The question, at least to my mind, is whether the craziness is home-grown or has some organic roots that predate the owner’s emigration, in this case from Yemen, as hinted above. A friend of a friend, also hailing from the embattled republic, suggests that yes, so-called Crazy Sandwiches do occur naturally there, although she can provide no further details regarding their provenance, having never tried one herself. The article linked near the top, speculating that New York’s famous Chopped Cheese actually has roots in a prep style stretching back to the Arabian Peninsula, provides me with more hope that the sandwich has some clear history, just waiting to be uncovered.
Another potential clue stems from the sandwich’s second name, procured after a follow-up call to the owner, who assured us it was also known as “Majnun.” The word, after some searching and multiple misspellings, turned out to just mean “Crazy” in Arabic, the circularity of this lead making for a fairly decisive dead end, at least for the moment. Some searching reveals that Dean’s Mediterranean Imports in Cincinnati also offers a Majnoun sandwich, but the two share little apparent relation, with this one certainly beating out its Ohioan counterpart in terms of overall folly.
In closing, it’s of course impossible to mention Yemen right now without noting the horrendous human rights abuses being visited upon the country by some of our more sinister cronies, which would not be possible without active US backing and regular arms shipments. For those interested in reversing a tiny bit of this damage, I’m posting a link to offer the occasion for some much-needed charitable giving.