Sandwich Time (jazz hands)

The culinary culture of St. Louis is replete with many variations of the sandwich.  A noble snack, a hearty dinner, a good anytime munchie.  These, however, are not your mobile sandwiches for the most part.  Knives and forks seem to be de rigueur.   Bread as a conveyor of tasty sandwich innards merely acts as a discrete covering or a pedestal for the display of all that tasty . . . meat n' stuff.   Two of these bad boys celebrate the openface with aplomb. And no, I haven't eaten any of these yet.  But I will, except for number 4. 

 

1) The Gerber - a relative latecomer, 1970's or so.  Like Provel/St. Louis Cracker Pizza this comes from down off the 'Hill' - oh, wait there is provel involved.  It is relatively simple, and served openface:  loaf of french bread sliced, spread with butter/garlic butter, pile high with thin shaved ham, top with provel, bake until bubbly/melty.  This is said to be proprietary to Ruma's Deli . . . so, don't go trying to name your openface cheesy-ham melt a Gerber.  

2) The Prosperity - an earlier openface (and not much seen apparently of late).  Origins are at the Mayfair Hotel, circa 1920s:  on top of two slices toast pile turkey and ham, cover with cheese sauce, toast and then top with bacon.  I believe that after the advent of Provel (the messiah of St. Louis cheese culture - BP and AP?), the tasty combo non-cheese became involved.  Can you hear your heart valves pumping a little more strenuously?

3) The St. Paul - no, not Minnesota.  This one is gross/amazing all at the same time.  A specialty of the Chinese restaurants, who were apparently attempting to meet the needs of a sandwich obsessed city:  make an egg foo young patty including bean sprouts and minced onions, fry it up good, put it on Wonder Bread (this is critical) with a slathering of mayo, accoutrements include usually lettuce, tomato and dill pickle.  Behold!!

Behold, again!

4) The Brain Sandwich - here the moniker is descriptive.  Calf brain, sliced, deep fried. On white bread.  Pickles optional.  This is a sad victim of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - or rather, people don't want to eat this and then become a victim of BSE.  This is not a 'St. Louis' unique sandwich, rather it was a favorite of German immigrants with happy access to stockyard left0vers.   Evansville, Indiana, and the Ohio Valley more generally also maintain a fond/strong connection to the spongy, crunchy combo.  Still served at some local establishments like Ferguson's. Young children, vegetarians and the sensitive of stomach avert your eyes: