A History of Philadelphia Sandwiches: Steaks, Hoagies, Iconic Eateries & More, by Mike Madaio

His approachable writing offers a comprehensive look at our region’s sandwiches, their ingredients, their histories, their names, and the everyday people who contributed to this flavorful landscape. Madaio has clearly spent countless hours in text archives, such as those of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, and in conversations with food industry workers, other writers, and the descendants of historical sandwich figures. The book moves quickly, although occasionally the density of facts and figures (such as the Hog Island manufacturing facility’s infrastructure in the Hoagie chapter) can weigh down the experience, like a heavy hand of oil and vinegar on a real hoagie.

An outsider's take on the Philly sandwich scene

Each chapter is structured around a different sandwich-related category, including hoagies, cheesesteaks, and bread. It initially felt odd that the first chapter was about the “combo” of hot dogs and fish cakes (which I knew nothing about), but this sets the tone for more complex chapters and also made chronological sense, once I understood the structure. I appreciated that Madaio goes beyond the obvious topics. He describes regional creations that I have yet to try, like zeps, tripe, and veal tongue.

Definitions and categories are a recurring theme. Philadelphians famously argue over what’s “allowed” on a cheesesteak or who makes an “authentic” hoagie. Madaio questions these assumptions. In fact, early in the first chapter, he takes a sidebar to address the tiresome debate over whether a hot dog is a sandwich. (He votes yes.) Throughout the book he employs heavy skepticism about longstanding legends, including the origin of the word “hoagie” and the invention of the cheesesteak.

Part of his angle is that, like me, he’s not a native to the region, and so he brings with him an outsider’s view of local sandwiches and their rules. An etymological investigation in the hoagie chapter unlocked a piece of my personal history. Ice cream shops and their associated trucks in my hometown of Corning, New York, were branded “Hokey-Pokey”. I figured this was a nod to the children’s circle dance, but it’s quite likely that it has a link to street vendors here in Philadelphia and throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

Cooper sharp and chicken cutlets

Madaio’s book digs deep into the ingredients of sandwiches, not just the whole dish. For instance, a surprising page is dedicated to the locally made Cooper Sharp cheese, which has a winning combination of texture and flavor for cheesesteaks. An entire chapter is dedicated to bread, including the history of the local bakery scene, to which the sandwich culture owes a great deal. Again, Madaio acknowledges legends and conventional wisdom, then goes a few steps into the history books and shares his findings. Throughout, true Philly characters emerge with well-documented biographical information, such as Al DePalma, “King of the Hoggies” [sic]. These profiles make the stories larger-than-life, and who would expect anything else of Philly’s sandwich pioneers?

The unexpected insights continue in later chapters, like the chicken cutlets of Chapter 5.

I naively thought that the cutlet craze was a 2020s phenomenon, when in fact there’s a long tradition of them around town. People have only recently been getting more inventive with them, Madaio explains. Reflections in Chapter 8 address the present and future Philly’s sandwich culture. Again, creativity is iterating on tradition. Madaio also notes the influence of social media as a successor to television food celebrities, and how immigration patterns have been changing populations and neighborhoods, not just in the Italian Market.

A welcome addition to the foodways library

Two quirks of this book ultimately work in everybody’s favor. Gray-panel sidebars—not frequent enough to be distracting—offer occasional rabbit-holes, like the time DiNic’s changed their source of rolls. And the photo layout, which seemed peculiar at first, ultimately works. Most of the book’s photos are black-and-white, even the modern ones, but in the middle of the book, there’s a set of 28 sandwich close-ups in color, mostly two to a page. Initially I wished these had been sprinkled throughout the text, but then I realized that I enjoy the side-by-side comparisons.

This is a book I’ll revisit and refer to, and its footnotes provide an extensive menu of Philly foodways books for me to sample.