The New Jersey Sloppy Joe is a cold, double-decker deli sandwich that is somewhat like a combination between a Reuben and a Cuban. It has no relationship to the traditional Sloppy Joe that is made with ground beef cooked in a tomato sauce. The sandwich is made of three slices of rye bread, two separate layers of two different thinly sliced deli meats, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Russian dressing. Ham and beef tongue are said to have been the two meats in the original New Jersey Sloppy Joe, Variations of the sandwich always have ham as one of the meats, and the other meat might be turkey, pastrami, corned beef or roast beef.

The New Jersey Sloppy Joe was originally created in New Jersey, but its roots are in Cuba. The origin story is that a New Jersey politician had enjoyed a similar type of sandwich at a bar named Sloppy Joe’s that he had frequented during a vacation in Cuba in the 1930s. Back at home, the politician asked Town Hall Deli in South Orange to cater his poker games and recreate the sandwich for the occasion. The sandwich caught on from there, and spread to other delis in northern New Jersey which sometimes would make minor variations.

The order of ingredients is important in assembling a New Jersey Sloppy Joe. “Sandwiching” the wet coleslaw and Russian dressing between layers of meat and cheese helps to keep the bread from getting wet and soggy. The base of the sandwich starts with a slice of bread covered by slices of meat, which need to cover the entire surface of the bread. Next, coleslaw and Russian dressing are spread on the meat. The wet ingredients are then covered with cheese, which helps to keep the center slice of bread dry. The second layer follows the same process: a layer of meat, then coleslaw and Russian dressing, then cheese, then bread..