This article the other day got me thinking about the great sandwiches of my life. Of course, there are sandwiches and then there are subs, but do subs actually qualify as sandwiches?? I, for one, believe they do.

Of course, if they did, then one of my top favorites would have to be none other than the ubiquitous veal cutlet sub on toasted roll, available virtually anywhere in New England, preferably from the local [name of town] House of Pizza. Remember, you can’t get a veal cutlet sub (or, I would argue, any decent sub sandwich for that matter) out here in Arizona, so any veal cutlet sub I can get my hands on while visiting the homies is enough to satisfy this man’s palate.

And of course you have the equally-ubiquitous Italian cold-cuts sub made any way you like.

And the D’Angelos chain in New England makes one heck of a cheeseburger sub, especially when it’s topped with tomatoes, onions, and pickles.

When it comes to favorites, however, one I recall especially fondly was that Shrimp Po’ Boy I ate at a wonderful lunch with my blogger friend Rob last year. Shrimp, lettuce, onion, and a roumelade sauce on a roll. A handful as well as a delightful mouthful, made all the more perfect with one or two Abita Amber drafts. Yum.

But if there is a heaven for long-departed favorite sandwiches, my vote hands-down would be for the “Harvey’s Special”, once available a long time ago at a place called Mel & Murray’s Delicatessen. They used to be housed in this little corner of the Burlington (MA) Mall way back in the early-to-mid ’70s, then vacated that spot for a restaurant of their own just down the street where they prospered for a few years before folding (I think) sometime in the late ’80s. The “Harvey’s Special” started with a pre-made, slightly-chilled combination of layered black pastrami, swiss cheese, and diced onion which was then fried on the grill until black and crispy around the edges, then topped with a slice of tomato and laid oh-so-casually on a bulkie roll. Man, there was nothing like it! And with a half-sour pickle and a side of potato salad? Man, that was what I called livin’!

Of course, none of these sandwiches makes for your ultimate health-food choice, but then I would argue that sandwiches (and/or subs) by their very nature are not supposed to be health food. Leave that for the garden-grazing, calorie-counting salad lovers out there. I mean. how many people wake up in the morning and say, man, I CAN’T WAIT for lunch and that salad! Sure, Elvis might have been done in partly by his penchant for fried peanut-butter, bacon, and banana sandwiches, but you don’t have to make a habit of eating these kinds of things every day – like my good-old Anglican heritage stands for – everything in moderation.

…Which means that by its very nature a good sandwich is something to both look forward to and savor.