For several years (yes, in college) I was a professional sandwich maker. As such, I feel I'm qualified to comment on the state of sandwich affairs in most kitchens. You're all just doing it wrong. I know, I know, you're only doing it the way your mom taught you. Well, I'm not blaming you or your mom, but we need to straighten you out.
First off, you need to choose the right foundation: the bread. You're probably using some lousy "whole wheat" bread that's so soft it practically rips when you spread the condiments across it. You know why? Because what you think is nice, healthy whole wheat is actually crappy enriched white bread made with unbleached flour for that nice brown color. In other words, it's no good, at least for the purposes of making a serious sandwich. next time you're at the grocery store, pick out a nice whole grain (not just whole wheat) or multigrain loaf -- I'm a big fan of Natural Ovens of Manitowok's line, especially their "Hunger Filler" bread. What you're looking for is a firm texture with a high fiber content. If the bread you pick up lists more than a gram or two of sugar, put it down.
The Ingredients
Other acceptable options are rolls and bagels. While I've made sandwiches using some pretty strange flavors -- a reuben on a cinnamon-raisin bagel is actually pretty good -- I'd stick with the basics until you're ready to experiment. Kaiser or onion roll, plain or onion bagel. (Incidentally, if you're going to go the bagel route, don't buy the ones in a bag from a company that also sells english muffins. Get them from the bakery department, or an actual bagel bakery.)
Now, the condiments. Most people only put condiments on one side of the bread. This is a mistake for two reasons. One, the condiments will provide a buffer between the bread and other wet ingredients, keeping the bread from getting soggy. Two, condiments add that extra oomph to a sandwich; if you only put your mustard on one piece of bread, you're only at half-power.
For beginners, I recommend just two condiments: mayonaise and mustard. This may seem limiting, but there are literally hundreds of mustards out there, so it really isn't so bad. I suggest a nice spicy or honey mustard to begin with, but if you're feeling timid, good ol' yellow will do. Some people prefer the flavor of Miracle Whip over real mayo, but I find it too tart.
Next, fillings. Here is where our moms steered us wrong the most. If yours was like mine, she put three or four slices of meat and one slice of cheese into the sandwich and called it a day. That might have been fine when we were seven, but the recipe didn't change when we got older. No wonder most of us were still hungry after lunch in high school, we were still eating kids' portions!
Think about this: you had, what, a cup of coffee and a breakfast bar this morning. Three or four hours later, your stomach is growling in anticipation of lunch. Is it fair to your stomach to bust out a skimpy little lunch and force it to wait 'til 6 or 7 for a decent meal? No. The Europeans are correct on this one, eating a healthy lunch and having a light dinner is better for you, and more likely to get you through that afternoon stretch without a 4-o'clock crash every day.
No, three slices of meat just ain't enough. The optimum is two ounces of meat, one ounce of cheese. In visual terms, that's about six to eight slices of deli-sliced ham and two of your average slices of swiss cheese. You could use more, but I wouldn't recommend it.
There are, of course, classic combinations of meats and cheeses -- the aforementioned ham and swiss, for instance. Roast beef and cheddar is a good combo, as are corned beef and swiss (add sauerkraut and mustard on rye bread and you've got yourself a reuben), turkey and provolone and tuna salad and (melted) American.
As for other fillings, the classics are lettuce, sliced tomato and/or pickles. You might also try sprouts or avocado, especially with turkey or chicken salad. Veggies are an important part of a well-built, well-balanced sandwich: they add crispness, crunch and a bit of moisture to the mix, and also complement the flavors of the meat and cheese. For your average sandwich, I'd just use two slices of tomato and a couple leaves of lettuce.
The Construction
As an example, let's make that ham and swiss sandwich.
Place two pieces of bread on a plate (or slice open your roll/bagel and open it up) and get out a butter knife. Open the mayo, get a good amount on your knife, and spread it on one piece of bread, starting from the middle and working your way out to the crust. You want to coat as much of the bread as you can, within reason. Do the same with the mustard on the other slice. start layering your ham onto the bread with the mustard, folding each slice of ham in half on the bread and alternating which side the fold is on -- in other words, if the first slice's fold is on the right, the next one should be on the left, the one after that is facing you, the one after that is facing away, and so on. There are two reasons for layering like this: it keeps the sandwich balanced and stable, and it makes it feel bigger to your mouth, which will help psych you into feeling like you ate more than you actually did.
Now add your cheese, layering the slices perpendicular to each other on top of the ham. Next comes the lettuce, which you've washed and torn into sandwich-sized pieces. Then the tomatoes, arranged so they're overlapping in the center of the stack but covering a good amount of ground. Finally, place the mayo-coated bread on top.
Why that order? There really is a reason, and it has to do with the flavors of the condiments and the stability of the ingredients. First, mustard and ham are perfect companions, flavor-wise, and you want them to be together when they hit your tongue. The mayo, on the other hand, insulates the bread from the tomato, keeping the former from getting soaked by the latter. As for the order of the fillings, the ham forms a solid base upon which the cheese can rest. The cheese and tomatoes would slip and slide against each other, making for a messy sandwich, if it weren't for the lettuce in between.
Of course, sandwiches aren't usually eaten alone. You're going to want something else -- the proverbial "fries with that." Fries, however, are not on the menu in most people's lunchbags. I'd pair our newly made ham'n'swiss with an apple and maybe some potato chips. You might also consider pretzels or a couple of chocolate chip cookies, and I'm a big fan of Pirate's Booty cheese puffs.
paul / December 15, 2003 11:33 PM
Excellent tips. The layering thing is key.
One thing to add - whoever said that sliced bread is the best thing since sliced bread, was wrong. I'll slice my own bread thank you, thicker than the automatic machines do, and slightly on the bias, to make it easier to bite into.
I highly recommend the Lithuanian Rye from the local Baltic Bakery, availalble at many large supermarkets, as the best unsliced bread that you don't need to go to a bakery for.