/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>18344174
Submarine Captain R-41 here, AGB/Q forklift certified. On submarine boats, as you might expect, we exclusively eat submarine sandwiches.

You might think they're called that because they're shaped like submarines, but that's just a coincidence. The real reason for the shape is that long sandwiches can easily be stored in torpedo tubes for snacking while on extended watch against terrorists, Russians, and killer whales. We normally get a choice of three fillings: tuna salad, spicy italian, or chicken-bacon-ranch. (During WW2 italian was unavailable for political reasons.) But due to the hardships of submarine service, the galley allows each sailor to customize his sandwich with the ingredients he likes, and you can also request the sandwich toasted. It's definitely a "perk" of life 20,000 leagues under!

And yes, it's true that the popular Subway sandwich chain was founded by a former USN submariner. The restaurant was originally called "Submarine Underway" but they shortened it. For you, it might just be a normal sandwich--but for those of us who spent months on end fathoms deep in the cold blue seas, it's incredibly nostalgic and undeniably authentic. (I myself, when I was just a humble Coxswains Mate 3rd Class, spent many hours loading giant plastic squeeze tubes of artificial "tuna salad" onto the sub before our dark silent missions. You'd think they could give us real tuna salad, what with submarines being in the ocean and all, but it's still the military, so every meal is still at least 50% sawdust filler.) Anyway, if you enjoy Subway submarine sandwiches, then you should definitely speak to a Navy recruiter about submarine service, because you'll not only get three square subs/day for the duration of your service, but also a lifetime voucher for free extra olives at any participating Subway restaurant.