FOOD NEWS
The One Thing Anthony Bourdain Didn't Like About Club Sandwiches
BY LISA CURRAN MATTE
World traveler and adventurous eater Anthony Bourdain had a known disdain for the third piece of bread in a club sandwich, ranking it No. 2 on his list of "7 Crimes Against Food."
Musing to the Los Angeles Times, Bourdain said, "I'm really irritated by that useless middle slice of bread on the club sandwich. It's been there forever; it's not a trend.”
Bourdain's dislike of the club sandwich had nothing to do with the ingredients but with the multi-tier design and its tendency for the layers to slip-slide in opposite directions.
Some food historians believe the Pennsylvania Railroad added the third slice in the 1930s as a nod to multi-level club bars, while others think it was meant to separate fillings.
Apart from Bourdain, iconic chef and author James Beard also bemoaned the bastardization of the creation he once called "one of the great sandwiches of all time."
In his 1972 cookbook, "James Beard's American Cookery," Beard wrote, "Nowadays the sandwich is bastardized because it is usually made as a three-decker, which is not authentic."