Italian Sandwiches=LOVE

Okay, so I thought about putting this in my last post about our New England trip but I decided that I love Italian sandwiches so much that they totally deserve their own post. Unless you've been to Maine (or even if you have) you probably don't know what a REAL Italian sandwich is. Let me get some myths out of the way: No it does not have a bunch of meat, no it does not have a crunchy roll, and no you can't just get them anywhere.




Italian Sandwich

 A "real" Italian sandwich has fresh Italian bread, ham, American cheese, tomatoes, onions, sour pickle, green pepper, black olives, salt & pepper, and oil (optional). Their sour pickles are the BEST!


Many different places in Portland, ME sell them but the original is from Amato's. Amato's was opened in 1902 - the same year they invented the Italian sandwich! There are now a couple of locations outside of Maine in New Hampshire, Vermont, & New York. I think the fact that a sandwich shop has been opened for 108 years has to tell you something.


When we lived in Maine when I was a baby my parents would cut pieces of their Italian and give it to me - I liked it so much that they had to start buying me my own because I was eating too much of theirs! Keep in mind I was under 2 years old!


During our mere 24 hour visit to Maine last week - I consumed 3 Italians: one for breakfast Friday morning, one for dinner Friday, and another for breakfast Saturday morning. If you know me you won't be surprised that I had a sandwich for breakfast - especially an Italian! When we go to Maine my dad and I load up on these things!!




An Italian paired with some delicious Salt & Vinegar chips - a winning combo!



While you can only get a real Italian Sandwich in Maine, we do make them here on occasion. They're good but nowhere near as good as the real thing!


So moral of the story is...I'm really hungry now and want an Italian AND if you ever go to Maine you must go to Amato's and get one of these delicious culinary creations!!