July 23, 2006
Junk Food
A passage -- from Yahoo News/AP:Creator of the Philly cheesesteak diesNPR did a nice writeup on the Philly Cheese back in 2000 when they were covering the Republican Convention(WTF?¿?¿).
Harry Olivieri, who with his brother Pat was credited with inventing the Philly cheesesteak in 1933, had died. He was 90.
Despite a heart condition, Olivieri had showed up at Pat's King of Steaks almost every day until about three years ago. He died of heart failure Thursday at Atlantic City Medical Center in Pomona, N.J., his daughter Maria said.
Harry and his older brother opened a corner hot dog stand near south Philadelphia's Italian Market in 1930.
Three years later, they made the first version of the sandwich that helped put the city on the street food map. Tired of hot dogs, Pat suggested that Harry go to a store and buy some beef. Harry brought it back, sliced it up and grilled it with some onions.
The brothers piled the meat on rolls and were about to dig in when a cab driver arrived for lunch, smelled the meat and onions and demanded one of the sandwiches.
Harry sold the cabbie his own sandwich in a transaction the brothers counted as the birth of Pat's King of Steaks.
Cheez Whiz was added to the steak and onions starting in the 1960s, and provolone, American cheese and pizza sauce later became options in the concoction along with various condiments and side dishes.
Pat Olivieri died in 1970. Harry's son, Frank, now runs the restaurant.
The Story Behind the Philadelphia Cheese SteakCheese does a number on my gut but I sure put down a large number of these things (no cheese please) while growing up in Pittsburgh. Their website is here: Pat's King of Steaks
Boston boasts of its beans, Coney Island touts its hot dogs, California leads its very own sushi roll, and Texas has its Mex. Everywhere, locals celebrate a culinary delicacy. In the 'City of Brotherly Love," you'll find the Philadelphia Cheese Steak Sandwich.
Most agree the birth of Philly's cheese steak took place at Pat's King of Steaks in the Italian immigrant section of South Philadelphia in 1930. There, Pat Olivieri plied his trade by selling hot dogs and sandwiches until he thought of something else: thinly sliced beef dripping with melted cheese in a bed of sautéed Spanish onions.
Of course, these days, customers come up and say in their own inimitable way: "cheese wit." That means, "cheese with onions," explains Olivieri's grandson, Frank, Jr., who now follows the tradition set by his grandfather at Pat's King of Steaks.
Today, Olivieri uses thinly sliced rib-eye steak cooked in its own fat with a touch of soybean oil. When it comes to cheese, if you don't want something more traditional like mozzarella or provolone - the latest trend is with Cheese Whiz.
"Ya know, 'The Whiz!'"
Still, you can pretty much have it anyway you want. Many like sauteed sweet and red peppers, mushrooms. Others enjoy pizza sauce topping. One secret of the taste, say self-proclaimed experts, is in the crusty roll. Long and thin like a French baguette -- not too fluffy, but not too soft -- and baked locally with Philadelphia water as an ingredient for an unparalleled flavor.
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