Reuben sandwich preferences
Does your favorite Reuben have:
Corned beef or pastrami?
Thousand Islands or Russian dressing, or chili sauce and mayonnaise?
Mike D
Jul 02, 2003 04:20PM
17 Replies so Far
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Corned beef w/ sauerkraut & swiss grilled on rye. Mustard is my preference but Russian is more than equally appropriate (I just don't like it).
That's how they make it at Ruben's.
Anything else is stylized.
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Chili sauce and mayo? That is a joke, right?
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Mixing chili sauce and mayo was how we made thousand island dressing in my house. Here's the product: basically a ketchup with relish already mixed in. For the Heinz brand listed below, here's the ingredients (INGREDIENTS: CONCENTRATED TOMATOES, DISTILLED VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, CORN SYRUP, DEHYDRATED ONIONS, SPICE, GARLIC POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORING.)
It is slipping my mind the brand we used to use, but it was something other than Heinz -- came in a round jar, and I've got some in my fridge right now. Also makes a nice change w/meatloaf or spinach/egg/ground beef scramble.
Image: http://images.netgrocer.com/jpegs/131...
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Corned beef w/ sauerkraut & swiss grilled on Jewish (NOT ANYTHING ELSE)rye. Mustard is my preference.
Link: http://www.foodreference.com/html/freubens.html
Image: http://people.stdnet.com/jonathan/ima...
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After reading this posting and some of the replies i went into my Menu Collection and found several original "Reuban's" menus from the 50's to 60's, when I used to join the owner, Mr. Reuben for my late night dinner and his breakfast at 4:30 AM at a community table reserved for regulars. "Reuban Sandwich", Arnold's favorite. Kosher Corned Beef, Imported Swiss Cheeese, Fresh Sauerkraut with Mustard on Seeded Rye, Grilled to order. $5.95. This was at a time when a New York Steak at most restaurant's cost less. Reubens with it's 59th Street location was never inexpensive.
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Jewish corned beef, sauerkraut, on Jewish rye, with true Russian dressing, not Thousand Island claiming to be Russian dressing, grilled.
I recently had was was purported to be a Reuben at a Jewish deli in Charleston, SC -heaps of corned beef, some sauerkraut, tasting as if it was straight out of a can, a very little unidentifiable dressing, on two small slices of some very dry swirled bread that looked like something made in a Bundt pan. Awful, and I couldn't finish it. Also, it was cold.
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MUSTARD only, please!
Corned Beef, but if the Pastrami is Really Good Pastrami, like good kosher Pastrami SHOULD be, then I'll take that, even if it's not *really* a reuben.
No russian, thousand island, french, bleu cheese, peppercorn,italian,greek,portuguese,spanish,creamy italian?,or any other SALAD dressing on a perfectly Moist, yes, MOIST, corned beef sandwich with Saurcraut - for that extra little bit of moistness and a good firm hearty Jewish Rye.
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No kraut? No Russian dressing? Then it's not a Reuben sandwich!! The Reuben was a sandwich created for some guys at a poker game (it then won a national sandwich contest -- that's what made it famous) and it needs those ingredients (along with corned beef and Emmenthaler Swiss cheese) in order to exist at all.
Here's a link to the story of the origin of the Reuben sandwich:
Link: http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/thr...
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Nancy: Sorry but "Who Cooked That" is not correct. story was "Cooked UP". "Reuben's Restaurant", had framed articles from newspapers and magazines, mentioned on Menus. that the original S/W was put together at "Reubens Deli' in 1906, located in NYC's lower east side. One of the first deli's to DARE to serve non-kosher food in New York. Featured Cheesecake, Baked Onion Soup, Cold Beet Borscht with Sour Cream, Ham, Bacon, Coffee with Cream, etc, plus other Kosher and Fromm foods. The were considered troublemakers for breaking with tradition, but customers loved the food. During the speakeasy period, opened a restaurant with a private basement club. Served booze downstairs, food upstairs on 59th Street, off Madison. Also never served sauerkraut from a can.
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That theory is open to debate, Irwin. Here's a link that talks about the "Reuben Sandwich Origin" controversy:
Link: http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US8/SPEC/foodf...
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Nancy: The article link is fantastic. Thank you. However, the framed articles from magazines and newpapers displayed at the Restaurant located on 58th St, my mistake not 59th were interesting. One the oldest was written in Hebrew from a Jewish Newspaper that was very upset that a Jewish Restaurant on the lower east side would serve Meat and Dairy, even Pork. It did not mention the "Reuban Sandwich", but mentioned Arnold Reuban as one of the owners. It seems from your article that he may have left the partnership to open his own place in 1914. When i patronized Reubans,I knew both father and son. even asked the senior Reuban why he named his son junior, as this is almost never done in jewish families. He said that they were not observent jews, nor traditional. It would be interesting if documents were kept, but I for one enjoy all the hoopala, as it's more fun and interesting. I have a Uncle living in Isreal whose first name is Reuban, is 96 years old and owned at one time more the 20 Deli's in New York, maybe I could get him to claim that he invented the sandwich, nah, won't work he's never eaten anything not Kosher.
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Kraut, YES! NO SALAD dressing for me, please.
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No dressing? Then it's not a Reuben. It might be a good sandwich, it might be to your taste, but it's not a Reuben.
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No kraut! The only reason for that stuff's existance is to be used as a defense parimeter around a soldiers outpost in a war environment.
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Please. The original, traditional Reuben is easy and quite tasty. If you don't like sauerkraut, ask for something else.
Start with good rye bread, toasted. Pile on sliver-thin CORNED BEEF, squeezed-almost-dry sauerkraut and some Swiss cheese. Butter the outside of the sandwich and GRILL. Add a good deli style mustard, and accompany with a Kosher garlic pickle and/or whatever else you might like. If you want pastrami, ask for a pastrami sandwich. For at least 50 years a Reuben has been made with Corned Beef the way I describe. With anything else, including cole slaw - it's something else.
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Please. The original, traditional Reuben is easy and quite tasty. If you don't like sauerkraut, ask for something else.
Start with good rye bread, toasted. Pile on sliver-thin CORNED BEEF, squeezed-almost-dry sauerkraut and some Swiss cheese. Butter the outside of the sandwich and GRILL. Add a good deli style mustard, and accompany with a Kosher garlic pickle and/or whatever else you might like. If you want pastrami, ask for a pastrami sandwich. For at least 50 years a Reuben has been made with Corned Beef the way I describe. With anything else, including cole slaw - it's something else.
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Of course the classic ruben is corned beef, kraut, and mustard on rye.
But! since I don't have easy access to very good bread and meat, when I get a hankering I often fall back on my mom's variation, which is sooooo so good. Spicy mustard, corned beef or pastrami, and prepared kraut (mix it with a little sour cream, worcestershire, and horseradish) on grilled or toasted rye. The sour cream helps make it moister while heightening the other flavors. (I know it sounds odd, but give it a try sometime.)
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