Grinders, submarines, heroes, hoagies

[btbyrd]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

The piece you linked to is hilarious.  I think I've seen it before but still hilarious!

 

+1. That was immensely entertaining. Thanks for the link Martin!

[munchymom]

Green bell peppers are an abomination... except for on a cold Italian sub. Something about the richness of all the meats and cheese demands green peppers in with the lettuce, tomato, and onions. It just doesn't taste exactly right without them. Cooked green peppers, however, can take a flying leap.

[Arey]

10 hours ago, munchymom said:

Green bell peppers are an abomination... except for on a cold Italian sub. .

Is this a regional type thing.  I've never ever seen green bell peppers on a Italian sub.

[ElainaA]

In various places where I have lived (Vermont, Maine, upstate NY) a sub or a hoagie or a grinder or a hero (what we called them when I was growing up) is any type of sandwich in a long roll. An Italian sub or hoagie or whatever is Italian cold cuts, cheese and various other things in a long roll. A roast beef sub or hoagie or whatever is roast beef in a long roll. Turkey, ham, whatever. The terms were geographically specific but, in my experience over 60 some years, they refer to the bread not the filling. What ever form they initially took (whenever that was) by the very early 1960's, I have fond memories of sneaking out of school at lunch time to split a roast beef hero for lunch with a friend.  (I don't think there were any peppers on it though.) 

Edited January 25, 2017 by ElainaA (log)

[cakewalk]

10 minutes ago, ElainaA said:

The terms were geographically specific but, in my experience over 60 some years, they refer to the bread not the filling.

 

Totally agree. (Even to the number of years ) We called them heroes (I grew up in the Bronx). I remember when I went away to college (upstate NY) my roommates mentioned something about getting subs, and I had no idea what they were talking about. What's a sub? I asked. The explanation was: a sandwich on a long Italian bread. Ah, a hero! We were finally speaking the same language. There was no mention of fillings whatsoever, the important factor was the bread. (Now there's a conversation I haven't thought about in many years, if ever. In fact, I can't even believe it came back to me.)

[gfweb]

Norristown,  small city in SE PA calls them Zeps (as in Zeppelins). Fairly sparse on the meat as I recall.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I lived in Montgomery County for several years.  Why doesn't Norristown call them hoagies like everybody else?

 

[Martin Fisher]

8 hours ago, ElainaA said:

....a sub or a hoagie or a grinder or a hero...

 

In my tiny 'corner' of the world — I was born in Elmira, NY but spent most of my life growing up near-by in north central PA — they're all recognized as meaning about the same thing, with a few relatively minor differences.

[GlorifiedRice]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I lived in Montgomery County for several years.  Why doesn't Norristown call them hoagies like everybody else?

 

 

Im in Montgomery County we call em Hoagies.

I think its just that one store on Main St. called Lou's Zeps.

 

Side note: What is better than opening a bag of Amorosos and inhaling that buttery toasty scent?

[gfweb]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I lived in Montgomery County for several years.  Why doesn't Norristown call them hoagies like everybody else?

 

 

Hey homie!  Small world.

I don't know why they are called zeps. Its more than one store too. Multiple places in Norristown and a bit eastward on Ridge Pike toward Conshy.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/01/zep-from-eves-lunch-in-norristown-pa-pennsylvania.html

 

[GlorifiedRice]

54 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

Hey homie!  Small world.

I don't know why they are called zeps. Its more than one store too. Multiple places in Norristown and a bit eastward on Ridge Pike toward Conshy.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/01/zep-from-eves-lunch-in-norristown-pa-pennsylvania.html

 

 

Well, according to that page a Zep doesnt have all the stuff in it that a Hoagie does, So maybe a Zep is a Norristown only thing?

I dunno, maybe Im fighting this so hard cause Hoagies and Subs are such a Philly, NJ, NYC thing and I worked at a Wawa before they became a "system". I opened the Wawa on King Street in Malvern, so Im kinda proud of "our " food heritage!

[Martin Fisher]

FWIW.... A Hoagie By Any Other Name —Dave Wilton

 

“I wanna shake off the dust of this one-horse
town. I wanna explore the world. I wanna watch
TV in a different time zone. I wanna visit strange,
exotic malls. I’m sick of eating hoagies! I want a
grinder, a sub, a foot-long hero! I want to live,
Marge! Won’t you let me live? Won’t you, please?”
—Homer Simpson 

 

"And Homer is just scratching the surface of the
lexical diversity of the sandwich. In addition to the
names he cites there are: poor boy, torpedo, Italian
sandwich, rocket, zeppelin or zep, blimpie, garibaldi,
bomber, wedge, muffuletta, Cuban sandwich,
and spuckie. Most of these names are associated
with a particular region of the United States. The
names also fall into several distinct patterns of origin,
from the shape (sub, torpedo, rocket, zeppelin,
blimpie, and bomber), from the size (hero, hoagie),
from ethnic association (Italian sandwich, Cuban
sandwich), from the type of bread used (muffuletta,
spuckie), or from the fact that the sandwich is a
cheap meal (poor boy)"

[blue_dolphin]

Entertaining four part series on The Regional Italian and Submarine Sandwiches of America

 

Edited to add the individual links:

New England and New York

Pennsylvania

Midwest and West Coast

The South

Edited January 26, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[kayb]

8 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

FWIW.... A Hoagie By Any Other Name —Dave Wilton

 

“I wanna shake off the dust of this one-horse
town. I wanna explore the world. I wanna watch
TV in a different time zone. I wanna visit strange,
exotic malls. I’m sick of eating hoagies! I want a
grinder, a sub, a foot-long hero! I want to live,
Marge! Won’t you let me live? Won’t you, please?”
—Homer Simpson 

 

"And Homer is just scratching the surface of the
lexical diversity of the sandwich. In addition to the
names he cites there are: poor boy, torpedo, Italian
sandwich, rocket, zeppelin or zep, blimpie, garibaldi,
bomber, wedge, muffuletta, Cuban sandwich,
and spuckie. Most of these names are associated
with a particular region of the United States. The
names also fall into several distinct patterns of origin,
from the shape (sub, torpedo, rocket, zeppelin,
blimpie, and bomber), from the size (hero, hoagie),
from ethnic association (Italian sandwich, Cuban
sandwich), from the type of bread used (muffuletta,
spuckie), or from the fact that the sandwich is a
cheap meal (poor boy)"

 

Where is it they call them a "grinder"? I know I've read that...somewhere...

[Porthos]

If Wikipedia is to be believed it is a New England regional term for a hot submarine sandwich.

 

[PattyO]

Actually, it's any submarine sandwich.  Most pizza places offer pizza and grinders which are hot or cold. I am blessed with some excellent pizza and grinders in central New England!

[ElainaA]

59 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

Where is it they call them a "grinder"? I know I've read that...somewhere...

When I lived in Maine what I called a hero or a sub was called a grinder. That is also the term used in the area of Massachusetts where my daughter lives.

[Kim Shook]

The green pepper on subs thing might very well be regional.  I don't think I've ever been in a sub shop in VA that didn't offer them on subs.  And on places that are actually restaurants that serve subs (rather than making them in front of you while you tell them what you want), you have to make sure to check or they will almost certainly be included.

[Kerry Beal]

This came in on my Facebook feed this am - great little article The Untold Tale of the Artichoke Parm, the Most Mysterious Sandwich in Brooklyn. 

 

One of those stories written by someone as obsessive as most eGulletiers!

[Kim Shook]

4 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

This came in on my Facebook feed this am - great little article The Untold Tale of the Artichoke Parm, the Most Mysterious Sandwich in Brooklyn. 

 

One of those stories written by someone as obsessive as most eGulletiers!

What a wonderful family/city story!  And the Sandwich sounds fantastic.  Thanks for sharing this, @Kerry Beal!

[AlaMoi]

in message #3 of this thread, , , the artichoke makes an appearance . . .

 

I was born in Philadelphia, grew up outside Phila, our house had a revolutionary age stone marker in the front yard:

"20 m to P"

 

hoagies/subs,,, were the same thing.

in that area, "grinders" were distinctive different - a concoction on a hoagie roll that was "broiled"to finish....

 

DW, a Baltimore girl, introduced me to "zeps" - say dear what is that?

 

in the 60's - 70's ever corner store/deli did it's own "hoagie" - and everyone had their favorite(s).

46th&Market - superior hole-in-the-wall deli that did an incredible "tuna hoagie"

so the definition is really quite flexible.

 

the quality is today really hard to find.  the "best original" we've found is Jersey Mike.

had a couple "Fireman" offerings . . . good but not anything we drool over.
 

[Midlife]

On 1/15/2004 at 8:18 AM, denise_jer said:

I went to school in MA, and they called them grinders there. Maybe it is a New England thing?

I went to college in Riverside, California and there was a popular shop there called D’Elia’s Grinders, so it’s not just a New England thing. Just checked and they’re still in business 55 years later, so pretty popular. 

[gfweb]

6 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

 

hoagies/subs,,, were the same thing.

in that area, "grinders" were distinctive different - a concoction on a hoagie roll that was "broiled"to finish....

 

 

Correct about grinders in Philly terminology.

 

But NOBODY ordered a sub within city limits without being slapped around .

 

20 miles from the city takes you a long way into Godforsaken territory