The Club House Sandwich: Is there a standard?

[Beth Wilson]

I cover off lunch breaks in the cafeteria at the hospital I work in, among many other duties.

 

I find the clubhouse sandwich is always popular but when I work with certain people they INSIST this is the way to make the sandwich right....and they both do it differently.

 

One insists the order is toast, turkey, lettuce,  toast,  bacon, tomato,toast

 

The other insists it is toast, lettuce, tomato , toast,  bacon, turkey, toast.

 

It doesn't matter to me either way, I just have to remember what way the sandwich is made depending on who I am working with that day.

 

But it has gotten me wondering, is there a set standard that I should be following?  I just find it funny how insistent they are on the placement of the ingredients and yet they are both doing it differently.  Anyone have Clubhouse Sandwich advice?

[weinoo]

What about the mayo - where does that go?

[Smithy]

I think if I ordered a club sandwich and didn't have some meat between both slices I'd be surprised. The first one sounds more right to me. I haven't had one in years, though, so my memory may be faulty.

[Beth Wilson]

They both put mayo on all three slices.

 

The club is surprisingly very popular.

[Martin Fisher]

I'd say that they are both correct....the club sandwich has changed a lot and in different ways..locale to locale... from what it originally was.

 

A couple early recipes....

 

 

Source: The Standard Domestic Science Cook Book, 1908.

 

Personally, I absolutely hate lettuce next to the toast...I cringe at the thought of it...LOL

 

Edited January 16, 2015 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[weinoo]

And The Good Cook book on Snacks & Sandwiches says:

 

No crust.

 

2 layers, filling each with lettuce, tomato, sliced turkey, and bacon.

[Deryn]

I never much thought about whether there is a 'standard' (although when I think about it, I would make a club sandwich more like the first way you mentioned) however, to address your question about whether there is a set standard YOU should be following, I would say that is up to management. If they feel they want to standardize how certain things are made in the cafeteria, I am sure they will outline it for all staff (thus those who disagree could argue with the boss, not tell you to do it a certain way they like).

 

Since it sounds as though there is no such standard you can refer to, it will be up to you if you want to deal with the particular staff member's method and criticism on a given day or not. If It were me, I would probably be a bit defiant and put both turkey and bacon on both layers.

[Darienne]

I'm no expert, but I always thought that a club sandwich contained chicken...never turkey.  Is this a change?

And is the turkey white or dark meat?

I can stand turkey twice a year only, Thanksgiving (in October in Canada) and Christmas.  And only as plain sliced turkey, none of this sandwich or even worse, soup thing. 

[weinoo]

Beard is emphatic, nay apoplectic, about 2 pieces of toast, buttered and a little mayo, no turkey - chicken!

 

And Joy says 3 - and chicken.

[gfweb]

Chicken is the unquestionable standard. Poached gently.

[Anna N]

Cannot imagine the Club Sandwhich which is one of my favorites with that damn turkey in it! Sacrilege.

[gfweb]

I'm not sure I've ever had institutional turkey breast that wasn't badly overcooked. The old FDA temps are in force and guarantee bad texture.

[Beth Wilson]

Well, they use turkey cold cut slices....it is a cafeteria after all....some days when we have an abundance of roast turkey breast we will use the real stuff.

 

I just go by who is working that day but I thought there must be a set standard out there for the sandwich...I personally can not eat that much food on a plate at once so I have always gone for a BLT if I must eat in a diner type of place so making clubs is new to me.

[rotuts]

chicken is the Classic Club

 

if you sub Turkey, Its a Turkey Club

 

etc

 

Meatloaf Club, etc

[weinoo]

chicken is the Classic Club

 

if you sub Turkey, Its a Turkey Club

 

etc

 

Meatloaf Club, etc

[rotuts]

BTW   the ML Club is a revelation, provided you pay careful attention to each ingredient

[Beth Wilson]

ML Club sounds good!  Perhaps I will suggest it :-)

[weinoo]

But where will you put the ML?

[gfweb]

I think with ML I'd want Russian dressing instead of Mayo.

 

And perhaps a spicy ML eg with andouille

[rotuts]

remember, you can Flip the ML-C over, if you dont like the order.

 

the Awesome-Ness of the ML-C is that the ML has potentially infinite  many variations.

 

Chicken ? not so many.

[Martin Fisher]

In my area the turkey club rules, turkey and bacon...two layers...3 pieces of toast with crust.

[Kim Shook]

To me, a club is pointless without chicken/turkey (don't care which), bacon AND ham.  Gotta have the ham.  

[boudin noir]

I cover off lunch breaks in the cafeteria at the hospital I work in, among many other duties.

 

I find the clubhouse sandwich is always popular but when I work with certain people they INSIST this is the way to make the sandwich right....and they both do it differently.

 

One insists the order is toast, turkey, lettuce,  toast,  bacon, tomato,toast

 

The other insists it is toast, lettuce, tomato , toast,  bacon, turkey, toast.

 

It doesn't matter to me either way, I just have to remember what way the sandwich is made depending on who I am working with that day.

 

But it has gotten me wondering, is there a set standard that I should be following?  I just find it funny how insistent they are on the placement of the ingredients and yet they are both doing it differently.  Anyone have Clubhouse Sandwich advice?

[weinoo]

To me, a club is pointless without chicken/turkey (don't care which), bacon AND ham.  Gotta have the ham.  

[Deryn]

I also agree that a club sandwich to me generally contains 'chicken', not turkey. I didn't mention that in my first comment however because without further information, it appeared that 'turkey' must be the meat used where Beth works - and perhaps they just call it a turkey club (which seems to be more and more common these days).

 

If the sandwich is what I would call a club worth paying for, it would include thick slices of real freshly cooked meat too. But, more and more these days, what I see are deli-style 'cold cuts' being used. I will keep making my own at home and stacking it any way I want - but that doesn't help Beth.