D'elia's Grinders Riverside Calif

deliasgrinders.com/press.pdf

I ate these back in the 60's when I lived in Riverside. They are still number one in taste after all these years. Its the bread that makes the difference. Roast beef, and provolone was my favorite.

deliasgrinders.com/links.html

In the 40s, in Connecticut, they were called Grinders, and they were excellent - I liked salami and provolone - I didn't know that term was used anywhere else in the US.

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

In the 40s, in Connecticut, they were called Grinders, and they were excellent - I liked salami and provolone - I didn't know that term was used anywhere else in the US.

Cheers, John

In the United States, the terms "submarine" and "sub" are widespread[4], but there are also many regional names for the sandwich, especially in the northeast part of the country:

Cosmo — North Central Pennsylvania in and around Williamsport, PA — an oven-toasted sub.
Grinder — Midwest, New England, Riverside, CA - The first to bring the term " grinder" to the west coast was D'Elia's Grinders in 1955. The business is still located at 2093 University Ave.. Also, a hot hoagie may be referred to as a Grinder in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Hot red pepper flakes were also a common add on to the Grinders they made at D'lia's. I dont see this often anywhere else.

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

In the 40s, in Connecticut, they were called Grinders, and they were excellent - I liked salami and provolone - I didn't know that term was used anywhere else in the US.

Cheers, John

I don't know where in Connecticut you were in the '40s, but in the New Haven area hot and cold subs were called subs. In the Bridgeport area cold ones were subs and hot ones were grinders.

Michael: The only place I specifically remember buying a "Grinder" was in a spotless little white-tiled place on Rt 1 in Guilford (maybe Madison, it was about on the line), and, the Grinder was cold, consisting of cold cuts,cheese, shredded lettuce, onions, oil and Vinegar. I was a vacationer in your balliwick, so I wont try to correct you, but my memory is that one had to go all the way to New London to hear the term "Sub" or "Submarine" applied to a sandwich served up in Italian American places. I think I remember eating hot meatball sandwiches at Savin Rock, but I'm not sure what we called them.

In Poughkeepsie, where I grew up, neither Sub nor Grinder were known terms until sometime after WWII (and I dont think "grinder" ever caught on). A hot sandwich in an Italian place was called a "Hot Meatball or Hot Sausage", and I cant remember what we called a cold sandwich- although I do recall eating cold cuts and cheese on an Italian loaf in those days in an Italian Deli in Poughkeepsie.

Cheers, John

It would be interesting to know if Delia, or whoever started the SoCal Store came from one of the locations in the NorthEast or Mid-Atlantic areas where "Grinder" was an accepted title for the sandwich. I do recall in the '60's that an Italian Cold Cuts "sub" was often referred to as a "Ginny Grinder" at a couple of the sandwich shops near Salem State in Eastern Mass.

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

Michael: The only place I specifically remember buying a "Grinder" was in a spotless little white-tiled place on Rt 1 in Guilford (maybe Madison, it was about on the line), and, the Grinder was cold, consisting of cold cuts,cheese, shredded lettuce, onions, oil and Vinegar. I was a vacationer in your balliwick, so I wont try to correct you, but my memory is that one had to go all the way to New London to hear the term "Sub" or "Submarine" applied to a sandwich served up in Italian American places. I think I remember eating hot meatball sandwiches at Savin Rock, but I'm not sure what we called them.

In Poughkeepsie, where I grew up, neither Sub nor Grinder were known terms until sometime after WWII (and I dont think "grinder" ever caught on). A hot sandwich in an Italian place was called a "Hot Meatball or Hot Sausage", and I cant remember what we called a cold sandwich- although I do recall eating cold cuts and cheese on an Italian loaf in those days in an Italian Deli in Poughkeepsie.

Cheers, John

Are you sure it wasn't Clinton? I remember a place such as you describe in Clinton, right on the Post Road. I used to stop there occasionally while delivering meat to restaurants for my father and getting subs. I can't really speak for all of Connecticut, though. I can tell you that I never even heard the word grinder used to describe a sub other than by people from Bridgeport when talking about meatball subs and sausage and pepper subs.

By the way, It wasn't till some time in the '70s that I ever heard the word Hoagie, and although I remember hearing of something called a Po Boy in New Orleans back in the '60s I never knew what it was.

Hoagies and grinders here for KC dating to the 60's.

Brings back memories. I was saationed in San Bernadino in the early 70s There was a "chain" called Queens: Home of the grinder. All they had was stacked sandwches. Each must have over a half pound of meat. No melts, just meat, french bread and the LTO on top.
Great.
britt

Michael, It could well have been Clinton- on the other side of Madison where we stayed. As to Bridgeport, although (or maybe because) my family had relatives living there I've never set foot in that town that I can remember. As to Hoagie, I learned that name all up and down the East and Gulf coasts when I was a merchant seaman in the 40s and 50s- but I think it was applied to a wide range of sandwiches. I specifically remember a Puerto Rican joint across 4th Ave in Brooklyn from our union hall where what I know today as a Cuban sandwich was sold as a Hoagie - presumably to please the large number of southerners in our union.

Bill, I'm unclear as to wether you dated the Hoagies and Grinders or if you took a girl "out to dinner" and steered her to a sandwich shop...

Cheers, John

Grinder bread recipe

-1/8 cup water (about 70 degrees F)
1-5/8 tsp Salt
3-3/8 tsp Sugar
1-2/3 Tbl Olive Oil
16 oz Strong Bread Flour or Hi-Gluten Flour
2-1/2 tsp Yeast

Mix the ingredients until smooth and well-blended. Scale the dough into 3.5 oz balls. I usually get about 7 balls from a batch this size. Allow them to rest for 20-30 minutes then roll them into a thin sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Roll each sheet (jelly roll fashion) to form long slender loaves. Place loaves onto a baking sheet with the seam side down. Keep them 2 inches apart so they do not touch during the next rise.

Place the tray of formed loaves in a warm oven (ideal is 100 degrees with 75% humidity). I usually place a bowl of water in the lower oven to keep things humid. Allow the loaves to rise for 45 to 60 minutes.

Once risen, use a razor to make a 1/4 inch deep slit on the top of the loaves and mist them lightly with water. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees or until they turn brown.

Remove them from the oven and cool them on wire screens or racks. The rolls last only a day or two before becoming stale. They are great for Italian hoagies or Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches.

We left Riverside in 1982 - have looked across America for a grinder even half as good but have never found one. The secret is THAT bread! Other places might call their sandwiches Grinders - but they are just plain submarine sandwiches.

Someone asked if the family in Riverside originated in CT - yes.