The Vintage Spaghetti Dish That Made Forks Totally Optional

My husband served 20 years in the military and, naturally, he still uses some jargon and phrases that he picked up from the soldiers he worked with. A notable one is describing something as a "soup sandwich," which basically denotes a situation that is a complete mess. No offense to the soup sandwich, but I think that a spaghetti sandwich could give it a run for its money. The thing is, a spaghetti sub is an actual food, one that was particularly popular around the 1950s and '60s. They still pop up here and there on social media and even in some eateries, like Mom's Spaghetti in Detroit, which is co-owned by Eminem and offers a $12 S'ghetti Sandwich.

Now, I'm very much a "don't knock it till you try it" kind of gal, but, frankly, these sandwiches sound like a prank. And I really like spaghetti. I suppose someone, somewhere, figured that if we could put meatballs and sauce on a roll and call it dinner, why not do the same thing with the accompanying spaghetti? There are several ways to make a spaghetti sub, but essentially, they all involve heating spaghetti and sauce and placing it on bread to make it into a sandwich. What each version has in common is that the dish is supposed to be eaten like any other sandwich — with your hands. This is no time to twirl that pasta into your fork tines like Italians do. Needless to say, spaghetti subs are super-filling, saucy, carb bombs; comfort food in its most forceful form. Or, perhaps, discomfort food for the skeptics.

Spaghetti subs may seem like a soup sandwich to some people (like me), but still others love the combo, sort of like the concept of beans on toast as a British favorite. If the dish didn't have a fan base, you wouldn't see the occasional spikes in interest in them, like in 2016 when spaghetti grilled cheese sandwiches made a splash. And, I suppose if you think about it, are spaghetti subs really that different from eating a plate of spaghetti with a generous portion of garlic bread on the side? But I digress from my own incredulity.

People make spaghetti subs by stuffing saucy, leftover spaghetti inside French rolls or thick and buttery Texas toast. Some griddle the leftovers with cheese and form it into a sort of crispy patty. And some even use store-bought spaghetti, like one vintage recipe from Family Circle magazine. This one was by far my favorite because I couldn't peel my eyes away from the creativity (for lack of a better word) of it. Two pounds of canned spaghetti and a can of corn are heated with parmesan cheese. This mixture is then poured onto hot dog buns along with deli meats, provolone cheese, onion slices, and pickle relish. The result was — wait for it — soupy.