Had them many times at NY diners where they were a turkey sandwich and a BLT joined together with a slice of bread in the middle. White bread (toast). No ham, no cheese.

No ham, no cheese, 3 slices of bread, cut into triangles and held together with toothpicks (plain at home, frilly if served at a restaurant).

What is the one I am thinking of with ham also?

Using ham, roast beef and/or cheese are all accepted variations. In essence, you can include what you like. It is the stacking of the various layers that truly makes a Club.

I agree with Gadengal, It's the structure that makes it a Club. There are variations galore. Plus, it's a sandwich: You can do anything you want and call it ”Sherry's Club”. To look like a classic Club, the bread should be square pullman style, or at least single hump sandwich bread (but use what you have) toasted lightly, the meats should be sliced, and not a salad or paste, and there should be thin layers of iceberg and tomato, Mayonnaise, but if you're a buttered sandwich person, got for it. Usually one layer is turkey or chicken, and one is cured meat, like ham or bacon, but I've seen roast beef instead of cured, and I'd love duck... Cheese isn't necessary, but if you want it, go for it. Use egg bread rather than toast, cheese instead of vegetables, one diagonal cut rather than two, batter and deep fry, and you have a Monte Christo, usually served with jam, so you don't feel a lack of carbs. ;)

Ah, this is why the internet is all over the place. This is one of those "recipes" where it is clean-out-the-leftovers and call-it-what-you-want!

The only thing the same is that everyone added bacon!

You can't blame it on the internet :-) The club sandwich as been around since the late 1800's and there was as much variation in the recipe then as there is now.

Ah! I have not heard of a Monte Christo, but that sounds like another fridge clean out that is lets not think about calories or fat.

Classic club for me as a kid was chicken, bacon, lettuce & tomato on 3 slices of firm white sandwich bread with fancy toothpicks to hold it together. I think the first time I ever had one was on an airplane flight from NY to WI - I found it fancy & delightful 😋

And we weren't in first class either - those were the days...

Either way, it's not really a fridge cleanout, bit if you have just a bit of a couple different meats, you can clear them out into a club. For a real fridge clean out, I'd make some kind of hero sandwich, into which all the single slices of meat and cheese, bits of veg, sliced or chopped, last pickles in the jars from ordinary cukes to artichoke hearts, a little O&V dressing to tie it all together... Now that's making me hungry, but I have none of those things... Sigh. Pasta and spinach is fine (digging in toe winsomely as if that'll make sandwich goodies appear).

The only time I've seen it with turkey and ham was here in Oregon and I ordered it. It had way too much meat.

Having lived the first twenty-five years of my life on the east coast and the last forty-four years on the west coast, I have found that the west coast knows little about classic east coast food. It's the one thing I miss about the east coast.

I think we're just more laid back. There's some debate between Club referring to Saratoga Club or Union Club. Wkipedia says: ”The earliest known reference to the sandwich, an article that appeared in The Evening World on November 18, 1889, is also an early recipe: "Have you tried a Union Club sandwich yet? Two toasted pieces of Graham bread, with a layer of turkey or chicken and ham between them, served warm.....Historically, club sandwiches featured slices of chicken, but with time, turkey has become increasingly common. An 1897 recipe has three layers, with the chicken and ham separated not by a slice of bread, but by a lettuce leaf.“

What's Cooking America quotes Ladies' Home Journal 1903 ”Club Sandwich – Toast a slice of bread evenly and lightly butter it. On one half put, first, a thin slice of bacon which has been broiled till dry and tender, next a slice of the white meat of either turkey or chicken. Over one half of this place a circle cut from a ripe tomato and over the other half a tender leaf of lettuce. Cover these with a generous layer of mayonnaise, and complete this delicious “whole meal” sandwich with the remaining piece of toast.”

Various sources also say it was James Beard in the 1970's who solidified it as chicken and bacon, acknowledged that most people used turkey, and thought the third slice of bread was awful.

There are a great many historical references to it, including the World's Fair, where it was marveled at as a ”tower”.

It all boils down to what has been said before in this thread: chicken or turkey and ham or bacon, but the bacon referred to back when might have been more like what we call Canadian bacon, which is really ham. On white toast with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, cut into triangles. Though in current usage, ”Club” denotes three (thin) pieces of bread.

Bacon, lettuce, tomato, turkey, on white toast with mayo 😋

Since the supposed origins of the club sandwich is New York and those versions did include at times various other meats including ham and also with cheese, one can hardly blame the deviations from what one individual considers a club sandwich on a sampled west coast version.

btw, there is very little difference between west coast food and east coast food with the possible exception of the prevalence of some ingredients that are unique to locale.

No wonder there is so much polarization in this country with attitudes like that!

As I recall, you'd see it on the menu in NY diners as a "turkey club", not a club sandwich. Because it was only turkey.

When we made it at our restaurant, it was three slices of bread with a BLT on one side and real turkey, ham, cheese and lettuce on the other. It was then cut in half diagonally and placed on the plate with crusts together, placed in front of the customer with the colorful layers showing.

In this part of NY, the only club is a turkey club and it’s a BLT plus real turkey that’s layered on 3 pieces of toasted white bread. It’s thick, so it’s typically speared with long picks and cut on the diagonals into 4 triangle-shaped pieces. yum. :)

What this West Coaster perceives as the difference to "Eastern" (i.e., NY and that general area) is they use a lot more salt and a lot less vegetable, at least in restaurants. Other than that, AKIF food is food.

When I make a club sandwich, I fry the bread in butter on both sides to make it delicious. I put bacon, ham turkey and chicken lunchmeat, The deli meat I warm in the pan I cooked the bacon in so it gets a little crispy around the edges. Yes to cheese, I usually use American as I make it for SO and that is what he likes. Mayo (sometimes I will use ranch dressing instead if I have some homemade in the fridge) and tomato. And that's a club sandwich in Amylou's Lair. I do not make them often. It is a dish to make when I have woken up a bit late or am dragging my feet and I need to throw something quick together for my SO before I head to work for the night.

What is AKIF?

NY has far more ethnic influences. West coast has more access to fresh produce.

Sorry, Carol, AFAIK. As Far As I Know.

Eileen, I couldn't find numbers for ethnicities in the state of New York. California has something like 100 different non-indigenous languages and 70 ethnicities.

Crikey, I imagined there would be huge differences in food identity from one side of your huge country to the other. Even here, the 4 corners of France, the food differs a lot. Of course there are some dishes that are "French" classics but there are also a lot of variations. From Provence..... Socca, tapenade, petits farcis de Nice etc, the South West;... cassoulet, cannelés, fish soup, confit duck,.....North..... ficelle Picard, Welsh, . Brittany ..... seafood dishes, artichokes, cauliflowers, chickens, pork, crêpes, galettes, strawberries - we're lucky to have the best food in France..... I love eating my way round countries.

My very limited experience of eating in the States is that it seems to be much more health-conscious in California than in Colorado where we got very rib-sticking food and when we asked for a salad the waitress looked at us like we were from outer space. LOL

As for a club sandwich. For me, I love a toasted BLT with mayo.

Okay, made last night. Mine was just okay and needs work. Husband just had a BLT and no comment about it.

The bread I used was too thick. I did not use enough mayo and forgot the mustard. I did not use cheese and it needed it.

Thanks for the info about the bacon/Canadian bacon/ham connection. That makes sense. My son made a club slider recipe with Hawaiian rolls that was to die for. They were baked in the oven. Of course he doesn't remember what he did. It was years ago. He probably read several recipes for ideas and then just winged it. It had turkey, ham, mayo, mustard,swiss cheese and some kind of butter topping , made with the sweet Hawaiian rolls. Baked in the oven until the cheese melted. I found some online and will try those next.

Going to make turkey salad and ham salad with the rest of the meat I thawed out. (I make a whole turkey and a whole ham. Then I freese the leftovers in one pound packages in Food Saver bags.)

IC, there are many regional specialties in the USA, but with the new people (non-indigenous) so much more mobile than the norm for where they came from, and so much of our time being in the communication age, there is also a great body of American food culture which is national. Like the club sandwich. Additionally, people bring their favorite dishes with them, so you can get a decont po' boy in Caifornia, and a cheese steak in Florida, crab cakes in New Mexico and chili in Montana. Not to mention kung pao, pierogi, empanadas, full English breakfasts, banh mi, pakoras, pupusas, mandazi, tempura, borscht, mezzes, gyros, etc., etc. Though I can't imagine a place in the USA where you can't buy a club sandwich. Lots of people in New York eat salads, and lots of people in L.A. eat deep fried. You'll hear jokes about the opposite being true, but the reality is far more complex than the stereotypes.

Another who would like to know what AKIF means?

As Far As I Know.A F S I K.

Um - Sherry, yours has a typo as well... 😄

NOT a club sandwich, but a really good BLT made w thick sliced smoked but not ”cured” bacon; tomato; iceberg lettuce, Cain’s mayonaise on toasted multi-grain wheat sandwich bread. Cut on the diagonal, once.

Whatever, I detest acronyms. Just write it out in real words.

Lol.

"NOT a club sandwich, but a really good BLT made w thick sliced smoked but not ”cured” bacon; tomato; iceberg lettuce, Cain’s mayonaise on toasted multi-grain wheat sandwich bread. Cut on the diagonal, once."

I don't see any bacon?

So, AKIF means "As Know I Far" ???