Figure 1. You may have heard of the full english or full irish, well this one I call the full long island.

Out on the island

If you’re from around here, you know that we’re not in Long Island, we’re on Long Island. That train you take home isn’t the “lurr” like some city folk call it, it’s the “ell-eye-arr-arr” and you know for sure that any deli you walk into is going to make a fucking good bacon egg and cheese sandwich.

Most days growing up I’d get a bacon egg and cheese with ketchup from the Bayville Deli on Bayville Ave on my way to school. I’d wash it down with one of those tiny tropicana juice boxes, because they came free with the sandwich. Back then they asked “Salt, Pepper or Ketchup” assuming you only wanted one or a couple instead of the “sallpeppacachup” you’ll hear now in the city, and as far as I knew a bagel came with a schmear, not eggs, bacon and cheddar.

Figure 2. The bayville deli, it’s been remodeled since I’ve grown up but it keeps the same charm it always had.

To me it was the perfect breakfast, it wasn’t overly sweet like a hearty set of pancakes or unsatisfying like a sad bowl of oatmeal. It was and still is one of the pillars of what defines my food experience.

Getting out of town

I didn’t start to miss the bacon egg and cheese until I went to college. People in Massachusetts are generally smart, capable, and hardworking folk who I admire greatly. That being said, fuck can they not cook breakfast. I can’t tell you how many “Deli"s I’ve been in where they put the eggs in the FUCKING MICROWAVE ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? Four years at UMass taught me that having the number one campus dining doesn’t mean shit if your entire state can’t cook a two dollar breakfast sandwich.

So I’d make my own, I’d ask for an omelette with just cheese - take their chewed up bacon from the line and toss it on a toasted roll most days, washing it down with the concentrate orange juice that I really didn’t care for. It wouldn’t be long before I was back home.

Living in the big city

So I moved on to my new adventure in Brooklyn, and you know what came back with me? My fond relationship with the Bacon, Egg and Cheese. I can’t tell you how many mornings I’d spend as a 22 year old punk, dirtied up from a long Flip Tuesday at Flight 151, clothed with a 10 dollar collar shirt I had to buy because I slept on my friend’s floor in chelsea, huffing down a bacon, egg and cheese in the morning sunlight at Fulton Street. At this point I’d classed it up a little, I got a drizzle of Russian on top and my Tropicana had turned into an Orangina - though these days I drank it mostly because I thought it had magical hangover alleviating powers.

How to order one

So if you’re in the city, do you wanna know my favorite spot for a Bacon Egg and Cheese? Okay so walk downstairs from your hotel / airbnb / cousin’s pre-war, blasting the heater way too hot walk up and look around. Walk a block or two right. See a shop that says “Deli” or “Sandwich” or “Cigarettes”? Go in there. Go past the counter, that guy can’t help you - find the overworked dude from some South American or Arabic country with a smock on. Shout “Bacon Egg and Cheese” at the magician and voila, four dollar magic is on the way. I’d say one modification is fine, change the bread, change what kind of cheese, add ketchup whatever - just don’t ask for turkey and a whole wheat wrap with egg whites because then you’re just eating a different sandwich.

Everyone tends to fixate on what the best pizza, bagel, or bacon egg and cheese spot is. Folks, these foods are great in New York because you can get them literally anywhere you are in the city - it’s always good, it’s always cheap, and it’s always fast. I don’t care about the one pizza shop in Philly where I gotta wait in line for 30 minutes that you think is better than Joe’s. Joe’s sucks in my opinion (all due respect), and you’re a moron if you wait 30 minutes for a slice of pizza.

You can walk into one of dozens of delis within walking distance of you and walk out with a hot and delicious sandwich in less than 2 minutes regardless of where you are in the city, and that’s what makes it magical.

So you wanna make it at home? It ain’t gonna be as good, but we can get close.

The Bun

Figure 3. A soft roll and cheese gets my weekday rolling.

Okay so here’s where I might ruffle a couple of feathers, but a bacon egg and cheese belongs on a kaiser roll and nowhere else. Not on a bagel, not on a hero, not on a brioche bun or challah bread, on a kaiser roll. It’s a personal preference, so do what you like - I’m just stating an opinion here folks.

The Bacon

Figure 4. Bacon, the meme food of the 2010s

The bacon you can cook however you like also. I like to bake it because it’s easy to do and makes the bacon crispy, but there’s no set rules. Most delis will cook the bacon in bulk and keep it in a mountain on the grill like a pile of hot gold - but you’re probably not cooking at that volume so choose how you like to do it.

The Egg

Figure 5. Scrambling eggs on a hot pan.

The eggs generally come in two forms, fried and scrambled. There’s merits to both, usually they’re cooked on a hot skillet though and done within about a minute.

The Cheese

American and cheddar are generally the way to go, feel free to choose.

Bacon Egg and Cheese
(serves 1 people)

ingredients:
 - 1 kaiser roll
 - 2 eggs
 - 2 strips bacon
 - 1 slice american cheese

instructions:
it's a sandwich, just cook the ingredients and put them together