You're not so far from where you are -- I used to do the Chicago-to-Pittsburgh drive all the time.

I dunno, sandwiches seem to have a mortal lock in Europe as well -- in the UK, they barely qualify as bar food. But skip over to France, and they're everywhere: street carts, boulangeries, jacket pockets, etc.

― ng, Tuesday, 28 September 2004 10:43 (twenty-one years ago)

they're everywhere here, you can get a sandwich in about 15 different places in Uxbridge alone, and it's not that big, what I mean is that all the American sandwiches up there seem rather... Ostentatious is the wrong word, but at the same time right, they're really busy and huge. Sometimes a simple roast beef with a smidge of horseradish or mustard will suffice, not seven types of fried meats, pickles, salad, mayo, mustard and godknowswhat. Mostly in France or italy, all you're going to get is three or four components, not enough to feed a family for seven weeks.

― Porkpie (porkpie), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 11:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Porkpie OTM.

Sandwiches are a snack in Britain, or a lunch as they are in Europe. They are not a full blown meal.

That said, a good Reubens is the best sandwich ever and it has far too many different things in it.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 11:36 (twenty-one years ago)

oh god yeah, they all sound great, but they're a different breed to Uk sarnies.

Reubens are fantastic yes, except the ones in Bodeans (about the only place to get a decent US style sandwich that I've found) does really weak Sauerkraut on it, but their boston butt sandwiches are really really good eating

― Porkpie (porkpie), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 11:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The busy-ness is more than likely a reflection both of my preference (when I eat out, I only order things I can't make at home or wouldn't have thought of; otherwise I can probably do it better) and of the places I get sandwiches, for at least half of those. Americans definitely have nothing against double or triple ingredient sandwiches + bread :)

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 12:25 (twenty-one years ago)

after going over and sampling (too many) it seemed to be a feature, especially with deli sandwiches, you get shops with sandwiches (which may only have ham or pastrami) and they're like, 4 inches high, stacked with meat. I can't imagine seeing that anywhere else

― Porkpie (porkpie), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 12:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, the size thing, yeah. That varies a little -- it's definitely a deli thing -- but yeah, that's the sandwich analogue to the way everyone serves an 18 ounce steak, or a two-inch prime rib.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

can you cook a two inch prime rib properly? I can't imagine getting it the right amount of rareness in the middle without charring it completely on the outside, unless you do a Heston Blumenthal and cook it for 16 hours at 45.6 degrees c

― Porkpie (porkpie), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 13:17 (twenty-one years ago)

It's nearly always undercooked, at least compared to what my preference would be (granted, I'm not sure I've ever loved prime rib except once or twice, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's because of this tendency). Even Houston's, a midscale chain I otherwise really like, ends up serving a slab of meat that's just plain flabby.

(On bad days, I start to despair that Americans are forgetting what meat is supposed to be like, and that the recent blitz of marinades on the market might be a result of this rather than a cause; today is a bad day. Ignore me if I sound too negative.)

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Sandwiches are a snack in Britain, or a lunch as they are in Europe. They are not a full blown meal.

Sandwiches are THE lunch thing in the US. They are not on dinner menus.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 22:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I made a sandwich for supper last night (just because it was easy and I didn't feel like fussing with anything that would take longer than 5 minutes):

Sourdough bread, toasted. Spead tapenade on one side, hummus on the other. Layered mescaline mix, red onion, roasted red peppers, tomato and cheese.

Very nummy.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 12:17 (twenty-one years ago)

That's one trippy sandwich VG! I'm not much of a sandwich person myself, but I do like a classic BLT or a grilled cheese with dill pickle.

― Jaq (Jaq), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 13:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Did I spell it wrong? I meant mescaline greens, not the drug.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

mesclun?

I had a love;y bit of aberdeen angus fillet last night, medium rare, nicely bloody on the inside, slight charring on the out, and the tenderest steak 've had in a while. Pretty good coriander seed and watercress sauce too,

― Porkpie (porkpie), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

hey, food people. just came across this thread and had to chime in.

Tep: right on with the Vietnamese po boys. just moved out of New Orleans, and spent much time on the West Bank eating great food.

never thought much of a muffuletta, but the oyster po boy, done correctly and with plump oysters at the peak of season is a thing of beauty.

just moved to Philly, and have yet to come across a good cheesesteak, but will continue the search (got some leads on a few places). apparently, a variety of pork sandwich is served here that is reputedly delicious.

the Italian hoagies at DiBruno Bros. are pretty fine. lots of places make an acceptible panini with proscutto and mozz + basil, tomato.

to echo the enthusiasm of an above post: slaw on a sandwich is usually a good idea.

Memphis has the greatest pulled pork sandwiches on earth. I think...

a sandwich that perfectly comes together from fridge leftovers is most satisfying.

― mayo apetrain (mayoape), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)

The muffuletta is all about the olive salad, I think, in terms of whether or not it does anything for you -- it took me a few years to love it, somehow, and yet when I moved away it was the first thing I missed. (Mind you, when I make em myself, I use pistolettes or part of a baguette instead of the big round bread.)

I'd ask my ex for recommendations on cheese steaks -- she lived in Philly for five or six years -- but she's lactose-intolerant, so she always got them without cheese. That'd probably skew the results some. (I can tell you that I like the Cheez Whiz ones much more than the provolone, and that I was really surprised by this. Cheez Whiz is north and provolone is south, I think? Maybe it's the other way around.)

Make sure to report back on the pork sandwich, if you try one! I've been sort of making a list of regional sandwiches as I find out about them.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 23:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Whole Foods makes pimento cheese with smoked gouda. I had that, slices of fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, mayo and dill pickle slices yesterday. It was superb. You carnivores may mock, but I make Reuben "sangwiches" as we say here in New Mexico, with tempeh and all the rest of the usual ingredients that are quite yummy. MMMm.. sweet delicious sauerkraut....drool.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Thursday, 30 September 2004 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Sandwiches are a snack in Britain, or a lunch as they are in Europe. They are not a full blown meal.

Sandwiches are THE lunch thing in the US. They are not on dinner menus.

The diners and things I've been to make them like enough food for a family of four (maybe this is symptomatic of the country as a whole). Even when I've had them at buffets and things, there's somewhere in the region of 1000% extra filling in them to what they are in the rest of the world.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 30 September 2004 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

ihttp://www.cs.grinnell.edu/~gum/personal/orlando/dagwood.jpg

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 30 September 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, I suspected that would be too big.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 30 September 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

Today I made an excellent sandwich:

Lavash bread
Heaps and heaps of fresh mustard greens
roasted garlic (smashed)
crushed pecans
goat cheese
grapefruit-sherry vinagrette

― Remy (x Jeremy), Monday, 22 November 2004 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Now there we go. Vinaigrette on sandwiches -- this is something that needs further exploration.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 22 November 2004 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh vinaigrette on sandwiches is often a good thing, it's the application of it which is a bugger (pastry-brush U&K here).

The sandwich above does sound very nice indeed.

― Matt (Matt), Monday, 22 November 2004 06:30 (twenty-one years ago)

today from Paul in Lille:
bread
butter
ham
cheese

I'm not kidding it was like heaven, and I won't even start to talk about the rhubarb tart I had for afters, how can something be so comforting and yet so sharp at the same time?

― Porkpie (porkpie), Monday, 22 November 2004 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Can you please talk about the rhubarb tart? I have been looking to make one.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 02:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Kaiser roll, garlic artichoke cheese spread, olive tapenade, vegetarian "turkey" slices, tomato slices. Yum.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 05:56 (twenty-one years ago)

the pastry was very very crisp, then pieces of rhubarb and a custard, this had been baked until the custard was just wobbly and then the whole thing was glazed - magnificent stuff - should be easy to make, except it'd take a pastry expert (something I definitely am not) to get the case that good

― Porkpie (porkpie), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Lavash bread
Heaps and heaps of fresh mustard greens
roasted garlic (smashed)
crushed pecans
goat cheese
grapefruit-sherry vinagrette

I'm sorry, but this just seems like ruining a perfectly good salad with bread. I'm such a sandwich rockist.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Bread goes well in a salad, though.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, just think of it as two enormous and rather convenient croutons.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Friday, 26 November 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

The most expensive sandwich ever, so it is claimed

I would actually enjoy this I think - if I wasn't thinking about the money.

My favourite sandwich is chirozo,rocket and roasted red peppers as bought at Borough Market (but easily made at home) and throughout Spain.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:50 (nineteen years ago)

On ciabatta.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:51 (nineteen years ago)

Chorizo...obv.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:53 (nineteen years ago)

stomach growling!

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Thursday, 13 April 2006 13:43 (nineteen years ago)

yo peeps!
i got some cheap ass salami the other day and i was chewing on it simply with wheat bread, mustard and a tomato slice. what is it with salami and mustard? classic or dud?

― jdchurchill (jdchurchill), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

grilled until almost crispy on the edges

Mmmm, this is the key.

My sandwich for lunch today: pastrami, genoa salami, and hot cappicola with spicy mustard, peppers, lettuce and tomato on rye. It was serious. I'm still recovering.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 18:09 (nineteen years ago)

Salami + mustard = classic.

Lunch today: grilled kielbasa on potato roll w/ yellow mustard + spinach salad

But I was dying for some shrimp + cilantro fresh rolls.

― Jaq (Jaq), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 18:27 (nineteen years ago)

And - I had a muffaletta in Portland that reminded me how classic olive salad is w/cheese+salami. Yum.

― Jaq (Jaq), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

Haha when that story broke the food columnist in my local newspaper sniffily claimed that he'd made one which was way more expensive. Wanker, seems the only reasonable response. Sounded dreadful, too (champagne mayonnaise? jesus)

― Matt (Matt), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

I just found out about a local (st louis) sandwich: the St. Paul--

the St. Paul is made up of the following: an egg foo young patty, consisting of multiple whipped eggs, bean sprouts and minced white onions; white bread, slathered with mayonnaise; and various toppings, usually including some combination of lettuce, tomato, and pickle.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 12:14 (nineteen years ago)

Holy shit that sounds disgusting. Do you dip it in ranch?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

(Apologies if it looks brilliant to you. I am clearly not from St. Louis. Although there's a chance I'll be visiting next summer to record an album there.)

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 22:47 (nineteen years ago)

no, it sounds disgusting to me too, although probably it's not all that different than a diner egg sandwich. I'd seen this on the menu at the local chinese place but had no idea what it was, I can't imagine a chinese place keeping white bread and mayo around anyway!

we have some fine studios here, ring me up if you visit and I'll take you on the tour!

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 20 April 2006 00:35 (nineteen years ago)

Oh it would be in a barn or something. This is my friend's band, which I play keybs for. He (and his drummer, who is also my drummer, except he tours with yet another band all the time now, sigh) are from St L. and he has a dream of recording in this barn in sweltering heat to get the "St L flavor" in the record, or somesuch. I dunno, I'm usually up for crazy dreams like that, plus I want to try this PROVEL business.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 20 April 2006 01:03 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think that egg foo yung sandwich would be awful, but I wouldn't choose it off a menu for myself. Maybe if it were on toast. And no tomatos, pickles or lettuce. Or maybe with the tomatos and lettuce, but no onions or bean sprouts. And some bacon. And maybe not the eggs either, then I would most possibly order it to eat.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 20 April 2006 01:55 (nineteen years ago)

That would be the chicken salad sandwich minus the chicken salad, right?

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 20 April 2006 02:41 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

Sandwiches are a snack in Britain

!!!

― ○◙i shine cuz i genital grind◙○ (roxymuzak), Thursday, 2 October 2008 15:46 (seventeen years ago)

Most fabulous sandwich in my neighborhood: prosciutto, goat cheese, and fig paste on chewy olive oil bread. Like lunch + dessert all rolled into one.

― Jaq, Thursday, 2 October 2008 16:01 (seventeen years ago)

new favorite from this summer: slices of fresh mozzarella and local perfectly ripe tomato on grilled feather bread with arugula and olive tapenade. The bread just warms the cheese and the tomato is already at room temp. So good.

― Jaq, Thursday, 2 October 2008 16:05 (seventeen years ago)

i am so obsessed with the various bahn mi's at ba xuyen in sunset park.

― lauren, Thursday, 2 October 2008 17:48 (seventeen years ago)

omg you guys. this is a hamburger using two grilled cheese sandwiches as a bun.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/images/20080930-fatty-melt-beauty.jpg
http://aht.seriouseats.com/images/20080930-fatty-melt-comp-thumb.jpg

― Jordan, Thursday, 2 October 2008 17:58 (seventeen years ago)

so simple and yet it had never occurred to me

― Jordan, Thursday, 2 October 2008 18:07 (seventeen years ago)

In Cleveland, I had a Parmageddon: grilled cheese sandwich with kraut and perogie inside!

― kate78, Friday, 3 October 2008 05:27 (seventeen years ago)

woah jordan that is deadly.
jaq, yrs sounds yum!

― highly theoretical, of course. (tehresa), Friday, 3 October 2008 06:53 (seventeen years ago)

kate, i've had that! the homemade vodka kraut is sooo good. i freaking love melt.

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 14:25 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.meltbarandgrilled.com/

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 14:25 (seventeen years ago)

I can't wait to go back over Thanksgiving.

― kate78, Friday, 3 October 2008 16:37 (seventeen years ago)

haha - that's my plan.

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 17:05 (seventeen years ago)

ugh tht melt place looks so good

― STINKING CORPSE (cozwn), Friday, 3 October 2008 17:08 (seventeen years ago)

it's awesome, and i'm not usually a fan of gargantuan, kitchen-sink sandwiches. the ingredients are just so good - a lot of locally-made stuff, and always very fresh.

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 17:23 (seventeen years ago)

Lauren, are you from Cleveland?

― kate78, Friday, 3 October 2008 18:27 (seventeen years ago)

originally, yes.

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 18:29 (seventeen years ago)

East or west side?

― kate78, Friday, 3 October 2008 18:57 (seventeen years ago)

lived in both, actually!

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 18:58 (seventeen years ago)

i take it you're a native, as well?

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 18:59 (seventeen years ago)

Yes, west side.

― kate78, Friday, 3 October 2008 19:00 (seventeen years ago)

gah, now i can't stop thinking about oversized grilled cheese sandwiches and beer!

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 19:13 (seventeen years ago)

YUM, CLEVELAND. I'm also gonna try to get to the Town Fryer and Sokolowski's on this trip. And eat Maha's falafel at every chance.

― kate78, Friday, 3 October 2008 19:30 (seventeen years ago)

i have to try maha's. everyone raves about it. i always get a brat at the wsm, but i need to break out of that rut.

― lauren, Friday, 3 October 2008 19:40 (seventeen years ago)

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