What a kind of food is Reuben? Why is it rubbery?

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" I bought dinner at the Whole Foods Market. The store had an odor of overripe people or overripe food. I ordered a tofu Reuben (tofu!?) and returned to the square. As I bit into the rubbery Reuben, the thought dawned on me: Ellen’s a hippy!
How cool.
I gave the rubbery Reuben another bite, hoping the next one might be better. It wasn’t.
A hippy. How...cool???"

I find a food called "Reuben Sandwich", but I am not sure if the author means the sandwich stuffed with tofu.
What is Reuben? Why is it rubbery? And How could the bite remind the author of hippy?

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Type: Question • Score: 16 • Views: 3,159 • Replies: 32

@Justin Xu,

It seems that "rubbery" here means tasteless, right?

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@Justin Xu,

A Reuben sandwich is hot corned beef covered in melted Swiss cheese with saurkraut and Russian dressing on toasted rye bread. Yummy.

Rubbery would refer to texture. If the cheese cooled down it might become unpleasantly chewy. A Reuben made with tofu , a vegetarian take on this sandwich, would not have meat or cheese.

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Could have cheese. Some species of vegetarians are fine with cheese, some aren't. There are also cheese-like substances that are non-dairy that some will eat. A food that's rubbery would be something like trying to eat a pencil eraser.

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@MontereyJack,

Except eraser might have more flavor - for better or worse.

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@Justin Xu,

Whole Foods Market (a food selling chain), has an item for vegetarians called a Tofu Reuben. They use the tofu in place of the corned beef of a regular Reuben and substitute a soy cheese-like product for the Swiss cheese. Tofu when over cooked can become a bit rubbery in texture, which may well be what the author meant by:
" As I bit into the rubbery Reuben, the thought dawned on me: Ellen’s a hippy!
How cool."

Still not sure why a rubbery sandwich would make them think about Ellen or her being a hippy.

1 Reply

@Sturgis,

I wonder if Ellen is the person writing the review. In that case, eating a Reuben made with tofu (disgusting idea) would make her feel like she's a hippie, and she apparently thinks that's a cool idea.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Reubens made with tofu are IN FACT a disgusting idea. 2 Cents

And I do in fact eat tofu. Last week, I made a delicious tofu stir fry.

Next vegan thing we'll hear about is soy based sauerkraut. Rolling Eyes

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

A reuben sandwich from Katz's:

http://www.weekendnotes.com/im/005/07/reuben-sandwich.jpg

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Reubens are my favorite sandwich. I don't get it just anywhere. Katz has a good Reuben.

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I have been sitting here trying to think of something that I could be threatened with if I DIDN"T eat a tofu Reuben.

Thus far, nothing has moved me.

Joe(even starvation seems more appealing)Nation

1 Reply

@Joe Nation,

Joe Nation wrote:

I have been sitting here trying to think of something that I could be threatened with if I DIDN"T eat a tofu Reuben.

Salad?

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Other then Katz, I'll take any suggestions for the best nonKosher Reuben in NYC.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsar
there is no such thing as a kosher reuben.

All ruebens are non-kosher.

even us fallen away Catholics know you can't have meat and dairy (cheese) together.
You can have a corn beef sandwich.
You can have corn beef and saurkraut.
Joe(the sandwichs at the 2nd Ave Deli on First Ave are too big to eat)Nation
and they ARE kosher so no cheese.

1 Reply

@Joe Nation,

The Second Ave Deli is a tad overrated, especially the Upper East Side one.

2 Replies

@tsarstepan,

Reintroducing the Reuben
A forgotten classic steps into the haute-sandwich spotlight.
http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/reuben-2012-2/
A good place for a little Reubenesque food porn.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

Oh, dear, you're making me ravenously hungry. (fan of the magazine..)

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I like corned beef, but let's be realistic here. Corned beef is nothing more than salt beef such as the old time sailor men used to eat. Guaranteed to keep (more or less) for years in a wooden barrel. It's is called "corned" beef because it was packed in the barrels in a brine with large grains of rock salt which reminded people of corns--i.e., grains of wheat or rye (them Angle-ish people talk funny). No haute cuisine here, but as long as it hasn't been to the West Indies and back in a barrle for the last three years, good eatin'!

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@Justin Xu,

Quote:

As I bit into the rubbery Reuben, the thought dawned on me: Ellen’s a hippy!
...

And How could the bite remind the author of hippy?

It doesn't say, nor does it suggest that the 'bite' had anything to do with reminding or making the speaker have that particular thought, Justin. It only says that that particular thought occurred at the time of the bite.

2 Replies

@JTT,

Yep. Totally agree.

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What a kind of food is Reuben? Why is it rubbery?

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