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Reuben sandwich

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One half of a Reuben sandwich.

The Reuben sandwich is a grilled or toasted sandwich made with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and either Russian dressing or Thousand Island dressing. It is typically made with rye bread, though originally it may have been served on pumpernickel bread, and is often served with potato salad on the side.

Origins

The origins of the Reuben are disputed. One account holds that Reuben Kulakofsky (sometimes spelled Reubin, whose last name is sometimes shortened to Kay), a 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.[1]

Descendants of Arnold Reuben, owner of the now defunct Reuben Restaurant on 58th Street in New York City, also claim the invention. They maintain that Reuben created the sandwich in 1914 to serve to Annette Seelos. Supporters of this version of the invention claim that Seelos was at that time starring in a silent film opposite Charlie Chaplin. This is suspect as documentation of Seelos's performance in a 1914 Chaplin film has not been found.

File:Reubensandwich.jpg
A Reuben on a plate, with fries.

The Reuben Kulakofsky version of the invention appears more widely accepted. This acceptance may have grown after being mentioned in the movie Quiz Show, although as a further embellishment in the film it is asserted that the sandwich was invented to win a contest. The oldest known Reuben artifact is a menu from the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1937. Also, in an article published in the Omaha Evening World-Herald in 1965, Ed Schimmel (son of Charles Schimmel, Blackstone Hotel owner) claims to have visited the Manhattan Reuben Restaurant where he ordered a Reuben only to discover that "they had never heard of it."

In New York, it is commonly suggested that Jacob Reuben, father of Lawrence Ruben (founder of the giant NY real estate management company), was the inventor of the sandwich. He was a butcher, and later a deli owner. He was known as a rebelious Jew, who went on to turn one of his two kitchens into a study. In the early 1920s, he was the first Jew to have a "single kitchen" home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It is often said, it was during the same period that he started serving the sandwich in his Brooklyn deli. Lawrence changed his last name and moved to Queens in 1951, as he did not agree with his father's unorthodox ways. In fact the arrival of the original Russian dressing did not happen until late '30s, when Jacob's cousin Piotr Rothenberg brought the recipe with him when he immigrated to the US from the USSR. Jacob, at one point on the verge of being rejected from Temple, is now accepted and cherished by many New Yorkers as a pioneer for inventing one of the best selling sandwiches of all time, "The Reuben".

An original Reuben (1934) can still be ordered at the Dundee Dell restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska. The restaurant, located in the Dundee neighborhood, also claims to be the inventor of the Reuben. Their Reuben is made with dark rye bread, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and corned beef, and is grilled.

Variants

Thousand Island dressing is sometimes substituted for the traditional Russian. The Reuben has many variations, including a sister sandwich, the "Rachel," which itself has very different regional varieties: in some areas, a Rachel is made with pastrami or turkey instead of corned beef (and sometimes coleslaw instead of sauerkraut); in others, it is simply a vegetarian Reuben with a meat substitute rather than corned beef.[2] A Georgia Reuben is made with turkey and coleslaw. There is even a very popular Ahi Tuna Reuben, served on rye bread with a wasabi mustard sauce and cabbage slaw. The names of the various Reuben variations are dependent upon the region, and there are many approaches to a Reuben derivative. Most of them include a type of meat, cabbage product, a cheese, and a dressing.

Some recipes add mustard.

See also

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on


References

  1. ^ (nd) History of the Reuben Sandwich What's Cooking America? website. Retrieved 6/9/07
  2. ^ http://goosehollowinn.com/menu.html
  • 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.


  • Reuben Realm In-depth reviews of Reuben sandwiches from dozens of restaurants.
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