Reuben sandwich
Encyclopedia
The Reuben sandwich is a hot sandwich
of layered meat, sauerkraut
and Swiss cheese
, with a dressing. These are grilled between slices of rye bread
. The meat is either corned beef
or pastrami
, and the dressing is either Russian
or Thousand Island dressing
. Several variants exist.
n-born grocer from Omaha, Nebraska
, was the inventor, perhaps as part of a group effort by members of Kulakofsky's weekly poker
game held in the Blackstone Hotel
from around 1920 through 1935. The participants, who nicknamed themselves "the committee", included the hotel's owner, Charles Schimmel. The sandwich first gained local fame when Schimmel put it on the Blackstone's lunch menu, and its fame spread when a former employee of the hotel won a national contest with the recipe.
Other accounts hold that the reuben's creator was Arnold Reuben, the German
owner of the once-famous, now defunct Reuben's Delicatessen in New York
, who, according to an interview with Craig Claiborne
, invented the "Reuben special" around 1914. The earliest references in print to the sandwich are New York based but that is not conclusive evidence, though the fact that the earliest, from a 1926 edition of Theatre Magazine, references a "Reuben special" specifically does seem to take its cue from Arnold Reuben's menu.
A version of that story is related by Bernard Sobel
in his book Broadway Heartbeat: Memoirs of a Press Agent and claims that the sandwich was an extemporaneous creation for Marjorie Rambeau
inaugurated when the famed Broadway actress visited the Delicatessen one night when the cupboards were particularly bare. Some sources name the actress as Annette Seelos, and note that the original "Reuben special" sandwich did not contain corned beef or sauerkraut and was not grilled; still other versions give credit to Alfred Scheuing, Reuben's chef, and say he created the sandwich for Reuben's son, Arnold Jr., in the 1930s.
for the corned beef and coleslaw
for the sauerkraut. Other recipes for the Rachel call for turkey instead of corned beef or pastrami. In some parts of the United States, especially Michigan, this turkey variant is known as a "Georgia Reuben" or "California Reuben", which sometimes uses barbecue sauce
instead of Russian or Thousand Island.
for the corned beef and sometimes will substitute coleslaw
for the sauerkraut as well. This variation is often a menu item in restaurants in Florida
.
wrapper. Typically served with thousand island dressing as an appetizer or snack, they originated at Mader's, a German restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where chef Dennis Wegner created them for a summer festival in about 1990.
. The restaurant Black Market Pizza in Ames, Iowa
, specializes in sandwich-themed pizzas. The Reuben consists of a sweet-potato dough—topped with Thousand-Island dressing, Swiss cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut, mozzarella cheese, and caraway seeds—that is baked, then topped with pickles before serving.
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
of layered meat, sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...
and Swiss cheese
Swiss cheese
Swiss cheese is a generic name in North America for several related varieties of cheese which resemble the Swiss Emmental. Some types of Swiss cheese have a distinctive appearance, as the blocks of the cheese are riddled with holes known as "eyes". Swiss cheese has a piquant, but not very sharp,...
, with a dressing. These are grilled between slices of rye bread
Rye bread
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour...
. The meat is either corned beef
Corned beef
Corned beef is a type of salt-cured beef products present in many beef-eating cultures. The English term is used interchangeably in modernity to refer to three distinct types of cured beef:...
or pastrami
Pastrami
Pastrami , is a popular delicatessen meat usually made from beef and, traditionally in Romania, also from pork and mutton. In Israel, "Pastrama" is the term used for sliced chicken and turkey. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before modern refrigeration...
, and the dressing is either Russian
Russian dressing
Russian dressing is a salad dressing invented in the United States in the late 19th century or early 20th century. Typically piquant, it is today characteristically made of a blend of mayonnaise and ketchup complemented with such additional ingredients as horseradish, pimentos, chives and...
or Thousand Island dressing
Thousand Island dressing
Thousand Island dressing is a salad dressing and condiment, a variant of remoulade and Russian dressing.Its base commonly contains mayonnaise and can include olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, cream, chili sauce, tomato puree, ketchup, or Tabasco...
. Several variants exist.
Origins
One account holds that Reuben Kulakofsky (sometimes spelled Reubin, or the last name shortened to Kay), a LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n-born grocer from Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, was the inventor, perhaps as part of a group effort by members of Kulakofsky's weekly poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
game held in the Blackstone Hotel
Blackstone Hotel (Omaha)
The Blackstone Hotel, currently known as the Blackstone Center, is located at 302 South 36th Street in the Blackstone neighborhood of the Midtown area in Omaha, Nebraska...
from around 1920 through 1935. The participants, who nicknamed themselves "the committee", included the hotel's owner, Charles Schimmel. The sandwich first gained local fame when Schimmel put it on the Blackstone's lunch menu, and its fame spread when a former employee of the hotel won a national contest with the recipe.
Other accounts hold that the reuben's creator was Arnold Reuben, the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
owner of the once-famous, now defunct Reuben's Delicatessen in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, who, according to an interview with Craig Claiborne
Craig Claiborne
Craig Claiborne was an American restaurant critic, food writer and former food editor of the New York Times. He was the author of numerous cookbooks and an autobiography...
, invented the "Reuben special" around 1914. The earliest references in print to the sandwich are New York based but that is not conclusive evidence, though the fact that the earliest, from a 1926 edition of Theatre Magazine, references a "Reuben special" specifically does seem to take its cue from Arnold Reuben's menu.
A version of that story is related by Bernard Sobel
Bernard Sobel
Bernard Sobel was an American playwright, a drama critic for the New York Mirror, an author of a number of books on theatre and theatre history, and a publicist. Among his clients were Florenz Ziegfeld, Charles Dillingham, A. L...
in his book Broadway Heartbeat: Memoirs of a Press Agent and claims that the sandwich was an extemporaneous creation for Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Rambeau was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Rambeau was born in San Francisco, California to Marcel Rambeau and Lilian Garlinda Kindelberger. Her parents split up when she was a girl. She and her mother went to Nome, Alaska where young Marjorie dressed as a boy, sang and...
inaugurated when the famed Broadway actress visited the Delicatessen one night when the cupboards were particularly bare. Some sources name the actress as Annette Seelos, and note that the original "Reuben special" sandwich did not contain corned beef or sauerkraut and was not grilled; still other versions give credit to Alfred Scheuing, Reuben's chef, and say he created the sandwich for Reuben's son, Arnold Jr., in the 1930s.
Rachel sandwich
The Rachel sandwich is a variation on the standard Reuben sandwich that substitutes pastramiPastrami
Pastrami , is a popular delicatessen meat usually made from beef and, traditionally in Romania, also from pork and mutton. In Israel, "Pastrama" is the term used for sliced chicken and turkey. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before modern refrigeration...
for the corned beef and coleslaw
Coleslaw
Coleslaw, sometimes simply called slaw in some American dialects, is a salad consisting primarily of shredded raw cabbage. It may also include shredded carrots and other ingredients such as fruits and vegetables, apples, onions, green onions, peppers and various spices.-History:The term "coleslaw"...
for the sauerkraut. Other recipes for the Rachel call for turkey instead of corned beef or pastrami. In some parts of the United States, especially Michigan, this turkey variant is known as a "Georgia Reuben" or "California Reuben", which sometimes uses barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...
instead of Russian or Thousand Island.
Blue Reuben sandwich
The Blue Reuben is a variation on the standard Reuben sandwich. It has Blue Cheese Dressing instead of the normal dressing.Grouper Reuben
The grouper Reuben is a variation on the standard Reuben sandwich that substitutes grouperGrouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...
for the corned beef and sometimes will substitute coleslaw
Coleslaw
Coleslaw, sometimes simply called slaw in some American dialects, is a salad consisting primarily of shredded raw cabbage. It may also include shredded carrots and other ingredients such as fruits and vegetables, apples, onions, green onions, peppers and various spices.-History:The term "coleslaw"...
for the sauerkraut as well. This variation is often a menu item in restaurants in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Reuben egg rolls
Reuben egg rolls, sometimes called "Irish egg rolls" or "Reuben balls", use the standard reuben sandwich filling of corned beef, sauerkraut, and cheese inside a deep-fried egg rollEgg roll
An egg roll is an appetizer and dinner, a variant of spring roll that has spread throughout the world as a staple of Asian cuisine. Egg rolls with fillings are commonly served in Vietnamese cuisine.-Description:...
wrapper. Typically served with thousand island dressing as an appetizer or snack, they originated at Mader's, a German restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where chef Dennis Wegner created them for a summer festival in about 1990.
Reuben pizza
Reuben pizza was featured on the Travel Channel's show Man v. FoodMan v. Food
Man v. Food is an American food reality television series. It premiered on December 3, 2008, on the Travel Channel. The program is hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman explores the "big food" offerings of a different American city before facing off against a...
. The restaurant Black Market Pizza in Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
, specializes in sandwich-themed pizzas. The Reuben consists of a sweet-potato dough—topped with Thousand-Island dressing, Swiss cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut, mozzarella cheese, and caraway seeds—that is baked, then topped with pickles before serving.
Virgin Reuben
The virgin Reuben or vegetarian Reuben is a variation on a grilled cheese sandwich using the traditional Reuben ingredients of Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and dressing on rye bread, without pastrami or corned beef.Further reading
- Claiborne, Craig. "Whence the Reuben? Omaha, It Seems." The New York Times (May 17, 1976).
- McMorris, Robert. "Omaha Saw Invention of Reuben Sandwich." Omaha Evening World-Herald (September 11, 1965).
- McMorris, Robert. "Just When You Thought Reuben's Roots Were Safe." Omaha World-Herald (January 31, 1986): 2.
- McMorris, Robert. "This Reuben Explanation Seems Hard to Swallow." Omaha World-Herald (July 24, 1989): 2.