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Home , Beef on weck, BLT, BLT cocktail, Cheesesteak, Italian beef, Jibarito

Recipe on page 151.

AN UNABASHEDLY GLUTTONOUS INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGINS AND MEANING OF THE GREATEST GODDAMN PHOTOGRAPHS AMERICAN BY FOOD TRAVIS EVER RATHBONE

RECIPES BY THE WORKSHOP KITCHEN SAN FRANCISCO

ou can keep the Constitution, the tions and croque madames at bistros and White Castles when no Colt .45, the Internet, and the iPhone: one is looking. There was a flank , olive oil, andmozzarella di What makes me proudest as an bufala hero on semolina bread, wrapped in sandy newspaper, that American is our . you shared with your new bride on the beach during your hon- There are a lot of us. We eat a lot. We eymoon; ten years after that, a pork roll, egg, and marked eat on the move. And we make it up as the morning you got back together after a bad spell. Leftover tur- we go along. We didn’t require some key dressed with gravy, schmeared with stuffing, and thrown onto British aristocrat to take the basic a doubled-over slice of rye helps one man shake off a hangover out- Y stuff of life—meat and cheese and side Burlington, Vermont; a truck-stop chicken biscuit helps an- often more meat and more cheese—and put it between two slices other finish the haul to Johnson City. of bread. No, all we needed to create the sub and the Dagwood and And despite all our transience, our relative disregard for conti- the Cubano and the and the on rye was the nuity, life here in Nation will always be fundamentally unleashed energies of a million hungry people from a hundred dif- local—the taste of home, the thing you miss when you move. I’m ferent cultures. People who didn’t have the time to sit down or the from Atlantic City. The , for me, is a secret language. space, or just didn’t give a shit about the formalities. Likewise, New Orleanians speak muffuletta to one another. Buf- Which is to say: Americans. faloans, the jargon of on weck. Sandwiches are the default food for every part of a man’s life But we’re always happy to share: our stories, our favorites, even here. You eat them after you come back from a funeral, when some our blasphemous reinventions, recognizing that even in the most thoughtful person lays out a big, somber plate of cold cuts. You gnaw alien and inferior sandwich is an echo of the ones we love best. nervously on a thrown-together meatloaf on potato bread some- Ah, to be an American with a big appetite and no gluten issues! one hands you while you fret in the waiting room of the OB ward, For someone who loves sandwiches, there is no better place to live waiting to see the baby. You eat pulled-pork sandwiches at bus sta- on earth. JOSH — OZERSKY

FACTS THE PICKLE YOU GET WITH YOUR DELI SANDWICH IS ONE OF THE LAST FREE THINGS IN THIS WORLD. CARELESSLY APPLIED AVOCADO

143 GREAT REGIONAL SANDWICHES OF AMERICA THE MIAMI THE SANDWICH

Basically, somebody looked MAKER at a Cubano and said, “It’s He might bust your provolone, mortadella, and ol- not rich enough. Let’s put it chops, but a great sand- ive salad—a popular lunch for on thick, sweet egg bread so wich maker understands Sicilian workers—on round, that it’s more like cake.” One two things: quality and continuity. Quality is self- flat muffuletta bread. Cen- assumes that the idea came FOR THE MEAT > 1 Tbsp kosher and bring to a boil evident. That’s why the > ½ lb > 4 cloves garlic, over medium-high THE tral Grocery remains true to its to somebody who had been shop’s been open for so > spice mix: 2 Tbsp peeled and sliced heat. Reduce heat founder’s vision. “People will drinking. Try it at Versailles, long. Continuity, howev- fresh coarse-ground > 1 onion, peeled, and simmer to infuse LOUISVILLE coffee, 2 tsp ground quartered, and sliced the coriander, about ask, ‘Can you put mayo on the which has defined Cuban er, is harder. It bonds the store with a place even , 1 tsp > 2 tsp whole corian- 2 minutes. Stir in Created at the Brown Hotel sandwich?’ ” third-generation food for generations of visi- dried orange zest, der seeds the jalapeños and as the place changes— 1 Tbsp dark-brown > 6 soft but sub- return to a boil. Re- in 1926 as a snack for attend- co-owner Tommy Tusa says. tors. 3555 Southwest Eighth as industries launch and sugar, 1 big pinch stantial hoagie-style move the pot from ees of its famous all-night “I tell them, ‘No. Mayo doesn’t Street; 305-444-0240; ver- recede, and roads are crushed red-pepper rolls, split in half the heat, cover, parties, the classic Hot Brown go on this sandwich.’ ” 923 De- saillesrestaurant.com paved over, and shops flakes lengthwise and set aside un- and restaurants flick- > 1 medium white on- til it cools to room consists of points with catur Street; 504-523-1620; cen- er on the street grid like ion, peeled, halved, METHOD temperature. Then roasted turkey, , toma- tralgroceryneworleans.com and cut into ¼-inch- > Coat brisket evenly transfer to a seal- spent Christmas lights. thick slices with spice mix. able container and to, and Mornay—a rich bécha- A great sandwich maker Unlike their East Coast counterparts, ’s turn-of-the- > 6 cloves garlic, > Add onion, garlic, refrigerate. century immigrants had access to the country’s largest com- mel cheese sauce—baked un- is a custodian of region- peeled and smashed and stock to a slow > Remove brisket al identity, an insurer of mercial stockyards. Their legacy is the city’s : top-sir- > 2 cups chicken cooker. Place brisket and slice against the til golden brown. According a city’s soul, a still wit- loin butt oven-roasted in water with garlic and seasonings that drip stock on top, cover, and grain into ¼-inch- to Josh Bettis, current chef at ness to evolution, and a into the liquid—making the juice you use as a dip—and served on cook about 6 hours. thick slices. FOR THE PICKLES > Meanwhile, prepare > Skim some off the Brown, roasted veggies person you rely on when crisp-crusted bread with : fermented vegetable relish made with hot peppers and shaved celery. In our version, Chica- > 20 jalapeños, the jalapeños. Place surface of the broth. are an acceptable stand-in for home doesn’t look like stemmed and cut the vinegar, wa- > Layer everything to THE LOOSEMEAT home anymore. go’s stockyard past is represented with a big beef brisket braised the turkey. 335 West into ¼-inch slices ter, kosher salt, gar- taste. Dip in coffee- THE SIOUX CITY, IOWA —JESSIE KISSINGER until tender in a spicy coffee brine, and the giardiniera’s dagger of > 1 cup white vinegar lic, onion, and cori- infused broth. Broadway; 502-583-1234; CHICAGO heat and acidity is delivered by homemade pickled jalapeños. > 1 ½ cups water ander seeds in a pot Makes 6 sandwiches. brownhotel.com is seasoned with First devised at the Borin- , , , quen Restaurant, at its former garlic powder, salt and pepper, location in Humboldt Park, and a little onion, cooked in a the jibarito lays traditional skillet, and then scooped onto CHICAGO fillings—slow-cooked Latin- a bun. It started out style pork or chopped fried in 1934 at Ye Olde Tavern, now THE B.L.A.T. chicken—between slices known as the Garden Cafe, LOS ANGELES THE MUFFULETTA of twice-fried green plan- whose current recipe was

NEW ORLEANS tains brushed with garlic and created using feedback from A BLT enhanced by the fruit oil. It’s an inversion of most more than twenty longtime so beloved in California that In 1906, Salvatore Lupo, own- sandwiches: creamy on the customers who claimed very it could become governor if it er of Central Grocery in the outside, chewy on the inside. vivid memories of the orig- ran. The B.L.A.T. is simple, tex- French Quarter, combined Ge- 3020 North Central Avenue; inal. 1322 Jackson Street; turally satisfying, hard to screw noa salami, , Emmentaler, 773-622-8570 712-252-2515 up, and actually easy to im-

ANNALS OF MEMORABLE AMERICAN SANDWICHES METHODS FOR DISPENSING WITH LEFTOVER BRISKET 1. On garlic toast with melted Gruyère. 2. On a with THE ITALIAN SUB LETHBRIDGE. ANDREW TYPOGRAPHY HAND BY KENDRY;

C a fried egg and ketchup. I used to work with, a weekend-biker type no tucked in the crook of a solid inch of deli meat and provolone. 3. On an onion roll with There was an older guy pepper-jack cheese and with a handlebar mustache and a runaway cholesterol problem. He When we had finished, we’d lean back, at once renewed and immo- roasted red peppers. tried to eat right, really tried, but on those days when he felt as if bilized by that pound and a half of fat and salt and sodden starch. he’d been kicked in the nuts by the world, his resolve would buckle My God, those things. I don’t eat them too often now—part of a and he’d order an Italian sub for lunch. But he didn’t call them Ital- broader program of early-grave avoidance—but every once in a ian subs. He called them “slammers,” as in “We’re gettin’ slammers!” while, when I’m walking home past my corner deli at night dinged- Which is what he would yell. The slammers would come from a place up, head down, thinking about vegetables for dinner, the impulse down the street—glorious things the size and weight of forearms, prevails: Fk it. We’re gettin’ slammers.

with a mess of onions, hots, pickles, oil, salt, pepper, and orega- —JOE KEOHANE M JOE BY ILLUSTRATIONS

WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY RESULT IN A CATASTROPHIC STRUCTURAL FAILURE. YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE A GREAT MAN, A GREAT CHARACTER, OR BOTH WHEN SOMEONE NAMES A SANDWICH AFTER YOU. THOSE DAMP, CLAMMY WRAPS THEY SERVE AT BUSINESS MEETINGS DIMINISH US AS A PEOPLE. JUST

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prove: Mash the avocados to ANNALS OF MEMORABLE AMERICAN SANDWICHES hold it together and add some field greens for a little spice, like they do at Flake in Venice, California. 513 Rose Avenue; from Cuba to Tampa to THE PIMIENTO CHEESE Transported originally feed cigar-factory workers, the Cubano found 310-396-2333; veniceflake.com the fridge was Stage 1: On one slice of store-bought white bread its true home in Miami, where the salty, sweet sand- When I was growing up in Dallas, always stocked with a clear plastic tub of Price’s (preferably Mrs. Baird’s Large White: a Texas clas- wich is an essential part of the late-night landscape. pimiento-. The “spread” part still sic), apply a half-inch-high layer of pimiento cheese. The distinctive Cuban bread, traditionally made with seems strange, suggesting that it functioned like Place one slice of bread over cheese, with alu- lard, is slathered with butter and layered with sugar- Miracle Whip or mustard. But pimiento cheese— minum foil, and place in lunch box. cured bolo ham, slow-roasted marinated pork, Swiss that piquant mélange of cheese, pickled peppers, Stage 2. At the school cafeteria, remove top cheese, mustard, and pickles. It’s all compressed in a and —isn’t considered by Texans and slice of bread. Sprinkle approximately fifteen Fri- hot plancha, which flattens the sandwich, toasts the southerners to be a sandwich condiment. It’s the tos (Cheetos will do in a pinch) on the pimiento bread, and lets the meat and cheese warm in their main idea, the point, the filling of the sandwich. cheese and lightly compress with your hand until own steam. Our take uses mild Italian prosciutto THE FRENCH DIP Now, that sandwich is usually just pimiento corn chips are secured. You’ll end up with a com- cotto; a roasted pork butt rubbed with dried orange LOS ANGELES cheese on bread. This is what was always placed pacted rectangle of cheese, chips, and bread—ba- peel, which echoes the citrus juice in the original in my lunch box as a kid, anyway. But for me, it was sically a redneck pressata. marinade; and slightly sweet potato rolls. The story goes that in 1918, only a canvas. The finishing work happened when It is the ultimate sandwich: cheap, easy, innova- Philippe Mathieu, owner of I got to school. The following recipe covers both tive, and exceptionally portable. And delicious at INGREDIENTS and sliced thickly cross- ty side of the pork, then and sputtering on top, the bottom half of Philippe, was making a roast- stages of the process. any age. —ROSS MCCAMMON > 4- to 5-lb boneless pork wise into ¼-inch slices make six small slits on the about 1 hour. Reduce each roll, layer Swiss beef sandwich for a cop and ac- butt > 6 slices Swiss cheese meaty side and insert gar- temperature to 300 de- and prosciutto, and > 6 garlic cloves, peeled > 6 slices prosciutto cotto lic cloves. grees and roast for an then add pickles and cidentally dropped the roll into and smashed > 6 potato rolls > Coat the pork with the additional 4 hours, check- mustard as desired. a pan of drippings. The cop hot sauce, cheese, whatever. about the Jersey Sloppy > spice mix: 2 Tbsp dried > kosher dill pickles spice mix. ing every hour or so and Close with top half of roll. oregano, 2 Tbsp ground > Dijon mustard > Layer the bottom of a adding extra water if > Lightly brush top and took it, liked it, and the French Sharkey’s in Binghamton has Joe—brought back from cumin, 2 Tbsp sea salt, pan with the on- necessary. bottom of sandwiches dip was born. The sandwich been using the same recipe the Cuban bar that gave it 1 Tbsp granulated gar- METHOD ions, then place the pork > When pork is cooked with vegetable oil lic, 1 Tbsp granulated on- > Preheat oven to 425 in the center and fill the through but still moist, and press between has spread, but the original still to make its version for more its name and originally sold ion, 1 tsp dried orange degrees. pan halfway with water. turn off heat and let cool two skillets over exerts a powerful hold. “We than sixty years. 56 Glenwood by the Town Hall Deli in peel, 1 Tbsp ground black > Using the tip of a par- > Place in middle of hot in the oven. medium heat until the had a gentleman suffer a heart Avenue; 607-729-9201 South Orange in the thirties— pepper ing knife, make a cross- oven and roast until the > When ready to serve, cheese melts. THE place slices of pork on Makes 6 sandwiches. > 1 large onion, peeled hatch pattern on the fat- meat is browned nicely attack,” says managing part- THE TRIPLE CITIES is how tidy it is: nine layers ner Mark Massengill. “As the (ENDICOTT, of thin-sliced bread, Swiss EMT was walking me through BINGHAMTON, JOHNSON cheese, ham, Russian dress- what we needed to do, the cus- CITY), NEW YORK ing, more meat (usually tomer came to. The first thing , turkey, or roast METHODS FOR DISPENSING WITH he asked was ‘Do you have my The spiedie—from speidino, beef ), and slaw. The second LEFTOVER PORK French dip?’ We wrapped it Italian for “skewer”—is made thing you’ll notice about it 1. MIAMI On 7-grain with toma- up and he was able to take it of marinated hunks of lamb, is the speed with which it to jam. 2. On sourdough THE JERSEY with refried beans. with him to the hospital.” 1001 pork, or chicken cooked on a SOUTH ORANGE, earns its name. 74 First 3. On a Portuguese roll with sliced provo- North Alameda Street; 213-628- skewer and served on Italian Street; 973-762-4900; town- lone and arugula. 3781; philippes.com bread with onions, peppers, The first thing you’ll notice halldeli.com

THE CHECKERED PAST AND GLORIOUS PRESENT OF

GREAT AMERICAN SANDWICHES EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA Conquistadors brought the pigs; the locals even- MEMPHIS tually cooked them whole, mixing the meat Postwar Memphis and soaking it in a West had jobs and KANSAS CITY Indies–influenced pep- a booming blues- After the Civil War, pery vinegar sauce. The fueled nightlife. former slaves flocked Big-Que sandwich at Barbecue was part to Kansas City— Wilber’s in Goldsboro of that free-for- which became a adds a creamy slaw to all, especially pork major meatpacking cut the sauce. ribs, which started hub. As a result, K. C. out as castaway CENTRAL TEXAS every- WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA food for slaves. Try Nineteenth-century German and thing. Embrace it at Scotch-Irish and Penn- them in sandwich Austrian immigrants opened Danny Edward’s BLVD sylvania German farmers form at A&R Bar- butcher shops here, and what Barbecue with a Big opted for the less-waste- B-Que, with ten- they didn’t sell, they smoked— D: a pile of point ends ful pork shoulder over der, almost silky particularly brisket. Get yours on stacked on marble whole hog. Later came rib meat, slipped butcher paper at Smitty’s Market rye with Swiss cheese the red slaw—made with off the bone and in Lockhart and make a sandwich and onion rings. ketchup—to counter the dressed with house with the side of white bread. smokier meat. Both are . deployed to devastating effect in the pork sand- wich at Jimmy’s BBQ in Lexington.

ABOUT EVERYTHING ANYONE HAS EVER PUT INTO A GOES WELL TOGETHER. OFFERING SOMEONE HALF OF YOUR SANDWICH IS THE MODERN VERSION OF BREAKING BREAD. UNLESS IT’S A BAD SANDWICH, IN WHICH CASE YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. YOU CAN HAVE DANCERS, A MARIACHI

146 ESQUIRE • SEPTEMBER 2014 147 THE UNITED STATES OF

ANNALS OF MEMORABLE AMERICAN SANDWICHES

]\ THE I don’t often lick foil, but I was in , my hometown, birthplace of the Polish Boy—grilled kiel- basa, fries, cole slaw, and barbecue sauce, all joined in holy, sloppy marriage on a bun—and what I had just eaten was a paragon of the form: bought off a food truck sitting in the parking lot of a restaurant- THE PIT BEEF supply outfit in a fairly bleak section near downtown, fresh off the grill, sweet-sauced, and six bucks. BALTIMORE What fell onto the foil alone was worth the price. As far as I’ve been able to determine, the Polish Boy has no creation myth, no backstory, no progeni- Beef cooked over a pit of tor. Not every great sandwich needs one: All it needs is a love that lasts, for a moment or a lifetime. I ate my first Polish Boy in 1971, from a long-gone ghetto deli-grocery; I was nineteen and as high as a weath- The best sandwiches come from the greatest factory cities, and Phila- hardwood charcoals, sliced er balloon. I plan to eat more than a few before I scarf my last. I only hope I get the chance to die—de- delphia—the “Workshop of the World”—has its share. But none are more thin, and served on a potato cades from now—holding one in each hand. —SCOTT RAAB famous than the almighty cheesesteak: thinly sliced meat quick-cooked and roll with horseradish, onions, served on a roll, with or slices of American or provolone. Onions are optional, but a proper cheesesteak comes with fried or roasted long-hots: long and barbecue sauce or mus- green peppers common in the kitchen gardens of South Philly. In our version, we tard. It started out last century has not stopped competitors costs.’ It came out to like 180 upgraded the meat to , substituted spreadable Boursin for the Whiz, as a street food, but its stature from selling virtually identi- bucks. He didn’t care. ‘I can’t and transformed the long-hots into a Philly version of chimichurri—the spicy has grown. “I’ve had a driver cal sandwiches with names get to Sheboygan,’ he said. ‘It Argentine green sauce used for all sorts of roasted and grilled meats. pick up fifteen, twenty sand- like “the Jerber.” 1395 Cov- was eating at me.’ ” 1313 South wiches for the King of Jor- ington Manor Lane; 314-892- Eighth Street; 920-458-6988; INGREDIENTS > 2 tsp dried oregano METHOD in advance.) churri by combining > 1 medium white onion, > ½ bunch cilantro > Place the onion, > Chop the cilantro and the vegetable-vinegar dan’s entourage several times 9990; rumasdeli.com charcoalinn.com diced small > ½ bunch flat-leaf garlic, and peppers in parsley and place in a and infused-oil mixes. now,” says Bob Creager, co- > 4 cloves garlic, parsley a mixing bowl and add separate bowl, and then > Toast or grill the bread BRATS pulverized > 1 cup olive oil the vinegar. Stir in the mix in the olive oil. and slather the cheese owner of Chaps Pit Beef. 5801 SHEBOYGAN, > 4 long-hot peppers, > 1 ½ lbs flank steak salt and oregano, and > Season the steak across it. Slice the steak, Pulaski Highway; 410-483- chopped small > 4 long slices rustic let the mixture stand at with salt and pepper layer it on top, and lib- > ½ cup distilled white- country-style bread room temperature for and grill it medium-rare. erally spoon on the 2379; chapspitbeef.com Another debt owed to the wine vinegar > 1 cup black-pepper about 1 hour. (This can > When you’re ready chimichurri. German immigrants who > 2 tsp kosher salt Boursin cheese also be done a day to serve, finish the chimi- Makes 4 sandwiches. flowed into the Midwest last century: one bratwurst link THE HORSESHOE cooked over a charcoal grill— THE RUNZA SPRINGFIELD, slowly, so the casing doesn’t LINCOLN, NEBRASKA break—and served on a hard In 1928, the chef at the Le- roll with ketchup, onion, In 1949, a German-Russian THE GERBER land Hotel put sliced ham on mustard, pickles, and but- immigrant started making her ST. LOUIS toast, covered it with rare- ter. It’s known to inspire a own version of the bierock: bit sauce, and served it open- kind of mania, says Scott Pre- ground beef with seasonings Ham and provel (a soft pro- faced on a heated metal steak scher, owner of the Charcoal and cabbage baked into bread. cessed white cheese popu- platter. Noting that it looked Inn, which has been selling She renamed it the Runza— lar in St. Louis) served open- like a horseshoe on an an- them for thirty years. “I had a name she pulled out of thin faced on French bread with vil, he studded it with potato one guy in California—he sent air—and opened a stand with homemade garlic butter— wedges to represent the nails me a letter: ‘I want two dozen her brother, a jobless veter- inspired by Dick Gerber, and gave it its name. Now brats fried and shipped to me. an. Their operation grew into the guy who first request- D’Arcy’s Pint sells upwards of Enclosed is a blank check. If a chain that now sells an esti- ed it at Ruma’s Deli in 1974. seven hundred a day. 661 West you feel the need to call my mated fifteen thousand Run- The name is copyrighted and Stanford Avenue; 217-492- bank and verify, you may do zas at every Huskers game. trademarked, although this 8800; darcyspintonline.com so, but I don’t care what it runza.com

ANNALS OF MEMORABLE AMERICAN SANDWICHES THE CHOP SUEY When I was a kid, I thought the chop-suey sandwich was a staple in times there’s meat, but that’s it. When you bite into it, what you see the American diet. I know now that it isn’t. I know this because when is awful looking—truly awful looking, like the glistening insides of a I was sixteen, I bought one for a girl, excited to share a delicacy I’d still-vaguely-alive sea creature. On a bun. been enjoying twice a week for as long as I could remember, and she And yet, I will tell you: If you’re able to overcome the visuals, it is a spat it out on the ground right in front of me. singular experience—served in wax paper and picked at with a plas- I can’t wholly blame her. The sandwich—which originated in the tic fork, ideally while standing at the beach as you watch the tide beat early 1900s in the old mill town of Fall River, , and back off the Atlantic Ocean, the sea air mingling with the salt of the spread down the coast to Rhode Island—is one of those truly inex- soy sauce. It’s all very romantic. I hope you can see that. I really do. plicable American foods: chop suey and soy sauce on a bun. Some- —BEN COLLINS

BAND, AND A PETTING ZOO, BUT THROW A PARTY WITH A SIX-FOOT SANDWICH AND THAT WILL BE THE THING PEOPLE REMEMBER. THE CHICAGO SHOULD NOT BE EATEN STANDING UP; THE NEW YORK HOT DOG SHOULD NOT BE EATEN SITTING DOWN. THE TIME YOU ORDERED A

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INGREDIENTS plate with cornmeal Set aside at room > 2 cups cornmeal and set aside. Coat temperature. THE ITALIAN: > 12 oysters, drained oysters in the but- > Over medium heat, THE CLAM ROLL PORK, PROVOLONE, FROM PAGE 142. of termilk, and then add the butter to BUFFALO NEW ENGLAND > 1 cup buttermilk dredge them in a large sauté pan AND BROCCOLI RABE The bánh mì has a > 3 strips thick-cut cornmeal and ar- and swirl until it be- PHILADELPHIA rocky past: The ba- bacon, sliced thinly range on the plate, gins to foam. Work- In the 1880s, a German tav- Like the oyster po’boy, the ge- guette-style roll came to In- widthwise lightly dusting with ing in batches, add > 1 large shallot, more cornmeal. the oysters and cook ern owner combined slow- nius here lies in taking some- The broth of the roasted dochina during the French peeled and sliced Refrigerate up until golden brown roasted beef and horseradish thing soft, cold, and wet and pork butt mingles with the li- colonization, and the sand- thin to an hour before on both sides (about on kummelweck—rye bread transforming it into something quor of the bitter greens and wich was brought here by > ¼ small head of cooking. 2 minutes per side), the Vietnamese who fled green cabbage, > In a large pan over adding a little extra topped with caraway and pret- crispy, hot, and moist, and helps melt the cheese. There Saigon in 1975. Many sliced thin medium heat, sauté butter as you go to zel salt. His creation went on then serving it on bread banal are great ones all over town, > ½ green apple, the bacon until light- keep the pan from of them, using San Fran- peeled and diced ly crispy. Add the becoming dry. Trans- to garner some powerful fans. enough to get out of the way. but Tony Luke’s are the biggest cisco as a gateway city, > 1 Tbsp apple-cider shallot and let it fer browned oysters “Hillary is a good friend of The rolls at the Clam Box in Ip- and the porkiest. 39 East Ore- opened shops that special- vinegar sweat for about 1 to a paper towel and ized in bánh mì with dis- > 2 Tbsp unsalted minute. Stir in the season with salt. ours,” says Charlie Roesch, swich, Massachusetts, are the gon Avenue; 215-551-5725; tony- tinctive Vietnamese fla- In the original, deep-fried oysters are dressed with , butter cabbage and ap- > Split and toast owner of Charlie the Butcher. ones to beat. 246 High Street; lukes.com vors, like sweet barbecued > 4 brioche buns, ple and cook un- buns and layer them , mayo, and pickles and served on New Orleans–style “She comes all the time. ‘I need 978-356-9707 red pork sprinkled with sliv- French bread, which has a slightly crisp crust and cottony interior. split in half and til everything is ten- with slaw and oys- toasted der, about 3 to 5 ters, lightly pressing my weck, Charlie,’ she says.” ers of lightly pickled daikon In our take, the oysters are panfried rather than deep-fried to keep minutes. Season down the top half and carrot and seasoned the mess under control, set on a bed of warm bacon and apple METHOD with salt, black pep- of the bun to seal. 1065 Wehrle Drive; 716-633- with jalapeños and cilan- slaw, and served on a toasted brioche bun. > Lightly dust a large per, and vinegar. Makes 4 sandwiches. 8330; charliethebutcher.com tro. In our riff—inspired by San Francisco’s sprawling Chinatown—takeout Peking duck is sliced and topped THE with shredded carrots, cu- NEW ENGLAND cumbers, and cherry pep- pers in a sriracha-spiked NEW ORLEANS THE BURGER Whether you get it with mayo mayonnaise. or butter, the key to a great lob- THE A bun of finely spun ster roll is the quality and dis- NEW YORK CITY bleached flour, as tribution of lobster. At Red’s soft as a cloud. Nest- Eats in Wiscasset, , they INGREDIENTS ling inside it: a concen- > 1 cup grated carrot

A stroke of genius by an trated package of salti- mix the tender knuckle meat > ¼ cup distilled white vinegar Eastern European immi- ness and juiciness and with claw and tail meat, then > ½ tsp kosher salt > 2 Tbsp sugar grant in the late nineteenth beefiness—one whose lay a tail on top and serve it > 3 Tbsp mayonnaise century: the queen of sand- craggy brown surface is with melted butter and home- > juice of half a lime blanketed by a rich and > sriracha hot sauce wich meats is rubbed, cured, viscous layer of cheese. made sauce. 41 Water > ½ takeout Peking duck smoked, and steamed, and When you ask for a burg- Street; 207-882-6128 > two 8-inch sections of ba- er, wherever you go, guette, sliced lengthwise but then piled high on rye bread not separated, toasted and served with pickled to- that is what you’ll get. It’s Research by Jessie Kissinger > 1 small cucumber, cut into the conqueror, the col- long, thin planks matoes and half sours. Katz’s onizer, the ultimate arti- and Josh Ozersky. Francine Ma- > 1 cherry pepper, thinly sliced version is still the best and fact of American indus- roukian and Tony Aiazzi are > 1 red onion, thinly sliced most intense one around. 205 try, the Model T of food. cofounders of the Workshop > 6 sprigs fresh cilantro

East Houston Street; 212-254- —JOSH OZERSKY Kitchen, a Philadelphia-based 2246; katzsdelicatessen.com culinary development team. METHOD > Combine the carrot, vinegar, salt, and sugar and let stand ANNALS OF MEMORABLE AMERICAN SANDWICHES for at least 30 minutes or up to a day in advance. Strain thoroughly before adding to the sandwich. > Combine mayo, lime, and sriracha to taste. Set aside. THE SOFT-SHELL CRAB > Pick the duck-leg meat into large chunks and thinly slice the breast. If the duck needs Like all soft-shell-crab sandwiches, my first soft-shell-crab sandwich was a pretty fked-up looking to be reheated, preheat the sandwich. I was in just another waterside restaurant in Baltimore, but that sandwich was almost like some- oven to 375 degrees and put thing out of science fiction, a dish served in the cantina in Mos Eisley. Even when breaded, soft-shell it in a shallow baking dish, crabs—blue crabs that have been caught just after they’ve molted—remain unapologetically crabby. removing when the skin And as I stared at those legs dangling out between the halves of a fresh warm roll, I had this supremely recrisps. > Spread the mayo on the conscious thought: This is our version of eating insects. But because I pushed through that thought, and baguette and layer the duck, because crabs are better than lobsters, and because soft-shell crabs, tender and sweet, are better than cucumber, carrot mixture, hard ones, and because a great local sandwich is better than just about anything else, that delicious peppers, and onion, and then deep-fried sea bug on a bun will forever skitter around in the part of my brain reserved for the things I sprinkle with cilantro. will never forget. —CHRIS JONES Makes 2 sandwiches.

FREESTYLE SANDWICH AND THE GUY BEHIND YOU IN LINE WENT, “HEY, THAT SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD” AND ORDERED THE SAME THING WAS SO MUCH MORE GRATIFYING THAN YOU’D LIKE TO ADMIT. “HERE, I MADE YOU A SANDWICH” IS AS PURE AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE AS YOU’LL EVER HEAR. ≥

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