Who made the first French Dip?First, you’re welcome – to everyone and anyone who has ever wolfed dow

Who made the first French Dip?First, you’re welcome – to everyone and anyone who has ever wolfed down a French Dip. The iconic gravy-drenched sandwich is a Los Angeles institution, born and raised in the heart of downtown L.A. Now where exactly it started has been up for debate – for decades. Philippe’s is often credited with serving up the first French Dip; down the way, Cole’s also boasts its role (and its roll) in neon outside its door – Cole’s, Originator of French Dipped Sandwiches. You can weigh in below on which is the better dip.  Both opened in 1908. Both had sawdust on the floor and lines out the door. Philippe’s original dip was made with pork; Cole’s was made with beef. Philippe Mathieu was French. Henry Cole was German. Thrillist recently wrote up what it believes is the definitive answer: “…the version told by Philippe Mathieu in 1951 is by far the most historically convincing.”  That’d be Philippe’s.  Here’s what Philippe himself told us back then: “One day a customer saw some gravy in the bottom of a large pan of roast meat. He asked me if I would mind dipping one side of the French roll in that gravy. I did, and right away five or six others wanted the same.”You can read it for yourself here. Over the years, there have been several different stories. The one from his grandson Philippe Guilhem: “One day a fireman complained that his roll was stale. It was probably a Monday and the roll was a leftover from the weekend. My grandfather was a thrifty person. He said, ‘Give me the damn thing back.’ He dipped it in the juices and said, ‘You happy now?’” And then there’s the one that’s on Philippe’s website: “In 1918, in the process of making a policeman a sandwich, Mathieu accidentally dropped the sliced french roll into the roasting pan, which was filled with hot juices from the oven. The policeman said he’d still take the sandwich and left. The next day, the same policeman returned with some friends asking for more dipped sandwiches. The rest they say is history.”In the 1951 interview, he did speak of a police officer asking for the elements of the sandwich, but the gravy was missing from that story. Now down the way at Cole’s, they claim it all began with hard bread, sore teeth and a kind gesture. From a 1997 story in The Times’ magazine, as told to us by a retired general manager of the Cole’s, someone who wasn’t alive at the sandwich’s birth: “Mr. Cole was German. He had a friend that was a chef working here. He was in the kitchen when someone wanted a sandwich, then the bread fell into the beef juice and they liked it. The other customer in line behind him asked for the same sandwich.”That was 1908, by their legend. As far as I can tell so far, there are no interviews with Mr. Cole. There’s likely no way we shall definitely know which man dipped the sandwich first. C’est la vie.The greater question than who did it first is who does it best. Personally, I’m partial to Philippe’s and its nose-flaring mustard. But I do hear that a Cole’s Bloody Mary pairs nicely with their French Dip.  What do you think: Who does the French Dip better – Cole’s or Philippe’s?Photos by Los Angeles Times -- source link

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