12th
Here is a “St. Paul sandwich.” It’s egg foo yung on white bread, with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions and mayo. Some variations have an egg in there, too.
You can’t buy them in St. Paul or anywhere else in Minnesota.
It’s a St. Louis speciality, found only in St. Louis-area Chinese restaurants. According to Chez Wikipedia, it was a creation of “desperate” (their words) Midwestern Chinese restauranteurs in the 1940s hoping to attract American customers, who could apparently only stomach bean sprouts if they were stuffed between Wonderbread and drowned in hamburger condiments. It’s still available only in that part of the country.
Apparently, the misleading name comes from the alleged creator, one Steven Yuen of St. Louis, who was originally a native of the Saintly City. I went ahead and gave Park Chop Suey in St. Louis a call to see what I could find out. I asked the man that answered the phone why the sandwiches are named after St. Paul. ”That’s where they come from,” he said.
So many questions here:
- Might the creators have meant St. Paul, Missouri?
- Why would Steven Yuen name the sandwich after St. Paul if he was no longer living there?
- Does the name “St. Paul” feel somehow intrinsically comforting to hungry, xenophobic St. Louisians?
- Is the man at Park Chop Suey correct? Did they “come from” St. Paul?
- If so, why did they die out here and flourish in St. Louis?
And the key questions:
- Is the St. Paul sandwich worth repatriating back to St. Paul?
- If so, will Minneapolis want its own version?
- What would the inevitable gourmet versions of a repatriated St. Paul sandwich look like? Where is the bleu cheese going to go?
Answer any of them in the comments, readers.
(Thanks to Nate for the tip.)
I’d certainly like to try one.
