There are many twists and turns in a Reuben recipe. Depending on which sandwich shop you enter, a Reuben can be quite different from region to region, neighborhood to neighborhood. The bread, meat, cheese and condiments are all up for grabs. Now here comes Arby’s with its own spin on the classic deli delicacy.

Here’s the blueprint: thinly sliced corned beef, natural Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on toasted thick-sliced marble rye bread.

Total calories: 610. Fat grams: 27. Dietary fiber: 3 grams. Carbs: 55 grams. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $3.99 (your mileage may vary).

If you’re old-school, you expect a massive, messy, melting Reuben to cover the whole plate. In New York-style delicatessens, Reubens are smothered with gooey, stretchy cheese, and you need a knife and fork and shovel — and sometimes a friend — to eat them. And you still take home half a sandwich for later.

The traditional Reuben in New York City, where the Reuben allegedly was invented, is made with corned beef, Swiss, ‘kraut and Russian dressing on grilled rye bread. It’s served on a plate. You generally don’t get a Reuben to go. Good corned beef doesn’t travel very well. Plus, the sandwich would leak through the bag by the time you left the gum-snapping woman at the cash register near the front door.

I have to say that the Reuben was “allegedly” invented by New York City restaurant owner Arnold Reuben because there are a couple of pretty believable claims coming out of Nebraska. As a true deli customer might say, “I don’t want to get involved.”

Arby’s take on a classic Reuben is startling and, heck, pretty tasty. Change is good. And anything that’s got sauerkraut on it is worth a try. Sauerkraut is the unsung hero of the entire sandwich-topping industry. If you limit ‘kraut to hot dogs, you’re cheating yourself.

Arby’s starts with marble rye bread, a hearty sandwich loaf with swirls of rye and dark pumpernickel. Arby’s bread is sliced thicker, and it’s softer and airier than a crusty deli rye. If you’re not familiar with marble rye, that’s the bread Jerry stole from the old lady outside Schnitzer’s Bakery on “Seinfeld.”

Arby’s warms the corned beef, Swiss and ‘kraut and piles them on toasted marble rye. The bread is slathered with Thousand Island dressing on top and bottom. No quibble there. It’s not unusual to sub Thousand Island for Russian dressing.

A classic Reuben is grilled and much greasier. Here’s where Arby’s goes off the menu. Arby’s Reuben looks and feels like a sandwich. The sandwich is cut in half, and you pick it up and eat it with your hands. It’s served wrapped in paper. If you tried to pick up a Reuben at, say, the Carnegie Deli in New York City, you’d be scrubbing your hands like a surgeon for a month before you got all the cheese off.

And here’s the biggie: Arby’s also offers a Reuben made with sliced roast turkey instead of corned beef. I realize that many people are making healthier food choices, and turkey Reubens have been around for years … but a toasted, not grilled, Reuben made with turkey is blasphemy to grease-addicted classic-Reuben lovers. And yet, I liked the Arby’s Reuben. Go figure.

Arby’s has 3,500 restaurants coast to coast. The Reuben Sandwich is on its permanent menu.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B2.