Primanti’s Sandwich

Name: Primanti’s Sandwich
Yield: serves 2
Ingredients: 3 cups very finely shredded Savoy cabbage; 1 tablespoon cider vinegar; 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1/4 teaspoon celery seed, crushed; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning; 1/4 teaspoon sugar; 2 small russet potatoes; Vegetable oil, for frying; 4 ounces capicola, sliced; 4 ounces provolone, sliced; 4 thick slices Italian bread (ideally, about 6 by 4 inches, not too crusty); 1 ripe tomato, sliced

December 14, 2011

Just down Smallman Street from our Lidia’s restaurant, I have serious sandwich competition in Primanti’s, a Pittsburgh institution. I am charmed by their incredibly oversized warm capicola sandwich stuffed with French fries and coleslaw. I am not sure where in the U.S.A. this tradition of stuffing a sandwich with French fries became Italian, but the sandwich was so tall that I could not open my mouth wide enough to get my first bite. Primanti’s started as a sandwich pushcart, manned by Joe Primanti, in the Strip in the 1930s, selling sandwiches to truck drivers. One night, a trucker wanted to check if his load of frozen potatoes were good, so Joe Primanti cooked them up. Customers began asking for them, and to expedite the service they were added to the sandwich.

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