Reuben & Rachel

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:35 PM -0700 7/31/02, Ed Keer wrote:
>[Jim Landau wrote]
>  > That "Rachel" from Arbuckle's does not sound very
>>  tasty.  Cole slaw is
>>  crunchy, which sauerkraut is not, but most cole
>>  slaws use a sauce that is not
>>  all that different from Thousand Island dressing,
>>  with the result that
>>  Arbuckle's appears to be selling a mere
>>  corned-beef-and-Swiss-cheese sandwich
>>  with cabbage added for crunch.
>>
>
>The Rachel is basically the sandwich that I've known
>as an X special (corned beef special, roast beef
>special, etc.) and in North Jersey found is called a
>sloppy joe. And for me it's one of my favorite
>sandwiches. The cole slaw actually goes well with the
>other ingredients.
>
>Ed
>
I'd agree with Jim if my experience with cole slaw bore out his claim
as to the composition of its dressing.  I've been eating cole slaw
off and on for half a century and I can never recall one of the main
ingredients in Thousand Island dressing, viz. ketchup, being part of
the dressing.  Most versions have combinations of mayonnaise and
vinegar, with (hopefully not too much) sugar to offset the vinegar,
maybe mustard, and so on.   If Thousand Island dressing intervened,
cole slaw would be pink instead of white, and I wouldn't want it on
my sandwiches either.  Or are there relevant idiocrunches for cole
slaw and/or Thousand Island dressing that I need to know about?

larry