French dip sandwich
Encyclopedia
A French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
consisting of thinly sliced roast beef
Roast beef
Roast beef is a dish of beef which is roasted in an oven. Essentially prepared as a main meal, the leftovers can be and are often served within sandwiches and sometimes is used to make hash...
(or, sometimes, other meats) on a "French roll" or baguette
Baguette
A baguette is "a long thin loaf of French bread" that is commonly made from basic lean dough...
. It is usually served au jus
Au jus
Au jus is French for "with [its own] juice"; jus is the juice itself.In American cuisine, the term is mostly used to refer to a light sauce for beef recipes, which may be served with the food or placed on the side for dipping...
("with juice"), that is, with beef juice from the cooking process. Beef broth or beef consomme is sometimes substituted.
Although the sandwich is most commonly served with a cup of jus or broth on the side of the plate, into which the sandwich is dipped as it is eaten, this is not how the sandwich was served when it was invented.
Two restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
have claimed to be the birthplace of the French dip: Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet
Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet
Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet, also known as Cole's P.E. Buffet, is a restaurant and bar located at 118 East 6th Street in the Historic Core district of downtown Los Angeles, California....
and Philippe The Original
Philippe's
Philippe's, or "Phillippe the Original", is a restaurant located in downtown Los Angeles, California. The restaurant is well known for continuously operating since 1908, making it one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles. It is also renowned for claiming to be the inventor of the French Dip...
. At both of these restaurants, the roll is dipped into the hot beef juices before the sandwich is assembled, and the sandwich is served "wet." The sandwich can also be requested to be served "double dipped" at either establishment. Philippe's own brand of spicy mustard is traditionally used by its patrons to complement the sandwich.
This controversy over who originated the sandwich has not been resolved definitively. Both restaurants were established in 1908. However, Cole's claims to have originated the sandwich shortly after the restaurant opened in 1908, and Philippe's claims that owner Philippe Mathieu invented it in 1918. Cole's was the oldest restaurant or bar in Los Angeles operating continuously since its opening at the same location, however, it closed for remodeling on March 15, 2007, ending its "operating continuously" streak. It reopened to the public on December 4, 2008.
The French dip is now served at a number of restaurant chains including fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
, diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
s and standard restaurants; however, other locations choose to serve the sandwich with jus on the side rather than already dipped.
See also
- Steak sandwichSteak sandwichA steak sandwich is a sandwich that is made out of steak that has been broiled, fried, grilled, barbecued or seared using steel grates or gridirons then served on bread or a roll...
- Italian beefItalian beefAn Italian beef is a sandwich of thin slices of seasoned roast beef, dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll, believed to have originated in Chicago, where its history dates back at least to the 1930s...
- Beef on weck sandwich
- List of sandwiches