Regarding the Philadelphia Cheese Steak

[RagingInMiami]

I've never been to Philly so I've never had a "real" cheese steak sandwich. I've never had one with Cheez Whiz on it, only provolone cheese.

So my question to all you tradionalists out there is, does the cheez whiz make it taste better? Isn't that fake cheese in a can?

I know the story about how Cheez Whiz was used on the original sandwiches, but couldn't this be improved upon and still be considered authentic?

[LiberalVoice]

1. Provolone is cool...

but the original is a Pat's Cheese Steak "with-with" meaning melted Cheez Whiz and onions. :)

[Balbus]

2. Like I needed to read that an hour before lunch!

:(

[RagingInMiami]

5. Whereabouts in AZ are you?

Where are you going for lunch?

[RagingInMiami]

3. But which one tastes better?

And if somebody goes to Philly and orders one with provolone, like John Kerry did, will he be ridiculed as an outsider and non-traditionalist?

[LiberalVoice]

12. Whiz and Raw onions is like heaven...

provolone is common in Philadelphia...in fact alot of people make it alot of ways...In other words no you wouldnt be ridiculed.

[foo_bar]

18. I think Kerry ordered it with swiss cheese

And no, you won't be ostracized, seeing as it's on the menu. Kerry's "incident" was only meaningful to non-Philadelphians whose tourist caricature of the city involves processed cheese and Rocky Balboa. If he ordered it with Brie it might've been a local scandal.

I prefer provolone personally, and I'm Philly born and raised. Something about Cheez Whiz reminds me of urinal cake scent.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. Many people have tried...

To improve on the taste of the cheesesteak wit wiz. Sadly, they have failed. There is something about a real one, in Philly, eaten with the grease dripping off your elbows, that is definitive of the genre. With hot pepper relish and sauce on mine, please.

It's like North Carolina BBQ in NJ: It's ok, but it ain't Beck's or Daltons. Knowhuddamean?

[progmom]

6. weird - that's what I had for lunch

...and I never want to think about them ever ever again.

[RagingInMiami]

8. cheez whiz or provolone?

[progmom]

9. it was only offered with provolone

...and served with tater tots.

My office cafeteria isn't known for its quality food.

[RagingInMiami]

14. I had one on Saturday and it was delicious

[IrateCitizen]

7. Mushroom whiz steak with...

That's the Pat's and Geno's lingo for a mushroom cheeze whiz steak with onions. If you want a real kick in the crotch, throw some hot peppers on it as well!

And yes, Cheeze Whiz does make it taste better. So do about 8-10 beers before you eat one....

[meegbear]

10. Does fake cheese on a sandwich make it real?

The thought of a pasteurized process cheese sauce (Kraft's own description of it)doesn't sound that taste tempting.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Why not make your own?

They are not difficult at all to make.

Fry up some meat cut for the purpose -- don't use Steak-Umm or other preformed meat blends, they may be OK but they're not authentic -- and then fry some onions. Mix, place on a couple of slices of American cheese that have been placed on a halved torpedo roll. Quickly turn it upside-down, using your spatula to provent it from all falling out, and let it cook a little more, until the cheese melts.

Serve wit cawfee er Coak, pitaytih chips, and some Morbros, if ya wanna smoake.

That's a Philly Cheese Steak.

--p!

[RagingInMiami]

13. What kind of meat should I use?

[GalleryGod]

17. Chipped Steak is fine

It ain't french wine,folks.

[RagingInMiami]

19. The reason I ask is that I had one over the weekend in Miami

It was delicious. It had melted provolone. I should have asked for hot peppers, but I didn't think of it and it was not offered on the menu. I did use tabasco sauce.

But as I was eating, I started thinking about all those articles that ragged on John Kerry last year for ordering swiss cheese on his sandwich.

I mean, really, who gives a shit?

[GalleryGod]

21. Hot Peppers are a good move

Yum! Yum!

[Abelman]

15. It reminds me

of an episode of Sealab 2021.

Why must people get so passionate about the way a sandwich has to be? Let a person choose they way they want a sandwich to be, isn't that their right?

I think all you cheese steak fascists need take a good hard look at yourselves and maybe you'll see the cheese steak liberals in a new light.

[GalleryGod]

16. Been eatin' them for 45 years...the secret is...

The ROLLS!
It's the South Jersey-Philly Bakeries!:wtf:

As for the provolone?
After 40 years-I lean toward "something different" and outside the classic recipe

[tjdee]

20. I never knew it was Cheez Whiz!

I don't like cheez whiz regularly...it's got a funky taste.
Every cheese steak I've ever had was real cheddar/American/provolone...I think!

But I have to say I never got one at Geno's or Pat's, or whatever the two big feuding ones are.

[GalleryGod]

22. Geno's, Pat's and Jim's

The Big Three.

There are others in the city that actually make a BETTER sandwich.

[Dogmudgeon]

29. BillyBob's in University City

They make -- or at least used to make -- a damn fine steak sandwich.

There are also Italian eateries in suburban Philly that do an excellent job. The best one close to where I live is called LaBella's in Hatboro; but there must be close to a hundred restaurants of similar quality between Wilmington and Allentown.

It's like getting Mexican food in California -- it's tougher to find a bad restaurant.

--p!

[kodi]

33. Delasandro's on Henry Ave, (Manyunk) best I have ever eaten,

when you see 5 cop cars parked on the sidewalk next to Dels and its not a robbery, it has to be Del's steaks that brought the cops. its about all i ate in college down the road at philly textile.

and yes, the secret is in the bread/rolls and we can thank the calcium content in the water for that. i have rarely eaten good bread outside the northeastern US, and its the water.

i've eaten at about all the cheese steak places east of the Pecos, Dels is the best.

[Bonhomme Richard]

23. Don't bother trying to make it unless...................

you have the right rolls. I used to work as a short order cook in the Philly area when I was a kid and there is nothing to putting together the meat cheese etc. but having lived in New England for the past 18 years you can't get the rolls so no matter what I do it still sucks.

[GalleryGod]

24. Thank You, SIR!

My hat's off to you!:yourock:

[FormerDittoHead]

25. You got it. The roll makes the steak. some points.

The roll makes it what it is - period. Don't bother buying the Steak-Umms w/o the right roll.

(Cheese) steaks are but ONE PART of the Delaware Valley sandwich experience. There's pepper steak subs, hot Italian sausage parm subs, pepper and egg subs, Genoa salami subs, ham cappacolla subs, turkey subs, (whipped!)tuna subs, hamburger subs, grilled chicken subs, and meatball subs.

Two bakeries in ATLANTIC CITY on Mississippi Ave. make the best sub(marine) rolls - hands down. (Atlantic City calls them subs, everywhere else 'em hoagies)

Everything is on Mississippi Avenue in little Italy.
White House Subs (I had to wait 35 minutes at 3 PM ON A TUESDAY AFTERNOON IN APRIL to get a seat...)
Atlantic City Bakery East of Artic Ave. (did I hear they closed?)
and another bakery west of Artic.

[Bonhomme Richard]

26. LOL I can't get a decent hoagie in NE because no on uses.........

Cottechino (I think thats how it's spelled). The place in Atlantic City has it made special for them in Philly but most Italian hoagies use it along with the Genoa Salami and Capicola.
Once again the roll is a major factor.

[LynneSin]

27. Provolone is one of 3 approved cheese for an authentic Philly one

the others of course is Cheese Whiz and American. Personanally I like American.

It's just tradition. BTW, don't ask for Swiss cheese or you'll be ridiculed in the press (aka John Kerry).

[rinsd]

28. Mozzerella is also used in some quarters... (nt).

[Bonhomme Richard]

32. I think that's the standard on a Pizza Steak.. Yummmm.....n/t

[underpants]

30. You don't have to go to Philly they are all pretty much the same

:hide:

[JimmyJazz]

31. START RUNNING, UNDERPANTS!

IT'S NOT JUST A SAMMICH!



See - it's says right on the sign "KING" of steaks :silly:

[Redstone]

34. I know this will start a lot of bickering, but...

Here's a recipe I wrote for a cookbook that was published in Vermont last year. I think it's close enough for those poor souls in places like Vermnont who can't get the real thing.

But first:

1) I know that mayo is not traditional in the city. But I'm talking cheesesteak hoagie here, not the plain one. And I've always had the Pudge's ones with mayo, and they never threw me out for ordering it.

2) I know they can't get the bread. Let's not beat that to death. Using whatever bread they can get is better than doing without.

3) Sorry, but I'd never advocate the use of Cheez Wiz, except perhaps for spackling purposes or rat poison.

4) I don't particularly care for Steak-Umm myself, but again, it's better than doing without. Some people just have to do with what they can find.

Redstone

(Almost as good as a real) Philly Cheesesteak Hoagie

Ingredients:

1/2 pound or so of very thinly-sliced steak (you can use leftover cooked steak), or frozen Steak-Umm (don’t thaw before cooking)

Provolone cheese, sliced

White onion, sliced as thin as you can slice it

Tomatoes, ditto

Lettuce, sliced thin (not torn)

Hellman’s Mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip, please)

Italian hot peppers if you like them

1/2 of a large loaf of Italian bread (the crusty type)

Jar of oregano

Technique:

Slice the Italian bread horizontally (not all the way through), open it flat like a book, and scoop some of the soft part out so you have hollows for the filling. Coat both sides of the inside of the bread with a good thick layer of mayo (or sprinkle with olive oil if you prefer).

Cover the bottom of a heavy cast-iron frying pan with a little olive oil. (If using Steak-Umm, do not use any oil; it will provide its own cooking fat.)

On medium-high heat, cook steak, stirring constantly and chopping vigorously with the end of a spatula until you have a nice fluffy mound of tiny steak bits, about the length and width of your opened bread and an inch deep, with the edges of the steak bits just getting crispy. (Do not, ever, cook sheets of Steak-Umm flat.)

Turn the burner down to low heat and throw half a dozen slices of Provolone over the steak mounds. Cover tightly so the cheese melts completely into the steak (you shouldn’t be able to see an actual layer of cheese after 30 seconds or so, and this is what you want).

Lift the steak / molten cheese stuff out of the pan with the spatula and slide it onto the opened bread. In this order, spread the lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and peppers evenly over top, and sprinkle heavily with oregano.

Best way to get this closed so you can pick it up: push down gently on top of the filling with the blade of a knife (the long way, along the “hinge” of the bread), slide your hand under one side of the bread, and roll the sandwich a quarter-turn.

For authenticity, serve with Gibble’s or Herr’s potato chips and a Tastykake pie. Bring napkins.