Kummelweck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A kummelweck, or sometimes kimmelweck or kümmelweck, is a salty roll that is popular in Western New York. It is similar to a Kaiser roll, but topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds. Kummelweck is commonly shortened to “weck" (and pronounced "weck" not "wick" according to Schwabl's Restaurant), and often served in the Buffalo metropolitan area with roast beef and horseradish to form a sandwich known colloquially as "beef on weck." Along with wings, beef on weck is one of the two most distinctive dishes of the region.
Kümmel is the German word for caraway, and weck means "roll" in the south-western German dialects of the Baden and Swabia areas (northern Germans generally say brötchen).
A typical style of beef on weck sandwich is made from slow-roasted rare roast beef hand carved to provide about 1/2 inch (2 cm) of meat on the bottom half of the roll. The cut face of the top half of the roll may be dipped in the juices from the roast. Prepared horseradish is usually provided for the diner to spread on the top half of the roll to taste. In the Buffalo area, it is common to see jars of horseradish on eatery tables that serve the sandwich, much as you might see ketchup bottles available in other restaurants.
The American restaurant franchise Buffalo Wild Wings is formerly known as BW3, with the third W referring to weck, as in the original full name of the restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck. The chain no longer serves weck outside of Western New York and no longer uses the original name but does still use the extra "W" in its abbreviation.
The sandwich was featured on the PBS special Sandwiches That You Will Like.
[edit] External links
- Wings and Weck An essay on Buffalonian foods including a recipe for Beef on Weck
- Beef Haus in Wellsville, NY
- Charlie the Butcher
- Schwabl's Restaurant Roadfood.com review of restaurant in West Seneca, NY (a Buffalo suburb) which many consider to be the home of the best beef on weck
- Beef and Barrel in Olean, NY
