For some reason, the title of this post put me in mind of BK, shorthand, of course, for Burger King. Burger King, Ronald McDonald, Burger Chef and Jeff (remember them?). Are burgers always masculine? For that matter, are all sandwiches--a patrimonial lineage from the Earl of Sandwich down through Dagwood Bumstead to the present day?
There's the Pastrami Queen on the Upper East Side but that's a transplant of the old Pastrami King on Queens Boulevard. New Orleans has its Po' Boy, long and narrow, but also the Muffalleta (N.B. characteristic feminine -a ending), which is round, and often served in fourths, thus triangles--full of ribald possibilities... Hmmm. A doctoral thesis is calling out here, and a tasty one at that.
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| New Orleans Muffalleta |
Thank GOODNESS! You finally found a way to merge (haha) the BQE and sandwiches. Can you bring in license plates?
ReplyDeleteAlso...thinking about your theory re: sandwiches as masculine - the shape of the grinder and the word itself. Yes, a Ph.D in the making!
Robyn: Glad your brought up the grinder, the indigenous long sandwich of SE Connecticut and RI. If it's true that it was named after the workers who ground (grind) rivets in the shipyards there, this lends credence to the masculine long-sandwich theory. And what about donuts?
ReplyDeleteDonuts? Bringing in the female energy, perhaps? Both openness and emptiness? A lack? A lacuna? Or the perfect mate for the grinder as one moves gently from breakfast to lunch?
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