Is not sandwich.

Apparently we have readers.

I know, shocking.

View their (his) comments here.

If you'll click the link, you'll see some lovely craftwork made out of items commonly found in sandwiches.


One of them being this thing:


Is this a sandwich?

Without a doubt, No. Listen, Dan-o and I aren't some sandwich nazis trying to force rigid rules and make and uber-sando world of perfectly formed sandwiches that all fit a myopic sandwichworldview.

Other than the two crucial (yet loosely defined) sandwich ingredients, bread and filling, two important factors come into play.

Firstly, Intent.

Did the sandwich maker intend to make a sandwich? Or were they attempting something else, like a wrap, a piece of art, a sushi roll, or whatever?

Secondly, in the words of Harry Caray, Would you eat it?

Does it look tasty? Does it contain ingredients that please your senses?

In the case of these sando-animal creations, the answer to both is a resounding no.

The person who crafted them, as creative as they are, didn't intend them to be sandwiches. It's an artwork, not an edible.

Secondly, I won't eat a sando made of bologna and wonderbread. It's an insult to the memory of the eponymous Earl.
That said, I would never accuse a person who likes bologna in between two slices of bread of not eating a sandwich (heathens), unless of course, they made it into a a mouse or a cat first, then they should just go back to art school or pre-school, wherever they teach such horrible things.

I understand this is a loose definition, and it may not satisfy some. It's hard to accept, I know, that some things just aren't sandwiches.

Oh, one other thing. Though the address of this blog may mislead you, meat is not a requirement for a sandwich. There's plently of delicious veggie sandos out there that fully qaulify.

Anyway,



This is a man who knows about sandwiches.

Sandwich Links

Hmmm, delicious links:

The Sandwich Project - User submitted Sammies with an ingredient search to find the best out of your meager pantry. Although, some of these submissions are clearly atrocious. There is actually a mayonaise sandwich listed as a recipe. Are you fucking kidding me? Mayonaise and bread? That had to have been submitted by a damn limey. Then again, these are the people that will add chocolate syrup to a glass of milk, shake mixture as hard as possible, and consider it a milkshake.

Serious Sandwiches - Via Serious Eats. Zach Brook knows his sandwiches. Pictures verge on food porn. Especially that turkey one with about a pound of meat on it.

A Hamburger Today - Also via Serious Eats. Hamburgers are sandwiches too! Discussion of the origins of hamburgers, best hamburgers in the US, etc.
(SE is great site, by the way, Mario Batali is one of their bloggers.)

American Sandwiches - Thank You Wikipedia. There's shit here you've probably never heard of. Also responsible for my discovery, (and search) for the mythical hot brown.

Sandwiches That You Will Like - a PBS documentary on Sandwiches in America.

And there's a ton of links on this, so, look it up yourself: Mark your calendars: November 3rd is National Sandwich Day!

Is Sandwich, Is Not Sandwich: Sandwich Sushi

In the spirit of furthering sandwich scholarship on the web, and to move American cuisine closer to a more inclusive and accurate definition of "sandwich", B+M=D presents: Is Sandwich, Is Not Sandwich.

This installment, Sandwich Sushi: (Recipe Here)

Now, my first instinct is to immediately label these rolled delights as decidedly Not Sandwich, and more in the Wrap* category, but the inclusion of traditional sandwich breads in the preparation poses an interesting question. Does a sandwich, contorted and rolled, become un-sandwich?

Unrolled, these Sandwich Sushi, are of course sandwiches. Bread, filling, everything is there. I would argue that where the problem lies, is in the intention, both in preparation, and in consumption.

Consider this hypothetical: a sandwich has been lovingly prepared and set aside for later consumption, at some point the sandwich is either rolled or folded by some unknown process in one's own lunch box, the sandwich is then undoubtedly unrolled and returned to its traditional horizontal plane before consumption. During each phase of this escapade, the sandwich has not once forfeited its original Sandwich nature due to the intention and action of the sandwich preparer.

With this in mind, I cast my vote that Sandwich Sushi be considered Not Sandwich, being that both intended preparation and intended consumption place them well outside the definition of sandwich proper. I would instead propose they be considered a Wrap Variant, substituting traditional yeasted bread in place of commonly used flat bread.

What do you think, Comments Section?

*I am sure we will discuss the Wrap/Sandwich relationship in future posts.