Ode to the sandwich
- April 8, 2009 7:22 AM |
- By Elizabeth Bridge
By Elizabeth Bridge, CBC Digital Archives
Is there anything as appealing as a well-made sandwich? Fred Penner doesn't think so; his song Sandwiches is an ode to the one-handed lunch staple. Sandwich love probably stems from fondly remembered school days when it was something you looked forward to all morning. (Never mind that in reality, most of us were mightily sick of bologna or tuna or peanut butter by mid-October.)
Our favourite sandwiches: smoked sausage Reuben, anyone?
(AP Photo/Larry Crowe)
A sandwich is a handy thing in a crisis; there's a 1997 radio clip on the CBC Digital Archives in which volunteers make sandwiches for flood relief workers helping to combat the rising Red River in Manitoba.
But what really got me thinking about sandwiches this week was a website I came across called Scanwiches. Predictably, it features a daily picture of a sandwich in cross-section, and it got me wishing there was a Vietnamese bánh mì place closer to CBC. We could also use an outpost of California Sandwiches, purveyors of Toronto's finest Italian sandwiches – but their goods are so messy with sauce I doubt a scan could ever do them justice.
More of my favourite sandwiches: at home, I like to make a grilled cheese (old cheddar only, please) with a smear of mango chutney and a slice of apple or pear. The chutney is inspired by a long-gone Winnipeg restaurant that served what they called the Big Sandwich – as I recall, it had havarti cheese, lettuce and chutney on pumpernickel bread. Another one I think of wistfully was from a deli I worked at in university: tuna, tomato and cream cheese on spongy fergassa (cheese and onion) bread.
What do you like to put between two slices of bread?
About the Authors
- Elizabeth Bridge is a producer with CBC's Digital Archives project. She got her start in the kitchen baking brownies and making fudge but is still trying to get pastry right.
- Andrea Chiu
is an associate producer at CBC Radio Digital. Though she loves to eat, cook and discuss food,
don't ask her to bake. It never turns out well. She tweets as @TOfoodie on Twitter and organizes food and wine events in Toronto called FoodieMeet.
- Amber Hildebrandt
works for CBCNews.ca in Toronto. Growing up on a farm in Manitoba, she acquired an insatiable appetite, but it was during a stint in Japan that she developed her discerning tastebuds and foodie ways.
- Tara Kimura
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca.
- Andree Lau
is a CBC web reporter in Calgary. Her journalism career includes seven years as a CBC-TV reporter. Her own blog called "are you gonna eat that?" chronicles her eating adventures (including sampling snake and camel hoof tendon).
- Jessica Wong
is a CBCNews.ca writer who loves to eat and cook, as well as discuss, read and watch programming about food, sometimes all at once.
- Kevin Yarr
, CBCNews.ca's writer in Prince Edward Island, wrote about food and beer for national and regional magazines before joining the CBC. He acquired a desire for new tastes on his first trip to Europe, and an appreciation of eating locally and in season when he finally settled down on P.E.I.
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Comments (9)
Nothings better then cream cheese(herb and garlic), bacon, any fried meat doused in hot sauce, and italian dressing, lettuce, olives and cheese. Melt that disaster in the microwave for 25 seconds and that is a MEAN sandwhich.
Pumpernickel, horseradish, havarti, corned beef, lettuce and mayo.
When I was around 7, I ate a tomato sandwich almost every day at school. Usually it had mayo, worchestershire sauce, black pepper, lettuce, and thick-cut tomato on thick-cut bread(I was not that handy with a knife). That is a good sandwich, if you like a wet one.
Chicken salad with celery and onion, mayo, pepper, that's a dependable sandwich.
Hm. Getting a little hungry......
cucumbers, tomatoes, ham, and layers of lettuce between rye bread!!
Heirloom tomato, micro arugula, and crisped up prosciutto with a touch of basil mayo : PAT
Tomato, Bacon, Mayo and Peanut Butter (yes, Peanut Butter!) on thick, toasted white bread. With a big frosty glass of cold milk! YUM! That is what I am having for dinner now!
Peanut butter with bread and butter pickles - gorgeous! The sweet crunch with the creamy peanut butter - a guilty pleasure for sure!
My Dad used to make the best raw onion sandwiches ever. Slice the onions thinly. Put them into a heat proof bowl. Pour boiling water over, to get out the harshest of the oils (so his theory went!) Drain, shake a tsp. of sugar over them and shake some vinegar over that. Mix well and drain. Layer onion slices on thickly buttered white bread - and accompany with a glass of Ice cold milk. Best eaten before bed on a Friday or Saturday night!
And for pure sinfulness - or a child's birthday party, which was the only time I ever got these - milk chocolate bar sandwich. Just as it sounds - you can't go wrong for taste! All things in moderation.
it's funny how peanut butter features into so many suggestions! one of my childhood favs was peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on fresh white bread. as with some of the above, it goes great with a glass of cold milk!
Your choice of deli meat (I like roasted chicken), Tomatoes, red onion, green leaf lettuce, dijon, mayo, salt and pep, cheddar cheese (mild, med, white it doesn't matter, any type of multi grain bread.
Polish pickles on the side.
I've always believed nothing beats a classic ham and cheese sandwich (cheddar, c'est better). Or I did, until I had a version of it called "the DaVinci" at a little haunt called Scallions in Saratoga Springs, NY.
This DiVinci's code: a grilled version made with an apricot chutney and creamy havarti on a light rye bread. To. Die. For.