The True Origin of The Philly Cheesesteak

Food 2 Minutes

Philadelphia has a well-earned reputation as a great sandwich city. How many other cities, after all, can lay claim, as Philadelphia does, to the invention of three iconic sandwiches? According to Visit Philadelphia, the city’s sandwich trinity is comprised of the hoagie, the roast pork sandwich, and the Philly cheesesteak, with their respective creations most likely occurring in that order. The roast pork sandwich, for instance, had its genesis in Italy, but the Philadelphia version was created by Domenico Bucci in 1930 in a South Philly eatery that’s now named for his son: John’s Roast Pork.

The hoagie is the only one of the three iconic sandwiches without a verifiable origin story. One theory, related by Visit Philadelphia, credits its birth around the turn of the 20th century to Italian-American dock workers at the Hog Island shipyard who reportedly referred to their oversized sandwiches as “hoggies”; a name that evolved into hoagies. If this is true, then members of Philadelphia’s thriving Italian-American community were responsible for inventing all three of the city’s iconic sandwiches. Italian migration to the city spiked during the latter half of the 19th century, notes The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, with many newcomers settling in South Philadelphia where at least two of the three sandwiches were born.

As for the Philly cheesesteak, its origin elicits almost no arguments. Just about everybody in Philadelphia — outside rival cheesesteak restaurants — agrees about who invented this comfort food masterpiece and when.

It all started in 1930, when Pat Olivieri began operating a hot dog cart near the Italian Market in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia Magazine relays its oral history of the city’s most famous sandwich. As the story goes, one lunchtime that same year, Olivieri was in the mood for something else to eat and sent his brother to a local butcher shop for meat. Olivieri cooked the chopped beef on his cart’s grill, scooping it into an Italian roll with onions, according to Pat’s King of Steaks website (the namesake restaurant that Olivieri subsequently established across from the old hot dog stand). A passing cab driver was intrigued and asked for the same thing. Per the restaurant’s site, the cab driver reportedly said, “Hey … forget ’bout those hot dogs, you should sell these,” after scarfing the sandwich down.

From this propitious incident, a legend was born … or was it? The origin story for the Philly cheesesteak is noticeably absent of one crucial ingredient: Cheese. As Philadelphia Magazine explains, the Philly steak sandwich didn’t include cheese until the 1940s when a boozy restaurant manager at Pat’s King of Steaks named “Cocky Joe” Lorenza decided to add some provolone. That’s when the authentic Philly cheesesteak was born.

Nowadays, observes Visit Philadelphia, there are several acceptable Philly cheesesteak cheese options, including Cheeze Whiz and American cheese. Each has its share of diehard partisans, but given the history, provolone remains the most traditional option.

By Chris Sands/Aug. 26, 2022

Pat’s note: Hubby prefers a chicken cheesesteak and I prefer a regular one minus the cheese, sauce and onions…LOL.  Plain Jane out.

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182 thoughts on “The True Origin of The Philly Cheesesteak”

  1. HELL YEAH!!!!! Tucker’s own media empire!!! All H/T to M, of course!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Invite savages into your country and…..🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

    “Germany: After Berlin pool closes over sexual assaults and violence from migrants, president of lifeguard association warns ‘violence against pool staff is everywhere’ — Many worry that these swimming pools may need police protection to function”
    July 14, 2023
    editor: REMIX NEWS author: JOHN CODY
    EXCERPT: “After the Columbiabad swimming pool closed down in the German capital of Berlin, the issue of migrant violence and sexual assaults at the location has sparked a nationwide media conversation but also led to warnings that this one pool is hardly an exception.

    According to German newspaper Welt, outbreaks of violence in Berlin’s open-air pools are currently particularly frequent, but lifeguards and visitors in other cities also report violence and aggressive guests. In Mannheim, there was a mass brawl in June involving more than 40 people. In the Karlsruhe district, a pool attendant was attacked by a group and beaten so badly that he ended up in the hospital.

    “Violence against pool staff is everywhere,” reports Peter Harzheim, president of the Federal Association of German Pool Attendants (BDS). The vast majority of swimming pools continue to be peaceful places. However, he said that complaints about misconduct by some bathers are increasing nationwide. As Remix News previously reported, the Columbiabad public bath in Berlin’s Neukölln borough closed after staff from the location were out “sick from stress” in such numbers that the swimming pool could no longer operate.

    “The number of incidents and the behavior of some bathers are an extreme burden for our very committed employees in the pools,” said the municipal agency that runs the complex, and many others across the German capital, in a statement. “This is not sustainable in the long run.”

    Then, in a letter to German newspaper Tagesspiegel, pool staff described vandalism, physical attacks and harassment from “Arab migrants and Chechens,” with the staff writing a letter describing “feces smeared on the walls,” girls having their bikinis ripped off, and physical attacks against swimmers and staff. Harzheim warns of a dangerous development in German society.

    “Where many cultural milieus clash, it can explode,” says Harzheim. When asked by Welt newspaper, the Association of Towns and Municipalities also reported isolated problems in large cities, while the German Lifesaving Society (DLRG) reports that volunteers at bathing lakes are also increasingly exposed to verbal attacks.”

    https://rmx.news/germany/germany-after-berlin-pool-closes-over-sexual-assaults-and-violence-from-migrants-president-of-lifeguard-association-warns-violence-against-pool-staff-is-everywhere/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. any one of those incidents should lead to a permanent ban on entering the facility.
      these people are barbarians and if they can’t adjust to polite society–perhaps they should be deported to their own countries where they can be assholes to their hearts content

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Liked by 2 people

  11. gees!!!
    i got lost…lol. i’m creating a new craft item and forgot the time.
    then I was going to make chili for supper and I go to the pantry and see I forgot to get beans…
    I’m a roll.
    sigh

    Liked by 1 person




  12. EXCERPT: “When it comes to data privacy protection, the US isn’t exactly a super power. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) could be the first comprehensive federal privacy legislation that citizens, experts, and digital rights activists have been calling for. Unfortunately, the Act is under review and nowhere near to be implemented anytime soon.

    Americans enjoy vastly different privacy protections based on where they live. This creates opportunities for data breaches and unscrupulous companies to exploit customers’ most personal and confidential information. Especially now, one year after Roe vs Wade fell, people in the US need to know how protect the privacy of their digital lives.

    That’s why Private Internet Access (PIA), one of the best VPN services out there, decided to look closely at how digital privacy legislations compare around the country. They found that there is a “stark imbalance” of protection between States. Let’s dig into the results.”

    https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/us-data-privacy-stark-imbalance-of-protection-across-states

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Valerie Curren
    Valerie Curren(@valeriecurren)Offline
    Coyote
    Reply to Wolf Moon | Threat to Demonocracy
    July 14, 2023 17:07

    helpful info from comments there 🙂

    vaporland
    July 13, 2023 5:38 pm

    Reply to mycroft
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    after:
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    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/07/13/rabbit-faced-baby-found-in-iowa-buck-toothed-mom-chewed-carrots-while-pregnant/comment-page-2/#comment-9997297

    Like

  14. bwahahahahahahahahaha

    myfairlady53
    July 14, 2023 5:24 pm

    Wow! DeSantis is trying to do a Dairy Queen drop in like Trump did, and they’re ignoring him. Remember that team DeSantis was making fun of Trump saying that Dairy Queen was small. That is so embarrassing!

    Raheem.

    @RaheemKassam

    Ron DeSantis copies Trump campaign again with Dairy Queen visit. Except no one is there, no one cares. And they continue to serve other customers.

    twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1679960885509365761
    (16) Raheem. on Twitter: “Ron DeSantis copies Trump campaign again with Dairy Queen visit. Except no one is there, no one cares. And they continue to serve other customers. https://t.co/5IE6W5yoxG” / Twitter

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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