Carls Cheesesteaks

 

Bon, nous y voilà... J'ai posé la question hier et visiblement un post en anglais ne vous fait pas peur à condition qu'on y aille mollo sur la fréquence de ces posts.
Alors, je ne sais pas vous, mais moi j'adooooore faire travailler les autres à ma place, surtout lorsqu'ils sont consentants voire vo-lon-taires.
Quand Danny de Food in Mouth, m'a proposé de faire un "guest post" j'ai réfléchi un huitième de seconde et dans ma grande bonté j'ai dit: yes of course!
Merci de commenter dans la langue de Shakespeare si vous souhaitez que l'auteur de ce post vous réponde ;)

There are some American culinary traditions that simply do not travel well. This one in particular, the "Philadelphia Cheesesteak" or "Philly Cheesesteak" doesn't even travel well outside of the North Eastern region of the United States. I can only imagine whether this type of food would survive in Paris. Before this continues any further, perhaps some clarification is needed. What exactly *is* a Philly Cheesesteak? Wikipedia says it's a sandwich comprised of thinly sliced steak and melted cheese on a roll (bread). The type of bread that's used is generally called a 'hoagie' and the type of cheese is something that would probably be banned by Sarkozy himself - Cheese Whiz. If you've never seen it before, it's a brand of processed cheese that's viscous and creamy. It's sold by the American firm Kraft, and Cheese Whiz is a well-known product that invokes different emotions and responses depending on who you ask. It's commonly used in American foods like nachos and chili cheese hot dogs.

How did I find my cheesesteak? Carl's Steak was recently listed as a top New York destination for Philly Cheesesteaks. His criteria for rating cheesesteaks were kind of vague, but he said "A cheesesteak shouldn't be greasy" yet he voted Carl's as number one. The first thing you should know about this cheesesteak is that it's greasy. Please don't get me wrong - greasy cheesesteak is a good cheesesteak if you ask me. They put some bright yellow Cheese Whiz at the bottom of the roll, and then they put a pile of thinly sliced steak on top of that gooey cheese. If you ask, they will also add some grilled onions on top of the sliced steak.

Since the cheese gathers at the bottom of the bread, you can taste more cheese on some bites, and more steak on others. I usually prefer to have uniform flavor in each bite, therefore this kind of threw me off a little. The sliced steak isn't super high quality beef, but the thinly sliced nature of the meat lends itself to be easy to bite. You can quickly work through each bite because there isn't any tough part of the cow in your sandwich. Everything is soft.

The lack of texture in the sandwich might be off-putting to some, and then you would miss the whole point of this sandwich. This sandwich was born in the city of Philadelphia and it's meant to be a work-class type of sandwich. During the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, when the Democratic candidate John Kerry went to Philadelphia to try a Philly Cheesesteak, he ordered his with swiss cheese instead of with Whiz and caused a commotion. He was looked upon as out of touch with the 'regular joe' for his order. So for a true Philly Cheesesteak experience, one has to order it with Whiz and with onions on top. This may be a crazy option for those who value high quality cheese, but a cheesesteak is a special experience with Whiz.

I love cheesesteaks because they're filling and deeply satisfying. My mother would say that the Philly Cheesesteak is missing vegetables, but you can always supplement a good cheesesteak with some vegetables later. Just tell mom you ate a salad instead ;) The version at Carl's is a bit greasy, but they are mighty tasty once you get over the whole thing with fake processed cheese. Can I promise that you'll love it? Maybe not.
I can promise you that there is nothing else like it anywhere.

Carl's Steaks
507 Third Avenue (34th st)
New York, NY 10016

Comments

[Stephanie 23.12.2008 à 12:49]

I have to say that all of my French friends/family who tried it loved it. Can you believe that???
:-P
XOXO from Philly!

[Gerald 23.12.2008 à 17:18]

We have to try this greasy cheesesteak, hein Deli?! I definitively want it!

[Valerie 25.12.2008 à 03:23]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, MERRY XMAS, HAPPY XMAS, je pense que tout y est, non??
:)))

Très belle fêtes à toi, je t'embrasse.

[lili 27.12.2008 à 06:49]

Well, I have to say I wouldn't taste it, but I loved your description of it ;)

Ce blog est toujours aussi génial. Premier commentaire d'une fan qui vient bien trop souvent ici ^^

[Deli 28.12.2008 à 22:35]

Stephanie, c'est assez étonnant mais j'aime l'idée que les gens dépassent leurs limites pour gouter de nouvelles "choses".

Gerald, pourquoi pas, j'avoue que j'appréhende un peu, surtout après les fêtes. On va peut-être attendre un peu que mon estomac se remette de mes excès :)

Valérie tout pareil :) Bonnes fêtes à toi et ta famille :) Bises.

Lili, merci de laisser un premier com'. J'espère qu'il en annonce d'autres ;)
ps: j'ai besoin d'anglophones dans l'coin ;)

[surfcity 29.12.2008 à 20:59]

Deli: you cheated, you didn't write this post ;-)
Danny: nice to read your post, I want to taste the Philly Cheesesteak now !

[peter 06.01.2009 à 13:56]

the processed cheese is the best part! my friends got the provolone and were envious of my gooey/melted/yellow cheez whiz

tout simplement... delicieux

[Danny 07.01.2009 à 00:12]

@Stephanie: That might be because the cheesesteaks in Philly are good! In NY it can be hit or miss, but good to hear your French relative/friends love it!

@Gerald: It's good, you'll like it!

@Lili: If you tasted it, you would definitely change your mind! Glad you liked the description though!

@Deli: Thank you for replying to the other comments because I can't read ;)

@surfcity: Good! That's awesome that you want to try the cheesesteak now!

@peter: haha, you're right about the melted gooey processed cheese. It totally beats the provolone!

[mbt dla mężczyzn 05.05.2011 à 03:06]

I love cheesesteaks because they're filling and deeply satisfying. My mother would say that the Philly Cheesesteak is missing vegetables, but you can always supplement a good cheesesteak with some vegetables later. Just tell mom you ate a salad instead ;) The version at Carl's is a bit greasy, but they are mighty tasty once you get over the whole thing with fake processed cheese. Can I promise that you'll love it? Maybe not.