1. The Ruben. This is the pride of New York and rich beyond any sane red line for both salt and cholesterol overdose.
2. The Peanut Butter and Jelly. The kids favorite but adults can have “cosmic” organic one favored by Jerry Brown in his first term or the one with bananas that Evlis loved.
3. The New Orleans Po’Boy. The most famous is the oyster Po’Boy, but they make all sorts of variations and combination.
4. The muffaletta is the other unique Big Easy specialty of Italian cold cuts and olive salad on special round Sicilian loaves. Unlike most sandwiches this one tastes best if you allow it sit undisturbed for at least four hours up or even over night so the pungent olive salad murges all flavors with the cure meats and the crusty bread.
5. The Sloppy Joe was invented in Key West saloon of the same name. It is a favorite with kids and was a staple of school cafeterias in my youth. It is still beloved in the Midwest. This is another blue collar item usually sniffed at by the Foodies and Restaurant Critics because it is messy and simple.
6. The New England Lobster Roll. This simple lobster salad on one of the funny u-shaped Boston hot dog buns. It is a local icon
7. A Chicago Dog. This is the apotheosis of the hot dog. On a fat oval sesame seed bun it is a quarter pound Kosher dog accompanied by a pickle spear, neon green sweet pickle relish, chopped onions and a couple unique local pickled “Sport Peppers” that are about as long as your little finger, Chicago mustard, tomato slices and maybe a little sauerkraut too. A final shake of celery salt is considered the authentic Chicago touch.
8. El Cubano. This Havana & Miami specialty is a pressed ‘wich of ham, cheese and sliced garlicky roast pork. A great ‘wich. The night time variation on sweet egg bread is called the Medianoche. Cuban places also make a ‘wich stuffed with Ropa Vieja, a cuban variation on beef pot roast.
9. A Philly Cheese Steak. Legendary.
10. A Chicago “Italian Beef” ‘wich. Bigger and a lot messier and spicier than a Philipe’s French Dip in LA. Chicago sandwiches tend toward extravagant excess making the Windy City the Vegas of the sandwich world.
11. A St. Paul ‘wich. A midwestern specialty it is essentially a fried egg ‘wich on plain white bread and for some reason a specialty at Chinese and other asian style places. Some say it is Egg Foo Yung ‘wich, others seem to think it is a Chinese Take out’s version of an Egg McMuffin.
12. The grilled cheese. It also had an upscale relative, the grilled ham & cheese. In my opinion you must spread some mustard on the underside of the top to give it a bite.
13. Carolina pulled pork. Smoked tender pork on white bread with a vinegar based BBQ sauce.
14. A Texas brisket ‘wich. The pride of Texas is the tender juicy slow roasted and smoked beef brisket. On white bread with or without a BBQ sauce.
15. The Santa Maria Tri tip ‘wich. Cooked on a live fire of oak wood, this is medium rare beef on a french roll usually with a medium salsa over the meat. Don’t slice it too thick.
This list is almost endless and I am sure any reader could easily add half a dozen other unique sandwiches without any effort at all. For example, Canadians could add a Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich that is made with a varity of meats ranging from beef all the way to Moose.
All photo's are from Wikepedia and in the public domain.
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