the Art of Sandwich 🥪

Taking the humble vehicle to delicious heights

Let’s face it, sandwiches have become dull and boring.

An afterthought meant to be scarfed down on the go or when in a rush.

Culinary vehicles of convenience, if you will.

There are too many underwhelming, and frankly horrific, sandwiches being whipped up that it’s time for an intervention.

Once a month or so we’ll take an iconic sandwich (or just one that I’m crazy about) and do it justice.

When a sandwich is properly made eating can be a transcendental experience.

Be honest, when’s the last time you ate a sandwich and sat in deep thought, moved by how delicious all of the components blended and melded together?

Probably too long, or worst yet, never.

While this is merely an intro of upcoming delicious things, let’s take a quick look at what makes a great sandwich.

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The World of Sandwich 🌎 🥪

Before looking at specifics let’s take a quick tour through the world of sandwiches.

There’s no way that every sandwich will be listed, that would take all day… but here’s a quick look at some notable or iconic sando’s.

Number 6 is a very interesting category that I am full-on into. The Italian Sub also can be referred to as a Hoagie, Hero or Grinder depending on what part of USA 🇺🇸 you’re in.

There will be a full Substack on this so save any debating for then 😉 😂

Making Sandwiches Great Again

So what makes a great sandwich? 🥪

Bread 🍞

This should be the starting point but is usually the afterthought.

You can make an absolute banger of a sandwich with quality bought salamis, cheeses and vegetables. Only to be submarined (pun intended) by bland, flavorless, characterless bread.

We will probably hit a few bread recipes upcoming but many times it’s just a matter of getting a good loaf that is appropriate for the sandwich you are making.

Some sandwiches need an enriched dough. Others call for a lean dough. Some need a firm crust, others need a soft shell.

As the bread is providing the foundation for the sandwich: crust, crumb texture, shape, wheat type and overall flavor are all essential to getting to Sandwich Nirvana.

You’ll also see great debates over how to properly cut the bread. Sliced all the way? Or at an angle leaving the back attached, called a “hinge”.

Meat

This will, again, vary on the sandwich. Suffice it to say that your local grocery “value label” cold cuts… just aren’t gonna cut it here 😉

By all means if you’re packing up lunches for the kids to send off to school and on a budget, understandable.

But for making any of the sandwich masterpieces that we will be exploring, if calling for cold cuts… get good quality. Boars Head is passable quality and available everywhere so excuses are in short reply really.

Above and beyond Boars Head, you’ve got domestic producers like La Quercia and Olympus that make top notch charcuterie and cold cuts. And most quality supermarkets have quality imported Jamon, Prosciutto and Mortadella…

Confession: gimme some toasted focaccia, smeared with butter & mortadella… 🙌

Or focaccia, calabrian salami and aged provolone 🤤 ⬇️

These meats should be sliced thin… extremely thin. Your deli department will have slicers that can do the job for you. Example: Mortadella should be thin enough for light to pass through and make the green pistachios appear like stained-glass jewels in a window 🙌

Outside of cold cuts, there’s a world of braised or roasted meats for particular sandwiches as well. The high heat griddle also serves as an essential piece of cookware for cheesesteaks and the like.

For certain sandwiches like Banh Mi, I don’t even want to see one unless it has a proper pork pate smeared on one side of the baguette.

Cheese

Again quality here is important but in some cases the cheap, nostalgic cheeses are the way to go in certain instances. Thickness is also a concern here. You shouldn’t be biting through a block of cheese to get into the center.

Many sandwiches have the cheese placed, or melted, directly on the bread to act as moisture barrier so the bread will not sog-out.

Garnishes

You can make it your way, just like at Subway 😑 , but many avid sandwich connoisseurs will get into heated debates about what is or is not appropriate.

Shaved lettuce, tomato, peppers, onions, shaved cheeses, relish, olives (essential for muffaletta), pickled vegetables… there’s a whole garnish gamut depending on the particular sandwich you’re making.

Condiments

No easier way to start a hoagie fight than say “needs mayonnaise” 😂

Mayo is a controversial condiment in many Italian sandwich circles. Oil and Vinegar can be as well. (Red wine vin, not balsamic!)

A proper Cuban must have French’s Yellow… no other mustard. Won’t explain.

And British sandwiches in general are goated 🐐 because they butter both sides of the bread. Game changer (Do this on a cheese, tomato and chutney sandwich. Heaven).

Ratios

Putting all these components together one thing that must be maintained at all times in a great sandwich is proper ratio.

If you’re getting quality ingredients you don’t want delicious cold cuts getting swallowed up by too much bread or cheese. Doused in so much vinegar all the fatty goodness is washed away.

Same with pickles. A perfect cuban has little bursts of pickle brightness that compliment the rich pork and cheese.

Sometimes the ratios are very delicate as with a croque madame: ham and cheese doused in bechamel with an egg. Seems too right and one sided? Wrong. With the correct amount of salty ham you are in luxury territory for your taste buds.

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There’s more to say but that’s a good intro to get you drooling.

Keep an eye out… tomorrow is dropping the first iconic sandwich… and it’s a flavor bomb.

Don’t miss it! Make sure you’re subbed and share this free post with any other sandwich lovers to come on this edible journey with us 🙌

PS: Comment below with your favorite sandwich… we may be making the ultimate version soon!