Hail to the Almighty Sandwich

What fits between two slices of bread?

The answer these days is a plethora of fillers and condiments that could stun the palates of those who are sticklers for a simple ham and Swiss on rye.

Sandwich making has become such high art that celebrated dishes such as mac-n-cheese, Buffalo chicken wings, and combined elements of Thanksgiving dinner have all ended up in the grips of our eager, little hands in some form of sandwich.

While refined eaters prefer their sandies neatly contained, others embrace the messier-is-better credo. Take the massive sloppy Joe that requires a fork and knife to eat at the famous Sloppy Joe’s in Daytona Beach, Florida. The original location in Key West is where the drippy all-American sandwich of ground meat in rich tomato sauce reportedly got its start shortly after Prohibition was repealed.

Also cumbersome, but worth every cent of its $22.95 price tag, is the hot pastrami sandwich at Katz Delicatessen in Manhattan. Human jaws aren’t designed to aptly chomp down on this towering monstrosity. But you try your damnedest anyhow. Ditto for the devilish, melty Reuben that costs a buck more.

As Seen on Television

Other popular sandwiches with multi-cultural roots such as hoagies, submarines, muffalettas, stuffed pita pockets, and wraps have become exceedingly more well-endowed over the past two decades, at least in U.S. eateries hoping to attract the likes of Food Network’s Guy Fieri with their over-the-top spins.

For dramatic takes on po’boy sandwiches in New Orleans, for example, Fieri and fading TV chef Emeril Lagasse paid a visit to Mahony’s. It’s where traditional fillings of breaded shrimp and oysters give way to defiant alternatives like chicken livers, french fries, and root beer-glazed ham.

And then there’s Smack Shack, which operates inside a Minneapolis bar for sandwiches loaded with leg of lamb on toasted baguette. They’re complemented by saffron-garlic aioli, harissa, and fennel-seed slaw—certainly not the kind of lunch our moms packed for us on school days.

In my limited viewings of the TV sitcom, Friends, I recall an episode in which the character, Ross, became infuriated when discovering someone ate his sandwich from the workplace refrigerator.

The culprit was his boss. And the sandwich comprised Thanksgiving Day leftovers.

The concept sounded novel and exciting at the time—and indeed it tasted as such when sinking my choppers into The Bobbie at a local Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop. Think house-roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mayo on a springy sub roll.

Smile and Say, “Grilled Cheese!”

Compared to when sandwiches were supposedly invented by Middle Eastern rabbis in 1 BC, when they’d place chopped nuts and apples between matzos—the iconic grilled cheese sandwich is sinfully modern in comparison.

The notion of hot cheese oozing from two pieces of bread would have seemed far-fetched even to John Montague of London. He was the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who in the mid-1700s demanded plates of bread, cheese and meat be brought to him while he gambled over card games. Little did he know what cheesy madness the 20th and 21st centuries would deliver.

It was in the early 1900s when cheese monger James L. Kraft concocted a processed cheese product that soon became the star of classic grilled cheese sandwiches that every tyke in the country came to know. (The suitable pairing of tomato soup emerged as an inexpensive sidekick in school cafeterias during the Great Depression.)

Grilled cheese sandwiches with Kraft’s newfangled “American cheese” were all the rage, although they’ve since wildly evolved and turned fashionable.

In San Diego, California alone, there are at least three businesses specializing in the dish—and doing well during the pandemic. Among them is Bread & Cheese Eatery and Catering.

“Whenever I came across grilled cheese sandwiches in restaurants, I used to always think, ‘I can do this better,” said co-owner Justin Frank, who started the venture three years ago.

The result is a menu that uses mostly sourdough bread supplied by a local bakery, plus various sauces that get grilled into the bread for six different versions of the sandwich. They include the Burn-A-Nator featuring pepper jack and salami on jalapeno-cheddar sourdough grilled with enchilada sauce, and a pastrami-sauerkraut Reuben grilled with Thousand Island dressing.

There’s also “The Classic,” but sans American cheese. It instead uses Provolone and cheddar.

“American cheese would lower our quality. I don’t want to tell people, ‘We make really good sandwiches, but we also sell this shitty one,” Frank quipped.

Kitchens specializing in grilled cheese sandwiches have reached all corners of the U.S., even in Amish country at Wunderbar in Harmony, Pennsylvania. There, pretzel bread encases a choice of Amish-produced curds such as smoked Gouda, horseradish cheddar and aged Asiago. “They melt just as good as American cheese,” an employee insisted.

Additional Sandwich Shops Recommended by The Hash Star

Greenblatt’s Deli and Fine Wine Shop
Los Angeles, CA
Yes, there are decent Reubens and chopped liver sandwiches, but the grilled ham with Gruyere and tomatoes is one of life’s simple, elegant pleasures dating back to when its Sunset Boulevard home was still a dirt road.

Classic Rock Sandwich Shoppe
San Diego, CA
Brimming with memorabilia from the 1969 Woodstock music festival, the shop offers 100 different hearty sandwiches named after musicians from the era. They’re layered with infinite combinations of meats, veggies and groovy condiments.

Schwabl’s Restaurant
Buffalo, NY (Due to reopen in October)
This is one of the city’s oldest spots for classic “beef on weck.” What you get is slow-roasted beef piled into kummelweck rolls, which are embedded with caraway seeds and coarse salt. Mild white horseradish served alongside clenches the deal.

Cutlets Sandwich Co.
New York, NY
This midtown Manhattan joint marries breaded chicken cutlets with things like thick bacon, white cheddar and secret sauce on hero rolls that effectively hold it all together. The sandwich fillings extend also to eggplant and turkey cutlets. And why not?

Limoncello
San Francisco, CA
You haven’t had a fine mortadella sandwich until trying Limoncello’s “Napolitano” swaddled in house focaccio bread. The construct uses meat infused with whole peppercorns and pistachio nuts. Mixed greens, onions, tomatoes, Dijon mustard and a little mayo send it straight to heaven.

Stein’s Market and Deli
New Orleans, LA
It’s easy to find excellent muffalettas all over New Orleans. But when you’re cruising through the lower Garden District on the hunt for a cranked-up version of the sandwich, look no further than the “Muphuletta.” It expertly combines Tuscan ham, Molinari sopressata, mortadella, and sharp Provolone with garlic vinaigrette on fresh ciabatta.