Submarine sandwich

Asubmarine sandwich, commonly known as asub,hoagie(Philadelphia metropolitan areaandWestern Pennsylvania English),hero(New York City English),Italian(Maine English),grinder(New England English, Fulton County, NY),wedge(Westchester, NY), or aspuckie(Boston English) is a type of American cold or hotsandwichmade from a cylindricalbread rollsplit lengthwise and filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments.
The termssubmarineandsubare widespread in the US and not assignable to any certain part, although many of the localized terms are clustered in the northeastern United States.
The Italian sandwich originated in several differentItalian-Americancommunitiesin thenortheastern United Statesfrom the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.The popularity of theItalian-Americansandwich grew from its origins inConnecticut,Pennsylvania,Delaware,Maryland,New York,New Jersey,Massachusetts, andRhode Islandextending to most of the United States and Canada. With the advent ofchain restaurants, it is available in much of the world.Sociologists Edwin Eames and Howard Robboy identified thirteen different terms for the submarine sandwich in the United States.
The use of the term "submarine" or "sub" (after the resemblance of the roll to the shape of asubmarine) is widespread in the United States and Canada.Some accounts source the name as originating inNew London, Connecticut(site of aUnited States Navy submarine basefrom 1915 onwards) in theWorld War IIera. Written advertisements from 1940 inWilmington, Delawareindicate the term originated prior to the United States entering World War II.
One theory says the submarine was brought to the U.S. by Dominic Conti (1874–1954), anItalianimmigrant who came to New York in the late-19th century.He supposedly named it after seeing the recovered 1901 submarine calledFenian Ramin thePaterson Museumof New Jersey in 1928. His granddaughter said:
Aparty subis a particularly long submarine sandwich, usually cut into pieces and served to guests at parties.
The termhoagieoriginated in thePhiladelphiaarea. In 1953, thePhiladelphia Bulletinreported that Italian-Americans working at theWorld War I–era shipyard known asHog Island, whereemergency shippingwas produced for the war effort, introduced the sandwich by putting various meats, cheeses, and lettuce between two slices of bread.This became known as the "Hog Island" sandwich; shortened to "Hoggies", then the "hoagie".Dictionary.comoffers the following origin of the termhoagie -n. American English (originally Philadelphia) word for "hero, large sandwich made from a long, split roll"; originallyhoggie(c. 1936), traditionally said to be named for the jazz musicianHoagy Carmichael(1899–1981), but the use of the word predates his celebrity and the original spelling seems to suggest another source (perhaps "hog"). The modern spelling dates from about 1945; it may have been altered by influence of Carmichael's nickname.
ThePhiladelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manualoffers a different explanation saying the sandwich was created by early-twentieth-century street vendors called "hokey-pokey men", who soldantipastosalad, meats, cookies, and buns with a cut in them. WhenGilbert and Sullivan's operettaH.M.S. Pinaforeopened in Philadelphia in 1879, bakeries produced a long loaf called the pinafore. Entrepreneurial "hokey-pokey men" sliced the loaf in half, stuffed it with antipasto salad, and sold the world's first "hoagie".Another explanation is that the wordhoagiearose in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, among the Italian community inSouth Philadelphia; at the time "on the hoke" meant that someone was destitute. Deli owners gave away scraps of cheeses and meats in an Italian bread-roll known as a "hokie", but Italian immigrants pronounced it "hoagie".Yet another possible origin of the term, as conveyed by Howard Robboy is that a man in Philadelphia, Alphonso DePalma, who later opened a sandwich shop there claimed to have said in 1928, "You have to be a hog to eat one of those."Shortly afterWorld War II, there were numerous varieties of the term in use throughout Philadelphia. By the 1940s, the spelling "hoagie" dominated less-used variations like "hoogie" and "hoggie".By 1955, restaurants throughout the area were using the termhoagie. Listings inPittsburghshow hoagies arriving in 1961 and becoming widespread in that city by 1966.
Former Philadelphia mayor (and laterPennsylvaniagovernor)Ed Rendelldeclared the hoagie to be the "Official Sandwich of Philadelphia".However, there are claims that the hoagie was actually a product of nearbyChester, Pennsylvania.DiCostanza's inBoothwyn, Pennsylvaniaclaims that the mother of DiConstanza's owner originated the hoagie in 1925 in Chester. DiCostanza relates the story that a customer came into the family deli and through an exchange matching the customer's requests and the deli's offerings, the hoagie was created.Additional spellings include “hoagy”.
Woolworth'sto-go sandwich was called ahoagiein all of its U.S. stores.Bánh mìsandwiches are sometimes referred to as "Vietnamesehoagies" in Philadelphia.
The New York termherois first attested in 1937.The name is sometimes credited to theNew York Herald Tribunefood writerClementine Paddlefordin the 1930s, but there is no good evidence for the claim. It is also sometimes said that it is related to thegyro;that is unlikely as thegyrowas unknown in the United States until the 1960s.Hero(plural usuallyherosnotheroes) remains the prevailing New York City term for most sandwiches on an oblong roll with a generally Italian flavor, in addition to the original described above. Pizzeria menus often includeeggplant parmigiana,chicken parmigiana, andmeatballheros, each served with sauce.
A common term inNew England, especially Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island isgrinder;its origin has several possibilities.One theory says it is derived fromItalian-Americanslang for a dock worker, among whom the sandwich was popular.Others say that it was called a grinder because the bread's hard crust required much chewing.In Pennsylvania, New York, and parts of New England, the termgrinderusually refers to ahotsubmarine sandwich (meatball, sausage, etc.), whereas a cold sandwich (e.g.,cold cuts) is usually called a "sub".In the Philadelphia area, the termgrinderis also applied to any hoagie that is toasted in the oven after assembly, whether or not it is made with traditionally hot ingredients.
The term "Maine Italian" or simply "Italian" is used inMaine. Local folklore claims that a baker namedGiovanni Amatoinvented the Italian in 1899.
The traditionalMaine Italian sandwichis prepared using a long, soft bread roll or bun with ham and bologna along withAmerican cheese, tomato, onion,green bell pepper, Greek olives, pickles,olive oilorsalad oil, salt and cracked black pepper.Additional ingredients, such aspepperoni,banana pepper, orlettucemay be added to the sandwich. The sandwich is often cut in half to make it easier to handle.
The termwedgeis used in theNew Yorkcounties ofDutchess,Putnam, andWestchester, as well as theConnecticutcounty ofFairfield–four counties directly north of New York City. Some base the namewedgeon a diagonal cut in the middle of the sandwich, creating two halves or "wedges", or a "wedge" cut out of the top half of the bread with the fillings "wedged" in between, or a sandwich that is served between two "wedges" of bread. It has been said thatwedgeis short for "sandwich", with the name having originated from an Italian deli owner located inYonkers, who got tired of saying the whole word.Wedgeorwedgiecan also refer to a northeastern deli meat sandwich cooked on pizza doughor a style ofclub sandwich.
The termspukie("spukkie" or "spuckie") is unique to the city ofBostonand derives from the Italian wordspuccadella, meaning "long roll". The wordspuccadellais not typically found inItaliandictionaries, which may suggest that it could be a regional Italian dialect, or possibly aBostonItalian-American innovation. Spukie is typically heard in parts ofDorchesterandSouth Boston. Some bakeries in Boston'sNorth Endneighborhood have homemade spuccadellas for sale.
In the United States, from its origins with the Italian-American labor force in the northeast, the sub began to show up on menus of local pizzerias. As time went on and its popularity grew, small restaurants, called hoagie shops and sub shops which specialized offering the sandwich began to open.
Subs or their national equivalents were already popular in many European, Asian, and Australasian countries when late 20th-centuryfranchiseechain restaurants such asSubwayandfast foodoutlets made them even more popular and increased the prevalence of the wordsub. Many outlets offer non-traditional ingredient combinations. In the United States, there are manychain restaurants that specialize in subs. Major international chains includeFirehouse Subs,Quiznos,Mr. Sub,Jersey Mike's,Jimmy John's,Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and the largest restaurant chain in the world, Subway.The sandwich is also often available atsupermarkets, localdelis, andconvenience stores. They includeWawa, which annually runs a sub promotional event during the summer called Hoagiefest,andPublix, whose sandwiches are often referred to as "pub subs".