Move over Cheese-steak
Last Updated on Sunday, 24 January 2010 13:27 Written by Elise Monday, 25 January 2010 00:00
Since part of my family moved to Philadelphia, it has become a regular destination for travel. On our first trip we of course waited in line for the obligatory cheese-steak....paying close attention to ordering conventions and praticing how we wanted our food before we got to the fast moving order takers at the counter. Even after waiting in line 45min, I was happy. My cheese-steak was quite good, dripping with cheese-wiz, mushrooms, and juicy steak. My arteries on the other hand, might not agree.
Enter in the lesser know but equally, if not more delicious sandwich...Roast Pork and Broccoli rabe.
The Italian section of Philly is called The Italian Market, and it's like Boston's North End was 25 years ago. Little shops who make their own cheese and sausage and brine their own olives. In this area it's not the cheese-steak that you see advertised, it's the roast pork and rabe sandwich.
I have sung the praises of rabe before. And when I heard about this sandwich, it held much more mystique for me than the cheese steak. My father lead us to George's, a tiny family run hole in the wall, where you could order either from the window, or go in and sit at one of the 7 stools at the counter. We crammed at a counter and Grandma, brought my my sandwich, offering to cut it in half so it would be more manageable.
Really, there isn't much more to this juicy roasted pork, some provolne cheese and sauteed rabe on a soft Italian roll. And really that was all it needed (except perhaps for an extra sprinkle of salt). The pork was sliced thin, and was tender and flavorful, the rabe added a nice bitterness, and the bread, acted a sponge for all the juice (note, this also makes the bread soggy, so your second half of the sandwich is much more messy) . When I first got my food, I didn't think I would be able to eat it all, but I came pretty close to polishing the whole thing off, and I think I might have found a new favorite lunch for when I visit Philly in the future.
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