Take a beef patty and throw it on the griddle. As it cooks, chop it into pieces. While it’s finishing, butter a roll and put it on the griddle, butter side down. While it toasts, put a couple of slices of cheese on the choose beef. Flip the roll onto the meat and cheese once the cheese is melted. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and mayo. That’s the chopped cheese. Something I hadn’t heard of until I moved to the Bronx. And let me just say: it’s changed my life.
I think it safe to say I get this sandwich 3-6 times a week. It’s easy and quick to get, you can get it at every deli around here. It’s cheap, ranging from $4 to $6 dollars depending on the deli (and who’s working the register). It’s salty, and cheesy and has that perfect tang of mayo.
When I go to visit my home town or my older brother at his apartment near there in upstate New York, I go out to my favorite places to eat to get the dishes I miss from up there: chicken fingers from Tully’s, a chicken salad sub from Wegmans, a buffalo chicken calzone from Twisted. These are the foods that remind me of where I grew up and they bring me back to a simpler time. The chopped cheese will be on my list of foods to get when I am in the Bronx.
