[allanmcpherson]

Speaking as somebody who is a comic book fan, this is the dorkiest thread ever. I mean that in a good way. The culinary equivalent of "who would win in a fight, The Hulk or The Mighty Thor."

--Al

 

[phatch]

Where do you draw the sandwich line?

Pita? For me, no it's still used in sandwiches.

tortilla? I'm split on this one. Flour tortilla I lean toward including as a sandwich but not the corn tortilla. Sort of hypocritical there aren't I. I'm not sold on this one way or the other for sure though. I couldn't call enchiladas a sandwich casserole in they way I've seen Reuben Casseroles. But whither the corn tortilla taco? That too is very sandwichy.

Is a Chinese filled bun a sandwich? bao?

Is peking duck in mandarin pancakes then a sandwich? Taxonomically, I want to say no, but it does have all the characteristics of a sandwich I would use for calling a flour tortilla wrap a sandwich.

This may be like the word salad that labels things but is difficult to rigorously and consistently define.

Phil

 

[chefallen]

This whole thing between the hamburger and sandwich is kind of like the chicken and the egg thing. right? Well as I understand it, a sandwich is anything that is between two pieces of bread with a sauce and a garnish. Now there are different categories labeled under sandwiches such as hot sandwiches and cold sandwiches. To me a hamburger would fall under a hot sandwich classification, whereas a tuna salad sandwich might fall under a cold sandwich classification. I am not saying you can not make a hot tuna sandwich, which I have done that making a type of tuna patty with cream cheese in it and served that on a potato bread roll with fresh arugula and tomato. Now within those two classification one could even break that down further into several groups, such as subs, grinders, gyros and roll type sandwiches.

 

[teamfat]

I do know what a panini is, I eat at least half a dozen a month for lunch from the Mediterranean deli near the shop. That's the place on 39th South and State Street in case you're wondering, P. Hatch.

Basically I was just poking fun at the useless frivolity of this whole thread. Indigenous starch encasing indigienous protein has no doubt been a culinary mainstay most everywhere on the planet since, well, like forever, no matter what you call it.

I was thinking this thread was pretty useless, why on earth would anyone care that much about minor details? Then I read another post which reminded me how annoyed I get when folks confuse the verb marinate with the noun marinade. Sheesh.

One of the best lunches I've had in my life was in Hamburg. It didn't involve ground beef.

mjb.

 

[greyeaglem]

Old cookbooks from the 40s and 50s contain recipes for Hamburger Sandwiches. These recipes are for patties with ingredieants that resemble meat loaf, but are fried instead of baked. Don't know when this changed to the pure meat patty we use now. Fun to read these old books and see how they reflect the times they were written in. After WW II, the trendy thing was the macaroni ring for a main dish. This was cooked macaroni pressed into a ring mold and then unmolded on the serving plate and the center filled with some type of vegetable and meat mixture. Sort of a deconstructed hot dish I guess.

 

[kyheirloomer]

>which I have done that making a type of tuna patty with cream cheese in it and served that on a potato bread roll with fresh arugula and tomato. <

Don't care if you call it a sandwich or not, ChefAllen, that sounds good.

 

[ed buchanan]

I feel as long as you enjoy it and it's good what is the difference. Everyone here is assumed correct in their definitions.

 

[phatch]

Escoffier had it easy. He got to name everything officially first without anyone to argue with him.

Phil

 

[shroomgirl]

gutteral laugh......bet anything CHEF Escoffier had many long conversations with contemporaries or sous staff or foodies or editors about defining shtuff....but then that was when omnipotence was channeled with the word chef.

dorkiness, well yeah.....but isn't it fun to think out your philosophy on sandwiches, what defines a sandwich in your mind (and others) what fits the definition but for a mydrid of reasons is an exception.....it's an exercise that is fun, nothing less.

Sandwiches:
bbq, burger, panini, open face, baked with goo (hot brown) po boy, grinder, sub, meatball, gyro....

Not Sandwiches:
bao,empanadas,turnovers,dang name is not coming to me but the folded over pizza, tacos, peking duck

On the fence: quesadilla....though I'd probably vote "not"

1" of fried bologna? ugh. 1/4" possibly 1/2" but an 1"......:crazy:

Cajuns have a bizarre french fry po boy with gravy and cheese....heart attack in a napkin.

 

[oldschool1982]

Calzone.


Error message said my reply was too short so this was added.

 

[ed buchanan]

CALZONE AND STROMBLLI How could you forget this gourmet fare??:smiles:

 

[boar_d_laze]

Never saw that. Are you sure you're not conflating poutine with a debris po boy? I might have seen some folks eating debris wit cheese, but dey definitely not ****@ss -- tourists fo sho. Better de oysters wit remoulade, cherie.

BDL

 

[grlcbrkmyginsu]

Does anyone else get the feeling that this thread has shied away from the main topic?

I would define a burger as patty of ground and then cooked food. Salmon, turkey, tofu, soy, beef, tuna. Grind (or shred I suppose) and mash into a patty and cook it, it's a burger. Place said patty onto a bun, it is now not only a burger but a sandwich. Said burger, on its own, is not a sandwich, but once the bun is introduced to the party, we have ourselves a sandwich... Which can be called a burger or a sandwich, usually a burger. It makes sense... kinda...

 

[shroomgirl]

digress? us? never....

If you go deep into Cajun or dare I say ****@ss country and stop at a po-boy/gas station/store.....you may find an old cousine of poutine, remember the Acadians are from Canada...they brought some of the bizarre food wid dem. Mon cher, I'm all about debris and Mother's on Tchopitoulis has killer Ferdis and debris wit grits....soft shell crab poboy or oyster poboy sure sounds good right about now........ me jonsing for N. O.

 

[shroomgirl]

I've got a burger cookbook here somewhere from the great burger contest in NAPA, a couple of years ago I worked with the coordinating chef....are we still defining burger, if so I'll go find the book if not, not wasting my energy.

 

[boar_d_laze]

Oy. Stop with the energy. Already I'm exhausted. All those stuffed burgers that are really meatloaf like a tzimmes.

BDL

 

[shroomgirl]

tzimmies? chopped meat wrapped around goo? Mid-Eastern or possibly Polish extraction?...seen it but not familiar with.....but does it come on a bun or between slices of bread?

 

[boar_d_laze]

No. It's slang for a complicated mess, my last comment was a joke. But since all jokes work better if they include a long explantaion, I'll tell you that a tzimmes is a dish made with a lot of chopped vegetables, mostly carrots that can be cooked overnight in a slow oven (good for Shabbas) until it's completely fubarred (not a yiddish word). It's middle/Eastern European, so the Poland thing was close enough for full marks.

Why I thought you knew from Jewish humor, I forget.

BDL

 

[ed buchanan]

Come on where is the cholent or chunt isnt that a castoulet?

 

[nick.shu]

blah blah blah. The quintessential chicken or the egg question. On that basis, to me, the defining factor would be what preceeded the following. If the sandwich was first, then the burger is then a variation of the theme.

However, it is also possible that a hamburger is a stand alone menu item that might of merged into a type of sandwich, or through coincidence, developed parallel to the sandwich.