Food
10 Subway Items You Can’t Get In America Part 3
There are so many delightful sandwiches just waiting to be devoured and yet they’re all so far away. But … there’s always a chance if you happen to travel to a country that features these items at their Subway locations. So let’s look at 10 Subway items you can’t get in America part 3.
10. Paneer Tikka (India)
For all you cheese lovers out there, there’s yet another cheese sandwich option served at Subways in India, and it’s just as delicious as it sounds. Paneer is a type of cheese found in India. It’s considered a fresh cheese and one that is rather firm and can be cooked, grilled and even fried. Much like Halloumi and bocconcini, found in Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean. But unlike these other two cheeses, Paneer is completely un-meltable, and it stays rather firm during the cooking process. But of course, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t taste exquisitely good. Au contraire! It’s actually mouthwatering and your taste buds will definitely go nuts once you give this cheese a try. That’s of course what makes it the epic sandwich cheese and why the wonderful nation of India has offered it on their menu at Subway. Paired with their fresh veggie options and excellent sauces, this one here can definitely hit the spot. Now, Paneer Tikka specifically is a dish made with the aforementioned firm cheese, spiced heavily and cooked in a tandoori oven. Anyone up for a trip?
9. Chicken Parmesan (Egypt)
So it is the hugely historic and culturally rich nation of Egypt that offers this delectable sandwich, and it definitely leaves many scratching their heads in wonderment, as Chicken Parmesan is a pretty well-known dish the world over. Many nations have featured this Italian recipe on their restaurant menus, and our confusion and question here is: why haven’t any other Subway restaurants in other countries featured this one on the menu? Chicken Parmesan is best described as a chicken cutlet butterflied and tenderized, which is salted and then battered with flour, beaten eggs, and then covered in seasoned breadcrumbs. Once the chicken in this state is pan fried, it’s known as Chicken Milanese. But what makes a Milanese cutlet Parmesan is the topping of it with a savory tomato sauce and of course mozzarella cheese. Sounds great doesn’t it? Sure does. Now just imagine it with fresh veggies on a nice fresh Italian bun, which is also offered at many Subway restaurants. As far as we’re concerned, though, the rest of the world is definitely missing out by not having this puppy on the menu at participating Subway locations. So next time you stop on by Egypt to visit with King Tut and check out his old digs … why not have a chicken parm sandwich at Subway too? And hey, take a lot of pics to post on social media while you’re at it. Make sure to capture the melted cheese, the wonderful sauce and of course a big smile set upon your face. Buon appetito!
8. Chicken Tandoori (India)
A great chef once said that the trick to Tandoori chicken is not necessarily in the oven that shares the same name, but in the marinade, which includes yogurt of all things. Now we’re sure that may be true, but the oven does a lot of the leg work for this recipe here. The recipe is of course Indian and the etymology of this recipe in particular goes way back … as far back as the inception of the tandoori oven itself. A tandoori oven is made out of clay and the heating point it achieves is unlike any other type of oven, which is said to give recipes prepared within their unforgettable taste and texture. Here, the chicken is marinated in a plethora of spices quite common to Indian cuisine and the addition of the aforementioned secret ingredient, yogurt, makes an incredible marinade the likes of which you’ve never tasted before. But as the chicken roasts, the flavors mingle together to create a chicken dish that will have you asking for more, the heat rendering the marinade a delectable color and infusing it with a taste that’s quite hard to beat. It’s at participating Subway restaurants in India where you can get a taste of this one. But a word to the wise … you can get a decent tandoori recipe anywhere these days, and this one comes just as good in a conventional oven should you choose to accept the challenge of tackling this one. Good luck!
7. Cream Soda and Coffee Floats (Japan)
Root beer floats are in fact quite common all over North America. Really, you can’t walk into a diner and not find one on the menu. But they are a tad harder to find at fast food restaurants and especially Subway restaurants where their drink options are pretty minimal considering. So it’s pretty clear that if you want a root beer float, you shouldn’t be going to Subways or McDonald’s, right? Well … yes, unless you happen to find yourself on the beautifully crowded streets of Tokyo, Japan that is. As it turns out, Cream Soda floats, as well as Coffee floats are readily available to purchase at participating Subway restaurant locations in Japan. Lucky them! Now who wouldn’t want a nice cream soda with a bit of ice cream floating at the top? And what’s more … a cup of cold coffee with ice cream floating on the top? Can you say caffeine addiction? We sure can. This one would definitely do well over here in North America, we’d think, even with all those really decent coffee shops on every corner. How many of them offer coffee floats? Just what we thought. So if you are over in the beautiful and culturally rich country of Japan and need that afternoon caffeine fix, stop on by at Subway and enjoy some ice cream to go along why don’t you, and let us know how epic those floats really are.
6. Chicken Cordon Bleu (Argentina)
Argentina offers this interesting menu item, only it’s a little different from the recipe taught and prepared by generations of classically trained French chefs. We’re positive that Chef Gordon Ramsay himself would frown and shake his head as he’d look upon Subway Argentina’s attempt at this recipe, perhaps saying: ‘That isn’t Chicken Cordon Bleu, you donkey!.’ And he’d definitely be right, as chicken cordon bleu is very much like schnitzel (more on this recipe later), as it is a butterflied chicken breast, stuffed with ham and cheese, then breaded and pan fried. The result is indeed delicious and would make a great sandwich. But here the Subway restaurants in Argentina have deconstructed it quite a bit. Here, the chicken is simply grilled and is paired with bits of ham and garnished with cheese. The imitation and comparison is quite pale in terms of authenticity, but yet the name remains. It still looks tasty, but there’s nothing really special about it in the end. Perhaps had they stayed the course and stuck to the actual recipe, but now we’ll never know.
5. Schnitzel And Slaw (Australia)
Now we had mentioned schnitzel just a few moments ago, and as promised we’ll be getting into it here, as Subway restaurants in Australia actually have a sandwich dedicated to this Austrian recipe on the menu, lucky them! And in many ways this classic recipe does resemble chicken cordon bleu. Bear with us and we’ll show you …. In many ways, schnitzel is quite similar to cutlet Milanese and chicken cordon bleu as it is breaded and pan fried with certain spices in the breading, but the difference here is that it doesn’t only have to be chicken. Many meats like beef, veal, pork and of course chicken can be referred to as schnitzel and these variants can also be stuffed, which leads to the comparisons we’ve made to the aforementioned cordon bleu of course. This tantalizing recipe isn’t available year round at participating Subway restaurants in Australia, but it does pop up down under every now and again, and when it does, it’s a hugely successful item. We know one guy in particular would enjoy this recipe at Subway restaurants here in North America, and that was the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He spearheaded the fitness craze of the early eighties and brought health and fitness to the masses, and schnitzel is one of his favorite foods (also it was invented in his native Austria, so duh). A campaign pairing the two icons—Schwarzenegger himself and Schnitzel—would be quite a campaign for Subway to launch. Too political? Maybe, but at the end of the day, we’d like to say that food is food, and there are no political ties to epic treats from around this beautiful planet of ours. We know Arnold, The Austrian Oak himself, would undoubtedly agree.
4. Various Pound Cakes (Japan)
Now how does that old saying go? ‘A pound of every ingredient and you’ve got yourself a pound cake.’ Indeed. And if you didn’t think that the epic Japanese Subway locations weren’t cool enough, you’d be quite surprised to know that in addition to all the items we’ve shown you, they also offer pound cakes and in a variety of flavors to boot. Everybody wants little something sweet after devouring a foot long sub and sometimes chocolate chip cookies don’t quite cut it in terms of satisfaction, despite the fact that every North American location offers some. Now they are pretty good and chewy, but not necessarily ground-breaking. But in Japan, the novelty is indeed something to write home about, as you can’t really find pound cake of all things in a fast food joint now can you? Now Japan being the culinary landscape that it is, they offer these pound cakes in a few flavors. The ones that stand out of course are the Yuzu, sour cream and of course Komatsuna. Each flavor a tad weirder than the next. Yuzu isn’t very weird at all however, as it is a citrus, and our wonderment comes clearly from its inclusion on the list. It must be pretty tasty, for those citrus cake lovers out there. Sour cream is self-explanatory and we wonder how this variation of pound cake can actually taste, and last but not least, Komatsuna is Japanese Mustard Green and although these last two flavors are a tad odd, apparently, they’re really awesome tasting, so why not give them a try when in Japan?
3. Smoked Chicken with Cream Cheese (Brazil)
Let’s face it … whenever you pair a smoked type of meat with cream cheese, you’ve got yourself a winning combination. Smoked salmon and cream cheese anyone? Well, the wonderful minds at Subway Brazil have found a way to pair Subway’s most popular protein item with cream cheese yet again and the recipe is definitely a winner. Of course you’ve gotta be able to travel to South America to get a taste of this one, but it just might be worth the trip, as it is quite famous around those parts. Now smoked chicken can definitely go a long way, we’re more than sure, the smoky flavor rising to the top of our taste buds and sending sparks to our brainwaves in droves. But then again, smoky recipes aren’t for everyone and perhaps it is this specific reason that Subway restaurants in North America have stayed away from this particular recipe.
2. Aloo Patty (India)
We’ve gotta say that Indian cuisine is definitely one of the most original cuisines the world over. It isn’t often classified as the most popular among most foodies, but the rich and inventive recipes should be tried by many more than are willing to give the cuisine a try. Perfect examples of this are the bountiful recipes we’ve discussed in this list, but also in this specific entry. This particular Subway sandwich item is an Aloo patty, but to understand this patty, you first must understand the famous Indian dish known as Aloo Gobi. It is a dish made from potatoes and cauliflower, with many Indian spices indigenous to the area added to the mix. Here, for the purposes of this sandwich, the recipe is formed into a patty. It is very successful in India, but with the Indian cuisine definitely starting to capture the eye and attention of foodies in North America, we’d hope to see it here too. And although that’s quite unlikely, we can still hope, can’t we?
1. Apple Pie (Costa Rica)
Now what’s more American, what screams America, more than humble apple pie? Perhaps nothing else, except for maybe a hamburger and fries, really. But apple pie has been the staple dessert for most Americans, and not only at your local diner. Apple pies have been baked in the homes of Americans all over the beautiful United States, and recipes have definitely varied from kitchen to kitchen, from family to family. Like McDonald’s that still offers the fried apple pie in a box, you would think that other fast food restaurants would have certainly followed suit, but in reality they haven’t, which has been met by chagrin by one and all. We’ve all collectively gotten over it, but when we got wind of Apple Pie being on the menu at Subways Costa Rica, we further collectively raised our heads and screamed out in frustration a question that’s on all our minds: ‘What gives Subway?’ It definitely is flabbergasting as to why they haven’t thought to have at least one pie, specifically apple, on their menu. We’d think that it would do quite well, but yet here we all are … still pie-less in an apple pie rich America. Now where’s the fairness in that we ask you?