A Venn diagram uses simple closed curves on a plane to represent sets. In Venn diagrams, the curves are overlapped in every possible way, showing all possible relations between the sets.
A REFRESHER FROM A PREVIOUS POST:
No it is not!
The first man whips out a pad of paper and a pencil. “This is a head scratcher, fellas. So many choices, only three of us. It’s a deli-emma.” The venerable Jersey Joe requires a Venn. That is to come. I need a minute.
REFRESHER OVER.
Minutes have come and gone. Many. Months of minutes. Now it’s time to investigate that Venn.
There are a lot of parts here. Let’s break it down.
The three men, James, Curtis and LRoy, a recording engineer, artist and access specialist, respectively.
The sandwich parts; bread, meat, cheese, slaw.
As you can see from the Venn above, both men and sandwich parts intersect identically. It’s a sandwich in the middle, people! A Jersey Joe – the crossroads, intersection, junction, the crux for heaven’s sake.
AND THEREIN LIES THE RUB. Not all Jersey Joe’s are created ovally. This makes the Venn unwrangleable for me. My math comprehension cannot accommodate an additional option. So we will put it into “unexplainable things”, the sort of mystery discussed at a Unitarian worship service.
Oval? Square? Round peg? Square hole? Hither? Thither? Why? Why not? Because I said so! The Jersey Joe, confoundingly, comes in two shapes. Oval, as at the Milburn Deli, and square, as at many other esteemed joints (we will get to the specifics later).
Here is JAF, James, MSMINY (my main sandwich man in New York, the man who eats half a bialy toasted and covered with chicken salad every morning so delicious I am crving
“I noticed on the Lunch Encounter that you actually made Joe’s for the Washington Post! I’m surprised that this went unmentioned to me, your MSMINY. Your construction looks beautiful, as always, and is of the traditional type of Joe that you see everywhere EXCEPT the Millburn Deli,
As far as I’m aware, the millburn Deli’s sloppy joe is ONLY oval version of the sandwich, conforming to the natural shape of the rye bread. The bread on the Millburn version is sliced much thinner than the traditional Joe, allowing the other stars of the sandwich to shine, whereas the traditional square Joe has always leaned more heavily on its bread component.
The typical square Joe is generally drier than the creamier Millburn Deli version, has multiple meats (often including corned beef) as opposed to the Millburn single meat Joe, and has no crust on the bread which, to me, has always seemed to be a cosmetic, and not a culinary, choice.
The height of the traditional Joe also exceeds the open jaw limit of many eaters, while the Millburn Joe presents no such contest.
All versions of the sandwich are SLOPPY!
Regarding buttering the bread (which you mentioned in your WaPo Joe post), I agree that, while adding some flavor and calories (as if the Millburn Deli Joe needs any more of either), it does serve to seal the bread and prevent it from sogging from the slaw and Russian, and this is a good thing.
As for where to find the square Joe. At risk of a loyalty droop/drop/dash, here and there.
The Lunch Encounter 