A Field Guide To The American Sandwich

Sandwiches abound on the East Coast: sandwiches on long, crusty rolls filled mostly with meat. And what you call them can tell someone where you come from.

Order a hoagie, and your lunch date may guess that you hail from Philadelphia or southern New Jersey. You want a wedge? Did you grow up in Westchester County, N. Y.? The hero is often associated with Italian delis in New York City, whereas the grinder comes from points north, in Connecticut and deeper into New England, unless the folks up there decide to call it a sub.

So is there a difference?

“It’s all the same stuff, just different ways of saying it,” said Rich Torrisi, whose New York City restaurants include the sandwich-fixated Parm. Mr. Torrisi, who grew up in the Westchester County village of Dobbs Ferry, is a “wedge guy turned hero,” he said. “ ‘Hoagie’ I would sometimes hear at the Jersey Shore and always hated it.”

But nomenclature aside, are the sandwiches really identical? They all draw their fillings from Italian-American staples, and many of the sandwiches in the Field Guide are variations on that theme, and are technically heroes, hoagies and the like.

For Ed Levine, the founder of the website Serious Eats, the distinctions can come down to quirks and habits, whether a local deli celebrates or disdains shredded lettuce, for instance, or “how crusty is the roll — how crusty should it be?” he said. “That does seem to be one of the regional differences.”

In the end, the most crucial factor may be the mileage between your local sandwich shop and the bakery on which it depends. JEFF GORDINIER

from ffffff http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/14/dining/field-guide-to-the-sandwich.html

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