American Sandwich
by Becky Mercuri
List Price:
Our Price: $9.11
You Save: $6.88 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Becky MercuriEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-10-08
ISBN: 1586854704
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Gibbs Smith
Book Reviews of American Sandwich
Book Review: Fantastic Eats from All the States
Summary: 5 Stars
If you've ever watched PBS at pledge time, there's a good chance you've had the pleasure of seeing Rick Sebak's incredible gustatory extravaganza called "Sandwiches That You Will Like." This available-on-DVD program "toasts" many delicious, mouth-watering, tastebud-tempting, bread-and-filling creations from local eateries around the country, such as lobster rolls at Red's Eats in Wiscasset, Maine, chipped-ham "slammers" at Isaly's in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and hot browns at the Camberley Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Watching Mr. Sebak's nationwide odyssey to find America's best sandwiches is guaranteed to rev up your appetite.
"American Sandwich" is kind of a companion volume to Mr. Sebak's masterpiece--it includes some of the same memorable, droolworthy sandwiches--but it is actually much more. While Mr. Sebak took a "shotgun" approach in his travels around the country, "American Sandwich" goes it one better by featuring recipes for one hallmark sandwich each from all 50 states.
After a short introduction to the mystique of sandwiches, and a brief timeline tracing the rising popularity of sandwiches in American culinary culture, author Becky Mercuri gets to the "meat" of the matter. Alphabetized by state, she covers each signature sandwich in two to four readable, well-laid-out pages that, in addition to the recipe, contain other interesting, useful tidbits. Each sandwich gets a sidebar that describes its origin and history--the story of the muffaletta, for example, takes up a whole page of the Louisiana section. There's a "Where to Go" entry (sometimes more than one) with the address of the best place to sample the sandwich when you're on the road. You'll know to get your Iowa loosemeat sandwich at Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown, for example. Many sections also have a "Need a Quick Fix?" entry that lists mail-order or Internet sources for ingredients or for complete sandwiches. Vintage sepia-toned photos illustrate each section, many of them old postcards that touch on each state's history and provide glimpses of life in much simpler times. The only thing missing is pictures of the actual sandwiches themselves, which may seem like a strange omission for a cookbook, but in no way detracts from its value and usefulness--the "word pictures" alone are enough to put your salivary glands on overtime.
As a bona fide "foodie," adventurous cook and inveterate road-tripper, I can't praise "American Sandwich" enough, and I can't recommend it too highly. These sandwiches are classic road food in the best sense of the term, and Ms. Mercuri's work includes the best of both possible worlds--she tells you where to find them and also how to make them yourself--a winning combination. Now you'll have to excuse me while I go put together a Cuban (the recipe from Miami, Florida, is on page 28) and pop it into the sandwich press...
Summary of American Sandwich
Got a hankering for a Kentucky Hot Brown? A serious need for a Navajo Taco? Craving an authentic Florida Cuban? Then this is the cookbook for you! You can thank John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, for its invention, though he probably wasn't the first guy to put stuff between two pieces of bread. No matter who created it, the sandwich is still the king of food in America. We eat more than 45 billion sandwiches per year, with the average person consuming 193 sandwiches annually! That's a lot of mustard!
From Po'Boys to Lobster Rolls, Buffalo Burgers to Muffalettas, Becky Mercuri has a recipe for every sandwich imaginable, and a location in each region where you can find the real thing. Or, fix up a mess of your favorite regional sammies without ever leaving the comfort of your own kitchen!
Learn about the history of the sandwich, the birth of Wonder Bread, the influence of immigrant flavors and foods, and the origins of each unique regional specialty sandwich in this affordable little American culinary road trip.
Becky Mercuri, has been a contributing editor for Cookbook Collectors Exchange, a nationally distributed newsletter, for seven years. She was the editor of a popular food and travel column for the Wellsville Daily Reporter in western New York. An accomplished cook who has gathered recipes throughout the world, Becky is a contributing member to several organizations and their national newsletters, an avid student of culinary history, a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and a well-respected food and travel writer based in New York State.
U.S. Regional Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in U.S. Regional Books
Great American Beer: 50 Brands That Shaped the 20th Centuryby Christopher B. O'Hara
Clarkson Potter; Published: 2006-08-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
The Dane County Farmers' Market: A Personal Historyby Mary Carpenter, Quentin Carpenter
University of Wisconsin Press; Published: 2003-05-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.26
Price in other shops:
Breweries of Wisconsin (North Coast Books)by Jerry Apps
University of Wisconsin Press; Published: 1992-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.39
Price in other shops:
Texas Tortesby Arthur L. Meyer
University of Texas Press; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
Tasting the Good Life: Wine Tourism in the Napa Valleyby George Gmelch, Sharon Bohn Gmelch
Indiana University Press; Published: 2011-06-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $35.00
Price in other shops:
The Delights of Delicate Eating (The Food Series)by Elizabeth Robins
University of Illinois Press; Published: 2000-10-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2,998.99
Creole Gumbo and All That Jazzby Howard Mitcham
Addison Wesley Publishing Company; Published: 1986-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Cookoff: Recipe Fever in Americaby Amy Sutherland
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-05-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops:
Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Funby Ina Garten
Random House; Clarkson Potter; Published: 2001-03-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.50
Price in other shops:
Cooking with the Two Fat Ladiesby Jennifer Paterson, Clarissa Dickson Wright
Clarkson Potter; Published: 1998-01-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.25
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Burger Bar: Build Your Own Ultimate Burgersby Hubert Keller, Penelope Wisner
Wiley; Published: 2009-04-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
200 Best Panini Recipesby Tiffany Collins
Tiffany Collins; Robert Rose; Published: 2008-09-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.33
Price in other shops:
'wichcraft: Craft a Sandwich into a Meal--And a Meal into a Sandwichby Tom Colicchio, Sisha Ortuzar
Clarkson Potter; Published: 2009-03-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.85
Price in other shops:
Super Sandwiches: Wrap 'em, Stack 'em, Stuff 'emby Rose Dunnington
Lark Books; Published: 2006-10-28; Hardcover-spiral; Book
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops:
Great American Hot Dog Book, The: Recipes and Side Dishes from Across Americaby Becky Mercuri
Gibbs Smith; Published: 2007-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
Roadfood Sandwiches: Recipes and Lore from Our Favorite Shops Coast to Coastby Jane Stern, Michael Stern
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2007-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.76
Price in other shops:
The Big New York Sandwich Book: 99 Delicious Creations from the City's Greatest Restaurants and Chefsby Sara Reistad-Long, Jean Tang
Running Press; Published: 2011-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.13
Price in other shops:
Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever--from Thursday Nights at Campanileby Nancy Silverton, Teri Gelber
Knopf; Published: 2005-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops:
400 Best Sandwich Recipes: From Classics and Burgers to Wraps and Condimentsby Alison Lewis
Robert Rose; Published: 2011-03-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.90
Price in other shops:
The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches: Recipes, History, and Trivia for Everything Between Sliced Breadby Susan Russo
Quirk Books; Published: 2011-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.63
Price in other shops: