Upscale American Sandwiches in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
You can learn a lot about the northern United States by trying some of its signature sandwiches that have gone nationwide and even global in some cases in Salinas, California.
Three Salinas locations bring food for blustery and icy weather to you in mostly sunny Salinas:
-Charley’s Cheesesteaks
-Wienerschnitzel
-Jersey Mike’s Subs (also has a Sand City location)
*Charley’s Cheesesteaks offers a variety of meaty sandwiches like the following:
-old school cheesesteak sandwich with USDA-choice steak, cheese whiz, and sautéed onions on a toasted bun
-Philly cheesesteak with USDA-choice steak, green peppers, mushrooms, and onions topped with provolone cheese and served on a toasted roll. The sandwich also comes with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
-hot shot Italiano sandwich comes with oven-roasted turkey, pepperoni, banana peppers, melted provolone cheese, and dashes of Italian dressing on a toasted bun
*Wienerschnitzel is a Salinas, California chain with several outlets in town. On a recent run to Nob Hill Supermarket on South Main Street, I saw that Wienerschnitzel is selling Italian meatball sandwiches.
Italian meatball sandwiches are an authentic Italian-American dish. They are not sold in Italy, but they are a big hit in the northeastern United States.
I looked up the recipe for meatball sandwiches on allrecipes.com. If you are willing to get your hands messy and have time, then these sandwiches are easy to make. Otherwise, let Wienerschnitzel do the work.
Meatballs are made with ground beef (sometimes ground pork is added for flavor), breadcrumbs, eggs, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings. The meatballs are baked and then dunked in warm tomato sauce.
After that, they are placed in hollowed out baguette halves. Provolone cheese goes on top of the meatballs. The sandwich goes back in the oven till the cheese melts.
Meatball sandwiches are not a handheld dish. You need a fork and knife to get every last bit of delicious of bread soaked in tomato sauce, especially if you are eating a top-quality tomato sauce.
*Finally, Jersey Mike’s Subs is always reliably great for turkey-provolone cheese subs with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise on homemade Italian bread.
I especially like to eat Jersey Mike’s Subs after going to Pebble Beach to do bird watching (look for brown pelicans and cormorants and even condors) like they do in the northern United States.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
