American cuisine varies depending on region. Every state of this huge country has its own recognizable and honored dishes. According to the iphiladelphia website, locals are proud of them and tourists want to try such dishes. When it comes to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of its main dishes is definitely the cheesesteak. It’s no secret that such sandwiches with a big history are popular in different parts of the USA and haven’t lost their popularity in the world for almost a century. However, they say that Philadelphia is their homeland.
The origin
It is considered that the dish originated from a hot dog stand in South Philadelphia owned by Italian-American restaurateurs Pat Olivieri and his younger brother Harry Olivieri in the early 20th century. The brothers opened the business in 1930 and at first, worked in other spheres too. Pat made sleighs and Harry worked in the mill. As their relatives said, the brothers unintentionally invented a new dish in 1933. The men were tired of hot dogs, which they not only sold but also snacked on by themselves. Pat and Harry decided to cook something unusual for dinner. They bought an inexpensive steak at the local market, sliced it very thinly, fried it with onions and put it all on a bun.
While Pat was trying a new dish with an incredible aroma, a local taxi driver, who was a regular visitor too, smelled its fragrance and ordered it. Pat made it and asked for 10 cents for a steak sandwich. Soon, not only local taxi drivers but also a lot of other customers came there to taste the new snack, which became even more popular than ordinary hot dogs and the prototype of the famous Philadelphia cheesesteak.
The business was becoming more and more successful. In 1940, chef-businessmen rented the whole premises, where their former stand was located, and opened a restaurant. It worked day and night, so Pat and Harry cooked there up to 18 hours a day for decades. That’s how Pat’s King of Steaks became one of the most famous steak producers in Philadelphia.
Pat Olivieri died in 1970. His son Herbert had to fight for ownership of the joint business of his father and uncle with him and his descendants. Eventually, after Harry Olivieri died in 2006 at the age of 90, his grandson Frank took over the business. The restaurant still functions and cooks the famous dish for 90 years. Olivieri’s successors are still open around-the-clock, closing only on Thanksgiving and Christmas. That’s how Pat’s King of Steaks grew from a small stand on the edge of the Italian Market in South Philadelphia to one of the most famous cheesesteak producers in the world.
The cult dish ingredients
Originally, the cheesesteak was just a sandwich with thinly sliced steak and fried onions on a long bun. Such well-known gourmet ingredients as cheese appeared in cheesesteaks in the 1940s and provoked a heated discussion. One of Pat Olivieri’s employees claimed that it was his idea to add Italian provolone cheese to the dish, while rival restaurant Geno’s Steaks insisted that it was his invention. Nevertheless, Italian provolone cheese is considered the most traditional for a cheesesteak.
Nowadays, in addition to juicy, tender and thinly sliced beef (top round steak or ribeye steak), onions and cheese, this sandwich can be added with roasted sweet or even hot peppers and mushrooms, which can be also even slightly smoked. Other ingredients and seasonings may include ketchup, tomatoes and salad. An American sauce made of processed cheese, called Cheez Whiz, is popular too.
In Philadelphia, cheesesteaks are always served on crusty buns. The gold standard when choosing bread is the long local bun-plate amoroso. But the main thing in the art of cooking a cheesesteak is the perfect combination of all the flavors and textures of the ingredients.
Become a fan from the first bite
Native residents of Philadelphia try to follow the traditional cheesesteak recipe while adding the ingredients. However, the popularity of this dish has long crossed the borders of Philadelphia and even the United States. Therefore, many professional chefs and ordinary people around the globe have their secrets for preparing it. Ordinary or famous chefs experiment with ingredients, in particular with varieties of cheese, or even replace them with cheese paste. As a result of experiments with meat, a variant of chicken cheesesteak was created too.
There is a small chance to cook a perfect cheesesteak as professionals in Philadelphia manage to do if you don’t follow the traditional recipe. That is why the legendary traditional dish, which is quite simple to prepare, hearty and high in calories, tastes perfectly. Although it is impossible to stay clean while eating it. It’s no secret that tourists who haven’t tried cheesesteak sometimes say that visually it lacks sophistication and call it a strangely-looking thick canapé. But after the first bite, all the nuances disappear and you just fall in love with it! Undoubtedly, the cheesesteak is a firework of taste! That’s why Philadelphians say quite seriously that you become a cheesesteak fan from the first bite!
A dish that has its own holiday, etiquette and many names
Philly cheesesteak is a must-try and you didn’t visit Philadelphia if you didn’t taste it. Cheesesteak is very popular here, and it has become especially popular outside its homeland in recent decades. The famous cheesesteak is not just self-sufficient, it even became a component of other dishes, such as pizza, French fries and even soup.
Also, the dish belongs to the submarine sandwich type and has several names, including cheesesteak, Philadelphia cheesesteak, Philly cheesesteak, steak & cheese, cheesesteak and cheesesteak sandwich.
By the way, it even has its own holiday, National Cheesesteak Day, which is celebrated annually on March 24 in the USA. The reasons why that exact date was selected are unknown. However, that iconic Philadelphia dish, which is already 90 years old, definitely deserves a celebration and a festival in its honor.
Tourists visiting the USA are often looking for places where they can try a traditional cheesesteak. This quick and affordable dish can be found in delis, coffee shops, steakhouses and restaurants. There are many of them not only in Philadelphia but also in other parts of the USA. They don’t just promote local traditions but also try to catch up with a trend. For example, there are sandwich shops that offer cheesesteak hoagie, which is a hybrid version of a cheesesteak with cold ingredients, such as lettuce, mayonnaise and tomatoes.
Over the years, the protocol of cheesesteak ordering has developed too. Here is one of the easiest ways to do it. When voicing the order, first of all, it is necessary to determine the presence or absence of the main components. So you need to specify which cheese you want to taste: whiz, provolone or American (these are the three most traditional types for this dish). Also, make clear whether you want to add onions. For example, if you want your cheesesteak with whiz cheese and onions, you can say “whiz with” or “whiz without” if you don’t want onions. Then specify what other toppings and seasonings you prefer.