I recently had a French Dip at Arby's, a terrific sandwich, although now it comes with swiss cheese, which I hate, and negotiating for a different kind of cheese was like negotiating a Middle East peace treaty. The next time I went to Arby's, I just ordered the old standard - Beef N Cheddar.
But I digress. The French Dip comes with "au jus." While "au jus" is Frence for "with (its own) juice," in America, it usually refers to more of a beef stock or broth.
Most menus that refer to au jus, will say it like this:
Prime Rib with Au Jus
French Dip with Au Jus
Herb Roasted Turkey with Au Jus
One of my coworkers pointed out that this is redundant. If "au jus" means "with juice," then "with au jus" means "with with juice."
And speaking of Arby's, what IS Arby's sauce? Whatever it is, I LOVE it! It doesn't have that overwhelming tang of barbeque sauce, it's fancier than the fanciest ketchup, and goes with roast beef like nothing else (except maybe horsy sauce, which sometimes I use in addition to the Arby's sauce).When I was a kid, my mom would buy Arby's sauce (they sold it in jars at participating Arby's) and then would buy deli roast beef (which was thick and cold and nothing like Arby's savory roasted beef) and we could use the Arby's sauce to make our own version of Arby's sandwiches. On white bread. It wasn't quite the same, but the Arby's sauce can make anything palattable.
2 comments:
Ahhh, Arby's. My favorite fast food restaurant. You and I must have some genetic similarities or something because my old standby is also the Beef N Cheddar, and my second choice is the French Dip WITHOUT the swiss cheese.
Every couple of years, Arby's changes the au jus recipe. Now it's a little thicker than it used to be. My favorite vintage will always be the 1988-89 years. Now that was some good au jus.
You know what I really miss? Arby's used to have this fabulous German mustard, it came in the little packets like the Arby sauce and ketchup, and man, it was tasty. Then, one day, it was gone, never to be seen again.
So...would your mom's version of the Arby's roast beef sandwich be called "ghetto Arby's"?
I feel your pain on the "with with juice" issue. It bothers me, but it's one of those things I've learned to accept as beyond my control!
The big roast beef add onions and three or more packs of Horsey Sauce. My favorite.
Arby's goes way back for Depressionista and I. We use to go to the one in Davenport when we were teenagers after going shopping. The fond memories.
I love the fact that your mom bought roast beef at the store and got the sauce and recreated it at home. That is a great childhood memory. I think it should be called "beef in the hood"--or something like that!
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