10 more foods that make America great

Philly cheesesteak
A true iconic food can often be identified when rivals demand credit for its invention. (No one's scrambling to attach their name to chipped beef on toast, are they?)  One such endless fight simmers on at the corner of S. 9th St. and E. Passyunk Ave. in South Philadelphia, where the proprietors of Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks continue their endless skirmishes.

Index Stock Imagery No one will question you if you ask for provolone, but Cheez Whiz has become the cheese of choice.

The timeline is relatively clear-cut.  In 1930, Pat Oliveri is said to have tossed sliced beef onto the grill and offered it on an Italian roll. Geno's didn't come until much later — the location opened in 1966 — but founder Joe Vento insists he was the one to add cheese to the meat, making the sandwich worthy of fame.

No surprise that the cheese claim, like most everything else, is in dispute; Pat's insists on credit for the eventual choice of Cheez Whiz as a key element. There are plenty of other cheesesteak joints in Philly, but this now-legendary rivalry is so fierce that if his competitor was shuttered, Pat Oliveri's nephew Frank told Fortune, “I'd buy the place and open it up again. And call it Geno's. And fight with myself.”

What's beyond dispute, though, is just how essential the cheesesteak has become as a symbol of the City of Brotherly Love.  Its calories-be-damned gooeyness, and the infamously rigid counter lingo (with? without? C'mon, already!), only add to the legend. The famous aren't allowed to leave Philadelphia, it seems, without a cheesesteak pit stop.

Yes, they're gut-bustingly good, but here's the thing: Without the attitude, the cheesesteak would be a minor fad. Vento recently caught flak when he posted a sign saying, “This is America. When ordering, speak English.” Time for apologies? Not hardly. It's Philly, after all. Maybe you can get away with asking for provolone, but courtesy costs 50 cents extra.