Shiner/cb
Evenkeel,
You are right about Philly fans. We are a rabid, bleed-to-death bunch, that's for sure. Your wife grew up in Cheletenham, huh? That's right outside the city limits from where I grew up in Philly (Lawncrest, St. William's Parish). I now live a bit farther up in NE Philly (Pennypack Park, Maternity BVM Parish)
As to cheesesteaks........yeah, they can be anywhere (even Waco, Texas :D ) so long as you have the proper ingredients that except for one thing, you can probably buy anywhere in the country. That being said, what makes a TRUE Philly cheesesteak is the AMOROSO roll. It's ingredients are SECRET (there was a lawsuit re stealing the recipe by a competitor of Amoroso's). Unless you can have AMOROSO'S send you a box of their rolls (I believe that you can order them too), you are missing out on the BIG part of the cheesesteak. As to the ingredients, Steak-Ums (thinly sliced steak strips; emphasis on THINLY); melted cheese (I like Provolone and detest that yellow Cheez-Whiz out of a jar stuff) and onions (wid or wid-out: wid-out for ME as I hate onions). There ya go, perfection in two hands. Oh yeah, a proper cheesesteak or hoagie MUST be eaten with TWO hands. If you can only NEED one hand, it ain't long enough. No such thing as MIDGET hoagies.
What passes for a cheesesteak/hoagie (subs, to you aliens) roll in some parts of the USA is laughable. So, while you might have the meat, the cheese, the fried onions; if you don't have the ROLL, it ain't the real deal.