We Ranked 26 Classic American Sandwiches From Worst To Best - Tasting Table

Not much else to add to this conversation, except maybe now I want a Fluffernutter (heavy on the PB/light on the fluff) with some salty Lay’s potato chips. It’s been years.

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Her parameters for ranking were:

**The first was the ability to replicate the sandwich at home.

We also wanted a sandwich that had a balance of different textures and flavors, as well as something that could be dressed up or down for extra flavor and texture.**

Ummm…she chose a Fluffernutter as her #1. I’ll give her ease of making it at home, but there’s no balance whatsoever of different textures. A true Fluffernutter is essentially squishy.

Not surprised that The Tasting Table doesn’t allow comments. She’d have been skewered and roasted.

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Oy. Just …oy. The Internet Tubes make everyone an expert. The little thought that keeps squeaking in the back of my mind when I read something like this is, I don’t care what you think and you’ve just provided me proof why.

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Yes, that’s interesting. I think I’m also the only non North American contributing. Maybe that’s the reason for my very different take on the article.

Have to say though that I do find many of the contributions to be unhelpful. Many abruptly criticise the article and the author’s views but few explain what is wrong. Some detail on a food forum would be helpful - or is it sufficient to simply diss a hotdog as “worst” because everyone knows that’s true . Or everyone knows it’s untrue. And I’m really not sure whether folk are criticising because what’s been written is self evidently accurate or self evidently inaccurate. Or is it the quality of the writing that offends?

Well, I personally don’t view a hot dog OR a cheeseburger as a sandwich, for one.

Her comment about French Dip sandwiches being a “soup and sandwich combo” is ridiculous…you’re not drinking the jus.

She disses hot lobster rolls. That’s just a cardinal sin, IMO. :wink:

She has a “deep seated hatred of mayo”…and yet includes egg salad sandwiches on her list, along with a club sandwich, a po’boy, cold lobster roll, a tuna salad sandwich, and a chicken salad sandwich. If she has such a hatred of mayo, none of these would be on the list.

So yeah, her list is just click bait.

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For me , the article came across as clickbait written for an audience who doesn’t get out much.

I don’t have anything against hot dogs. I love them. Hot Dogs!

The clickbait part for me is that a significant number of Americans and Canadians who use the term hot dogs do not consider hot dogs to be sandwiches. Or hamburgers on buns to be sandwiches.

Including egg salad?
Egg salad is a very typically sandwich in North America, not specific to any region in Canada or the US. Some versions are identical to UK Egg Mayo. Other versions are the posh Tamago on milk bread, or various regional versions with or without celery, pickles, curry powder, lettuce, cilantro, dill, etc.

Egg salad is also slightly controversial - maybe making it clickbait , because of the odor when other people are eating it (at work or while travelling) and the effect it has (causes gas for many people).

I found some choices rather vague. I don’t really know the differences between the Hero, Hoagie, Grinder, Dagwood, Submarine and other loaded Italian deli sandwiches. They’re regional and they have similarities. I suppose I’m interested in knowing about the history of a specific type and what is required to make it a good one. In Canada, most deli sandwiches on a long bun with multiple cured meats would be called submarine or a sub. I am not sure any specific region of Canada is known for its subs.

In Pittsburgh, there are some local sandwich shops that are known for their equivalent type of assorted cold cut sandwich. I’ve attended a family wedding where the meal was sandwiches from a specific local sandwich shop (it was 9 years go, let me look up the name of the shop) and cookies from a Pittsburgh cookie table.

I can see the chopped cheese, Reuben, Hollywood Club, Italian Beef, etc being included in the list. I don’t understand the more generic sandwiches like egg salad being included.

Now this is a good list of sandwiches, specific to Pittsburgh

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As far as I’m concerned, they’re pretty much the same - if I’m in the mood for an Italian cold cut. It depends on the quality and composition of the individual sandwich, and not its name. I love them all… within my cardiologist-imposed limits. Sigh.

Dagwood, in case there is anyone here too young to know :joy: is named after the comics character Dagwood Bumstead, who would go to the fridge and concoct a huge sandwich of everything he found in there. And eat it.
IMG_0169

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It is just clickbait. The photos are good and as an overview of popular US/CA sandwiches (unranked!) it’s not bad. It does feel to me sort of like she flipped the rankings on purpose to generate OUTRAGE! :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

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Seems to have worked, judging from this thread :joy:

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According to Wikipedia, the British Sandwich Association (the main industry body) defines a sandwich as “any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold”. Definition includes wraps and bagels but excludes items assembled and served hot, such as burgers. Which may well suit the industry body’s needs but is absolute bollocks.

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There’s also the cube rule.

I’ve been posting on foodie discussion boards since 2002. I am too tired to get into debates. LOL.

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For me it’s the top four that are wrong. I don’t believe any American over age 10 seeks out pb&j or a fluffernutter. I certainly wouldn’t expect to see them available on a standard deli/sandwich shop menu. Much the same as including a bagel and cream cheese on a sandwich menu–much more likely to be a quick breakfast offering.

Speaking of breakfast, the inclusion of “breakfast sandwich” is overly broad. There are so many variations in bread (white toast? bagel? croissant? muffin?) and filling (fried egg? scrambled? bacon? sausage) plus condiments and toppings that the term has no meaning. In New Jersey, pork roll on a kaiser is the ultimate breakfast sandwich while in Philadelphia you can find scrapple on white bread.

Whole threads have been devoted to whether a hot dog or hamburger are a sandwich. And I believe I’ve seen more than one discussion concerning breakfast sandwiches, which vary from region to region.

The rest of the article is probably pretty representative of sandwiches you would be likely to encounter on American lunch menus.

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Given how many people protest films they haven’t seen, or books they haven’t read, I’m not sure why you think the author has actually eaten these sandwiches.

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. . . . and given the billions and billons of ways to totally screw-up a BLT . . .
looks more like AI generated fluff&stuff.

within the city limits of Philadelphia, you can find utterly miserable hoagies, and utterly superb hoagies. same with cheese steaks.

the ‘proclaimed’ caveat of ‘being fixable at home’ is utter nonsense.
there’s a real d*mn good reason people go to their favorite hoagie / pizza / burger place.
being born and raised in the Phila area . . . a grinder is a ‘grilled’ (modified) hoagie -
grinder and hoagie are not the same thing, in Philadelphia…

it appears to me the author has actually never lived a sandwich . . .

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I don’t. I said as much upthread.

How do they categorize a grilled cheese?

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I recall my (East) German friend’s confusion when she ordered a grilled cheese at Luke’s Lobster (she’s vegetarian) and ask for a side of bread. She was expecting something along the lines of halloumi, not a sandwich with melted cheese inside.

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Yes, I could see that being confusing if the menu left off the word “sandwich.”

I didn’t really read it.

As you may know, I usually find terms like “classic American” worthy of an eyeroll at best. Your milage, and the milage of others may vary.

I’ve decided I come here to learn about others, and not to make others learn about me.

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And while some might dispute it’s “sandwichness”, a taco is the ultimate “American” sandwich, predating all the others. (If a hot dog in a one-piece bun is a sandwich, so is a taco. And so is anything in a pita pocket.)

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