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Sandwich Monday: The Famous St. Paul Sandwich (of St. Louis)

By Ian Chillag
Published July 1, 2013 at 11:47 AM MDT
This exists.
NPR
This exists.

Since Sandwich Monday began, certain sandwiches have been our white whales: the Hippogriff Burger, a Reuben signed by J.D. Salinger, an Actual White Whale sandwich. Also, the mysterious St.Paul sandwich, native to St. Louis: It's an egg foo young patty, with lettuce, pickle and mayo, on white bread. But we finally caught one.

Miles: This is the same sandwich my Model U.N. group made the first time we all got high together.

Ian: This really comes from the "These Are The Only Things I Had In My Fridge" school of cooking.

Ian attempts to process how something so disturbing could be so delicious.
/ NPR
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NPR
Ian attempts to process how something so disturbing could be so delicious.

Miles picked a couple up from Delmar Chop Suey in St. Louis. They are amazingly cheap, and shockingly delicious.

Ian: It's really good. I haven't been this surprised by a sandwich since I closed my medicine cabinet and saw a grilled cheese standing behind me in the mirror.

Miles: They coat the sandwich in mayonnaise so it slides down your throat before you can process what it tastes like.

Peter: You know how this got its name? St. Louis fixed himself an egg foo young sandwich, and somebody asked him, "Who made that monstrosity?"

This picture is better if you imagine opera coming out of Peter's mouth when you look at it.
/ NPR
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NPR
This picture is better if you imagine opera coming out of Peter's mouth when you look at it.

Robert: I always wondered how St. Paul got to be the patron saint of defibrillators.

Ian: I really prefer this to the St. Pauli Sandwich, which is always like "Ian, my bread is UP HERE."

Miles: This sandwich makes me think we've been mispronouncing "Missouri." Are we sure it's not supposed to be "misery"?

Eva looks to see if there's a more delicious sandwich hiding inside her sandwich.
/ NPR
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NPR
Eva looks to see if there's a more delicious sandwich hiding inside her sandwich.

[The verdict: truly, shockingly tasty. We fully expected to be grossed out by this thing, but it's amazing. And cheap.]

Sandwich Monday is a satirical feature from the humorists at Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
NPR News Food & Food CultureSandwich MondayMissouri
Ian Chillag
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