What Makes an Italian Sandwich Truly Italian?

If someone utters the phrase “Italian sub” near the hours of lunchtime, that phrase is enough to make the mouth water and stomach growl. Name a more satisfying midday meal than one layered with crisp, fresh vegetables, all the best cold cuts, generous portions of cheese, pepperoncini, and a liberal splash of salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Add a side of crunchy potato chips, and fine — a perfect lunch.

Thanks to early Italian immigrants in America, we have been blessed with the creation of what we know and love stateside as a sub sandwich. You’ll now find one at every traditional delicatessen – and aside from our over-the-top Fat Sandwiches, we certainly offer them up. If you head to Italy expecting to have the best Italian sub of your life, you might arrive and be let down – sure, there are tons of other great sandwiches to try, but it won’t be the American-born sub.

Is the Italian sub Actually Italian?

Food history is murky – so it’s often difficult to pinpoint the original creator or recipe, and this is true in the case of Italian subs. The story has it that Italian immigrants packed sandwiches to-go, bringing them to the shipyards and manual labor jobs, using ingredients they were familiar with from their homeland. While these ingredients may not have come directly from Italy, they were Italian-inspired – think cold cuts, provolone, on Italian-style bread.

Therefore, the answer is subjective. It would be fair to say that the first subs were an evolution of more classic sandwiches , and are definitively Italian-American – made in America, by Italians.

However, if you were to ask where to find the classic Italian submarine sandwich in Italy, you might confuse the deli. Sure, you might have another amazing Italian sandwich, but will you find the sandwich you know and love so well stateside? Probably not. There are plenty of variations of meat, cheese, and veggies combos in Italy, but it’s not quite the same as the Italian sub.

Italian Sandwiches, from NYC to Rome

New York City and Chicago

In New York City, the  Italian sub is often referred to as a hero – just like a sub, but with a few variations. Walk into somewhere like Defonte’s deli in Brooklyn, and you’ll find the classic format of meats like Genoa salami, mortadella, capicola, cheese such as provolone, and fresh toppings like lettuce, tomato, onions, and sometimes roasted red peppers. This comes generously dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. This all comes packaged up in a crusty Italian hero roll.

Chicago’s Italian subs follow a similar format, and here, they are still called subs. You’ll get more or less the same combination of mixed meats and provolone cheese, along with the fresh lettuce and tomato. This one signature Chicago touch you’ll see on Italian subs in the Windy City is giardiniera, the spicy and tangy mix of pickled vegetables. There’s the oil and vinegar finish, and some places may add mayo or mustard upon request. The type of bread you get depends on where you go – at the well-known J.P. Graziano Grocery Co., it will be a crusty roll, and other spots it may be a soft roll.

Rome and Throughout Italy

The most common style of sandwich in Rome, and even throughout Italy, is a rather simple affair. Rather than piling on a ton of different meats and toppings, you’ll typically be served something much more minimalist, with as little as a single meat filling. A good example is the popular panino con porchetta, thin slices of slow-roasted pork with crispy skin served on a crusty style bread. A pizza bianca is also shockingly minimal – this is a focaccia-like bread that is sliced open and stuffed with only mortadella; some variations include prosciutto, grilled vegetables or mozzarella.

Just like the United States, there are plenty of regional sandwich variations throughout Italy . There’s panino con mozzarella e pomodoro, tramezzini, pane e panelle, trapizzino… the list goes on. No Italian sub though. If you want something packed and loaded, keep your eyes peeled for panuozzo, a sandwich found in Naples. Inside this beautiful beast, you’ll find cheese like mozzarella, cold cuts, sardines, sausage, grilled vegetables, and mushrooms.

Takeaway

The Italian sub is a beloved icon in American delis, and it’s more so a modern day product of Italian-American immigration and adaptation than something deeply rooted in hundreds of years of culinary tradition. In Rome, sandwiches are simpler and focused on letting a few high-quality ingredients speak for themselves. It’s tradition vs. innovation, and each has its place. At Fat Sal’s we understand this very well – we offer classics like the Italian sub, but give our extra hungry (and curious) eaters the opportunity to indulge in stacked Fat Sandwiches.