A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Is a Hamburger a Sandwich?

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

Today, Josh and Nicole discuss whether the hamburger belongs in the sandwich category. Leave us a voicemail at (833) DOG-POD1 Check out the video version of this podcast: http://youtube.com/@mythicalkitchen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is Mythical. Hey, what's that boxed pasta where you gotta add the meat yourself? It's got like the OJ glove as a mascot. Hamburger helper? Ah, that's right, sandwich helper, thank you. What are you talking about? This is A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie.

Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Josh Scher. And I'm your host, Nicole Inaydi.

And Nicole, depending on the results of today's podcast, we will officially be renaming the podcast, A Hamburger is a Sandwich. We just simply take that tube of meat, and then we wrap it into a coil, and then we smash it down into a flat patty, and then we don't even have to bother our graphics team to create a new logo. I think we can do it. I love bothering our graphics team. Also, if it does not fit, you must acquit.

That is true. Johnny Cochran. Do we say O.J. Simpson has died, and that's a thing that has happened. He's dead. We will neither celebrate nor mourn. And he had 2,000 yards as a rookie and only 12 games for the Bills. That's all I know about OJ.

He was also, I think, in the movie Airplane. He actually hosted a prank show at some point called Juiced, and he would go, you got juiced, and there was a great podcast about it. That's all I know. And I should not have invoked the OJ glove. I thought it was funny. Nicole, we have discussed ad nauseum, whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich. And we came to the conclusion of...

I guess. Yeah, kind of, maybe. And today we will be doing the same thing, albeit not consulting a philosopher, not consulting a story, not consulting a lawyer. Just Jamie. Just Jamie. Jamie, you got to weigh in at the end on whether or not a hamburger is a sandwich because we've actually gotten a fair amount of questions about this.

That's true. That's true. From well-meaning people who I think are not very smart. What do you mean? A hamburger is a sandwich. Of course a hamburger is a sandwich. I'm kidding. They're smart.

They're inquisitive. What do you mean? They're thinking outside of the box. They're smart in the way that like myself, myself, a Montessori kid is smart, you know, where it's like, sure, he can't do math, but he can play with little blocks. Josh, can you explain what Montessori schooling is? Because let me tell you,

I want to send my kid, my future kid, to a Montessori school so bad. Josh, you're a Montessori kid. I am indeed a Montessori kid and I have done no research on what a Montessori school actually is, but I'll tell you from my own three to four year old brain what it was. I can't wait. Okay, go. Montessori kid, and I have done no research on what a Montessori school actually is, but I'll tell you from my own three to four year old brain what it was.

I can't wait. Okay, go. Montessori school is where your parents are going through an incredibly bitter divorce and you end up in another building where a lady is nice to you and lets you play with blocks. That's all I remember. Okay. So from my personal experience, Montessori school is great because it was-

Lady fun, nice lady with blocks? Yeah, a safe haven away from the turmoil at home were the blocks colorful? I think so I think so no I actually well I went to preschool

and I was fully reading like books you know what I mean I was reading John Grisham books when I was 7 years old so the blocks didn't entertain you blocks didn't entertain me

much at all I actually really hate unstructured play when I was a kid really? but Montessori is all about unstructured play I know

I don't know if Montessori school helped me. My mom taught me how to read at a very young age so I think that's pretty big to a child's development but what I love doing

is just sitting and thinking. This is true. They would bring me the blocks or whatever or puzzles and I would just be like oh no thank you I'm fine by myself

and I would just sit. Were there other kids in class? Yeah. Did you interact with them? Yeah they were fine but I would just sit. Were there other kids in class? Yeah, yeah. Did you interact with them? Yeah, they were fine, but I would just sort of exist telling stories in my own head, wondering what was going on at home.

Nicole, the hamburger. What about it? What about it indeed? Do you know much about its history? I like eating them and cheeseburgers is my favorite food. Cheeseburgers is your favorite food? I went to the place that claims to have invented the cheeseburger. Oh my gosh, wait. Is it White Mana?

No, so White Mana claims to have invented the hamburger there in New Jersey. The most famous hamburger invention story is from Louie's Lunch in 1900 in New Haven, Connecticut. Is it the one with the cool machine that's up and down that steams it? I don't think, no, that's not Louie's Lunch. That's another one. I can't remember, but I want to go to the steamed burger place.

Me too, me too. I've talked to George Motz about it. He's like, yeah, it tastes like water. That makes sense. Louie's Lunch claims to have invented the hamburger in 1900.

Cool. The owner said that a man, he was serving steak dinners at the time, and a man walked in and said, I gotta get this to go. I'm in a big hurry, which is the origin story

of literally every food. What is that voice? It's the origin story of, that's the old-timey voice. I got to go. It's 1900 in New Haven. No, you have to do the translation. Gotta do it like this.

You gotta kind of talk like this. Hey, put that meat in a sandwich. Ah, Stinky McPherson, he left to the war and the Boston Redcats need a new pitcher. What is going on? What I'm saying is

every food origin story is like someone was in a hurry and then we dropped the roll in the broth and that's called a French dip now and that was the same thing with the hamburger. We're serving steak dinners. Guy was in a hurry. This doesn't even make sense. The owner claims that he, to quicken the steak cooking process, threw it in a meat

grinder and then grilled it and then he needed it to go so he put it on two slices of bread. But they literally called that the hamburger sandwich. And it is still on the menu as a hamburger sandwich. Nothing says speed like forcing something through a meat grinder. I know. Louis, break out the meat grinder. I will say this.

Sandwich, I think, let me tell you, bread is really the defining factor, okay? Louie's lunch, I just Googled it. It looks like it's served between sandwich bread. It sure is served between sandwich bread. But whenever you think of a traditional hamburger, you think of those sesame seed buns or a brioche bun. Now, does the bun completely, like, disassociate it from a sandwich? Well, that is a great point. And we have to look through different lenses.

Wait, can I talk about the cheeseburger real quick? Of course, please. Pie and burger in Pasadena. I've always wanted to go. Is it good? So, yeah, it's actually one of my favorite burgers in LA. I went very recently. It is wildly expensive for what is like an old school diner.

Expensive? It's like $18. For a burger? Like a burger. I think it comes with fries. It comes with a side. And they give you a lot of fries's like $18. For a burger? Like a burger. I think it comes with fries. It comes with a side. They give you a lot of fries, but $18 is a lot. That's a lot.

But there is another place called ShopRite Burger or something in 1948 in Pasadena that claims to be the first person to put a slice of cheese on a burger. I don't buy that. I don't buy that. As much as I don't buy any of these, I certainly don't buy that. I certainly don't buy that. Yeah. So if we're talking about does the bun shape affect whether or not something is a sandwich,

it certainly does in the Commonwealth countries. I know what a Commonwealth country is. I only know it because I watch so much track and field and the Commonwealth games are always quite fun. Commonwealth includes, but is not exclusive to, England, Wales. Yes. Ireland. No. No. And Ireland fought real hard to make sure Wales, Ireland. No, Ireland fought real hard to make sure they weren't. Canada,

New Zealand, and Australia. And South Africa. What about USA? No. Commonwealth countries are ones that technically still have a relation to the crown. I don't exactly know what that relation is. Jamie, you want to look up what all the Commonwealth countries are? Because I think there a relation to the crown. I don't exactly know what that relation is. Jamie, you want to look up what all the Commonwealth countries are?

Because I think there's some other African countries in there. I think I got a large portion of them. Are things like Fiji, are they in Commonwealth? I don't know. I don't think Kenya competes. I don't know. I don't know. But Commonwealth countries, ones that have a lot of roots in British English, including Canada.

Wait. Holy crap. Okay, let's see. According to this, the Commonwealth of Nations include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Bahamas, Belize, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, Uganda, Dominica. Is it called Dominica? Yeah, Dominica is an island.

Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Gambia, and Barbados. That's a lot. That's a lot. A lot in the Commonwealth. I don't know of any. Let's just say Australia. Does Canada do this? I don't know.

A lot of British-type speakers, they will consider anything on a round bun to be a burger. Yeah, like a chicken burger. A chicken burger is what we would call a fried chicken sandwich. But we would not differentiate what kind of bun a fried chicken sandwich is on. Because you could order a fried chicken sandwich at a restaurant and that might come on a hoagie roll. You probably assume it comes on what we would call a hamburger bun. A round roll.

Yeah, I wouldn't care. But in British, that is what they consider to be a burger. But in America, we don't necessarily consider that. But maybe we should. That's what we're talking about here. I don't think we should. Damn it, maybe we should. I don't necessarily consider that but maybe we should. That's what we're talking about here. I don't think we should. Damn it, maybe we should. I don't know. I don't know. This is really tough.

I've always been a proponent of specificity of language and I don't like when things are nebulous. I love the fact that things are nebulous because it creates an air of inclusion and openness for all.

No, it doesn't. It creates confusion for all, Nicole. It leaves everybody in just this void of chaos, not understanding. When you order a fried chicken sandwich, you don't know what it's going to come on. Maybe it's going to come on a ciabatta. Maybe you don't want no ciabatta. Well, maybe, okay, hear me out. What if they put little descriptors everywhere?

Yeah, that's kind of what they do. Okay. Honestly, I've never been inconvenienced by not understanding what my fried chicken sandwich is going to be all about. But where does the city of Hamburg come into relation with all this, Josh? Oh, God, that is a great question. So, again, people say that the hamburger was not invented.

There's the 1900 origin story from Louie's Lunch. There is also a story out of Texas, a place called Athens Diner in the 1880s, but then they didn't debut it publicly until the World's Fair in 1904, where somehow every single food was invented. That's rad. But back then, people ain't got no TikTok.

So it was like, was anybody writing about a single puck of meat in Texas in a major newspaper? I don't know if food writers were the haps. I don't think they were the haps. There's some fun food writing from the 1800s and it's all incredibly racist. Oh, nice. Yeah, just like a white British guy eating chili con carne in San Antonio and just being like, it stinks like the devil and it

torches my holes. Oh my god! What a piece of crap. Pretty fun to go back and read, though. But anyway, so Hamburg. Escoffier actually called the Hamburg steak, like he credited the Hamburg steak as being part of, not Nouvelle Cuisine, Haute Cuisine was Escoffier.

And what is a Hamburg steak? So a Hamburg steak is, you don't really see the term show up until it gets to America because you wouldn't call a Hamburg steak a Hamburg steak in Hamburg, Germany, right? It's like French fries. You don't call them French fries in France. You steak in hamburg germany right it's like french fries you don't call them french fries in france you just call them fried fries frites frites well that's a good point are there any foods that are named after the country that they're created in

but they're but they're called that in the country yeah like you go to brussels they ain't just calling them sprouts are they wait? Wait, Jamie, can you look up what Brussels sprouts are called in Brussels? I know. I'm curious about that. I don't know. There's a caller from Buffalo that was mad about the word buffalo wings. Oh, buffalo wings. Like you don't call them buffalo wings and Buffalo just call them hot wings, right?

I think so, yeah. So I think that does remain true. But anyway, so Hamburg steak is likely very closely related to fricadella. You love frikandelle. So there's frikandel, which I believe is Danish or Dutch? Sausage, right? It's a sausage. And then there's frikadelle, which is German.

Okay. But again, all modern countries are all very new. These are all just people mashing meat with spices, trying to make it taste good. Yeah. So it's like a mince of meat, ground meat, mixed with spices that's cooked. You actually see this show up in Hannah Glass's 1758 cookbook, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. 1750 is it? 1750 references a Homburg sausage served on a slice of toasted bread.

Sure. And so the origins go way back. And Hannah Glass was, I believe, British. We've seen her pop up in a lot of our research for Meals of History and bread. Sure. And so the origins go way back and Hannah Glass was I believe British. We've seen her pop up in a lot of our research for Meals of History and whatnot. Okay.

Just kind of one of she was like Sandra Lee. I love the idea that there were Sandra Lees and Rachel Ray's just in like the 1700s. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just grinding recipes.

So funny. And all the recipes would just be like take milk from a fatted calf and mix it with a bottle of wine. Add breadcrumbs and serve to your child. It's like, God.

Okay, sure. Because back then it was, you know, trying to create a unique recipe now is incredibly difficult. Everything's been done. Everything's been done. Back then you just had milk, wine, and breadcrumbs and boom, you got a new thing.

Maybe we need to bring that back and feed it to our children. Maybe we do. One of the first- Montessori schooling. So then how does the Hamburg steak get to become the hamburger served at In-N-Out today? You see it show up in a lot of New York City restaurants.

And this is from like German restaurant owners. Actually at a place called Delmonico's, right? Big steakhouse culture. Oh, very popular, right? Delmonico's very popular. In 1874, they were serving a Hamburg steak that was minced raw meat, also very popular in Germany. Sure. Maybe relatively new to

America, not really sure, with a raw egg yolk. So very much like a tartare. So tartare. But also, if you've ever, have you ever gone to France? Um, a few years ago, yeah. When you were in France, Nicole, did you eat tartare? So much. Did they ever ask if you wanted, oh no, I don't remember how to say it, cru or cuit?

No, they never asked. Raw or cooked? No, I think it like specified to say it. Cru or crui? No, they never asked. Raw or cooked? No, I think it like specified on the menu. Cru or crui. Yeah, yeah. But you can get like a tartare that's lightly seared, right? Sure, yeah. Very common.

The Hamburg steak sort of evolved from that. But were they grinding? But the thing is, I think what changes a hamburger from a tartare is if it's put through a grinder, right? A lot of tartare will be just run through a grinder. And I hate it. I do too. Oh my gosh. Same.

I know which one you're talking about. Do you ever just make your own tartare at home? No. Never ever have I done that before. I don't know if it'd be good. It'd probably be good with koshered meat, right?

I wouldn't want to do it with koshered meat. Why not? I don't want to. But like you could, koshered meat's like a little salted already, right? I know.

That's why I don't want to do it. But I feel like it'd be good. Use minced up super super fine and hand chop it. Kind of. I don't want to. Can you do it at your's why I don't want to do it. But I feel like it'd be good. Use minced up super super fine, hand chop it, kind of. Do you want me to try it? I don't want to. Can you do it at your house? I don't want to go get kosher meat. Can I come to your house, get kosher meat, take it back to my house,

chop it up, bring it back to your house, mix it with all the little like gherkins and cornichons and shallots. Sure. Alright, great. Perfect. Sounds good. Sounds like a plan. So you have this just like raw meat discs being called, the Homburg steaks. Okay. And then they were kind of cooking them. And then you have just this massive rush in the early 1900s of people claiming to have invented them.

But they just. What is with people always wanting to invent stuff back in the day? They just wanted their names to be. They wanted fame and fortune too, huh? Apparently. Yeah, that was the only way you could market stuff back then. World's best cup of coffee. World's first.

And now you just got to make birria and just make Instagram reels and spam or put hot Cheetos in your halal crunch wraps. What's that place called? I don't know, but I want it. It's like Fatima's or something. Fatima's Grill? Is that what it's called in South LA? Yes, it is called Fatima's Grill. Tony Bologna's in New Jersey creating empires off of Instagram reels with just like...

A bone-in burrito that you pull out the bone. I don't want all of that cartilaginous tissue in my burrito at the end. I would rather you take the best parts of that meat off the bone already. Josh, if you don't like the drama, just admit it. I don't love the drama. So that's sort of the origin of hamburgers. When you officially get the hamburger bun, according to legend, to me is interesting because this is the genesis of modern hamburger culture.

And they don't get enough credit. They get credit for having a cool little two-man group of friends who like to smoke some drogas. Okay. Who are you talking about? Fumar un poquito de mota. Who are you talking about? And then go eat their hamburgers, Harold and Kumar, of course. Oh, I was like, who are you talking about? Fumar un poquito de mota. Who are you talking about? And then go eat their hamburgers, Harold and Kumar, of course. Oh, I was like, who are you talking about?

I've never seen Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. You've never seen Harold and Kumar go to White Castle? No, but I feel like I would really like it. And I would have made it my whole personality if I was, what, like 17? It's so good. I'm sure there's horribly offensive jokes looking back on it, but what a fun time that movie was. White Castle is credited as being like the first kind of hamburger-based fast food restaurant. Not only that, Walt Anderson.

What about McDonald's? No, McDonald's was founded. White Castle was built for McDonald's? Yeah, considerably. That's crazy. That I cannot believe. I know. Wichita, Kansas, you know. McDonald's founded in like San Bernardino, I think.

But then flagship stores with Ray Kroc were in Illinois. But Walt Anderson, who founds White Castle in 1921, claims to have invented the hamburger bun. That's wild. Certainly not true. But he did it. Have you had White Castle before? White Castle is maybe the best expression

of a hamburger. It's just so... It's so good. It's his own thing. Oh my god, so good. It's just so, it's its own thing. Oh my God, so good. It's weird. They cook the bun on the raw meat and it steams together. It's absolutely fantastic. Breadgoo.com. I have another question about sandwiches because White Castle, we would call sliders.

Now, as we all know. Because they're tiny little things. They're tiny. And I ate 20 of them last time I went to a White Castle. I only ate one. I ate a whole Crave case. You ate one? Yeah.

How did you eat one? I was in Vegas. And you just said, hey, give me a single slider. I wanted a single slider. That's incredible. Thank you so much. What self-control? Why are you so proud of me for eating one slider? Because to me, it's like eating a single popcorn kernel and then going home.

Like, no, if I'm there, I'm eating a Crave case of 20 White Castle sliders. And I did it once. Wow, that's crazy. I was like, I'm eating a crave case of 20 White Castle's. And I did it once. Wow, that's crazy. I was like. You're like a caniac. In the middle of. White Castle has nothing in common with Raising Cans. So White Castle is sort of genesis of modern hamburger culture.

And then you have this big influx of fast food restaurants. You know, Wendy's comes in the 70s. Burger King's in the 50s. In-N-Out's in the 40s. McDonald's is in the 40s. All these restaurants And now you're sort of in our third epoch of all that With like your Shake Shacks of the world So that's where we're at

A lot of people say that a hot dog is not a sandwich For a couple reasons We've gotten the hinge bun theorem Which the hamburger does not follow Hamburger has two distinct slices of bread But it comes baked together. What? The bun is baked.

It's like baked together and you slice it. That's bread. That's all bread. Nicole, how do you think the slices of bread get in your bag? Do you think they're baking all those individually? No, of course not. Because there was the best invention to slice bread. Everybody knows that.

No, but when you think about it, it could be on a hinge. Oh, and some are. You're right. What? You're right. Some burger buns are on a hinge. Yeah. Martin's potato roll.

Yeah. Martin's potato roll is a hinge. I would say it's one of the best breads for burgers. That is, a lot of people say that. I think it's good. I think it's good. It's a little sweet for me. You don't like how soft it is?

Oh, I love it. It reminds me of Hawaiian bread. I love King's Hawaiian rolls. I don't love King's Hawaiian rolls for burger. I don't love King's Hawaiian for burger. I love for chicken sandwich. Love chicken for burger sandwich. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also egg. Egg?

Nice. It nice. Yes. So King's Hawaiian, they make the little slider rolls, but they also just make a full service hamburger bun. I don't like buying those. I don't buy those. I buy the little ones. Take it away. I like the little side ones. But I understand what you're trying to get at, Josh.

But you know, let me tell you, Americans aren't having hamburger eating contests. They do. Not the way. Not the way. Actually,

one of the top five biggest. I will be wagging my finger in your direction. It's actually, hey, Jamie, can you look up the Crystal Hamburger Eating Contest? That's Crystal with a K.

Oh, you mean the fast food restaurant, Crystal? Crystal, yeah. I've never been there. They're a competitor of White Castle. Oh, my God. It's a slider place. There was one in Nolens, and I didn't go. Why?

There are videos about how bad Crystal is. But it's not the same. Wait, Jamie, just go to results. I've got to see who won. Because this is one of the big stops on the IFOCE tour. You mean to tell me that this is broadcasted

on ESPN the same way the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is? No, but like, they don't show, they don't show women's NCAA gymnastics finals

on NBC, but it's still a sport. Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. Basketball. Yeah. Yeah.

Wait, who won? Okay. Takariko Kobayashi. kobayashi in 2009 beats joey tessa there's history here nicole there's history this is before kobayashi had his feud with the international federation of competitive eating and storm the stage fire remember that yeah that guy was man he was torching everybody i remember seeing a documentary about $20,000 prize at the crystal hamburger eating contest but but if you ask, do you want to go to the blank contest?

If we were doing Mad Libs right now, Josh, if we were doing Mad Libs, you wouldn't say hamburger eating contest. You'd say hot dog eating contest. Hot dogs are more iconic. Are you implying that if I invited somebody to a hot dog eating contest, they would say yes? And if I invited them to a hamburger contest, they would say no? Yes. Nicole, I have zero friends that would want to go with me to the hot dog eating contest. I did.

It's like, do you realize how many times? And you did. And I thank you for that. It was for work. Well, we probably would have just hung out in New York and had a good time and not gone there if we weren't there for work. I would have wanted to go. It was 95 degrees.

I was wearing jeans. It was hell on earth. I can't get anyone to go with me to the Japanese noise core shows that I want to go to. You know? Do you want to come? What if we make it for work? Yeah, if I get paid, sure. Yeah, if I get paid, why not?

You're going to pay for anything. That's fun. Hamburgers, though, are eaten much more commonly in America than hot dogs. But why is that? Hot dogs are the most American food, right? We did decide that, yeah. Who? Was it John Kerry?

Oh, no. Mitt Romney said my favorite meat is hot dogs. I always mix them up. American, I mean, think about it. Hamburgers and hot dogs are the most American foods in the world. Are they both sandwiches? I don't know. Absolutely.

No way. Absolutely, man. No, no, no, no. Hamburgers are also really iconic, though. It's not a hamburger sandwich. It's just a hamburger flat. Like, you don't say, let me go get a turkey. What about a Reuben?

You say, let me go get a Reuben. Let me get a PB&J. You're right. You don't say Reuben sandwich. You don't say sandwich after that. Josh, you know what? You need to learn from me. Sometimes when you get proved wrong, you can admit it.

Like, the second it happens it's so good for your brain chemistry I literally maybe you're right I hate saying that you're right I said that to my therapist the other day where I was like I'm trying to decouple all of my self worth from being right all the time

and she was like that's a pretty good idea I was like are you saying I'm right do it do it say it it feels so good did they laugh at you? And she was like, that's a pretty good idea. I was like, are you saying I'm right? Do it. Do it. Say it. It feels so good. Did they laugh at you? Yeah.

I love when my therapist laughs at my jokes. I feel so good inside. Every time my therapist laughs at me, an angel gets its wings. What we're actually talking about with the debate here, right? It's not a matter of is the bun hinge, right? This is all an emotional debate. And when we talked to the owner of Cupid's Hot Dogs, and she was talking about, you know, this means, a product

means a lot to me. To call it a sandwich would be diminishing its importance. I mean, hamburgers mean a lot to me, and calling it a sandwich diminishes it for me too, but that's okay. Exactly. And you were entitled to your emotional response. But I don't tie my logic to emotional responses all the time. Not all the time, but you're certainly entitled

to do that. Not everything has to follow strict rules. I agree, I agree, I agree. And I know I just abdicated for that earlier and in my own heart, I, not only do I believe,

I'm not flip-flopping, I'm saying for you, you are, this is therapy right here, baby. This is therapy in action. Nothing makes sense and you just, and you just circle talk yourself.

You just circle talk yourself until you justify all of your bad opinions and behaviors. But it's cool because you're in therapy, right? So what I'm saying is you can have this

completely illogical belief that a hamburger is a sandwich, but I don't believe that to be true for myself. Or I also don't believe it to be true objectively, right? And so I think, you know, a hamburger is a sandwich.

Why are you showing this as a diet tip? Because this is a quintessential sandwich. Dude, Matthew Dwyer made this in like 15 minutes. Relax, relax. We love you, Matthew. Thank you, Matthew. In a hamburger, it's quintessentially a sandwich.

You have two pieces of bread. In America, we have decided not to define our sandwiches by bun shape, by the commonwealth definitions, and that is what separates us from them. Unless you want to start spelling it color. My favorite color is blue. Or favorite Kluwer is blue. Or favorite. Or favorite. Favorite.

Like that Yorgos Lanthimos movie. Great movie. Great movie. Love Yorgos Lanthimos. A lot of weird intimate things in there. I think it's my favorite of his movies other than Killing of a Sacred Deer. Is that Rachel Weisz? No, it's Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell.

No, in the favorite. Is that Rachel Weisz? Oh, of course it is. Yeah, big Rachel Weisz guy. Yeah, you're a big Rachel Weisz guy. Josh, I think I agree with you. Colin Farrell? No, in the favor. Is that Rachel Weisz? Oh, of course it is. Yeah, big Rachel Weisz guy. Yeah, you're a big Rachel Weisz guy. Big Rachel Weisz guy. Josh, I think I agree with you. I don't mean to sound mad, but I am.

You can be mad. You can be mad. And I think it's perfectly fine. I wish I had more counterpoints to tell you you're wrong. I don't agree with you. But I will say, I think if I saw a hamburger in the sandwich category of a menu, I might get a little bit peeved. They're there all the time. Are they?

Oh, my God, yeah. You ever go to a diner that has like 200? Because the way we categorize things is all based on need, right? You wouldn't need to go to an In-N-Out and have a separate menu for sandwiches. You know what I mean? Like a grilled cheese? That's all I got. Well, it's a secret menu item.

All they have is burgers. Yeah, but it's all served on the same bun. You don't need to differentiate. But if you're at a restaurant that's got Cobb salads and bowls of cottage cheese and a tilapia dinner with hollandaise on it. Okay. Shout out to Lancer's. I ate their fish dinner once. But you also, somebody is like, man, I'm in the mood for something in between bread.

You would have a section of the menu called sandwiches and you would probably have a hot dog, a hamburger, a tuna melt, and then that weird thing that you got once. It was just called like roast beef sandwich. Josh won't bully me. I hope you're in my life for a long time, Josh, because you every few months you find a way to bully me about this one dish I got from

Lance. I'll start calling you roast beef sandwich, you know? I think it was called a hot brown or something. It's like that guy that's like called Ducky and they're like, why is your nicknameucky and he's like 20 years ago i was eight i was eight years old at a lake and a duck quacked at me and i pooped my pants and now they call me ducky you know like that's you i'm just calling you roast beef sandwich but it can have so many negative connotations oh i don't i don't like it. All bodies are beach bodies. It was labeled.

Now this thing. Wait, hold on. A hamburger is a sandwich. We agree. What you ordered, the roast beef sandwich, that was not a sandwich. It was an abomination. There were two slices of white bread straight out of the bag, untoasted. Yeah, completely.

Gravy from a packet. The dark brown. It was so dark brown. But it also was sort of bioluminescent. It also sort of had... It had a nice sheen. It had a nice sheen, almost like corn syrup. I could see the entire prism of colors within that sheen of this gravy. And then some like lunch meat roast beef thrown in there.

And I've never seen the look of... And I think they put it under the salamander. There was a look... It was so hot. With the amount of cornstarch or maltodextrin in that gravy packet just somehow retained heat that I've never seen. It was like a 104 degree day. I got the

Cobb salad that they pull straight out of the fridge, fully made. Ice cold in a glass bowl. And I've never seen a look of shock and dismay on your face like it was then. And what did I do? I still ate it. Also, I think I had a set of mashed potatoes on it. Yeah, it sure did. That set of mashed potatoes on it. it sure did. Oh my God.

That's a hell of a food. Oh my God. Have you ever had a Japanese hambagu? No, I was just about to bring up hambagu, actually.

So, if you don't know what it is, what they do in Japan is they bring you like a puck of ground meat. I don't think it's seasoned, though.

And then, I think it's lightly seared, and then you have to finish searing it on like a hot stone. And I can't wait to try it when I go to Japan. They're the ones I think we need to. Here's the thing. I'm kind of bored with hamburgers. Are you? No, I still love them actually.

But I would love to get back to the OG roots of our burger history. And I think Japan is preserving that history better than anybody with the hambagu. Hamburger steak. I was about to bring it up until you brought up the roast beef sandwich. Don't need no buns anymore. Ain't no sandwich in the hamburger steak.

Just fork, knife, and a hot sizzling stone. A little side of rice, I'm in. And that is not a sandwich. All right, Nicole, get off your phone. No, no, oh my God. Are we starting? I didn't know. We've heard what you and I have to say.

Now it's time to find out what other wacky opinions are out there in the universe. It's time for Psych, but we call. Opinions are like casseroles. Opinions are like casseroles You scared the big S out of me You were like a kid who got caught on his phone in class And he was watching something dirty He was watching A friend sent me a link

I didn't know what it was JV you want to queue up that first opinion Hi this is Sanina From Atlanta Georgia Um, uh, Jamie, you had to queue up that first opinion. Hi, this is Sonina from Atlanta, Georgia. Um, I am.

Check this out. My headphones. Yeah. We have to do it all from the beginning. Now I won't look like a big scared. It stays in the stays. It'll both look like idiots. It'll be humanizing for everybody.

Jamie. Hi, this is Sonina from Atlanta, Georgia. I love the name Samina. I'm just suggesting since it's now Passover to try matzo with cream cheese with cinnamon and chocolate chips. Thank you. I love the podcast. Bye. Samina, that's so cute.

And I do that anyways. Sorry, not original. I'm just kidding. That was really awesome. Today's the last day of Passover. And my mom is hosting a hamasi, which means you eat all of your hamas. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. I didn't know that was a thing.

There's a big like fridge dump. Do you want to come? Tonight? What'd you say? Like a big fridge dump. No, she ordered, she like made a bunch of food, like Persian food with like bread and stuff. Do you want to come? Tonight?

Yeah. I got stuff what are you doing i'm hanging out okay thank you it was really sweet happy passover happy passover everybody celebrates um i ate a lot of months i also did eat leavened bread but i well because i bought matzah because i went to a seder and i made a delightful chopped chicken liver. And then I made like pickled fennel and apples and, oh, and currants. Yeah. But I pickled it in like a really savory horseradish-y broth. And it was really good.

And I served that with my chicken liver. And then I made, it was an Italian Jewish themed thing. So a lot of like, um, carciofi alla giudea there. It was really nice. And then, um, shout out to Noah Gluten who made all the food, except for the chicken liver pate. So I shaved fresh pistachios over the top so it looked like kind of bright green snow and they were raw, unroasted. And then I took fennel fronds and sort of scattered them across. And then I made like a fake and balsamic jam.

So many flavors. I know. It was so good. We had it all in one bite. And then I had a bunch of matzah and then I made matzah braai. Good. Great. That's all I got. I made matzah braai. Good. Great. That's all I got. I made matzah pizza a few times. I mostly, can I say something? During Passover

I don't really cook. I let my mom and my mother-in-law just like ship me food. Do you eat a lot of rice? It's great. Yeah, we eat quinoa. So we eat like rice, lentils, beans. We eat all that stuff. You don't. Yeah. I ate like a cheeseburger. You know, I'm not a good Jew. No, you're a great Jew. I'm a great Jew. I'm the best Jew. You know I'm not a good Jew

No you're a great Jew I'm a great Jew I'm the best Jew You're a good guy You're a good guy Me and Amari Stoudemire Top two Jews I love Amari

Great opinions Samina Call back anytime Hi Nicole and Josh This is Jim from Chicago Hey Jim I got a couple Three hot takes Number one

America's perception of salad Is awful Agreed Oh my god Such a good. Salad should be salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar for the most part. I'm not opposed to ranch, but try it out. I don't know if that's good. Chili cheese Fritos are the only

Fritos that should be on the market. Regular Fritos are bad. That's a horrible opinion. And then the last one, if you don't have a sharp knife, you are probably a bad cook. When I go to my friend's house and they don't have a sharp knife, cooking is the most challenging thing in the world. All right. Thanks.

Okay. Let's dissect this. Should we go backwards to forwards? Go to salad first. Americans' conception of salad. I agree. What does that mean? So I grew up.

Let me tell you about the salads I grew up eating, right? You would take the bag that was called American salad mix. It was 85% to 87% iceberg lettuce, and then the rest of the bag that was called American salad mix. It was 85 to 87% iceberg lettuce and then the rest of the 13% were split between red cabbage and carrot shavings.

Love that. We would just empty that into a bowl and put wishbone ranch on it. So? And you had to put some, but it's fine. It's nice to have

little dressed greens with your meal. But in terms of like Shirazi, Shirazi salad, that's a salad. Good salad. That's a salad, right?

So much of the rest of the world, like almost every European or Western Asian nation just has its sort of national salad. In Greece, you have choriatiki. In Bulgaria, you have shopski. You know, all of this stuff. And it's very finely chopped vegetables. Brazil has vinaigrette, right? Very finely chopped vegetables mixed together with, like they said, some sort of acid, oil, and then seasoning, salt and pepper. Sure.

Maybe some herbs, you know, somag, something. Well, you know, you can't get everything in life. It's okay. Why don't we have a national salad like that? Because Americans don't like eating salads. They do, but they like— Because they're bad. They do, but they're not—what?

American salads are like—Coleslaw. We got Coleslaw. Coleslaw's—okay. And Coles American salads are like coleslaw we got coleslaw coleslaw's okay coleslaw's Dutch coleslaw's fine jello salad that's the answer

jello salad is the answer Watergate salad I need to eat Watergate what is it like pistachio jello cool with and like

maraschino cherries I mean there's salad salad olivier which is what from the USSR and Persians love it too yeah we got deli we got deli salads in America we got big deli salads chicken salad tuna salad I mean, there's Salad Olivier, which is from the USSR, and Persians love it too. Yeah, we got deli salads in America.

We got great deli salads. Chicken salad, tuna salad. Josh, we can do a whole podcast. It's just meat and mayonnaise. It's not salad. Josh, we can do a whole podcast on the definition of salads later. No, we should. Which we will. Thank you so much, Jim.

Yeah, but that's a great opinion. Chili cheese Fritos. Ugh, regular Fritos are so delicious. They're not regular. They're corn flavored, and that's the best part about them. I call themitos. Regular Fritos are so delicious. They're not regular. They're corn flavored. And that's the best part about it. I call them regular. No, they are regular.

You're right. Is that okay? No, you're right. I'm literally saying you're right. It just sounds like we're fighting because we're Jewish. But they're the most corn flavored chips. Like Fritos taste of corn so much more than Lay's taste of potato in a good way. That's 100% accurate.

Plain Fritos are the best. Chili cheese Fritos to me are like flavor before they had science to really make flavor good. Chili cheese Fritos. It's like some old cumin. I mean, again, yeah, they smell like a boy that I don't have chemistry with. That's such, that is the most poetic and accurate descriptor of what chili cheese Fritos smell like.

Am I wrong? Am I wrong? Yeah. Dude, like you ever smell, do you ever smell a man that you're like, ugh, biologically, like, we should not mix. Almost all the time. Yeah, at the gym, a lot. And like, oh, yeah, yeah.

And then, and if you put that armpit side by side to a bag, a freshly opened bag of chili cheese fritos, same, same. I love the smell of people you have chemistry with. That's a good thing. It's not always good, you know? And sometimes it's weird. It's like wide of the back of your shoulders smell, you know? But you find it really endearing because you love that person.

What was the last one? I forgot all of her opinions. I love their speed running. The last one is if you're a friend, if you have a bad knife. Not if you're a bad cook. I haven't sharpened my knives ever. But you hone them. Do you hone them? You don't just

scrape it at a honing rod? I agree. I don't like using a whetstone. I'll take it once every six months to a farmer's market to get sharpened. Honey, my knives are so dull. Are they really? It is so embarrassing. How do you cook? I'm an embarrassing person. I use my mandolin a lot. Oh my god. Take care of your an embarrassing person. I use my mandolin a lot. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Take care of your knives, man. I don't do it great. Well, the nice knives that I get that are, like, Japanese or, like, German steel, those I take a little bit better care of. But, like, I also have, like, throwaway knives I got from, like, Marshalls or HomeGoods that, like, if they're done serving their purpose, I kind of just throw them in the garbage. Yeah. I'm not perfect. I've gotten, like, a weird amount of, like, free they're done serving their purpose, I kind of just throw them in the garbage. Yeah. I'm not perfect. I've gotten, like, a weird amount of, like, free knives here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? I'm not a perfect person, but, like, there is definitely room for me to improve, and I think me taking care of my knives would make me a more— a person who cares more about other things as well. It's like making your bed in the morning. I don't make my bed in the morning. Not me neither, but if I did, imagine how powerful I could be.

No, no, did you know that if you do that Apparently it's Like it doesn't let the bed bugs Like it harbors bacteria more But also I open my windows I used to not shower after the gym And go to work I started to now

And I put lotions on my face Well that's because you're Various scented creams Yeah is it Kiehl's? Covered my body Yeah yeah So good Yeah

But no there's a strong correlation Between not sharp knives And bad cooks I agree with that Nicole's an outlier covered my body. So good. But no, there's a strong correlation between Not Sharp Knives and Bad Cooks. I agree with that. Nicole's an outlier. Aw, thanks. I was like, ugh. My name's Andrew and I'm from New Jersey. Jersey.

I love the pod. I've only been listening for two and a half weeks, but there's another 40 episodes while recovering from laser eye surgery. That's too much. Take a break. My opinion is that mint and chocolate should never be together. Never.

I've tried it in ice cream other things. I just can't stand it. Thin mint's kind of tolerable but pretty much overall can't stand it. Thanks guys. Quelle horreur. Quelle horreur? Is that a Hebrew? pretty much overall. Can't stand it. Thanks, guys. Quell horror. Quell horror?

Is that Hebrew? No, it's French for all the horror. You'd say like, even if you were doing it in a very Americanized way, you'd say kelor, like kelor. In front of you,

you'd be like, kelor. But like, you'd just be like, oh, like kelor. Quell horror. Quell horror, Andrew. That's a big like,

trigger gross food combination for people. A lot of people dislike chocolate and mint. I am obsessed with chocolate and mint. And Andy's mint? Honey. I agree entirely. After, what is it called? An after nine?

After dinner mint? After, no. There's like these cookies. They're called after midnights or something. Never heard of it. No, yeah, you have. Maybe. No, you have.

There's like fudge grasshoppers. Those are mint, right? No, after. The grasshopper cocktail is a chocolate and mint cocktail. Chocolate and mint has a lot of history, but most of it

is like a fake mint flavor. So you're getting that peppermint extract and they dye it green. I love bad mint chip ice cream and I hate artisanal mint chip ice cream that try to use real mint.

But for me, I'm starting to think that maybe I don't even need the chocolate in there because I don't think the chocolate adds to the mint. If mint, Nicole, is supposed to be like fresh, right? It's a freshening flavor. It physically cools down your mouth with menthol. What does the chocolate bring to that equation?

I would rather have white chocolate, which is to say not chocolate at all, and mint together, preserving the flavor of the mint. Sorry, I'm not paying attention. I had to find this thing that I ate one time when I was like seven, and I need to find it. I need to find it. If I don't find it, I'm going to scream.

Andrew, I would ask you if you enjoy mint without chocolate, because I don't think it's a chocolate. I think you probably just don't like mint, which is very reasonable. It's one of the weirder flavors that we have. Yes, I found it! What did you find? It's called an After Eight. Look it up, Jamie.

Put it on the screen. Can I just see your computer? You're right next to me. I want to see your computer. You have to look at it over there. After Eight Cookies. Yeah. It's a chocolate mint, and it's delicious.

Incredible. I've never had it. Sorry, that's all I had to say. I do love an Indies mint. But I would be curious what a flavor scientist like Ariel Johnson would say about the combination of chocolate and mint and why they do or don't go together. That's something about polyphenols. I imagine. Sulfuric volatiles, if you will.

It's not nice to make fun of people who are so much smarter than us. We should stop. Yeah, we should stop. She's so smart. She's so smart. So impressive. York Redmond patties just really taste like toothpaste. I love it.

I love it. I love anything mint chocolate. You ever had those Aero bars? The aerated chocolate bars with the holes in them? Yeah, not the biggest. Oh, my God. The mint ones? Ugh.

I have a sleeve of thin. I think I've fully grown out of my mint chocolate phase. That lasted for a very long time. I don't even enjoy thin mints anymore, like almost at all. I love mint chocolate chip ice cream so much. I don't like chocolate and caramel either. Okay. That's sick. You shouldn't mix those two. The chocolate makes the caramel taste worse. You don't like the Ghirardelli

chocolate squares? I do, but I wish it was like an edible isomalt that only contained the caramel. I don't want the chocolate flavor with my caramel. Chocolate and peanut butter I think really works together. Quell horror. Quell horror indeed. Andrew, thank you

for being vulnerable with us. Thank you for listening. That was very brave of you to share. Thank you for speed running 40 episodes in six weeks. Impressive. On that note,

thank you so much for stopping by Hot Dog is a Sandwich. We've got new episodes out for you every Wednesday coming out on the audio platforms and the video platforms which include YouTube, Kazaa, LimeWire, Wednesday coming out on the audio platforms and the video platforms,

um, which include YouTube. Kazaa, LimeWire. What were the other ones? Like open share. Napster. We're still on Napster.

All those come out on Sunday. Yeah. And, um, if you want to be on opinions or like castles, great opinions today, by the way, um,

visit eight, three, no visit, just call eight, three,G-POD-1 our number again is 833-DOG-POD-1 when you call they call it

making a mouth visit yeah we have other videos if you like that on YouTube Josh does this really cool series called Last Meals you should watch it

it's the best show on the internet and you can quote me on that