What is a reuben sandwich?

According to Wikipedia, a Reuben sandwich has four ingredients which are held together by rye bread:

Silverside (corned beef);

Sauerkraut;

Swiss cheese and

Russian dressing (mayo and tomato sauce in its most basic form).

I prefer the addition of sliced gherkins which makes five key ingredients. Several variations exist, with mustard as substitution for the Russian dressing and/or pastrami for the silverside. Coleslaw can sometimes be found instead of the sauerkraut but then it's really losing that true Reuben flavour.

The sandwich is typically toasted but can be also eaten fresh or harbour something in between with hot meat and cold everything-else. Although rye is the traditional choice of bread, sourdoughs, baguettes and other alternatives also present themselves more often than not.

There appears to be no confirmed origin of the Reuben, with several people claiming to take the Reuben throne. A lithuanian born grocer in Nebraska by the name of Reuben Kulakofsk may have been the inventor, or maybe it was Arnold Reuben who was a german deli owner in New York. Either way, the Reuben sandwich was born in the early 1900s and has been satisfying people all over the world ever since.