Does the City of Los Angeles have a cuisine of its own? With a population of almost 4 million people in the city, and over 18 million in its surrounding areas, Los Angeles is larger than many countries. Yet, Los Angeles is an immigrant city, that welcomes people from all over the US and abroad. This means an ever changing culinary scene, with new foods introduced constantly.

Los Angeles is also a great restaurant city. Sure, it has 20 Michelin star restaurants, but the real food scenes happens at the hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants that abound in the city. LA has the best Thai food, the best Persian food, the best Korean food, and even some very good Argentinian food. And because LA is so big, you don't just get generic versions of the cuisines, but restaurants serving regional specialties. In suburban corner malls, no less.

So finding a dish to encapsulate Los Angeles food (Angeleno food sounds too weird) is impossible. And yet I managed to, with something I didn't even realize was born in LA:

French Dip Sandwich

Yeah, when you think LA, a French Dip Sandwich is probably the last thing that comes to mind. Yet this American classic was born in an LA restaurant early in the 20th century. As the story goes, a policeman (or maybe a firefighter) complained that the bread in his roasted pork sandwich was stale (or maybe that his teeth hurt and he couldn't bite it), and the creative chef, a French man, decided to soften the bread by dipping it into the meat drippings. The patron loved it and thus the French dip was born. Parenthetically, one of the versions of this story has the cook accidentally dropping the bread on the drippings, which is also the creation myth for Jalisco's tortas ahogadas.

With time, the drippings evolved into a broth (understandable, given that even a fatty cut of meat doesn't produce drippings for multiple sandwiches) called jus and roast beef became the most common filling for the sandwich. At some restaurants, including Philippe's, where the French Dip was born, the whole bread is dipped before assembling the sandwich, though most commonly the jus is served on the side and you dip the whole sandwich in it as you go along.

French Dip sandwiches were one of my first introductions into American food. I immigrated to the US - and specifically to Los Angeles - as a teen. Growing up in Argentina, I had been exposed to a very limited repertoire of foods, and, on top of that, I was a picky eater. My family was too poor to go out to restaurants - beyond Bob's Big Boy and Sizzler, for very special occasions (like my college graduation), so I was intimidated when I went to restaurants with friends. French dips were my savior - the simple sandwiches had nothing but roast beef (usually not even condiments) and a simple broth. They were boring, but safe.

With years and exposure to other foods, my tastes expanded broadly and it's been ages, maybe decades, since I last had a French Dip sandwich - but when I came across it while looking for foods associated with Los Angeles, I knew I had to make it. My home made version was great, far better than I remember any of those restaurant French Dip sandwiches being.

Current French Dip sandwiches are both very simple, but open to innumerable variations. The meat is most often beef, but it can be pork, or chicken, or lamb or anything you want. If you use beef, you can use lean cuts and grill them, roast them or broil them, or fatty cuts and slow cook them. You can add cheese (Swiss and Provolone are most common) and condiments - or omit them -, onions and peppers, or nothing at all. The jus can be just drippings, or a beef broth, or you can enhance it with whatever you want. For my version, I kept it simple. I used French rolls, butter, top sirloin (what was on sale) and Havarti cheese (what I had at home). The broth was lightly enhanced. Everyone loved them.

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French Dip Sandwiches Ingredients For the beef 2 - 3 lbs top sirloin steak or roast salt & pepper to taste For the Jus 4 cups beef broth 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp onion powder 1 tsp sherry 1/4 tsp dried thyme salt to taste For the sandwiches 6 French rolls butter 6 cheese slices (optional) Directions Prepare the Beef Preheat oven to 375°F. Trim the fat from the outside of the beef. Season steak with salt and pepper to taste. Place the fat on a large saute pan over high heat and cook until starts to melt. Grease the bottom of the pan with the melted fat and remove leftover solids. Add the beef to the pan and brown on both sides. Place the pan in the oven, if oven safe, or transfer beef to an oven-safe dish. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 135°F for medium-rare - about 20 minutes for a 1" thick steak. Remove, let cool slightly and thinly slice. Prepare the Jus While the meat is roasting, place all the ingredients for the jus in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until it reduces by a quarter or so. After the beef is ready, stir in the accumulated juices from the cooking pan. Transfer to a serving bowl. Butter the inside of the French rolls. Place both tops and bottoms of rolls, buttered side up, on a broiling pan. Cover the bottoms of the rolls with several slices of roast beef. Top with a cheese slice, if using. Broil until the cheese melts, 1-2 minutes. Remove, place sandwich tops on the beef and serve with au jus.

Adapted from a recipe at The Modern Proper

American City and State Cuisines: American, Alaskan, American, Alabamian, Angeleno, Arizonan, Arkansas, Californian, Connecticuter, Delawarean, Floridian, Georgian, Hawaiian, Hoosier, Idahoan, Illinoisan, Iowan, Kansan, Kansas City, Kentuckian, Appalachian

Ethnic American cuisines: American, Acadians, African-American, Amish, Appalachian, Cal-Mex, Cajun, Creole, Cuban-American, Floribbean, German-American, Hungarian-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, Jewish American, K-Mex, Korean-American

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