h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What do you consider to be the ultimate sandwich? This *may* end up as a collaborative entry and submitted to <./>peerreview</.>

First up the classics, all on thickish white bread spread with Danish butter: Chip Butty with salt and malt vinegar, Fried Egg butty with salt, freshly ground black pepper and Heinz tomatoe sauce, Bacon Butty with HP sauce.

The word sandwich means different things to different people:

Two rectangular slices of bread with filling.

A baguette (cylindrical roll) sliced in half, with filling.

A bap / round roll / burger bun, sliced in half, with filling.

A slice of bread with stuff balanced on top (an 'open sandwich').

Specify which one you mean when answering.

White bread, butter, good strong cheese, raspberry jam, dijon mustard and black pepper. Oooh, but a well fried egg with a dod of brown sauce is nice too. Until later...
BCNU - Crescent

As a Scouser I am genetically primed to eat anything providing it is placed between two, rectangular pieces of white bread. A baguette is either filled or not. A bap, again is either filled or not. Balancing stuff on top of one piece of bread is some sort of Scandinavian aborition to compensate for their lack of Mothers Pride, toaster.

Rectangular style:

Bacon (brown, crisp, almost burnt) HP sauce, butter melting against the bacon.

Fried egg (yolk must be runny) and mushrooms, with coarse ground pepper.

Baguette:

Chicken, lettuce, mayo, tomato, thinly sliced onion, pepper. Maybe some feta cheese and an olive or two bunged in there as well. And a little pinch of chilli powder. That's just one combination though - the baguette style lends itself to being quite complex!

WA, do they talk about plain bread and pan bread in england?

Another good one is simple good plain bread, buttered. Though whether that's truly a sandwich is questionable - in fact, it's not.

This one is called Beyruth in Brazil (one of my favs):
Syrian bread, salad, fried chicken-strips, special sauce*.
(optional: cheese, onion rings, tomato, roast-beef...)

*special sauce is not entirely unlike a 50:50 mix of Mayonnaise and Ketchup.

This one is called Americano in Brazil (one of my specilities):
Baguette bread, fried ham, molten cheese, salad, tomatoes, onions and a fried egg.

This one has no name yet, my wife does them for me (I luv' em):
Ciabatta bread slices, fried in olive oil covered with molten Roquefort!

Fry the ciabatta slice with the cheese on top of it in a covered fryingpan. The bottom gets crispy, and the top Roquefort melts. Any other cheese with blue fungus does it too (Bavaria Blue, Gorgonzola)

HELL

Hell, that last one is now my supper tonight!

Pan loaf is a Scottish term. The English usually use thin sliced, thick sliced, tin, cob, bloomer or farmhouse. All could be white, brown, wholemeal or granary.

Yeah, it's used in Ireland too. A plain loaf is square, a bit denser, and has a darker crustier crust. A pan one is yer general sliced type oblong thing.

Bomba... Your supper tonight: You'll not be disappointed!

HELL

(Is a Döner Kebap, or a Shoarma, or a döner wrap also a sandwich?)

Gotta go! Concert tonite!

In a baguete or on fresh sliced bought that day from the bakery grannary bread: a thick slice of smoked ham, and a good amoutn of grated unpasturised wenslidale cheese, that has been mixed with some wholegrain English mustard, lettuce can be added too, eitehr romain lettuce, or Gem seems to work well.

Hot sandwich: bacon, thick cut butchers not the pre packed horrible stuff, about four slices bacon should do for one sandwich, two sausages, linchonshire or Newmarket are good, a fried egg. My take on a 'toasted sandwich' of the kind normally made in those toasted snadwich maker machine things.
two thick* slices bread, white works best, thickly butted on both sides. quater inch thick slab of strong mature unpasturised chedder in between them, fried in a non stick pan on as hot a temp as it will go, about five mins a side till almost burnt and the cheese has almost melted, wait before eating it or you'l end up in A and E as the cheese sets fire to the mouth and stomach lining Another good one is with grated Bavarian chedder and well cooked chrisped up streaky bacon sliced into small bits and mixed with the cheese, with a little mayo and wholegrain mustard

It's tough to beat the simple:

Bread of choice, thin sliced ham, cheese of choice (I like swiss), lettuce, FRESH tomato, mayo or other similar salad spread.



Now here's my own creation... I call it a cholesterol sandwich:

It's basically a grilled cheese sandwich....


basically...


Butter two slices of white bread and place on a griddle... put a slice of cheese (whatever kind you like that will melt nicely, cheddar, swiss or even "kraft american") on one piece and a slice of ham on the other...

brown the bread and melt the cheese a bit before flipping the two pieces together...

Put on a plate and smother in left over pork chop gravy!!!!

Sprinkle with creole seasoning!

My mouth is watering...

My cholesterol level is in the medium 200's and I haven't had one of these in years!

Butter* some medium-sliced granary bread; on one slice, thinly spread horseradish sauce, then cover with slices of smoked salmon. Squeeze some lemon juice over the salmon, then add cucumber slices, and grind pepper over the lot. Spread mayo on the other slice, and place on top. Cut into little squares.

RF

* Accept no substitutes!

A sandwich is two distinct pieces of bread with stuff between it. Anything else is just bread with stuff on it or in it - not a sandwich.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SandwichHistory.htm

The secret of a good sandwich is simplicity. In that respect you cannot beat ham and cheese and a piece of lettuce.

Donald

If it's utter, utter simplicity you want...

Take your sliced bread of choice, and butter it thickly. Spread one side with Branston pickle (if you can get it!) - purists insist on the original chunky variety, not the new-fangled "sandwich"-style one with small chunks (I won't even mention the pureed "smooth" variety ). Place thick slabs of strong, mature cheddar over the top, and cover with the other slice of bread.

That's it! Enjoy!

RF

Ah yes! I forgot the Branston. Perfect with cheese and ham.

My ultimate/favourite sandwich is (on white square bread) very crispy bacon, sliced avocado and it has to be a fairly soft avocado, don't like it hard and crunchy, with cranberry sauce and a good amount of salt and pepper! Wierd, but very yummy!

What about just those everyday things? You know the ones you just slap together? Like peanut butter and cherry tomatoes, or spring onions and humous, or erm....melted cheese and pickle or something...you know things you can knock up without having anything in the fridge.


(yes okay I may just love the topic and not have anything real to say)