How do you cheesesteak?
 

As best as I (a non-Philly native) can recall, a genuine cheesesteak needs to be on an soft Amoroso roll, with thinly-sliced-then-chopped beef cooked on a flat-top and served with Cheez-Whiz.

Tonight my wife was craving a cheesesteak for dinner, so I made us the following:

- Ribeye, cooked on medium-low heat
- Sauteed chopped Vidalia onions
- Sauteed sliced mushrooms, mix of button and shittake
- Slice of melted Swiss
- Served on a fresh baguette

I know, to a purist, I totally butchered it. But I don't care, it was delicious.

I personally think Cheez Whiz is gross (I've tried it... didn't like it). Much prefer Swiss or provolone (mozzarella is too stringy for a cheesesteak), sometimes with a spread of mayo.

I also want to try it on King's Hawaiian sweet bread... or maybe a ciabatta.

How do you take your cheesesteak?

No Cheez Whiz, please. But a real cheesesteak has to have french fries on top, with copious amounts of ketchup. However, before applying the fries and ketchup, pour some cooking oil of your choice over your concoction. As Tony used to say "No charge for the extra grease."

If you are serious about making a good cheesesteak, you need to know some history:

http://priuschat.com/threads/central...er.4884/page-2

http://newbrunswicktoday.com/article...se-trucks-gone

The sandwich you made sounds delicious.

It simply isn't "authentic".

Authentic must be super thin but high-quality ribeye chopped on the grill with the edge of the spatula. Onions, if wanted, grilled on the side. Put meat into roll, top with optional onions, then pour hot Whizz on top. Serve.

Any variation is certainly acceptable, it just removes the imprimatur of "authentic".

I totally agree. I actually made the conscious decision not to include "Philly" in the title. I guess I just don't like "authentic" Philly cheesesteaks (proven by my general dislike of both Pat's and Geno's... I'm on Team Tony Luke's).

Agreed. And add peppers (sweet or hot). Forget about the Hawaiian rolls. Too soft. And French fries? Never!

Sounds like something they might do in Pittsburgh. lol

That was my thought. Also definitely no ketchup. If you feel the need for a red sauce, then use pizza sauce.

Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh does the fries on top thing - way too over-the-top, in my opinion. I want to taste the sandwich filling, not some empty mass of spuds.

I like Primanti Bros, and enjoy a great Pittsburgh-style sandwich (love the coleslaw as well). But fries inside a cheesesteak is too off-base.

Wiz wit ^

^ Now that is how you answer the question!!

I'm just: Wit (no Wiz).

C'mon people. American with. The better half goes Provolone without, but that's not a wrong answer. Whiz isn't cheese (and is for tourists). Hot peppers can also be added but that starts to border on fancy. If you don't have ribeye and a long roll then you just have a meat sandwich.

Note to everyone: mushrooms and green peppers never go on a cheesesteak. Or anything else, unless you are out of town and getting something "Philly Style". :rolleyes:

I skip the cheesesteak after I discovered the roast pork with rabe and provolone.

Hahahahah AMEN. When we order pizza with Mushrooms, Peppers and Onions my wife and I refer to it as the Phillyish :p

A great sandwich; I just prefer beef.


http://www.seriouseats.com/images/20...ky-wasik-1.jpg

The Pitts-burger, being served at the US Open.

I used some leftover ingredients to make myself another serving, but I ran out of bread... so I put the filling into a tortilla :D

I've been to Philly a few times recently and I think I've given the Philly cheesesteak enough of a chance to say that I kinda feel it's a bit overrated. I went in with extremely high expectations - which probably was a mistake - but it turned out to be merely 'decent'.

For a killer sandwich it's just a bit too one-dimensional IMO.

Mmmmmmmm. John's Roast Pork. It doesn't get much better than that!

Mushroom and Swiss, with

I dare you to order that at Tony Luke's, Gino's, Jim's, Pat's, or Oregon Steaks.

I predict it would not go well. You might get lucky at a neighborhood joint that sells cut lunch meat, but otherwise the three standard cheese options are American, Provolone, and Whiz.

When I was in college in Michigan, my friends and I had a running gag. If we went somewhere to eat that had a "Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich" on the menu, I was obliged to order it and give my review of what they did wrong. If I accepted it as a legit cheesesteak I would pay for the meal; otherwise I ate for free.

Once, and only once, did I pay. Look up Big John Steak & Onion if you are ever in mid-Michigan and have a hankering for a cheesesteak. Not quite Philly quality (they call it a "sub") but definitely acceptable as an out-of-town substitute.

Also a recent discovery for me (~ 4 years ago): The Cheesesteak Shop in the Bay Area, CA. 100% legit, so when the founder couldn't find the right bread in SF he decided to fly in Amaroso daily for the chain. When I ordered a "6" steak American with onions" I was told that I was the first person to order correctly in a month. Turns out the owner was running the grill that afternoon so we chatted for a while. I told him that Philly sent me out on an audit. He passed ;)

Here's what I would look for when we ordered the gag sandwiches:
1) Long Italian roll. Not a kaiser. Not sour dough, or whatever the bread fad of the year is at the time. Not cut in half all the way through. No seeds, but John's Roast Pork gets a pass on this because the pork is so good!
2) Cheese. One of the three aforementioned choices (Amer, Prov, Whiz) only.
3) Steak. Should be rib-eye. Definitely cannot be too lean (dries out the steak). Cut or chopped in some way (no Steak-umm or roast beef meat slabs).
4) Other ingredients. With or without (onions) is standard. I would accept hots (peppers). Green peppers and mushrooms meant I ate free, and I would order without the shrooms because they gross me out.
5) Other things that should never grace a good steak: brown gravy (but red gravy is OK on a pizza steak where a cheese exemption also exists), raw onions, any condiment besides hot sauce.
6) Technique. Cheese goes between the bread and the meat to act as a barrier layer and protect the roll. Two ways to achieve this: the "correct" way, where the cheese melts on top of the meat on the grill and then the roll is placed opened on top and everything is flipped with a spatula; the "alternate" and inferior way, where the cheese is placed in the roll and the meat on top of that. Placing the cheese on top of hot meat already on a roll will only result in poorly melted cheese and a disintegrating roll at the seam.

As you can see, Philadelphians take our cheesesteaks seriously. Just like Chicago with their hot dogs, New York with their delis, Baltimore with their crabs, and Texas/KC/St. Louis/Carolina with their barbecue, poor substitutes are looked down upon.

However, there is also a "to each his own" attitude: Everyone has their favorites, they are all different, but none are "wrong" as long as they fall into the sphere of authentic. For example, I will never eat another Jim's again (Ishkabibble's for the win) and my wife cannot understand how I like Tony Luke's. But we both scoff at the "green peppers and mushroom" sandwiches when we travel.

I am aware of the cheese choices at the well known places in Philly. When I make my steaks myself, I improve them with better (a.k.a. Swiss) cheese. The topic was how do we do our cheesesteaks. And that's how I do mine.

I love the Cheesesteak Shop, glad to see a Philly-born approve. I actually prefer it over any of the Philly places.

Indeed, I'm tempted to try out some fancy cheese (Smoked Gouda? Gruyere?) with some wagyu and leeks on sourdough, post a pic here, and really watch some heads explode :D

wiz with onions and sweet peppers. So far the best one I've had was from Steve's Prince of Steaks.

We have a very authentic place in San Marcos, CA named Philly Frank's Cheesesteaks. He uses Amoroso rolls, and is the exclusive Socal licensed distributor for Tastykakes. And no, I can't get Swiss cheese there either, just American, Provolone, and Wiz. Of those choices, I default to American cheese.

Will make a note for next time I head that way ^

Authentic or not, I'd eat the hell out of that sandwich. Never attempted it myself, but I might give that a whirl.

Provolone wit'

I go back on forth on whether the best sandwich to come out of Philly is the cheesesteak or roast pork Italian.

Whiz witout for me. Spent my college years in Philly, and a good cheesesteak would never get passed up. Pat's over Geno's by far. Jim's has better quality meat but was a bit light on the Whiz for my liking. Never liked Tony Luke's - felt they were a bit dry. I went to a spot called D'Alessandro's outside of downtown Philly after I graduated, and that objectively is probably the best steak I've had.

In NYC, I suffice with Shorty's, which does a damn good version of a steak and imports their bread daily from Philly. Carl's is okay but not quite the same.

And +1 to whoever above said that you would get raised eyebrows if you EVER asked for Swiss cheese on your cheesesteak. John Kerry tried doing that in 2004 when he went to Pat's...that didn't go well.

I don't ASK for Swiss cheese. I put Swiss cheese on my own steaks. Because they are better that way. Anyone who thinks an artificial mutant substance like cheesewiz is better than actual Swiss cheese on a steak has simply never actually tasted the latter.

I don't like how Swiss tastes - so not even an option in my book. :D

We assume the people turning up their noses at Cheez Whiz only use real Switzerland cheese (must come from the country), not another cheeselike product made elsewhere? ;)

I actually like a well made mushroom swiss burger, but not Swiss etc. on a classic ribeye cheesesteak.

He's wrong... Trappey's Red Devil makes the sandwich, not mustard. :D

I want good quality bread, decent quality steak, cheese wiz and lots of BBQ sauce with a side of really good fries. I can do provolone in a pinch though.

Favorite spot for it in Phila: Jim's Steaks

Yes. Emmenthaler, although I have also used Jarlsberg, which, though Norwegian, is an excellent similar cheese to Emmenthaler. Both are leagues superior to Cheez whiz

Fine cheeses, well worth the extra cost. But they don't belong on a cheesesteak. :)

Sorry, but I don't believe that a cheesesteak has to be limited to having cheep, crappy cheese on it. Just because a bunch of dive restaurants catering to low-status Phillyites, dominate the field is no reason to limit the cheesesteak from evolving to the gourmet dish it could be when graced with superior cheese.

Hey, let's have some respect for the Philistines! :)

Hear, hear (except for the Phillies, who just beat the Giants 3-2. :(

I'm very tempted to scrape some raclette onto my next lightly-griddled sliced beef sandwich.