A sandwich made with sauerkraut, ham and cheese and usually served on rye bread.
The Reuben—a fried sandwich made with rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut—takes its name from its inventor, Arnold Reuben, the owner of a New York restaurant. According to his daughter, Reuben created the sandwich in 1914, but it did not become popular until 1956 when it won an American sandwich contest sponsored by the National Kraut Packers Association (by kraut, these packers mean sauerkraut). Reuben’s own name is biblical in origin, his namesake being the Old Testament Reuben whose brother, Joseph, became a counsellor to the Egyptian pharaoh. In Hebrew, Reuben’s name means Behold, a son, a name he received because his mother prayed for a son so her husband would love her.