When my wife returned from her Philly trip, I asked if she had tried a cheesesteak. She said she did but the person running the resturant told her that the most authentic cheesesteak had to be served with Cheeze Whiz. I almost fell out of my chair and I wasn't even sitting down. I was stunned. It was like someone telling me that in order to enjoy an authentic Italian ravioli dinner, you have to have it served with ketchup. To me it just sounds...cheap..or cheezy (:cheese: much like that pun :cheese: )

Philly Conn does not use whiz, they use the white American cheese.

Not only that, they guy weighs out meat on a scale before cooking it. Let's not be too generous here.

If it's not whiz, it should be provolone (which is my personal preference). White American? What are they thinking??

Philly Connection in Jacksonville uses Wiz...now. I saw to that!

The cheaper, the better. A chuck steak, for example, is fine. The emphasis, here, though, is chopping the meat fine while cooking it (which is why a griddle is better). Basically, it should be totally broken down like, say, taco meat (but without the seasoning). Don't use ground beef; a) that's cheating and b) the texture is wrong.

-MMM-

See if the butcher'll cut you flat slices of sirloin. I don't often see it prepackaged at "normal" groceries; I buy it at asian groceries becuase it's commonly used in asian dishes (in chinese noodle soup and in japanese shabu shabu). I've used that for cheesesteaks before, and I like the texture best - a bit thick, but it has so much flavor.

White American's the default cheese for many a cheesesteak in my 'hood. This could be a new-ish thing. Make sense, though--it melts and blends faster into the meat than Provolone, and it doesn't freak out the tourists as much as Whiz. It's damn tasty, too...texture is creamy and tangy and becomes one with the steak. :yum:

I, too, was frightened of Whiz like many of you. You gotta try it at least once, though; it is GOOD. Just try not to look at the can by the grill, or you will lose your nerve. If you're making cheesesteaks yourself, don't use too much.

I made the huge mistake of ordering Provolone on my cheesesteak at Pat's, once--BLEH. Besides the fact that Pat's meat is disgusting, the Provolone was not melted at all, because they move 'em down the line too fast. Pat's steak NEEDS Whiz to make it work. And cheese fries absolutely require Whiz.

The proper cheesesteak is the Roxborough steak, where the meat is chopped and the cheese is American.

My late boss grew up in Allentown PA, and was choosy about his Philly cheese steaks. He felt himself blessed working around Ventura County CA, though: some transplanted Philadelphians run a chain of about five variegated stores scattered through the county called "The Great Central Steak & Hoagie." For his money, the GCS&H in Santa Paula CA was the best of the lot: meat's right, cheese is provolone (Cheese Whiz?? Jayzus.), rolls are white bread, which is pretty thin stuff to my palate, onions and peppers as desired, and all the pickled pepperoncini you can carry. And the french-fry regular order (old-school greasy) is enough taters to glut a stage Irishman.

Strangely enough, WalleyWorld (at least in the ones with a comprehensive food section, more common around this neck of the woods) stocks a "Philly Style Steak" in the frozen meat section, complete with correct preparation instructions! In the interests of culinary science, I'll try some and get back to youse.

-MMM-

i'll second UT. the three biggies in philly are 2nd rate and dirty, imho. you'll do better at little pizza joints around the area. Wright's Deli in Eagle, Pudge's in Norristown, John's in Thorndale, Joe's in Frazer. American cheese works the best, provolone is too sharp. Fried onions, ketchup. no peppers......that starts to become something else altogether. It's absolutely all about the roll. I don;t understand why the hoagie roll is regional. a recipe is a recipe, right? why don;t they have them in Kansas, and Texas, and Mon-friggin-tana?

The cheesesteaks from the local pizza joints in my neighborhoods were alright, but I fell in love with Chubby's when I lived in Germantown. That's where I had my last one before leaving Philly. Plus they serve beer. How can you go wrong with that?!

Having finally gotten around to trying these things a few months back, I can say that these actually work pretty well, at least from the beef aspect of things. :9

As a bonus, they also make a good basis for beef chow fun when stirfried with chopped scallions and bean sprouts in olive oil and soy sauce...

-MMM-

Major Matt, I think Tony Luke is involved with putting those out.