Reuben sandwich

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© Photo:  Ben Frantz Dale, via Wikimedia Commons
Reuben sandwich

A Reuben sandwich is normally made using rye bread, corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing or Thousand Island salad dressing, grilled or fried then served hot. The corned beef is sometimes replaced by pastrami or thinly sliced ham. The sandwich can be served cold.

The Reuben sandwich is part of American food folklore and is often associated with Jewish food traditions even though all its variants combine meat with cheese and therefore are not kosher.

Origin

Conflicting stories exist about the origin of the sandwich. The two main competing ones are:

• The Reuben sandwich was named for Arnold Reuben, who in the early party of the 20th century, owned the now-closed Reuben's delicatessen in New York. Reuben reportedly created the sandwich to honor Annette Seelos, an actress, in 1914.

• Another story is that the sandwich was created by Reuben Kay, a Omaha grocer, who made the sandwich during the course of a poker game. His sandwich then won a national contest the following year.