Philly taco
{{Short description|Sandwich made of a cheesesteak wrapped in a jumbo slice}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Philly taco
| country = United States
| creator = Jeff Barg and Adam Gordon
| course = Main course
| served = Hot
| main_ingredient = Cheesesteak, Jumbo slice
}}
A Philly taco, also known as South Street Sushi, or the Lorenzo's-Jim's Challenge, is a sandwich consisting of a cheesesteak wrapped in a jumbo slice.
History
The Philly taco was created by Jeff Barg and Adam Gordon in 2003. The Philly taco was intended as a challenge on South Street, the location of the stores where challengers needed to buy the pizza slice, and then buy the cheesesteak a block away, and then assemble the dish.{{Cite web|url=https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/munchies-the-pizza-show-philadelphia-pizzalyvania/59a44ae360b54b61717da7e0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001205037/https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/munchies-the-pizza-show-philadelphia-pizzalyvania/59a44ae360b54b61717da7e0|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 1, 2017|title=The Pizza Show: Philadelphia|website=Vice|language=en-us|access-date=2018-06-14}} The dish was then created by wrapping the Lorenzo's pizza slice around a Jim's South Street cheesesteak.
In 2003, Barg wrote about the dish in the Philadelphia Weekly as "the Lorenzo's-Jim's Challenge" in the "Top 5 of the moment".{{Cite web|url=http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/arts-and-culture/top_5_of_the_moment-38367889.html |title={{!}} Arts and Culture {{!}} Top 5 of the Moment |last=Barg |first=Jeff |date=2015-02-20 |website=Philadelphia Weekly |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220013938/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/arts-and-culture/top_5_of_the_moment-38367889.html|archive-date=20 February 2015|url-status=dead |access-date=2018-06-14}} On The Pizza Show featured episode, Barg acknowledged that he did not mention that it was: "...something that my friend and I made up, I wrote about it as though it were 'a thing' that people do. And then it became a thing that people do, and now it's become this great Philly institution."{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-invented-the-philly-taco/|title=I Invented the 'Philly Taco'|last1=Rose|first1=Nick|date=2017-09-25|work=Munchies|access-date=2018-06-14|last2=Barg|first2=Jeff|language=en-us}}
As a "combination" dish, it has been described by the Philly Insiders
Recommended flavors
Barg described the original concept to Klein as a take-away cheesesteak, which could be a cheesesteak hoagie, including lettuce and tomatoes to refer to the taco flavor. The pizza slice for wrapping should be plain, without toppings. The dish may be assembled with the pizza slice either rolled like a taco, or lengthwise.
On The Pizza Show featured episode, Barg described the sensation as "...the Whiz [of the cheesesteak] and the mozzarella [of the pizza] interplay really nicely..." in the dish.
In his original 2003 introductory article, Brag recommended an accompanying beverage such as Dr. Brown's black cherry soda.
Coverage
Carolyn Wyman included the Philly taco in her publication, The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book, in 2009 (in a feature on Jim's Steaks, in the Hometown eateries chapter). Wyman noted the alternate name of the Jim's/Lorenzo Challenge, and that if the lines at Jim's Steaks were too long, that an acceptable substitute cheesesteak could be sourced from Ishkabibble's or Steaks on South.{{Cite book|title=The great Philly Cheesesteak Book|last=Wyman|first=Carolyn|publisher=Running Press Book Publishers|year=2009|isbn=9780762435470|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|pages=75|chapter=Hometown eateries: Jim's Steaks}}
The dish was featured for NPR blog's "Sandwich Mondays" by Ian Chillag in November 2010.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/waitwait/2010/11/01/130976692/sandwich-monday-the-philly-taco|title=Sandwich Monday: The Philly Taco|last=Chillag|first=Ian|date=1 November 2010|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-06-14|language=en}}
The Philly taco was included as one of "15 of America's most outrageous foods" in August 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.citypass.com/articles/travel-news/15-of-americas-outrageous-foods|title=15 of America's Most Outrageous Foods {{!}} CityPASS Scrapbook|date=18 August 2014|website=www.citypass.com|language=en-us|access-date=2018-06-14}}
A veganised version of the Philly taco was created by Blackbird Pizzeria as part of an eating challenge for Philadelphia's celebration of World Vegan Day in 2014.{{Cite news|title=Saturday's Vegan Day offers many ways to sample animal-free eating|date=30 October 2014|work=The Philadelphia Daily News}}
It was highlighted on an episode of The Pizza Show in season two, where host Frank Pinello ate a Philly taco with Jeff Barg. It has been variously credited as episode 5 or episode 10, circa 2017.{{Citation|title=Philadelphia, Pizzalyvania|date=2017-10-05|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7603394/|others=Frank Pinello|access-date=2018-06-14}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/celebrities/vices-the-pizza-show-shows-off-some-of-phillys-favorite-pies-20170926.html|title=Vice's 'The Pizza Show' shows off some of Philly's favorite pies|last=Laban|first=Craig|date=26 September 2017|work=Philly.com|access-date=2018-06-14}}