Real Maine Italians - good times!

Paul

Paul

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My daughter sent me this link which brought back a lot of good memories from my youth and from the tradition passed on to my own kids. The comments section is gold. We purchased Italians from "Amatos" many times and they were nice, but they did not hold a candle to the ones my grandparents would make or even the ones we made at home. My grandfather was an Italian from NY who met my grandmother while on a Navy minesweeper stopped in Portland, ME. For decades they would summer in Maine and I was lucky enough to go with them several times. Later I moved my family to Maine. We no longer live there but a lot of good times and Italians were a feature, like lobster rolls and great summer days that you really appreciated after a way too long winter and a brief spring...https://www.food.com/recipe/a-real-maine-italian-66603

 
I've never had those. It seems like, compared to the subs available nowadays, to be...

...a simpler, less complex version. I'm guessing the wow-factor is in the quality of the meat, roll, etc., which shines through unabated.

I have been going to Jersey Mike's sub shop. They're a chain from, oddly enough, New Jersey. A pregnant gal in our circle who lived back east for a while mentioned the thing she missed the most that she cut out of her diet while pregnant was "a Jersey Mike's Italian sub". So I had to try it.

They are good. I splurge about once every week or two!

 
I enjoy jersey mike's but

I think it has to do with a lot of factors including water and regional wild yeast but It always seemed to me like pizza, bagels and deli are just better in the NYC area. I have been hard pressed to find a quality deli sandwich in California or AZ to match what you can find on just about any street at a local shop in NYC which is especially perplexing because for the most part the produce is a lot better in CA than what you find in the supermarkets in NY (in college I worked at the busiest supermarket in all of NY).
Regarding Italian sandwiches, one reason why the homemade versions are better is that my grandparents taught me to put only enough oil/vinegar not to overwhelm the bread and then wrap them in deli paper with a rubber band and put them in the refrigerator to be served the next day. A lot of magic happens there with the tomato, pickle, cheese.

 
Bread and the quality of meat definitely make a difference with sandwiches. I agree that

there is something about the bread in the NYC area that is a different taste and texture than anywhere else in the world.

I used to tease my husband about him always complaining about never being able to get a good sandwich or pizza here in CA, I thought he was just having overly rosy memories of home. Then I went there myself and I definitely agree with him.

I enjoyed reading the comments under the recipe you posted, Paul. Everyone is very opinionated about what makes a "real" anything.

 
We had sub sandwiches for every summer birthday when I was

growing up. My mom made them with still warm, toasty Pepperidge Farms French Rolls - the almost foot long ones, 2 to a package - sliced open and soaked on both sides with Wishbone Italian dressing. Topping with crumbled dry oregano, she layered Swiss and sharp cheddar on each side of the open bread to warm the cheeses. Then the best thinly sliced cold cuts she could find at the deli counter of our local butcher store, almost always olive loaf and Eckrich German bologna (along with several others - she loved liver sausage). Stuffing with sliced dill pickles, green peppers, onions, tomatoes and head lettuce. Pressed closed and sliced into sections - sometimes stabbed with a toothpick to hold closed. Always served with potato chips. Such a celebration! I close my eyes and I can see my family around our dining room table and everyone is smiling, laughing, joking, enjoying! Colleen

 
wow sandwiches have such nice memories!

those sound really good.

 
I would have cried and been forced to eat a sandwich like that when I was a kid. Now it sounds like

a warm slice of heaven.

 
On our recent trip to Paris, we enjoyed eating what I had "discovered" 40 years ago.

The French know how to make bread. Imagine that.

Even the "chains" in Paris make excellent sandwiches!

M

 
We had a deli here near ASU that used to put a thin shmear of liverwurst...

...on their sandwiches. It showed up on just about everything they made, and could be added as an "extra" for anything that didn't already have it. They used it like butter or mayo. Just a thin layer on the bread.

I grew up eating liverwurst and braunschweiger from a German deli in San Diego that made their own, in-store. So I noticed their addition right off the bat, and it was delicious! It added a subtle-but-tasty background flavor for the meats, cheeses and veggies of any particular item they made.

MMMMmmmmm!

 
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