From: kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com (Ken Koellner)
Newsgroups: ne.food
Subject: Re: NY/NJ/LI Subs vs NE Grinders (was What _is_ Greek Pizza?)
Date: 3 Sep 92 19:10:42 GMT
Distribution: ne
Organization: Stratus Computer, Software Engineering

In article <185dsqINNm2s@early-bird.think.com> barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
>In article <BtzzM8.55H@world.std.com> cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond) writes:
>
>The original question was clearly (to me and I think most other
>respondents) referring to the pizza sold in the innumerable Greek-owned
>"<Something> House of Pizza" pizza/sub shops all around the Boston area.
>-- 

You mean 'pizza/grinder' shops.  It's even harder to find a good
NY/NJ/LI-style submarmine sandwich in NE than it is to find good
pizza.

What's the difference between I NY sub and a NE grinder you ask?
Well, this thread will probably be almost the same as the pizza thread
but I have to vent my frustation with NE food once more.

First, subs are always server cold.  No sub places I know in NY/NJ
would every put a cold-cut sandwich with lot's of crisp, lettuce,
tomato, and onion in a pizza oven, double yuck-o.  Hot sandwiches like
sausage or meatball are normally not served as subs in NY/NJ.  They
are served on smaller, usually torpedo-shapped roles (like a NE
grinder) and are refered to as something like 'sausage sandwich' or
possible 'hoagie' (a term used in NY/NJ meaning something more akin to
a NE grinder).

Second, subs are made on somewhat longer and larger french/italian
bread.  Usually about 1.5 times as long and about twice the volume a
large NE grinder.  Subs are often sold in halfs and wholes.  A half
being baout the size of NE large grinder and a whole being about the
size of two large NE grinders.  A whole NY/NJ subs will feed two
hungry people and three people for a snack.  Some places also make 3'
and 6' subs on special order for parties.  These are sliced into
pieces a couple inches thick and will feed many people.

Third, asside from just being served cold, there something I just
can't put a finger on that makes them taste better.  It be that most
sub places put more stuff (cold-cuts and veggies) on their sandwiches
than grinder places.  Maybe the ingredients are better quality.  One
of my favorite sub places in NJ makes an italian sub with Provlone,
Capacola, Proscuitto, and Geneo Salami, real expensive ingredients.  A
lot of NE places make italian subs with cheap pressed cold-cuts like
Mortadella and cooked-salami.  It might be fresher bread.  It think it
also has something to do with the way the ingredients are laid out on
the bread; I believe it really does make a difference.

Fourth, specialty brings expertice.  Most sub-shops in NY/NJ make only
subs (and maybe a few other subwiches).  Most NY/NJ pizza places make
only pizza (and maybe pasta dishes if they are also a restaurant).  In
NE, we have mostly pizza/grinder shops.

Fifth, a greater variety of interesting sandwiches.  Most of the NY/NJ
subs-shops I've been to have a much greater variety of cold-cut subs
than NE grinder shops.  This is probably because they are speciality
shops.  An example, most NE grinder shops might have one grinder
called 'Italian cold-cut'.  I've been to NY/NJ subshops that have a
half-dozen Italian cold-cut subs.  You want a #1-Salami, Italian Ham,
and Provalone, or a #6 (described above) or maybe you want an American
sub, how about a #12-Roast Beef, Turkey, Bacon and American chesse, or
maybe a #14-Roast Beef, Turkey, Ham, Cole-Slaw, and Thousand Island
Dressing?  A lot of sub places have 15, 20, or more types of cold-cut
subs.  NE grinder places usually only have a couple combo type
grinders.  Subs are most often combo type sandwiches.  Maybe that's
one of the big factors, a number really good combo-style sandwiches to
choice from.  At the risk of starting another NY food is better thread,
that may be because of the influence NY-style delis.  I've been to
delis in NY that have easily a hundred or two different varieties of
sandwiches on the menu.

We could kick up the bagel thread again:-)
-- 
An amazing insight may have paid you a fleeting visit and then retreated.
Resist the temptation to chase it; it is faster than you are.  Value your
glimpse of it, and invite it to return some other time.      -John Bitmap
Newsgroups: comp.multimedia