Anyone else on the West Coast, who's lived on the East Coast, feel a void in the sandwich shop culture there? I've been living in Santa Monica / LA for a while now and there is basically nothing. People go nuts for this place called Bay Cities but it would just be a 'meh place on the east coast. I'm talking humble sub shops here. Of course there are some good artisan food trucks and jewish delis, but nothing much better sub-shop-wise than chains like Jersey Mike's or Subway. I guess this article made me hungry. And sad. Good night.
I like Bay Cities a lot but Canters and Langers are pretty great spots too. Mario's in Glendale is really rad. Berges in La Cañada puts an interesting spin on things with Armenian style bread. I think you just gotta leave your East Coast mentality at the door and be a little more optimistic. There are plenty of good places to eat out here.
Of course you're never gonna be able to find everything everywhere. That's what makes all these parts of the world unique.
Langers is good sure. Plenty of good food in LA no doubt but my point is just good sandwiches in the east are everywhere; dime a dozen. Surprises me no one has tried to capitalize on it more - I'm sure the demand would be there.
The type of pizza you get in Rome is a different variety from Chicago or New York styles (not to mention a number of other types). While the basic concept is the same, the execution tends to be very different, and you can find excellent examples of each of them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dream of a great Chicago pizza pie... Something I doubt will ever be seen in Norway.
Exactly. There are many styles of pizza, most of them shouldn't be directly compared to most of them. It only makes sense to compare styles which are closely related.
You have to look beyond the front door in LA. Even though the place might not look like its so great, get inside and see the menu for yourself. There are plenty of places that make great sandwiches - you just have to find them. LA is one of those places where you have to get out and explore a lot more than the East Coast, where things are bound tighter (and thus more accessible).
Last time I was in LA I had great sandwich food at places like Fred62's in Hollywood, Philippe The Original downtown, Jay's Burgers (RIP), and so on. You've just got to find these places.
"For the purposes of this field guide, we have laid down parameters. A hamburger is a marvelous sandwich, but it is one deserving of its own guide. The same holds for hot dogs, and for tacos and burritos, which in 2006, in the case known as Panera v. Qdoba, a Massachusetts judge declared were not sandwiches at all. Open-faced sandwiches are not sandwiches. Gyros and shawarmas are not sandwiches. The bread that encases them is neither split nor hinged, but wrapped."
Fair enough, especially since they called out this distinction so clearly. But yeah, no doubt the void you've noticed is almost certainly related to the taqueria culture on the west coast [1].
It's not that sandwich shops don't exist on the west coast -clearly they do, and some of them are pretty good. However, we just don't have the sandwich culture out here. How can you tell? If you're in the mood to stir something up, just ask a couple of people from that region where to get a really good sandwich, and see if you start an argument. See if that argument turns surprisingly personal.
Now, try the same thing with burritos, and you'll get whole different reaction. You may also hear that burritos are vastly better in SF than in SoCal, or you may hear that the question itself is all wrong, because burritos are properly listed as a minor niche item on the bottom right menu of genuinely good taquerias, which you only find in SoCal.
I've been west coast my whole life, but I get the feeling that's the kind of status sandwiches have on the east coast.
[1] I originally considered changing this to "California". But a guy who lived in Seattle for 7 years told me that a taqueria up there (there's my great cite) sold "Mission Style" burritos in reference to the mission district of SF. So, on the basis of that remarkable bit of information, we'll stick with "west coast" here.
I wonder how prevalent distinctly regional sandwiches are in different parts of the US.
I've grown up on the North Shore of Boston and around here we have "Roast Beef" shops. From what I understand, the roast beef you get is distinctly different than anywhere else I've visited. The meat is served warm and very thinly sliced on a burger bun or onion roll. Many people order it topped with barbecue sauce and possibly some cheese, horseradish or mayonnaise. The "beef" sandwiches usually come in two or three different sizes, such as junior, large or super. A common combination of barbecue sauce, cheese and mayo can be ordered by the phrase "three-way."
There tends to be distinct loyalty to your favorite roast beef place. Some roast beef shops also serve pizza, "subs" or possibly fried seafood, but the best tend to focus on roast beef.
There is one chain of roast beef places called Kelly's, but most of the roast beef places seem to be independent.
I grew up in the Southeast, lived in the Southwest, and currently live in the Southmiddle. I would say there are regional tastes in sandwiches but many things seem to be universal.
For instance, the sandwich you describe I've had in variations everywhere I've lived. It's just a roast beef sandwich. The only real differences I suspect are the use in locally obtained ingredients that have a huge potential to making the sandwich different from region to region. That may be why what is essentially a universal sandwich could be better in one place than another. I shall have to remember your recommendation if I ever find myself in the Boston area.
As for your question, growing up in the Southeast the best I can offer off the top of my head is the pulled pork sandwich. There are far more variations than you describe for your beef sandwich. I've seen the sandwich offered in the other areas I've lived, obviously, but not as prevalent as in the Southeast. My wife claims nothing matches pulled pork sandwiches from this one place from her childhood in small town Alabama. I can't say which sandwich for the Southwest as I lived in Vegas and that place is not based in reality. As for Southmiddle, gourmet hamburgers seems to be the current sandwich fad.
Whenever I've ordered a roast beef sandwich anywhere else, the meat is served cold. This has been echoed by acquaintances. You've had warm roast beef sandwiches in the south also? Mostly just curious!
I completely understand something being less prevalent in various areas. Certainly barbecue places are generally few and far between here in MA, NH & ME.
I've had both, but I prefer heated. I think it depends on the type of establishment. Also, whether it is being prepared fresh for you. Pre-packaged (or pre-sliced, but not universal) tends to be cold while fresh tends to be warm. Then there's toasted which obviously comes out hot.
I guess it could also depend on the definition of cold sandwich, which could be different region to region.
I grew up thinking a roast beef sandwich was Arby's. I've since moved to the North Shore and fell in love with the local roast beef here. Not to say that they are any different from elsewhere, but I've always thought the number of older roast beef places in the area reflected an early fast food regionalism before burgers, subs, and pizza homogenized everything. The roast beef is generally freshly sliced thin, hot, and juicy and I eat it plain with just salt and pepper.
I had something like that in Montreal once. IIRC it was also called 'roast beef'. It was so greasy and dripping with toppings, I thought I'd clog my arteries right there on the spot if I ate it all.
The first thing I thought of was this bit from 30 Rock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7eq7O4SbJk): "All of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich. I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich."
I disagree with the declaration of open faced sandwiches not being a sandwich. You're telling me smørrebrød isn't a sandwich? I realize it's not American, but it's a sandwich, baby.
How could that be a sandwich?! I don't want to cite the dictionary but a sandwich is distinctly a food where fillings are sandwiched by bread. A smørrebrød or tartine can be tasty, but don't claim they're a sammie.
Curious, was the word "sandwich" used in that context before the invention of the sandwich by the Earl of Sandwich?
If not, I don't think you can use a secondary definition of a word as an example for the primary definition when the secondary definition exists solely because of the primary definition.
There was a logical flaw there perhaps, but I stand by my point.
Per a Guardian article linked side-thread, the sandwich was invented by our good Earl for a easily portable and hand-eatable food. One would not call an open-faced nightmare that.
It's like the Anglosaxon world starts with what we in Sweden would call a double sandwich (since it has two layers of bread) and declare that as the simplest form, thus considering our normal sandwiches to be "open".
Of course, in Swedish the word for an open face sandwich is simply "smörgås", which doesn't translate but does not at all have the layering (sandwiching) connotations. It means basically "buttered bread" ("smör" is literally "butter") although it's an old word.
In Germany we call it Butterbrot (same meaning as smörgåsbröd/smørrebrød) and it's still far more popular than the sandwich (though most commercially available bread dishes definitely are sandwiches).
There's an urban legend (referenced in the Etymology section of the English Wikipedia article) that the sandwich was created by the Earl of Sandwich (or his servant) because he liked to eat buttered bread while playing card games and found it easier to eat if he added an extra slice of bread on top.
If you tell a German to make you a sandwich, you'll most likely get something resembling an actual sandwich. Though it'll likely just be buttered bread with an extra slice of bread on top and just one type of cold cuts or cheese -- because we're just not used to making actual (multi-layer or stuffed) sandwiches.
By that logic one could take any dish in the world, slap a slice of bread in there somewhere, and declare you have a sandwich. Which many may consider an insult to both sandwiches and all dishes that are not sandwiches.
It's absolutely not a sandwich. "Open-faced sandwich" is a travesty of a name for a lone slice of bread with something on top. We should call it what it is. A disappointment.
My first introduction to a USA sarnie was in a little supermarket in Hawaii. Picked up a 'sub' or what we'd call a soft baguette. When I started to eat it my brother and I fell about laughing at the shear madness of it. There was SO MUCH MEAT in it, like more that 3 packets of ham all squished in. Enough ham to feed us for weeks.
In the UK we generally put one slice of ham into a sandwich. In USA they put two or three packets of ham into a 'sub'. That one sub pushed me and my brother down a road of extreme subs, more meat, more hot sauce.
Oh God, and Taco Bell. I received my order and to my astonishment it looked nothing like the picture over the counter. I kept saying the the lady behind the counter "I didn't order this brown slop, I ordered that delicious looking meal up there."
Not all subs are created equal. Some chain places don't serve traditional subs, they serve lettuce heavy salads on bread with a slice or two of meat. I do not visit these places. One of my previous jobs offered a free meal to coders on a project and I refused after finding out that the sandwich was from one of these locations. I have standards; I don't eat crap even if it's free.
But a sub from a little supermarket is not a good indicator of what I would say is a typical American sub sandwich. You have to go to a proper deli. The difference is that a proper deli is not using low quality meats. If the sandwich is stuffed with meat then chances are it's cheap, low-quality meat that you probably shouldn't eat anyway. Then there are the other ingredients that a proper deli would have.
Also, for future reference, almost all American fast food chains lie in their presentations.
The first time I went into Subway in America and asked for a cheese & tomato sandwich, I discovered that there was a big difference between what people in the US think of as a sandwich and a British sarnie. And just don't try for a cheese and pickle sandwich...
The first time I went into Subway in Australia they asked me "what salads" I wanted. I thought they were asking me if I wanted a salad. They were asking me what I wanted on it! I told my friends and they wanted to know what they say in America if not "what salads", and I said "they just say what do you want on it", and they thought that was pretty funny.
I've always thought they weren't a restaurant at all. Think about it. What benefit does a restaurant give? There are only 3. They cook the food. They serve the food. They clean up the dishes.
Subway does none of those. They count Zero on the restaurant scale. They don't even have recipes. They advertise that they do - the new chicken carbonara! Try asking for it. "What do you want on that?" I answer "I don't know, what does it come with?" They say "It doesn't come with anything." Once I dragged the signpost from the doorway over to the counter and pointed at the ad, which included a list of ingredients. "I want that". The poor girl cried.
The pinnacle of incompetence was my son asking for a BLT. "What do you want on it?" My god.
You clearly know what Subway's deal is, but something about it doesn't agree with you? It almost sounds like you were trolling them, or playing dumb just to get a reaction out of them.
And? Are you somehow obligated to do business with them? When you choose to hand over your money to them, you're not conveying the message that their sandwiches are substandard, or that they provide zero service.
I don't. In the last 10 years, I've only gone there when somebody else wanted it. On a car trip, or with business associates etc. Just enough to make me hate them all over again.
American sandwiches are really on an other level. If an older Swedish person sees you putting two toppings on a sandwich they might call it "tvesovel". The word has strong connotations of gluttony, wastefulness and low morals. Putting more than two toppings is just unheard of.
Oh man, seeing that avocado sandwich brought back visceral memories of my childhood growing up in the hippy enclaves of Mt Shasta CA and Ashland OR.
Should you find yourself in San Francisco, as I do now, I strongly urge you to visit Darwin Cafe and try some of their sandwiches. They are always interesting, almost always good, and sometimes transcendent. (They only do like 4 sandwiches at a time, and mix them up every couple of weeks.)
Oh, and I agree with another commenter: to me, open-faced sandwiches are very very much sandwiches. How can a salmon tartine not be a sandwich? Or spanish tostas? Madness!
This is a great article that celebrates the best of the U.S. as a "melting pot". So many of these sandwiches are a mishmash of the cultures from all over the world that influenced them.
Also, this article made me pine for a good Jewish deli were I live. I haven't had a proper Reuben in years.
Interesting to see how many of these sandwiches I (a Canadian) have absolutely no experience with, and which ones are super familiar. (Anecdotally: most of the sliced bread ones are familiar, a lot of the hard & soft roll ones are new.) Cool!
You take a sub roll, split it in half, slather it in mayo, layer on meat and cheese, then throw it in a pizza oven until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted, then add the veggies. That is a grinder. Everything else is just a sandwich.
when I saw "avocado" sandwich the first thing I thought of was mashed avocadoes with diced tomatoes, onions, and coriander wrapped around tortilla chips.
I'm generally not a very patriotic American, but boy did I feel a certain amount of pride looking at all of these sandwiches that have been crafted in America.
Yeah, it's one of those lazy loading js implementations that tries to be too clever. It's not only lazy loading them, but it's trying to load different sizes based on the client. Not sure if anything they do would be better than just using optimized jpegs and settling on one size.
I just read the article on my actual newspaper but damn seeing it on the web really is a completely different experience: those big, crisp (and colored!) pictures are so much nicer online it made me hungry! This is where their website really shines, imo.
A tip for any photographers out there: When you're shooting food, don't do the wide aperture no-depth-of-field thing like this article. Get the entire plate in focus. Otherwise the food just looks kind of weird and dizzying.
Panini is just Italian for sandwiches. Panino being the singular. You can put what you want on them but popular things here would be one of prosciutto, speck, salami, cheeses like mozzarella or (locally) Asiago, and maybe tomatoes.
Some of them are certainly odd for native speakers of the borrowed word though: "panini sandwiches" for instance. Sometimes languages "borrow" nonexistant words, like "footing" for jogging in Italian.
> Sometimes languages "borrow" nonexistant words, like "footing" for jogging in Italian.
German loves to do that, too. A cell phone is a "Handy", a projector is a "Beamer", etc.
And then there's Japanese, which takes English words and abbreviates them differently. So "personal computer" becomes "persocom" instead of "PC", "remote control" becomes "remocon" instead of "R/C", "television" becomes "televi" instead of "TV". From that, you might think Japanese people don't like acronyms... until you see that they call a secretary an "OL", which stands for "office lady".
Funny. "Pepperoni" in German generally refers to chili peppers (though recently I've heard it being used to describe salamis, likely due to US influence). Which confused the hell out of me as a child when I heard that the most popular pizza in the US is the "pepperoni pizza".
Bell peppers and some other non-spicy peppers are called "Paprika" in German (whereas apparently in English "paprika" refers to a spice made from chili peppers).
Amazing how these words tend to evolve to take on entirely contradictory meanings in different languages.
Using, primarily, the bread doesn't feel like the right way to create a sandwich taxonomy.
I think it would be a cluster of characteristics and the most prominent example of that category (say, the hamburger) would often be the category name.
