Regional Sandwich culture

[Burning Petard]

I am a stranger here along the I-95 corridor, located about half way between Baltimore and Philadelphia. I have only been here 42 years, so I am still a newcomer, learning the local ways. I have come to respect and enjoy a local take-out sandwich called a sub, or a hoagie, and rarely, a grinder. It is a long loaf of Italian bread, sliced lengthwise to open but still be attached, then filled with various substances. Sometimes a piece of lean beef, cooked on a grill while chopped into very small pieces as it cooks, and then other things added. This is the basic 'cheese-steak' sandwich. Or it may be a variety of thinly sliced cold cuts and other things--the Italian. And there are others, and endless variation within each type. You need to know the local dialect for the particular sandwich shop. Always the bread is essential. National chains never get the bread right and only offer a poor imitation.

After the sandwich is constructed, a sheet of traditional butcher paper is laid out, a piece of wax paper placed on the butcher paper, and then the bread, still open and ingredients spread artfully all over it. The bread is then folded together and the wax paper laid over it--and then the mystery!

A big french knife is grasped and with the back, the unsharpened side of the knife blade, used to shove the paper down into the midst of the sandwich, then the blade is turned over and the sandwich, waxpaper and all, is cut in half, making it impossible to unwrap [perhaps this is an arcane skill to which I have not been initiated] without a big mess. Then the butcher paper is folded around it all and rolled up and taped shut with one small strip of tape.

Can any one tell me why the paper is forced into the the middle of the sandwich? My wife actually worked in a sandwich shop in Newark, DE and she was carefully instructed to do this, always, but never told why.

snailgate

[Joe Guy]

To keep the contents from spilling out?

[dales]

Perhaps the paper tastes better than the contents?

[Burning Petard]

two West Coast replies with no empathy for the real people out here in the land of reality. The paper, treated in the fashion, ENABLES stuff to spill out. And the contents are delicious. Unlike the much beloved KC BBQ or the pork tenderloin sandwich of my youth, which have both morphed into something unrecognizable to those who knew the real thing.

snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

I worked in a lot of sandwich shops over the years up here in Yankee land; never saw a sandwich wrapped that way and never was taught to wrap one that way.

Can't help with your mystery, sorry!

eta: I should say, the wax paper/butcher paper is all on target, but not the shoving the paper into the sandwich thing. That's plain weird.

[Burning Petard]

I think the paper-in-the-sandwich is a Delaware/Philly thing. Ray, what's your take?

[dales]

Ok - the paper allows the crap to spill out on your clothes........sounds like a real laugh riot.

[Sue U]

I had always assumed it was done to help smoosh the contents down into the roll so they don't fall out while wrapping the hoagie. Whether you can successfully unwrap it later is completely irrelevant to the hoagie maker, as that's not his/her problem.

Also, if your hoagie shop is using tape to finish off the wrapping, you may want to reconsider your choice of shops. While it is a fairly common practice, a true hoagie master has no need for adhesives.

[Lord Jim]

I never saw a sub wrapped that way, anywhere I have lived, easy coast or west coast...

The weirdest thing I've ever encountered for a sub was in a restaurant in Roanoke Va. where they put lettuce and sliced tomato on a meatball sub

I think the paper-in-the-sandwich is a Delaware/Philly thing.

I think that may be correct...

Is there a high concentration of Polish immigrants in the area?

[rubato]

Never seen such a thing.

Ask them next time.


yrs,
rubato

[RayThom]

I think the paper-in-the-sandwich is a Delaware/Philly thing. Ray, what's your take?

sg, here's my take. I don't see this technique being used by all Philly 'sammich' artists. However, years ago, when I worked behind the counter at Christ's Hoagie and Steak Shop in Drexel Hill PA I was told by pushing the waxpaper around the veggies it kept them crisper and somewhat prevented the Amoroso from absorbing moisture. No one likes mushy bread, right? I used this wrapping technique for hoagies only, steaks were always gooey so there was no pressing need to do so unless requested.

Now, if you were to ask a "professional" Philly sandwich maker about the practice I'm fairly sure the stock answer would be, "Yo, what you tawlkin' about, that's how we always do it."

The Hoagie:
https://www.hoageez.com/hoagie-legend/

[Burning Petard]

Ray, I was told, soon after I arrived here, that it was not a real meatball sub unless at least one meatball dropped out in your hand or your lap, while you were eating it.

[oldr_n_wsr]

It's to partially seal the ends of the "hero" where it is cut. It also helps with eating, as you eat it from the cut (middle) to the end, the pressing down is so you can fit it in your mouth.