Reuben vs. Rachel; Sour Kraut vs. Cole Slaw

[Guest ncm2169]

Reuben vs. Rachel; Sauerkraut vs. Cole Slaw

 

OK, so help settle an argument.

 

I say a genuine Reuben has sauerkraut and not coleslaw, whereas a genuine Rachel may have either.

 

What say the Deli aficionados here (taking into account any regional differences, of course)?

[+ g56whiz]

Sauerkraut of course.

[Guest ncm2169]

Sauerkraut of course.

 

Umm, lemme re-phrase that question.

 

Does a genuine Reuben only have sauerkraut, or may it have coleslaw, and if so, when/where? (NYC, Chicago, etc.).

 

Same question for a Rachel.

[MsGuy]

Wikipedia rides to the rescue. Apparently the main difference between a Rueben and a Rachel is that the former has sauerkraut and the latter has cole slaw. I've had Ruebens from the East coast to the West coast to the Gulf coast and points between. Nary a cole slaw in the lot.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_sandwich

 

This recipe does suggest cole slaw as a side dish.

 

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004133reuben_sandwich.php

[Guest ncm2169]

Wikipedia rides to the rescue. Apparently the main difference between a Rueben and a Rachel is that the former has sauerkraut and the latter has cole slaw. I've had Ruebens from the East coast to the West coast to the Gulf coast and points between. Nary a cole slaw in the lot.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_sandwich

 

This recipe does suggest cole slaw as a side dish.

 

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004133reuben_sandwich.php

 

So here I am, in Lake Wobegon, expecting a local Deli expert from NYC, Chicago, and/or any other locale which lays claim to excellent Deli, and you serve up Wikipedia and Warren Buffet's Omaha-born third cousin four times removed???

 

Jeez. Talk about bringing a guy back to reality.

 

Just one question. If Reuben was born in Omaha, where was Rachel born? Chilicothe?

[+ purplekow]

Rachel was born on Long Island and grew up with Ross and Monica. As a native New York to suggest cole slaw on a reuben is heresy.

[MsGuy]

Chilicothe, Missouri or Chilicothe, Ohio?

[Guest ncm2169]

< Rachel was born on Long Island and grew up with Ross and Monica. As a native New York to suggest cole slaw on a reuben is heresy.

 

Don't know Ross and Monica.

 

OKAY, OKAY, I GET that a Reuben is sauerkraut ONLY, everywhere.

 

But where does that leave Rachel? Corned Beef, Pastrami, Sauerkraut, and/or cole slaw?

 

And please hurry up. If this doesn't get settled soon, I will have to bring Rabbi Schmuley Boteach into this discussion, and you REALLY don't want that. :eek:

[Guest ncm2169]

Chilicothe, Missouri or Chilicothe, Ohio?

 

We're doing Reubens, not chili.

[+ purplekow]

Rachel is the tamer feminine version with the cole slaw instead. You can have a little of both which is the pre-op Reuben. Now moderator, shouldn't this be moved to the Deli Section?

[Guest ncm2169]

Emeril Lagasse, that well-known Kosher Chef from Nawlins, says Reubens need both sauerkraut AND cole slaw:

 

Ingredients

 

 

• 2 pounds quality corned beef, very thinly sliced
  
• 12 slices Jewish-rye or marble-rye bread
  
• 1 recipe Emeril's Russian Dressing, recipe follows
  
• 12 ounces sauerkraut
  
• 12 slices good quality Swiss cheesehttp://a19.g.akamai.net/7/19/7125/1450/Ocellus.coupons.com/_images/showlist_icon.gif
  
• 1 quart store-bought cole slaw, divided
  
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened, divided
  
• 6 kosher dill pickles, halved or quartered if large
  
• Directions
  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the corned beef in a shallow baking dish and drizzle with a little water. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

 

Lay the bread slices on a clean work surface and spread 1 side of each slice with some of the Russian dressing. Layer 1/2 of the slices with some of the corned beef. Divide the sauerkraut evenly over the meat, then top the sauerkraut with the slices of cheese and cole slaw. Place the remaining bread slices on top, dressing sides down, and set aside.

 

Heat 2 heavy large skillets over medium heat. When hot, brush 1 side of each sandwich with some of the butter and place in the hot pans, buttered sides down, and cook until crispy and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Spread the unbuttered, top sides of the sandwiches with the remaining butter and turn the sandwiches to cook on the second side until golden brown, crispy, and the cheese is melted, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer the sandwiches to a cutting board and cut in half on the diagonal, then serve immediately, with remaining cole slaw and a kosher dill pickle, for garnish.

 

Now I'm getting confused.

[+ purplekow]

Emeril should stick to what he knows. Love his food and have eaten in just about all of his NO restaurants before and after the hurricane but nowhere do I recall a Reuben nor would I order one there. I know there is some controversy as to the origin of the sandwich but if not the original, although it probably is, the best ones are bought in NYC delis, especially the Kosher delis. You don't get a Reuben from Emeril and you don't get Etuffe in a Kosher deli.

[Guest ncm2169]

< You can have a little of both which is the pre-op Reuben.

 

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

< Now moderator, shouldn't this be moved to the Deli Section?

 

STOP!!! My stomach!!!!!!!!! :D:D

[MsGuy]

On occasion Emeril has been known to engage in excess to the point of culinary heresy. BAM!

 

Just to Kick It Up A Notch, Lagasse is about as Kosher as my Granny's pork roast X-mas dinner. Part Portuguese and moved to the Big Easy from Massachusetts as an adult, if memory serves.

 

IMHO, there's no point in looking to a high hatted chef like Emeril for a recipe for a traditional American folk dish like a Rueben. Authentic is not what he's paid the big bucks for. Ask him for a pizza and he would probably serve you something with smoked Russian sturgeon and sliced white truffle. Might taste good, but it won't exactly be what you had in mind.

[rvwnsd]

 

Does a genuine Reuben only have sauerkraut, or may it have coleslaw, and if so, when/where? (NYC, Chicago, etc.).

 

 

You are as likely to find coleslaw on a Reuben (or any sandwich) in Chicago as you are to find ketchup on a hot dog. A Reuben is made with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, Russian or Thousand Island dressing, and rye bread with caraway seeds (not the marble kind). I suggest Kaufman's Bagel Bakery and Deli on Dempster St (between Niles Center and Bronx Ave) in Skokie andThe Bagel on Broadway between (Barry and Briar) in Chicago. Order it with the mish-mash soup and you are in deli heaven.

[+ g56whiz]

Yand rye bread with caraway seeds (not the marble kind).

 

Now THERE'S a purist!!!

[MsGuy]

You are as likely to find coleslaw on a Reuben (or any sandwich) in Chicago as you are to find ketchup on a hot dog.

 

You might be surprised. Find one of those down home style family owned Black BBQ joints and ask for a pulled pork BBQ sandwich topped with a slather of cole slaw. That's a traditional variant in the Deep South and quite good if the slaw's not too sloppy. Since most of Chicago's black families originally migrated from my corner of America, I would bet that sandwich would be easy to find in the Windy City.

[+ g56whiz]

When I first moved to New York in '71, there was a place that advertised as being the home of the Reuben. I had one there once. As I remember it, it was not located on the lower east side but rather around East 58 between Lexington and Park. Does anyone remember the name of that place?

[+ purplekow]

the Automat? lol

[rvwnsd]

I grew up and lived in Chicago for 36 years and I've never seen coleslaw served on a sandwich. Not saying that it is impossible to find, just not very likely. Now pass the matzo...my mish-mash needs a little crunch.

[KMEM]

Emeril is indeed from yankeeland, and, as you say, in this case MA. The New Orleans area is one of the few in the US where some of the local inhabitant's accents are nearly identical to those from the NE US. I once asked a pit boss in Las Vegas if he was from Brooklyn and his reply was Gulfport, MS. We then proceeded to talk about good food from such as Felix's in NO.

 

As MSGuy very well knows, a Memphis style BBQ pork sandwich has nothing but pulled or chopped smoked pork shoulder + cole slaw + sauce, hot or mild. Tomatoes (which I dearly love) and other garnishments are strictly verboten on this sandwich to maintain its' authenticity.

 

I would never order a Reuben in a "high class" restaurant but they should be readily available in most any city in the USA. Easy enough to make at home, the secret being "good" corned beef and "good" bread + reasonably careful preparation. Yum.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[MsGuy]

Memphis always tries to hog the credit for a style of BBQ found throughout the Mid-South. Just last night I downed exactly the pulled pork BBQ you described (made with a burger bun) at my favorite truck stop restuarant. The local BBQ joint has the same thing, except with chopped pork.

 

Back in the 1930's my own home town was credited with the invention of the sausage biscuit by no less an authority than the Commercial Appeal. One would think such a feat would be worthy of an annual festival or at least a commemorative monument but local officials have proved strangely difficult to prod into action. Personally I think that a dishonor to the memory our noble forebears and will not rest until we crown the first annual sausage biscuit queen. [some have suggested that we already have a plethora of queens hereabouts but I take that as just another example of their rank homophobia.]

[AdamSmith]

Personally I think that a dishonor to the memory our noble forebears and will not rest until we crown the first annual sausage biscuit queen. [some have suggested that we already have a plethora of queens hereabouts but I take that as just another example of their rank homophobia.]

 

Trouble-makers clearly. The latter type of queen would be associated with sausage links.

 

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/sausage_links.jpg

 

While sausage biscuits of course feature sausage patties.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/SausageBiscuit1.jpg/701px-SausageBiscuit1.jpg

[KMEM]

Next you will try to tell me that Memphis isn't the capital of the Mid-South. Of course, Memphis has hogged the BBQ instructions and why not, after all, it has the hog BBQ festival every year during Memphis in May. I think we will continue to try to hog every thing we can about pork BBQ and so long as we can hog the lime light we will continue to do so. Other types of BBQ can be very good but the hog capital of the world will continue to hog that title as long as possible.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

 

I personally have seen BBQ outlets within 80 or fewer miles try various "travesties" of the "real" BBQ sandwich with such as tomatoes and no slaw, etc. Shame on them and shame on you for thinking any such is reasonable.

[MsGuy]

I think I'm finally getting to know you two guys, at least a little bit. I had a bet with myself that slamming the reputation of Memphis BBQ would get a rebuttal from KMEM and that sausage biscuit queens would be just the thing to draw out AdamSmith.

 

It's odd how we can invest life and personality into what in the end is (are?) no more than some words on a monitor's screen. (That's not an original thought but then if I relied just on original thoughts I'd have to spend most of my days drooling in the corner.) Maybe it's only that I'm new to this whole discussion board thing, but I've surprised myself by how quickly I've come to accept the folks who post here as real people who are worth communicating with. Anyway, thanks KMEM & AdamSmith and the rest of you too, so far the experience has been a delight. Hell, I'm feeling so warm and fuzzy I'm even going to take minnie off the ignore list.