Deconstructing Reuben This Classic Sandwich Has Been Tinkered With Ever Since It Was Invented. So What Makes A Good Reuben?

We can thank a bunch of hungry poker players for one of this country’s most enduring sandwiches.

Or, just maybe the Reuben was inspired by a saucy silent screen star. It depends on which version of the story you believe.

Webster’s New World Dictionary credits an Omaha, Neb., grocer named Reuben Kay with concocting the sandwich. He supposedly made it one night in 1955 while he played cards with his buddies. The following year, the Reuben — with its oddball combination of corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese — won a contest sponsored (naturally) by the National Kraut Packers and a classic was born.

So one story goes.

The birth of Reuben has also been traced back to early in this century.

According to “The Food Lover’s Companion,” a screen siren starring in a Charlie Chaplin movie in 1914 supposedly sauntered into Arnold Reuben’s New York delicatessen and demanded: “Make me a sandwich!”

That Reuben had boiled ham, coleslaw and Russian dressing on sourdough pumpernickel.

The Reuben most people know, the Omaha version, is built like this: Between two slices of dark rye, pile on corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing. Butter the outside of the bread and grill it until the cheese melts.

Yet ever since it was created, sandwich makers everywhere have tinkered with the recipe. Some even added mustard to the mix — a big no-no for purists. And Thousand Island has long since replaced Russian dressing.

When it’s made just right, the ingredients in a Reuben strike a harmonious balance of salty, sour and slightly sweet. A bad Reuben can be an inedible, sloppy mess.

When O’Doherty’s Irish Grille first put a Reuben on its menu, it offered a version that was meant as a tribute to a popular former Spokane restaurant with a colorful history. O’Doherty’s “Hooligans and Hannigans” Reuben sandwich featured corned beef that was juicy to the point of dripping, just like they made them at the old place on West First.

“This was something you had to eat with a fork. It was soggy,” said restaurateur Tim O’Doherty.

But his customers rebuffed O’Doherty’s attempt to carry on that messy tradition.

“They were like, ‘Tradition, my fanny. I want my Reuben toasted,”’ O’Doherty said.

The Irish Grille also offers a Reuben for the anti-kraut crowd. It’s their New York-style Reuben with grilled onions standing in for the pickled cabbage.

“That’s what I order,” O’Doherty confessed. “I’ve never been a sauerkraut fan.”

Brian Mayfield, the cook at The Viking, uses a wine-soaked kraut to give the Spokane pub’s Reuben a slightly exotic zing.

“We steam it, and then grill it, too,” Mayfield said. That reduces the moisture and helps the sandwich hold together from the first bite to the last.

If sauerkraut is the sandwich’s wild card, then a good corned beef could be considered the royal flush. But not all cured meat is created equal.

The Viking uses a cut called the eye of the round, which is sliced paper thin.

Gertrude’s Black Forest Deli uses a lean top or bottom round cut that’s been cured.

“We get our corned beef out of Philly,” said Bud Evans, who owns Gertrude’s Deli with his wife (the restaurant’s namesake) and their son, John. “It’s not a brisket, because those tend to have a tremendous amount of fat.”

Gertrude’s uses an imported Bavarian Swiss cheese and a homemade dressing that has whipped cream as its rich base. They also make a variation called Uncle Herbie, which features coleslaw instead of kraut.

And when it comes to the burning question of whether to toast or not to toast, Gertrude’s serves it cold.

“We don’t grill them because we don’t like using butter or oil on the bread,” Evans said. “And I’ve had lots of customers who tell me they like it better our way.”

At Pieroni’s, the owner claims one trick makes his Reuben “the best in the Northwest.”

“We put garlic butter on the bread before grilling them,” said Dick Pieroni.

Pieroni bucks tradition again by offering the option of mayo rather than Thousand Island.

Mizuna has taken the normally cholesterol-laden Reuben to a healthy extreme. The innovative vegetarian restaurant in downtown Spokane makes its Reuben with tempeh, a dense soy product that has a meaty texture.

“I marinate it and cook it in the marinade,” said Mizuna chef Tonia Buckmiller. “Then I grill it.”

The sandwich is constructed on Fugazzi’s rye, a subtly seasoned, hearty bread that holds the ingredients together with authority. Instead of Thousand Island, the sandwich is adorned with a chipotle aioli, a creamy tofu dressing seasoned with smoked jalapeno peppers. Smoked mozzarella stands in for the Swiss and the sauerkraut is made with organically grown cabbage.

“It’s a little less pungent than most,” Buckmiller said.

Regardless of what’s stuffed inside, most Reuben makers tend to agree about one thing: It’s got to be rye bread.

The Viking’s Mayfield grew up in Molene, Ill., where a famous deli called The Belgian Village Inn made its own dark rye.

“It was almost black and they would cut it thick,” Mayfield said. “One of their sandwiches could feed four people.”

But the selection of rye around this region is slim. What’s available has only a faint rye flavor, said Buckmiller, who tried several brands before settling on Fugazzi’s rye.

Gertrude’s relies on a light rye from Hans and Marianne’s Bakery, while many other Reuben purveyors opt for the soft Snyder’s Bohemian rye.

Even the most well-constructed Reuben isn’t going to appeal to everyone.

“It’s an oddball sandwich,” Evans said. “But I think a lot of people like it because it’s such an oddity.”

And sometimes, one of a kind beats everything.

Reuben Sandwich

Here’s an easy version from “Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook” (Meredith Corp., 1989).

8 slices dark rye or pumpernickel bread

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup Thousand Island or Russian dressing

1/2 pound thinly sliced corned beef

4 slices Swiss cheese

1 cup sauerkraut, well drained

Spread one side of each slice of bread with butter or margarine and the other side with the dressing. With the butter side down, top 4 slices of bread with meat, cheese and sauerkraut. Top with remaining bread slices, dressing side down.

In a large skillet, cook 2 sandwiches over medium-low heat for 4-6 minutes or until bread toasts and cheese melts, turning once. Repeat with remaining sandwiches.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 419 calories, 24 grams fat (52 percent fat calories), 36 grams carbohydrate, 15 grams protein, 60 milligrams cholesterol, 1,336 milligrams sodium.

ROUND UP A REUBEN AT THESE PLACES Here are a few of the restaurants around the region that offer Reubens: Alpine Deli, 417 E. Third; 455-5148. Brooklyn Deli, 307 S. Washington; 835-4177. Domini’s, 703 W. Sprague; 747-2324 (served cold with no Thousand Island). O’Doherty’s Irish Grille, 525 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.; 747-0322. Mizuna, 214 N. Howard; 747-2004. Speedway Diner, 6709 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls; (208) 777-0656. Schlotzsky’s Deli, 901 N. Sullivan Road and in NorthTown Mall; 926-5805 and 487-4763. High Nooner, various locations in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene (it’s called the “Almost Reuben” and is made with pastrami). Pieroni’s Deli, 820 E. Francis; 483-1278. The Viking, 1221 N. Stevens; 326-2942 (try the turkey Reuben, too). Silver Grill, 515 W. Sprague; 838-6308. Gertrude’s Black Forest Deli, 1002 S. Perry; 535-9641.