Rachel sandwich

Origin information
Country of origin:	United States
Region or state:	Omaha, Nebraska
Creator(s) of the dish:	Disputed. Claimed by Reuben Kulakofsky (Omaha) or by Arthur Reuben (NY)
Dish information
Course served:	Main Course
Mainingredient(s):	corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese,Russian dressing or Thousand Island dressing and rye bread

Origins

A Reuben on a plate, with fries and various sauces in small cups.

The origins of the Reuben are disputed. One account holds that Reuben Kulakofsky (sometimes spelled Reubin, or the last name shortened to Kay), a grocer from Omaha, Nebraska, was the inventor, perhaps as part of a group effort by members of Kulakofsky's weekly poker game held in the Blackstone Hotel from around 1920 through 1935. The participants, who nicknamed themselves "the committee," included the hotel's owner, Charles Schimmel. The sandwich first gained local fame when Schimmel put it on the Blackstone's lunch menu.

Other accounts hold that its creator was Arthur Reuben, owner of the once famous but now no longer existing Reuben's Delicatessen in New York,^[3] who, according to an interview with Craig Claiborne, invented the sandwich around 1914. A version of the story is related by Bernard Sobel in his book Broadway Heartbeat: Memoirs of a Press Agent and claims that the sandwich was an extemporaneous creation for Marjorie Rambeau inaugurated when the famed Broadway actress visited the Delicatessen one night when the cupboards were particularly bare.

Rachel sandwich

The Rachel sandwich is a variation on the standard Reuben sandwich that substitutespastrami for the corned beef and coleslaw for the sauerkraut.