Whether you call it a hero sandwich , a hoagy , or a sub , one thing remains : the Italian sandwich is about as American as a sandwich can get . In its most traditional signifier , the hero consists of any number of nub ( Genoa salami , mortadella , thinly sliced pepperoni , capicola , prosciutto ) , cheeses ( provolone is the classical choice ) , vegetable ( no - frill lettuce and tomatoes , commonly ) , and condiments pack generously on a long , either Gallic or Italian , roll . And while the terminology might vary by part , the story of the Hero of Alexandria is pretty straight and narrow , much like , well , the sandwich itself .
plebeian wisdom keep that the hero can be follow back to early twentieth - century Maine and an Italian immigrant who begin huckster basic sandwiches on saucily broil rolls . The name Giovanni Amato will sound familiar to foodies who really know their stuff : to this day , Amato ’s sells pizza , pasta , and yes , that very same sandwich , in central Portland .
Fascination with Italian - American culinary art permeated the repose of New England , and by the source of World War I a restaurant in Boston began sell adust baguet to navy servicemen send nearby — hence , the popularization of the nickname “ submarine , ” or “ sub . ” Of naturally , no history of an iconic food would be complete without some measure of discrepancy : others still believe that Italian immigrant Dominic Conti was inspired by seeing a recovered 1901 submarine in a New Jersey museum . In twist , his granddaughter has lay claim , Conti began sell traditional Italian “ subs”—a crusty roll , cold cuts , lettuce , tomatoes , pepper , Allium cepa , oil and vinegar , and seasoning — from his grocery store in Paterson , N.J.
contort as the “ sub ” moniker may be , everyone seems in agreement that the term “ submarine sandwich ” originated in 1950s Philadelphia , when Italian worker at a shipyard called “ Hog Island ” begin make the sandwich for themselves . The term “ Hog Island ” sandwich was shortened to “ Hoggies , ” and then “ hoagie . ” ( A more sinister etymology holds that “ hoagie ” is slang for “ on the hoke , ” a disparaging comment among Philly ’s Italian community to depict a miserable person who subsisted on deli scrap : high mallow , meats , and pelf . ) Anyway , the sandwich gain upper and was popularise as far as Pittsburg by the mid-1960s . And while most hoi polloi tend to associate Philly with the cheesesteak , Ed Rendell , former Philadelphia mayor and former Pennsylvania governor , once declared the bomber the urban center ’s prescribed sandwich . However you slice it , a defining feature of the Philadelphia interpretation is the , uh , sub’ng of well - seasoned olive oil for Indian mustard and vinegar .
The term “ hero ” did n’t actually kill up until 1937 New York , where it ’s to this day assist older - school Italian - style , with variations found on seller , of course . Modern - solar day pizzeria have even capitalize on the constituent they happen to have lie around : it ’s not uncommon to see , say , chicken and eggplant parmesan heros even though tomatoes were historically omitted from the “ hoagie ” variation of the Italian sub .
Today , of course , a intimate tidy sum to behold is competing hero shop on the same city city block or in the same suburban strip mall . Just think of the fast - casual restaurant you may rattle off by memory : Blimpie ( an Arizona - based chain that open its first workshop in Hoboken , N.J. , in 1964 ) , D’Angelo ( which got it take off under a unlike name in Massachusetts during the ‘ 60s ) , and , of course , Subway ( the large restaurant chain the humans ) . Headquartered in Connecticut , Subway opened its first location in 1965 and today offers some middling unusual variations on the traditional Hero of Alexandria , including a giant six - foot - long sandwich that feast up to 25 extremely hungry people .
