Hoagies, Cheesesteaks, Pork Italiano

[KatieLoeb]

Chris:

I agree - broccoli rabe and provolone (aged stinky provolone if possible) is just about all a roast pork needs. No need to mess with DiNics as recommended. Peppers are gilding the lily.

Sorry I missed you at Chick's. Looks like you ate a pretty wide swath through town with no guidance! Next time you're here we'll have to drag you over to Shank & Evelyn's for a really killer roast beef sammie and maybe a chicken cutlet parmesan sandwich. That's a place with no equal anywhere...

[Mano]

C!  Next time you're here we'll have to drag you over to Shank & Evelyn's for a really killer roast beef sammie and maybe a chicken cutlet parmesan sandwich. 

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I'm not a RR hater, really I'm not, but when I hear "sammie", "Yummo!" and "EVOO" (after which she always explains, "extra virgin olive oil" -so what's the point of the acronym?) I feel like kicking a puppy.

[KatieLoeb]

That wasn't a plug or paean to RR in any way. I've been calling "stuff between bread" sammies for longer than she's been on the radar...

[Mano]

I knew she wasn't capable of making up all those phrases by herself. Judging by your posts you have a NPP (Naturally Perky Personality). You're both in the food biz. Are you sure you weren't SAB (Separated At Birth)?

[rlibkind]

Why Cheese Whiz on Cheese Steaks?

Dominic Spataro, who added cheese steaks to his menu at the Reading Terminal Market more than a year ago, told me the tale of how Cheese Whiz came to be used by some cheese steak purveyors. (He's strictly an American or Provolone man). He thinks he heard the story from either Rick Olivieri or saw it on a WHYY-TV show:

Seems that Pat Olivieri, being a good businessman, recognized that South Philly had a sigifniciant Jewish population, but many would not/could not consume his steaks, even without cheese, because slices of cheese were placed on the steaks while they were cooking, thereby contaminating the grill by mixing meat and milk product, a definite no-no under the laws of governing what is kosher. Since Cheese Whiz came in a can, he could slather it into the sandwiches after they were removed from the grill. Those kosher-inclined customers who didn't want cheese on their steaks could order them without fear of any contamination from the grill. While the cheese-less steaks offered by Pats were hardly Glatt Kosher, they at least didn't mix milk with meat, thereby opening the Jewish market to his product.

[Holly Moore]

Confirms my long-held belief that whiz atop a steak sandwich is indeed ordained.

[zeffer81]

Why Cheese Whiz on Cheese Steaks?

Dominic Spataro, who added cheese steaks to his menu at the Reading Terminal Market more than a year ago, told me the tale of how Cheese Whiz came to be used by some cheese steak purveyors. (He's strictly an American or Provolone man). He thinks he heard the story from either Rick Olivieri or saw it on a WHYY-TV show:

Seems that Pat Olivieri, being a good businessman, recognized that South Philly had a sigifniciant Jewish population, but many would not/could not consume his steaks, even without cheese, because slices of cheese were placed on the steaks while they were cooking, thereby contaminating the grill by mixing meat and milk product, a definite no-no under the laws of governing what is kosher. Since Cheese Whiz came in a can, he could slather it into the sandwiches after they were removed from the grill. Those kosher-inclined customers who didn't want cheese on their steaks could order them without fear of any contamination from the grill. While the cheese-less steaks offered by Pats were hardly Glatt Kosher, they at least didn't mix milk with meat, thereby opening the Jewish market to his product.

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Thanks for the info, Bob. I sent this right over to my Dad. I know he'll love it!

Zoe

[Andrew Fenton]

No pictures, but I had a first-rate pork sandwich at Paesano's this afternoon. The "Arista" is a pretty standard roast pork Italian style: broccoli rabe, provolone, peppers, and it's as good as any roast pork sandwich I've had in the city. Maybe better. (It's big, but since I had just a light dinner yesterday, I was able to polish off the whole thing.)

Paesano's (which is owned by the Modo Mio crew across the street) has a whole slate of delicious-looking sandwiches. Lamb sausage with roasted fennel and gorgonzola? Mama mia, yes! That will be for my next trip, I think...

[TarteTatin]

OMG, we've passed by there a few times already, but haven't eaten there. OMG, that lamb sausage with roasted fennel and gorgonzola sounds amazing.

[I_call_the_duck]

I'm intrigued by the prosciutto-wrapped hot dog. Ohhhh, and an option to top it off with an egg. I'd better bring my lipitor along.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yeah, the egg seems to be a little much; I can't imagine that it would add a lot to any of those sandwiches. But who knows?

[Mummer]

Yeah, the egg seems to be a little much; I can't imagine that it would add a lot to any of those sandwiches.  But who knows?

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An egg is the new mayonnaise. I like oil with Italian cold cuts, but others go for mayo.

Thursday's Inky said egg topping is 'in'

I'm sure Pfizer loves it. Only a couple more years on that Lipitor patent.

[I_call_the_duck]

There's this Cantonese dish I make that's literally translated into "beef rice"--ground beef with celery, peas, and onion in a brown sauce. Very basic dish, but incredible when topped off with a fried egg. Ohhhh...that runny yolky goodness.

Actually, I can see the egg on top of the beef and pork sandwiches, but not so much the others. But would a fried egg on top of roast pork be considered heresy? Like John Kerry ordering a cheesesteak with Swiss cheese?

[MarketStEl]

The tide of media opinion is apparently turning towards those who argue that the roast pork Italian is -- or ought to be -- the signature sandwich of Philadelphia.

The issue was joined this morning in this Inquirer article.

It's not the first time someone has raised the issue in the Inky's pages: columnist Karen Heller argued for the cheesesteak's replacement last summer.

But she's since been joined in print -- and on the plate -- by others, including out-of-town judges, several of whom are cited here.

It's now only a matter of time, folks, before Tony Luke's becomes a tourist trap too.

[Holly Moore]

I'm curious - do other Italian neighborhoods in places like Boston, Chicago and New York do slow roasted pork sandwiches comparable to Tommy Dinic's or is that just a Philadelphia thing? Haven't seen it elsewhere, but haven't looked either.

[Sfuffy]

Funny how The Inky classifies this story as "Breaking News." As if a sudden Roast Pork Rebellion just broke out in the streets of Philly.

[Capaneus]

I'm curious - do other Italian neighborhoods in places like Boston, Chicago and New York do slow roasted pork sandwiches comparable to Tommy Dinic's or is that just a Philadelphia thing?  Haven't seen it elsewhere, but haven't looked either.

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Never saw it in NY, even at the San Gennaro festival, and you'd think that they'd come out then if they existed. I don't know any other significant Little Italys.

[rlibkind]

It's moderately surprising that such a sandwich does not appear to exist in Chicago, given that city's love of the Italian beef sandwich which very much resembles our beloved Italian pork sandwich. When well made (alas, not too often in my limited experience) the Chicago Italian Beef is a very nice sandwich. But I've never seen it with greens. Roasted sweet peppers, yes, but not greens. Nor aged provolone.

[KatieLoeb]

The tide of media opinion is apparently turning towards those who argue that the roast pork Italian is -- or ought to be -- the signature sandwich of Philadelphia.

The issue was joined this morning in this Inquirer article.

It's not the first time someone has raised the issue in the Inky's pages: columnist Karen Heller argued for the cheesesteak's replacement last summer.

But she's since been joined in print -- and on the plate -- by others, including out-of-town judges, several of whom are cited here.

It's now only a matter of time, folks, before Tony Luke's becomes a tourist trap too.

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OK - now I know for sure that no one listens to me. I've been saying this for far longer than Ms. Heller. Check my back posts. Go ahead. I've never been impressed by nor been a big proponent of the cheesesteak. It's been Roast Pork Italiano for me from the get go.

But no one listens to little 'ol me.

[rockhopper]

The tide of media opinion is apparently turning towards those who argue that the roast pork Italian is -- or ought to be -- the signature sandwich of Philadelphia.

The issue was joined this morning in this Inquirer article.

It's not the first time someone has raised the issue in the Inky's pages: columnist Karen Heller argued for the cheesesteak's replacement last summer.

But she's since been joined in print -- and on the plate -- by others, including out-of-town judges, several of whom are cited here.

It's now only a matter of time, folks, before Tony Luke's becomes a tourist trap too.

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OK - now I know for sure that no one listens to me. I've been saying this for far longer than Ms. Heller. Check my back posts. Go ahead. I've never been impressed by nor been a big proponent of the cheesesteak. It's been Roast Pork Italiano for me from the get go.

But no one listens to little 'ol me.

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Of course you're right that it's a terrific sandwich - and KH is right to praise it in the inky.

Driving in to work I had WIP on the radio since I've had my fill of Michael Smegma's ego trips on 1210. They were going on about KH's article. It's not the first time they talked about something they are clueless about.

Cataldi was doing his usual Zio Tommaso shuckin' 'n jivin' and apparently he never heard of an RPI. They sent an intern to John's Roast Pork (I don't think that's a bad choice) to get some cheesesteaks and pork to bring back to the office so the WIP experts could pass judgment. Bad move because I don't think either sandwich travels as well as a hoagie. They also had interns doing a man-on-the-street thing where they asked passersby which is better: cs or pork. No one said pork. But they didn't ask if they ever had one either.

Cataldi said the pork had "no flavor". Yikes. The guy with the whiny voice kept going on about pulled pork - which is a different product . (and also a very good one. "our" pork is also shoulder but is prepared quite differently). They didn't like the roll either and started praising Amoroso's squishy cotton product. They hated just the idea of greens on a sandwich; not manly enough.

So, any chance of the terrific roast pork sandwich replacing the sometimes terrific - but more commonly mediocre - cheesesteak as Philadelphia's #1 sandwich is slim.

Personally I could eat an RPI several times a week. My viscera will allow me a cheesesteak maybe twice a month.

[rockhopper]

There is a small vietnamese bahn mi joint on 10th named Q.T.'s. We got a couple and they were terrific.

[Andrew Fenton]

Joshua Stein writes a brief guide to Philadelphia for the Guardian (UK), and while there's certainly material to argue about (Pho 75 the best in the city? I beg to differ), he gets the roast pork:

For a more substantial meal, follow the scent of roast pork crackling to DiNic's restaurant, where Tommy Nicolosi has been using his family's recipe for three generations. As inflamed as a Philadelphian's passions become over which cheese steak to get (Pat's or Gino's, two duelling outfits, fight it out in South Philly) is the debate surrounding where to get the best roast pork sandwich. Many say John's, a little stand in South Philadelphia where the meat is plump and the line is long. Others say DiNic's. Both sandwiches are delicious. At DiNic's, the pork is slow-roasted, sliced thick and laid on a hoagie roll. A dollop of sautéed spinach and a slice of provolone cheese, followed by a ladle of its own juice, completes the meal. But beware: it's addictive. I had one at 11 am and came back for another at noon.

[Holly Moore]

A dollop of sautéed spinach

Yo Mr. Stein - ain't no dollops of anything on a Philadelphia pork sandwich.

[rlibkind]

Given the interest expressed in another topic about adding pork rind to roast pork sandwiches, I thought many of you would like to know that Tommy Nicolosi, proprietor of DiNic’s, has been experimenting with adding pork rind to his roast and pulled pork sandwiches.

He’s still working on the recipe, to make sure the cracklings are neither too hard nor too rubbery. If he does decide to offer them, they might be as an “extra”, since he’s concerned most of his customers won’t want to find the tasty bits of pork skin in their sandwich.

[Capaneus]

Mr. Nicolosi, may the Fates shower a thousand blessings upon his head, clearly needs either a better class of customer, or more confidence in the ones he has:

First, broccoli rabe was "Impossible!"

Now, he's unsure of crispy, rich, delicious pork cracklins? Full speed ahead, and damn the torpedoes, say I! Customers will catch up: when have Americans ever minded salty, crispy pork products, anyway?