April 1, New York, NY -- The Carnegie Deli, the landmark
delicatessen the heart of midtown Manhattan has featured celebrity named
sandwiches since it first opened in 1937.
The “Don Rickles” features pickles, salami, Romanian pastrami, chopped
liver and a thick spread of hot mustard.
The “Woody Allen” features corned-beef, pastrami, coleslaw, mayonnaise
and young chicken. However, according to
manager Anthony Shapiro, one sandwich has not caught on: “No matter what we do,
very few customers order the “Hillel sandwich”.
Featuring multiple slices of raw horseradish atop a mound of pate made
from nuts, apple sweet wine and other ingredients, all heaped on a dry matzah
cracker, the sandwich just does not sell. According to Jessica Kurtz, who post
on the kosheryummy.com website: “fusion
dining is absolutely au-courant, but having said that, the core ingredients of
the dish must have one essential characteristic, they have to taste good.”
Given the value of the Hillel brand in the hospitality
industry, much new thinking has gone into raising the appeal of the eponymous
sandwich. The Carnegie Deli Foundation
brought in a team of chefs from the Poughkeepsie Culinary Institute who
proposed creating an “Open Hillel Sandwich” where diners would be invited to
add their own ingredients such as olives, capers and humus. Hillel sandwich aficionados responded “sounds
tasty, but when does it stop being a Hillel sandwich?” A small group of concerned consumers
responded by creating the “closed Hillel sandwich” with a second piece of
matzah on top to prevent the addition of unauthorized ingredients. A third group proposed a “safe Hillel
sandwich” removing the unappealing slabs of horseradish, the nuts from the
charoset for those who might have allergies and the wine to prevent
inebriation. Commented one Hillel
sandwich traditionalist: “Goodness,
what’s a Hillel sandwich without the alcohol and nuts?”
Culinary experts remain hard at work seeking a Hillel
sandwich that will have broader appeal while retaining essential
ingredients.
