Terri May opens a new bag of white hoagies, places the bread on the counter and slathers it with mayonnaise and mustard before layering in ham, salami, tomato, lettuce and onions. It’s like any other sandwich until she places it in the 20-year-old Fresh-O-Matic steamer, closes the lid and pushes down the lever two times, allowing it to be engulfed by a cloud of steam for two minutes.
She then removes the sandwich – a bit soggier than before – wraps it in foil and places it in a to-go box for the next hungry customer at Handy Dandy Market & Deli in South Knoxville, just as she has for the past 30 years. “There’s not much to it,” she said.
But the steamed sandwich is a staple of the Scruffy City – not as famous as Nashville hot chicken or Memphis barbecue, but uniquely Knoxville, nonetheless. And though the city might not be as saturated with places that serve sandwiches Knoxville-style these days, a handful of restaurants, corner stores, markets and delis are refusing to let this culinary tradition slip away.
Knoxville’s soggy sandwich has some quirky, foggy history
It was 1948 when Bill Captain arrived in the United States from Corinth, Greece, with “Knoxville, Tennessee” on a note pinned to his jacket. He was 16…