The Breaded Pork Tenderloin is big in Indiana and Iowa – big as in size and big as in popular. These sandwiches can sometimes be found in other parts of the Midwest, especially in Illinois, which is sandwiched between these two pork powerhouses, but there is no place that displays the level of devotion to this sandwich greater than Indiana and Iowa. It has been estimated that breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches are served in at least fifty percent of Indiana restaurants. This sandwich is also listed on many menus in Iowa. In Indiana and Iowa, customers will ask for a tenderloin sandwich assuming it is breaded and that it is pork (an assumption that can lead to disappointment when traveling out of pork country). People in both states take pride in their prized sandwich and are politely dismissive of other state’s claims of pork prowess. Where is the true home of the Breaded Pork tenderloin Sandwich? It is really too close to call – this sandwich belongs to both Hawkeyes and Hoosiers.
Many experts place the birthplace of the pork tenderloin sandwich in Huntington, Indiana and credit Nicholas Freinstein as the founding father of this heartland creation. He opened a restaurant, Nick’s Kitchen in 1908 after years of peddling his sandwiches on the street. Legend has it that his brother Jake, having lost function of his hands to frostbite after an unfortunate wintertime carriage accident, used the stumps of his forearms to tenderize the pork. Today, pork tenderloin purveyors have found alternate means to tenderize the meat but it is still as good.
The basic breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is generally starts a large cut of pork loin. The meat is tenderized until it is the desired thickness, usually 1/4 inch thick but sometimes up to a 1/2 inch. The breading is customarily a simple mix of water, flour, salt, and pepper. Some places will add cornmeal or another special ingredient but the standard is to keep it simple. The sandwich is typically fried or deep-fried. The tenderloin is always significantly bigger than the bun which is typically a hamburger bun or sometimes a Kaiser roll. The condiments of choice are basic – usually pickles, often onions, and occasionally lettuce. In Indiana – expect mustard and/or mayonnaise while in Iowa it is most often mustard and/or ketchup. What a difference a few hundred miles can make. The sandwich is always a meal and taking some to go will have no negative effect on ones reputations with the locals.
Jim Ellison
CMH Gourmand
4 responses so far ↓
TRZIOWA // February 25, 2009 at 2:36 pm |
The story about Nick’s Kitchen in Huntington IN has no merit whatsoever. They used beef in their tenderloin sandwiches for the first half of the century. The sandwich could only have come from the Czech community in Eastern Iowa.
jmack // April 1, 2009 at 12:09 am |
TRZIOWA is 100% WRONG! I was born and raised in Huntington, as was my father. My grandfather was born a mere 30 miles from here in the late 1800’s. That said, I can state with positive assertion, Nick Freinstein IS the originator of the Tenderloin sandwich as it is known. Always pork, not beef. Should you ever find yourself in our fair city, make sure to stop in at Nicks and check out the memorabilia and documentation of it’s history. You will of course be greeted with “Hoosier Hospitality” and made to feel welcome. In closing, I can only say the only place other than in Indiana I have had a Tenderloin worthy of the name was in Iowa.
John McKinzie
Davydd // May 18, 2009 at 7:27 pm |
TRZIOWA is only wishing with no documentation that the Czech’s in Iowa started the pork tenderloin sandwich. Nick’s Kitchen is well documented and if one understands the history of the northeast Indiana region they would know it was heavily settled by people of German ancestry long before any Czech arrived in Iowa. The European version was indeed breaded veal as in traditional Weiner Schnitzel. But in America veal was not common and pork was always substituted especially for an inexpensive sandwich. The name veal persisted though it was not veal. The name is now persisting as pork tenderloin though it probably should properly be called a pork loin sandwich.
Selling a tenderized and fried breaded pork sandwich from a street cart most likely required a portable method of carrying it and a bun and sandwich made adoptive sense. It is totally plausible Nick Freinstein was the first in starting with a street cart. To this day eastern European oriented restaurants still serve fried pork tenderloin in a more traditional way with gravy and if they call it a sandwich it is more likely open face style with two soggy pieces of white bread under the pork. Eastern European ethnic Chicago restaurants like Petros and New Archview are typical of this.
The Czech’s in Iowa indeed had to have had their version as tenderized fried meat is ancient but they have no documentation they served a sandwich and derivative evidence might suggest they didn’t until the Hoosiers passed the idea on.
Dave // November 1, 2009 at 3:49 pm |
Ya know, I dont care who started it, its one good sandwich! Here in Los Angeles I have only had one great one and it was at the OC Air Show. Place was called Derb’s and I tried finding them on the net. They appear to be setting up some lunch trucks and will have the same sandwich. Hope they hi my neck of the woods! http://www.derbsla.com