Mimi's sandwiches are still around; I like Uncle Abe's Deli on Franklin near the Sears Tower (one of the few sandwich shops in the city to have caraway rye); and although I'm not the fan of Manny's that some are, I hear their sandwiches are indeed pretty popular. A Taste of Heaven in Andersonville has nearly a dozen sandwiches to choose from, too, and I think Cafe Boost across the street has a few. Even the pharmacy a few blocks north on Clark has added a half-decent pastrami sandwich to its sit-down deli counter space. Aside from Manny's, they're all destinations for me.

I was using the terms that we started with, re ethnicity. But the debate gets cloudy when you start calling reubens middle-American sandwiches. The history is indeed tortured, but the debate appears to between those who think a Jewish fellow in NYC invented it versus those who believe a Jewish guy in Omaha came up with it. Either way, it's a Jewish-American sandwich, though I'll concede Omaha is pretty much in the middle of America in so many ways.

If you like reubens, I'd say Manny's are the best anywhere. Manny's is in Chicago, it turns out. Don't be fooled by the smallish pre-fabs on the counter. They get freshened up and overstuffed when you order. Maller's coffee shop has (had?) solid reubens.

Now, the club sandwich and variations thereon (your turkey bacon avocado, eg). That's what I was thinking of when I suggested Dagwood's. You have a point there, as a good club is indeed a good sandwich. But for me, cheap white or wheat toast is fine on this kind of sandwich. So I almost always order one when I get dragged into one of the weird Loop diners, like Marquette Inn, Maxim's, etc.

And a grilled PB&Banana demands Wonder Bread or lesser.

JeffB wrote:
Where among the rolling wheatfields, deserts, mountains and praries of not-urban-ethnic-America is this fine sandwich of which you speak?

I suppose the ideal for me can be found in a longstanding Thanksgiving Day tradition. At some point, usually during the second football game, and long after the table is cleared, a single family member, acting against all biological appetite suppression signals, will slip into the kitchen and begin surreptitiously assembling a sandwich. Others will soon follow. Fueled by tryptophan and various festive libations, we will consider any condiment on the inside refrigerator door, open any just-wrapped leftovers, use whatever is left of the bread basket or the Polish rye that is always on hand, and take only the best of the turkey meat left on the bird. Sometimes the creations will be ill-conceived. More often than not, they will turn out pretty well. If a bunch of revelers huddled in a kitchen can do it, why can't those who are paid to do it?

I have wandered far off topic. To reel this back in, I'll conclude that like Sasquatch or the jackalope, a "good old American turkey sandwich" and its basic ilk, done with substance and a little flair, may only be a figment of my imagination. It's perhaps more like Hitchcock's McGuffin--an intangible plot device that occasionally drives my culinary wanderlust. I just feel like I should be able to find something like that here, or anywhere for that matter. Maybe Jerry's or some of the other places mentioned will do that. Thanks for the suggestions...

I recently had the worst corned beef sandwich in memory during my first trip to Manny's. Dry and tasteless.

Bourgeois Pig Cafe in Lincoln Park has fantastic sandwiches with infinite variations.

I think that Milk and Honey cafe on Division Street makes some incredible sandwiches. I'm just disappointed that I'm too fat away to slip over there for lunch now.

YourPalWill wrote: I'm just disappointed that I'm too fat away to slip over there for lunch now.

Is that Freudian?

JeffB wrote:Hamburgers and BBQ aside, is there a middle-America, not-ethnic sandwich worth eating?

Yes; it's the grilled peanut butter and bacon sandwich on caraway seed rye or pumpernickle, mayo and lettuce optional. I don't know any restaurants who make them, but if you call ahead, my mother in Indianapolis would likely oblige you.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Yes; it's the grilled peanut butter and bacon sandwich on caraway seed rye or pumpernickle, mayo and lettuce optional. I don't know any restaurants who make them, but if you call ahead, my mother in Indianapolis would likely oblige you.

I a going to print this page out to show to my wife as she simply will not beleive that anyone else has ever heard of, much less prepared, this sandwich. I never tried it dressed with mayo/lettuce, for me a thrill is a slice of american cheese on it. I have been making Pb/Bacon/Rye with cheese grilled since my son got his teeth 18 years ago. It was just something I came up off the top of my head and I never thought that somebodies mom somewhere was making it long before me. Was your mom the originator ? does the sandwich have a name?

bob

Yes, the slice of American cheese is a variation I failed to mention. Another variation is to just use toast rather than grilling. This is served family style, with a big pile of toast in the middle of the table, a plate full of bacon, lettuce and maybe some pickles or tomato slices, and a communal jar of peanut butter. There is no name for this sandwich other than "good."

I thought it was un-Kosher to mix beef and dairy(Corned beef and Swiss).
BTW, Awesome, cheap turkey sandwich at Kasia's Deli on Chicago and Hoyne.

does the sandwich have a name?

Perry's Deli (174 N Franklin) calls it The Peter Panski (#21). Their version has baked ham in addition to peanut butter, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. I'm not sure if they grill it; I've been too frightened to try one.

"I thought it was un-Kosher to mix beef and dairy(Corned beef and Swiss)."

Who said anything about Kosher. The Reuben is Jewish, though, best anyone can tell.

Rene-- I have had the Peter Panski on more than one occasion. A good sandwich. Everything works together well. Not grilled.

I am under the impression that the Reuben was actually invented in Nebraska by Reuben Kulakofsky.

As for a middle american sandwich... the francheezie?

How about anything with mayonaise.

The Omaha-Jewish origin of the sandwich is actually explored earlier in the thread.

(By the way, [major digression here] I saw your scampi/langostino post. Good stuff. I don't think there's anything inherently confusing about different countries and languages calling the same thing by different names. But in the case of these critters, the confusion comes from places such as Red Lobster calling shrimp served in the style of (some) Italian scampi (gli scampi, as Fishguy says) "scampi." As for a cheap source of the shellfish, look at the seafood counter in Devon Market. Croatians dig scampi and they aren't looking to pay a lot. Ditto in the Asian supermarkets. Get the frozen: it's all been frozen anyway.

Croatian Scampi Buzara -- oh the memories!



JeffB - I'm going to buy those frozen scampi at Devon Market and give them a whirl. Thanks for the lead!

Regards,

Back to reubens ...

I was over reading at wikipedia on the origins of the Reuben. Toward the bottom of the article they described how to construct a Reuben, they advised chopped sweet onion, chopped parsley and sauerkraut are mixed together before being thrown on a Reuben sandwich. While I just adore Reubens and have had them at many places, I have never seen the sauerkraut with any additions. Has anyone seen this sauerkraut-sweet onion-parsley variant? If yes, then where?

In the article's references, there was a link to more Rueben history, which has more Fathers than Mothers.

Regards,

Excuse me, everyone, but you all seem to have missed the stupendous news that someone has recently has six different types of Lafayette boudin.

3) Trying six different types of boudin sausage in the Lafayette, LA

J Lawrence, I agree that ranking food cities is pointless. However, I believe that a ranking of boudin in Lafayette would be pointed enough to draw blood. Consider yourself cordially invited to submit same.

Since this thread has been resurrected, let me act as the fact squad:

While 200,000 is still a relative drop in the bucket in New York it's still more than Joliet, Waukegan and Aurora all combined.

Wanna bet? In 2000, Joliet and Aurora combined for about 150,000 Hispanics alone, using census statistics. If one takes the river corridor from Joliet to Elgin (which makes some sense - I cannot imagine how Waukegan fits in with the other places), there probably are as many if not more Mexicans than in NYC as a whole, particularly given the growth of Aurora. Just to put that into context.

Anyway, I do not see how one can say one city is better than another without even the smallest effort to define what the basis is. Best fine dining? Best cheap ethnic? Most to choose from, or just one that is better than any other?

As to this sandwich tangent - I do not think there ever were that many places that made really good sammies, and the rarity of good bread and wide availability of cheap, processed luncheon meat has made it an increasingly unattractive business model. Good sammies have become gourmet food, haven't they? Inexpensive gourmet food, but much more expensive than lousy sammies.

Back to cities: there are good cities and bad cities for food. I think Mike G has volunteered Wichita as being a tough place to eat well, and I have had bad experiences in Tulsa and its environs - one can eat well in either of those places, but it is more of an effort than many other places.

It seems to me that what happens in these types of threads is that people passionately and intelligently nominate places they know well and then summarily dismiss with little thought the great number of places they know nothing about.

I suggest the better task is to list the places I feel comfortable that I can eat well without too much effort. These include, in no particular order:

New York
Chicago
San Francisco
New Orleans
Austin
Los Angeles
Detroit (though I have mostly focused on Middle Eastern food, I admit)
Pittsburgh (this place is a real gem)
Charleston
Seattle
Boston
Portland, Maine
Atlanta (though one has to drive a lot)
Montreal (may I include Canada?)
Toronto
Vancouver
San Antonio
Miami
Philadelphia
Washington
Minneapolis

The eastern cities have certain advantages because they are packed tigher, and thus are easier to explore without driving long distances. But like someone said, once you get past certain places with unique food cultures like Chrleston, New Orleans or San Francisco, or the really big cities like New York, Chicago, LA, and Philadelphia (which deserves a lot more affection than it gets) with the number of options they offer, it is so subjective.

And before anyone jumps on me, I only excluded Dallas and Houston from my list because I do not know them - though I am spending a couple of weeks in Dallas over the next couple of months, so I will be remedying that.

A better question might be something like this - if you wanted to go somewhere for the weekend and eat well, where would you go and why?

Right now I would probably pick Charleston cause I do not get enough good southern and Low Country food here, plus I should be able to get some good Q. Chicago would probably come in second or third, with New York and Toronto right in there. But ask me in a month or so and it might be LA and Pittsburgh. So much good food.

I love the variant on Reuben where you use cole slaw instead of saurkraut. But a lot of places get unhappy if you ask for such a substitution. In that case I ask for no saurkraut and cole slaw on the side.

JeffB wrote:The Omaha-Jewish origin of the sandwich is actually explored earlier in the thread.

(By the way, [major digression here] I saw your scampi/langostino post. Good stuff. I don't think there's anything inherently confusing about different countries and languages calling the same thing by different names. But in the case of these critters, the confusion comes from places such as Red Lobster calling shrimp served in the style of (some) Italian scampi (gli scampi, as Fishguy says) "scampi." As for a cheap source of the shellfish, look at the seafood counter in Devon Market. Croatians dig scampi and they aren't looking to pay a lot. Ditto in the Asian supermarkets. Get the frozen: it's all been frozen anyway.

nuthin at Devon but frozen crawfish... and giant shrimp. The shot of that langostino is pre-cooked. Note the eyes are larger than shrimp...

I've been in several asian marts in the B'way/Argyle area this weekend and saw some awesome spiny lobster and many varieties of jumbo shrimp but no langostino.

...not to hijack

Oh oh, maybe this is going to be like the live shrimp search (which turned up live shrimp -- can't wait to get some).

I should clarify that the langostinos I saw at Devon were defrosted and behind the glass at the seafood counter. They were mis-marked as giant or large shrimp, but they were not shrimp. They had the long, tell-tale claws of Langostinos. They also were not spiny lobsters, critters with which I am familiar from FL.

I am not at Devon, so I can't vouch for what's there right now.