Exporting Buffalo's Best

Mazurland has sung the glories of Buffalo cuisine in several past posts: chicken wings, fish fries, Beef on Weck, Polish food. We've also praised America's premier supermarket chain, Wegmans, which has spread the gospel of Buffalo's food via its 70 plus stores across the mid-Atlantic states. In 2002, Wegmans teamed up with Charlie the Butcher, who makes one of the best Beef on Weck sandwiches in the Buffalo area, to serve them at its stores around Buffalo. Now Wegmans is starting to serve Beef on Weck at my local store in central Pennsylvania.

Wegmans has mastered the 'value added' sale. They sell quite a bit of hand-made prepared food, and meals that only need to be popped into the oven. Most of it is very good, but it's also not much cheaper than restaurant food. At $6, the Wegmans Beef on Weck sandwich is more expensive than its price at some Buffalo taverns. But for someone in the Buffalo diaspora, pining for a taste of the old town, a Wegmans Beef on Weck is close enough to (and in a notable case, much better than) Buffalo's hometown Beef on Weck.

Here's how the sandwich stacks up:

Beef: Excellent. Tender. Cooked to medium rare perfection, and cut in slices not too thick and not too thin. The beef is not stringy or chewy, and it's just the right warm temperature. (Those who prefer meat that's more 'done' have no business eating a Beef on Weck, but can nonetheless be accommodated by asking for slices off the butt end of the beef.) This beef is what you might imagine gave overrated places like Schwabl's their reputation decades ago; a reputation they no longer live up to, but have been milking for years.

Jus: Very Good. The 'jus' that the top of the roll is dipped in is delicious. If you like your roll totally soaked in the stuff, just ask. Some Buffalo taverns also soak the meat in it, or serve a small bowl of it on the side. People used to this might be disappointed. They can always ask for more jus. Maybe Wegmans will catch on to the variety of preferences.

Roll: Very Good. The roll is what gives the sandwich it's name. 'Weck' is short for kümmelweck, a crusty roll with coarse salt and caraway (kümmel) on the outside. Wegmans serves a real bakery roll. Slightly crusty, with airy but firm dough. Not too chewy. Plenty of coarse salt and caraway.

Portion Size: Good. Almost 'Very Good'. There are no 'beef-free' parts of the sandwich. The roll is large, but not huge. For $6, a Buffalonian might expect more.

Pickle: Very good. Crisp and tasty.

Condiment: Poor. This is where ignorance of the provenance of the sandwich caught up with our local Wegmans. Maybe the word came down from 'corporate' in Rochester, where they don't know how to make a proper Beef on Weck, to serve packets of 'Tiger Sauce' with the sandwich. Any Buffalo native knows that the only proper condiment for a Beef on Weck sandwich is strong, fresh horseradish. An experienced Weck-head knows exactly how much he can handle. Some put very little on. A true connoisseur will spread on a sinus-clearing dollop, hoping to achieve the perfect horseradish rush. The 'real thing' should always be offered.

Environment: Poor. This is unfair, really, and won't count against the sandwich. Wegmans is a fine grocery store. But it's not a tavern, and you can't order a beer with your Beef on Weck. But taking the sandwich home risks a less satisfactory experience. The beef gets cold. The jus starts to dissolve the bread. Move closer to Wegmans!

Overall Grade: B+. That's a good grade for a place in the diaspora. They did the sandwich justice, which is all I could have asked. I'll be back.

Will Beef on Weck be the next chicken wings? Will it be the Buffalo food that takes America by storm, like wings did in the 80s? I doubt it. Chicken wings are a great snack, and they were a fresh idea that used a piece of the bird that nobody wanted, but they're not rocket science. Anyone with a deep fryer can make a batch. While they're best fresh out of the fryer, they will keep under a heat lamp and they transport well for home delivery. Beef on Weck is too hard to do right: too hard to get the roll right, the beef done perfectly, too hard to keep a bunch around pre-made. If done wrong, it's just another beef sandwich. You might as well just go to Arby's. But if there's a Wegmans near you, stop in, buy a Beef on Weck, a jar of real horseradish, and a six of beer. Then hurry home and enjoy.

Comments

[Ben]

My wife got one of those. The coarse salt was a bit too much for her, so she scraped it off. I had a bite or two, and it was good. I agree, despite my total non-Buffalonialist upbringing, that it needed fresh horseradish.

[Chris]

The other thing is that these sandwhiches don't travel well. Same with Fish Fries. They need to be eaten on site within a short period of time. Even a short car ride home (where the beer is) will make them too soggy.

Wings on the other hand, travel well. Just like pizza.

[Chris]

After re-reading the post, you cover the portability of these foods well. It's a huge factor.

[paul]

The horseradish side to your story is key. It ain't good if you don't wince.

RE: wings. I live if a very un-Buffalo friendly part of the country. Yet, I must admit that the national chain of Buffalo Wild Wings does a very good service to real Buffalo wings. For starters, the founders of the chain are from western New York, good start but not a lock. What they have figured out is that a good Buffalo wing is slightly crispy and NOT swimming in sauce. (there may be a Mazurland disargreemnt because Duffs wings float in sauce). Anyway, if you are not from Buffalo but have a Buffalo Wild Wing chain store near you, you are "close" to real Buffalo wings. But you are only "close" if you choose hot, medium or mild. Everything else is not Buffalo wings, but foof.

[paul]

BTW Marty, most excellent disection of the experience. You hit on the most critical aspects of a good Beef on Weck. Uncle Stanley Szymanski would be proud (Uncle Stan always had a beer warming up, hated a cold beer, never mind the missing fingers from the carpentry accident)

[Marty]

Thanks, Paul. I tried to make it a tour de force review, touching all bases, making it the model of how to rate a Beef on Weck. From now on, people will look on the post as the "WeckiPedia" on Beef on Weck.

[Chris]

I've had people ask "What's the big deal?" when I described the sandwich. It's a roast beef sandwich.

That's like saying a proper Philly CheeseSteak is just a beef sandwich.

When done correctly, both are delicious, and works of art.

Similarly, up here in New England, there are also very strong feelings about lobster rolls.

[Marty]

I agree to a point. The Beef on Weck, properly done, is a good beef sandwich, using thickly sliced roast, good roll, etc. God only knows who invented it (It definitely goes back farther than the Cheesesteak, which was invented in the 30s). But, within certain parameters, it's very individual to the bar or tavern. And if a place can't do it right, it won't do it because of the aforementioned problems (freshness, etc).

The originators of the Philly Cheesesteak come down to one of two places, Geno's or Pat's. And while I am all in favor of Geno's family's stand on the immigration debate, their sandwiches are nothing special. And this is true of lots of Philly places. They play to the lowest common denominator, or the tourists. The sanwiches are not connoisseur comestibles like the BoW. They use cheap rolls, grilled beef, and CheeseWHiz, for God's sake. You have to go to some yuppy establishment for a good as opposed to "real" Philly CheeseSteak. And that's because Buffalo's working class food is higher class than Philly's.

[Chris]

But Marty, that's the point. If you try to "Yuppify" some of these classics, you ruin them. Their simplicity is what makes them great. Can you imagine some eager chef adding a little thyme to the BoW jus? Nice thought, but "You just ruined it Emerill!"

Cheese Whiz works on a Philly steak! Broiled gruyere doesn't. There are certain strict parameters of preparation, which often only occur at hometown establishments, but if you transgress them, you're in vodka-martiniland!

[Marty]

I guess what I'm saying is that the blue collar tavern BoW is a true work of genius, and a craftsman's work of love. And a bloatin' good meal. Plus, it's made with better ingredients than the PCS. Without yuppification, it's already a better thing. Yuppification would only make the sandwich more expensive, not better.

The garden variety PCS, even forgetting the Cheez Whiz, is made with poorer ingredients. It's more like a Louie's Scumdog in that regard. It can only be improved, nay made palatable, by yuppification.

[Ryan]

I'm not really educated in the cheesesteak area. But from what I know, Penn Station has a good cheesesteak. Lots of meat, good cheese, lighty toasted with grilled mushrooms and onions. If that is not a good cheesesteak on the cheesesteak scale; Then will someone fedex me a good one?