Classic Reuben Sandwich History and Recipe • Curious Cuisiniere (2024)

FAQs

What is the origin of the Reuben sandwich? ›

According to Omaha lore, the Reuben Sandwich was dreamed up at Omaha's Blackstone Hotel in 1925 by Reuben Kulakofsky, a local grocer, to feed a group of late-night poker players. Charles Schimmel, one of the players and the hotel's owner, liked it so much he put it on the menu of The Plush Horse, the hotel restaurant.

He decided to try something new for his friends and put together the first reuben sandwich using swiss cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut, and his special deli sauce on rye. It was such a big hit with his poker group, he decided to include it on the menu of a nearby hotel and it grew in popularity ever since.

You can certainly make a sandwich without sauerkraut, but it won't be a reuben sandwich since one of the ingredients that defines the sandwich as being a reuben is sauerkraut.

But the Reuben is a deeply early-20th-century American Midwestern creation, a Jewish sandwich that isn't kosher, made by an assimilated Eastern European whose family left Russia, Poland, and Germany several generations before World War II.

The request came from a city store owner and casual poker player named Reuben Kulafofsky. Schimmel chose to add Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing on dark rye bread. This version originated in 1925 and was quickly put on the hotel's menu by owner Charles Schimmel.

According to Omaha lore, the combination of rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut had been dreamed up in 1925 to feed participants in a late-night poker game at the Blackstone Hotel in downtown Omaha by a local grocer, Reuben Kulakofsky.

A traditional reuben sandwich consists of thinly sliced corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut on rye bread slathered with Russian or Thousand Island dressing.

The Reuben Sandwich is an American classic made with savory corned beef piled on our favorite marble rye bread and topped with plenty of baby swiss cheese, crunchy, tangy sauerkraut, and zippy Russian dressing, then griddled to perfection until the cheese melts and the bread is toasted.

Reuben sandwich is known to be originated at Mader's, a German restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the chef Dennis Wegner created them for a summer festival circa 1990. The Main ingredients of this sandwich are : Corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, rye bread.

A Reuben sandwich is typically made with corned beef. It would taste great with pastrami too, it just wouldn't be a classic Reuben! Bottom line: You can't go wrong with either of these flavor-packed deli meats.

Do Jews eat Reuben sandwiches? ›

While the sandwich is associated with the Jewish deli and Jewish food, it must have been created when Kosher style came around. The traditional sandwich is inherently not kosher given that it combines meat, corned beed, and cheese, Swiss.

Did you know that although similar, a Reuben sandwich uses pastrami whereas a Cuban uses sliced ham or pork loin?

Juicy corned beef, creamy Swiss cheese, delectable dressing, and traditional sauerkraut are nestled between toasted rye bread and served with crispy sea-salted chips for a sandwich experience that will put your green beer-drinking buddies to shame. Pair it with a Guinness and feel the Irish pride rush over you.

The Reuben sandwich is a North American grilled sandwich composed of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing or Thousand Island dressing, grilled between slices of rye bread. It is associated with kosher-style delicatessens but is not kosher, as it combines meat and cheese.

The difference between a Rachel and a Reuben is the use of cole slaw rather than sourkraut. Traditionally, both sandwiches were made with corned beef, but that has been modified by using other meats, such as turkey. But the form of cabbage is the distinguishing factor.

Sauce - A traditional Reuben sandwich uses creamy Russian dressing for the sauce, but Thousand Island dressing is another popular option that tastes really similar, albeit slightly sweeter with a bit less kick than Russian dressing.

A Reuben sandwich is typically made with corned beef. It would taste great with pastrami too, it just wouldn't be a classic Reuben! Bottom line: You can't go wrong with either of these flavor-packed deli meats.