A little while ago, we were talking about sandwiches and one of my readers said that her favourite sandwich was a Reuben.  I had to confess that I had never eaten one.  I was not even 100% sure what the ingredients for a Reuben were!  However, for it to be someone’s favourite, and a discerning person (after all, they are a reader of this fine blog) at that, I was sure that it would be a pretty good sandwich.  So, I decided to make one! 

The History of The Reuben

First things first though.  Why is a Reuben called a Reuben? There are a few versions of this story but the one we are going with is that the Reuben was invented in the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha Nebraska when a gentleman called Reuben Kulakofsky asked for a sandwich with corned beef and sauerkraut during one of his weekly poker games.  The cook added some Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing and encased the lot in between some slices of rye bread.  The sandwich became popular locally when it was added to the lunch menu at the Blackstone.  It became popular nationally after winning the National Sandwich Idea Contest in 1956.

The Rick Reuben – 8/10

My first attempt at this classic American sandwich was a recipe from the classic but not at all American Rick Stein.  Why?  I was reading his wonderful book Rick Stein at Home when I got the idea for this challenge.  Rick suggests using salt beef in his recipe.  I used pastrami in mine.   I’m not sure I have ever seen salt beef in my local deli.

This was delicious.  I LOVED this sandwich!  BUT it was lacking something.  Every picture I had seen of a Reuben had a bright orange dressing and the Rick version of the dressing consisted mostly of white ingredients  It did have some tabasco but I would have had to put in a whole bottle of tabasco to achieve the vivid orange I have seen in pictures.  And that is a step too far even for a chilli lover like me!  As a result, I felt I was missing the true Reuben experience on this one.

The Toasted Reuben – 8.5/10

My second attempt at a Reuben was a toasted version which came from the May 2022 issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking Magazine which I bought around the same time as I was reading the Rick Stein book.  Coincidence that both contained a recipe for a Reuben?  I think not.

This one used pastrami and the addition of Sriracha into the sauce gave me the orange colour I was craving.  I also liked the splash of Worcestershire sauce in the dressing on this one.  And it was toasted. so the cheese got all melty and delicious.

Now, the recipe below was intended to be made in a pie-maker.  I do not have one of these so I made it as an ordinary sandwich.

The Bought Reuben – 9.5/10

So far, I was pretty happy with both Rebens that I had made.  However, never having eaten one I had no point of comparison.  How would my homemade version stack up against a Reuben made by a professional?  So, one lunchtime  I popped into a cafe in the CBD that specialises in American-style sandwiches and bought one of their Reubens.   The Bowery to Williamsburg Reuben won on the slow-cooked brisket pastrami.  That was sensational.  Also even though I bought posh sauerkraut instead of the reg supermarket stuff, the B2W sauerkraut had a funk that was both delicious and disturbing.  The cafe is a good 20 minutes walk from my office and as I was short on time I ordered my Reuben to go.  As I was walking back  I began to smell something not entirely pleasant wafting about me.  I soon realised the odour was from the very funky sauerkraut and, thankfully not from me!   This was delicious!!!!  Bright orange dressing, swiss cheese and a pickle on top completed the deal but that brisket pastrami?  Heavenly!  BTW, The first photo in this post is the B2W Reuben.

My Reubens tasted pretty similar to the one from Bowery to Williamsburg.  The difference really was in the quality of their meat.  It was warm, it was smoky and tender in the middle and a little bit crunchy on the ends.  It was sooo good.

You may be wondering why I only rated it a 9.5 when it was so good?  Well, it cost a very hefty $17 dollars which is a LOT, even if t was huge! I had half of it for lunch that day and took the rest home for dinner!  I’m both glad and somewhat relieved that Bowery to Willamsburg is quite the trek for me.  I could easily become addicted to their Reuben which would not be great for my bank balance. Having said that, I might pop in there this week because writing about their Reuben is making me really want one!

Have a wonderful week everyone!