There’s really nothing like a great sandwich. Even better, though, is coming home after a long day at work to a sandwich made just for you by your 15 year old son before you have to dash right back out to the hockey rink.
Most 15 year old boys just grunt. Mine cooks dinner. I feel it must be a reflection of my excellent skills as a mother. (Bwahahahaha!!!)
Read’s not really interested in cooking. He’s much more into eating. I’ve tried. He will stir and chop if pressured, but that’s all. He’s more than happy to have others cook for him, and he’s lucky to have a little sister who is a prolific baker. He can feed himself, and he knows how to order delivery pizza. To date, his culinary repertoire includes KD, toast, scrambled or fried eggs, and grilled cheese sandwiches. And nobody can pour a lake of cereal like this guy. (I swear he can eat a whole box in one sitting. Well minus like 20 Cheerios that get put back in the cupboard, waiting for the next time he wants cereal when he calls out “Mom!!! We are out of cereal!!!!”)
Tonight, however, motivated by hunger, a need to fuel up before hockey, and a set of parents working late, he set about re-creating his favorite sandwich of all time.
Last year over March break we went on a little road trip to Montreal. Two moms, four kids, a trusty minivan and nothing but a few hundred kilometers on the 401 between us and really good poutine.
Read, was, um, less than excited about this adventure. But there’s really nothing like a good old fashioned road trip, complete with a theme song, good friends and no real agenda. The whole thing ended up being much more fun than any of us anticipated. Any of us. I know the whole group was completely enthralled visiting all my favourite places in my hometown. EN.Thralled.
We visited the honourable Orange Julep, good old Schwartz, the decadent Pied du Cochon, the trying-to-be-like-Paris-and-doing-a-decent-job-of-it-Entrecote St Jean, the un-matchable Villa Du Souvlaki (Best. Souvlaki. Ever), Bilboquetfor their seasonal Tire
a L’Erable ice cream, the venerable Beauty’s…..but Read and Ross’s all-time fav hands down was Wilensky’s Light Lunch.
Wilenksy’s is known for their salami sandwiches, they’ve been making them the same way for over 80 years, since 1932. No wonder they are good at making them. That’s a lot of practice. But there are rules:
“When ordering a special,
You should know a thing or two.
They are always served with mustard,
They are never cut in two.
Don’t ask us why, just understand that this is nothing new.
This is the way that it’s been done since 1932.”
So there.
One of the world’s greatest sandwiches. Seriously. Cooked (not dry cured) beef salami and bologna, a slice of Kraft ‘cheese’ or Swiss if you choose, a little yellow mustard. All pressed together on some sort of proprietary hamburger/English muffin hybrid bun until the bun is crispy, the meat is warm, the cheese is melty – and its ready to be devoured. No plates, just wrapped in a paper napkin. Mordecai Richler was a Wilensky regular – this was his choice of fuel – we are talking brain food people.
You sit at one of the 8 stools that swivel, like stools should – and watch Ruth and her peeps make your sandwich. The place is a total classic – not an inch has changed since first opening as a cigar store in May 1932. The old school cash register, the books on the shelves – its part museum really.
I asked Ruth a few questions about the recipe for the Wilensky Special but the woman is a vault – I got nothing. Nada.
Potentially even better than the sandwiches are the homemade sodas. They are well known for their cherry cola, but also have cream soda, lemon-lime, cola, orange…..made with a little syrup and a spray of carbonated water. These elixirs are magic. They make them this way because it’s how they’ve always made them – not because the hipstersrecently decided this is how sodas should be made. I don’t think Ruth would even let a hipster into her sandwich palace.
The boys each had three sandwiches that day – and it was only an afternoon snack. Ever since, Read will sometimes stop and say…”Remember those fried salami sandwiches in Montreal? Man those were good…..” We all sigh and reflect on the yumminess and move on.
Tonight, Read was rustling around the fridge, scrounging for nourishment – poor guy is always hungry – when he found a chub of cooked Chicago 58 salami I had been given earlier in the week by a client.
And thus…..the Read-Wilensky Sandwich was born:
- · English muffin – buttered on the outside.
- · Slices of cooked salami (The Chicago 58 stuff was perfect)
- · Slice of Cheddar (alas no Kraft slices chez nous….)
- · Fried and pressed just like a grilled cheese sandwich until crispy, melty and perfect.
He did not cut them in half as per the rules, but the mustard was on the side – Ruth would not approve. (They used to charge you 10 cents to NOT have mustard…..)
A little piece of Montreal, right here in our kitchen in TO, crafted by my most awesome teenage son.
Happiness. And the Eagles won their game. And Read scored a goal. See, Mordecai Richler was onto something.
PS – if you don’t think a fried salami sandwich could be this good – check out Aziz Ansari, David Chang, Fred Morin and Dave McMillan’s visit to Wilensky’s here .
