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Bastardizing the Reuben


DanielK

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RJ, it may be a great sandwich (seems to get a lot of love around here so it probably is a great sandwich), but to me, it's just not a Reuben if it's not corned beef. But I grew up around Jewish delis, so maybe I'm just pickier than others.

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So McDonalds can call a Big Mac a burger, I can put pork belly on the same components as a classic reuben but cant call it that? hmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!

A Bg Mac contains the essentials of a hamburger -- beef patties and buns. If they substituted chicken, pork or emu, it might be a "burger" but it would not be a hamburger.

But I grew up around Jewish delis...

How's that cheese 'n' beef combo working out for you?

A Chassagne Montrachet is not a Montrachet. Oral sex is not sex. A pork Reuben is not a Reuben, Adjectives, men, adjectives are the killer.

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RJ, it may be a great sandwich (seems to get a lot of love around here so it probably is a great sandwich), but to me, it's just not a Reuben if it's not corned beef. But I grew up around Jewish delis, so maybe I'm just pickier than others.

As all you all may or may not know I grew up in detroit near one of the largest hasidic jewish communities in the country, my love for fatty corn beef helped develop this hybrid corned pork belly dish....so as a cook we have licenses to change ingredients but not use the proper names? ok lets start critiquing thomas keller "mac and cheese" he cant call it that because there is lobster and orzo? no no we cant do that he is like a god....its a sandwich people the name is identifiable to what it is. a reuben with corned pork belly!!!!!!!!!

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You can call it shit on a shingle for all I care, RJ, 'cause it's one of the very bestest sandwiches I've had in my whole entire life, and now that I've read the last few posts Vidalia has vaulted to the tippy top of my "where to eat next week" list.

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I deliberately said Jewish, not kosher - none of the big name Jewish delis in NY, Philly, or SoFla (all places I grew up) were kosher.

So a pork Reuben would have been in the realm of possibility?

I'm on your side, definition-wise. But logic-wise you can't simultaneously invoke Jewish-ness and discard Kosher-ness. Undercuts the purety of you logic.

Anyhow, looking forward to to eating one, even if it sounds more like a ham 'n' cheese than a Reuben.

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So a pork Reuben would have been in the realm of possibility?

I'm on your side, definition-wise. But logic-wise you can't simultaneously invoke Jewish-ness and discard Kosher-ness. Undercuts the purety of you logic.

Anyhow, looking forward to to eating one, even if it sounds more like a ham 'n' cheese than a Reuben.

Old-line delis have always gotten around the limitations of the kashruth rules by calling themselves "kosher-style" delis. which usually means that they serve non-kosher chicken and beef (like cuts from the back-half of the animal), have butter for bread, cream for coffee and serve dairy dishes like blintzes and lox and cream cheese. But it doesn't mean that they go as far outside the rulebook as to serve pork, ham or bacon.

I had a house-made corned beef reuben at Evening Star Café for lunch yesterday, which was superb, as were the fries. The only thing missing on the plate was a pickle. This is what can happen when Jewish deli food is interpreted by goyim. Important things can get overlooked. Without the accompaniment of a crunchy fermented dill pickle, a corned beef or reuben sandwich just ain't right to someone who grew up eating classic deli food. Same thing is true, I'm guessing, in the case of a pork belly reuben.

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Without the accompaniment of a crunchy fermented dill pickle, a corned beef or reuben sandwich just ain't right to someone who grew up eating classic deli food. Same thing is true, I'm guessing, in the case of a pork belly reuben.

It is worth noting that the pork reuben came with a selection of vibrant and crunchy pickled veggies.

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