Last week in our Sandwich of the Week column, we examined the rise of the super torta, which is like a regular torta blown up with a bicycle pump, containing not one but several main ingredients stacked high on a giant round bun. Often still less than $10, it has appeared in several places around town including Tortas Neva in Corona and Don Pepe in Sunset Park.

Of course, mind-bogglingly giant sandwiches are not unique to Mexican sandwichcraft. The Italians have also been doing it for decades. In fact, there are many origin stories for the Italian hero, one of which goes all the way back to baker Giovanni Amato, of Portland, Maine in 1902. You might call him the Italian equivalent of the Earl of Sandwich. I happen to think his sandwich wasn’t very big, though, because the Italian baguette as we know it didn’t become popular here until the 1920s. My own theory is that the Italian hero didn’t become a thing until the 1950s, as Italian Americans found themselves more prosperous and Italian American fare (as seen in the neighborhood pizza parlor) became a dominant force in America.