Beef on Weck

After the chicken wings, beef on weck is the most popular food in Buffalo, New York, consisting of three basic parts: meat, bread, and horseradish. The sandwich is named after the kummelweck roll, or 'weck for short, which should be sprinkled with a hefty dose of caraway seeds and coarse salt so that the beef inside it could be left as underseasoned as possible.

The beef must be succulent, thinly sliced, and slightly pink in the middle, while the horseradish should be freshly grated for the best possible experience. Beef on weck is served in almost every bar or tavern in Buffalo, and its story started in 1901 when a man named Joe Gohn turned his house into a hotel and tavern and decided that a roast beef sandwich would be great for satiating the appetites of his hungry tenants.

Joe's baker was a German who suggested that they add caraway seeds and salt on top of the rolls, just like they did back in Germany. Beef on weck was a success, and due to caraway and salt, the consumers were thirstier than usual, so the sales of beer in the tavern also skyrocketed, which, as some say, was the intended purpose of the sandwich.

Best paired with a dill pickle or some french fries, beef on weck can only be found in the western part of New York, where hundreds of hungry customers indulge in the juicy, messy delight, possibly led by the local saying: "If you didn't make a mess, you didn't enjoy it."