The idea of replacing a more boring green like lettuce in a sandwich with a collection of herbs is exciting! In such a lineup of big flavors, the nominal star of the show, the Kalbas, is almost an afterthought, but it works.
In May, the Tribunal will be covering the Iranian Sāndevich-e Kālbās, the Kathi Roll from Kolkata, and the Keema Pav from Mumbai
The rye crust was too thick, brittle when it should be strong enough to hold together yet hard and impenetrable when I wanted to bite through it, unleavened and dense, with the molasses flavor of dark rye.
It’s colorful and has an interesting variety of textures, the soft and moist outer layer of egg and crepe studded with toasty sesame seeds and little pungent bursts of scallion barely holding the crisp fried crackers and cabbage inside
Toasting does a really nice job of bringing the sandwich together, the cheese melting into the garlicky porkfat of the salami, mingling the brine of the pepperoncinis and the pungent mustard into the crumb of the bread.
The spice mix hit my sweet spot, hot enough that I felt it, that pain-high of a dish that’s good and hot, the clarity of thought that arises even as your nose runs and your eyes water up.
I will be taking my cue from Tarantino and talking thematically rather than chronologically. To paraphrase the wisdom of Grease, some of these items just go together, like shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom.
It was soft, it tasted like cheese, the mouthfeel was cheeselike, it had the sharpness of cheddar punctuated by the savory Coney sauce and the pungent bites of pickle, onion, and mustard. It shouldn’t have worked but it did.
The pita bread was slit open and filled with a thin layer of a meat mixture that stayed pleasingly moist after baking, mildly flavored with onion and garlic, with pickles on the side to act as palate cleansers between bites.
Combining the sausage and the tomato sauce deadened the unique but subtle flavors of each a bit, but the combined flavor was good, and the butter kept the sandwich from being too dry. A solid combination, but nothing I’d rush to repeat.
The sharp mustard has a bit more bite than a typical yellow American mustard but between it and the sliced onion there’s enough of a pungent, acidic punch to cut through the richness of butter and a thick slice of cheese.
The buckwheat crepe was soft and flexible but pulled apart easily. This galette became almost an equal partner in the flavor, and its earthy, nutty flavors complemented the sweetly savory sausage well.
The beef-and-pork patty brings to mind chorizo while the sauce hits sweet, sour, and savory notes, again paprika-forward, while the shoestring potatoes are crisp and salty and fun to bite into.
Jim Behymer (405)I like sandwiches.
I like a lot of other things too but sandwiches are pretty great
Crit (27)I'm a mother of two boys. I work selling organic produce to gullible locals, and in my spare time I run as far as I can. Oh, and I live in Australia, married to a US citizen.
Drew (14)I'm a transgender weirdo who loves music, books, comics, and all kinds of other geeky crap. I edit an arts/music/culture magazine in my hometown of Richmond VA (rvamag.com). But let's not talk about my day job. Let's talk about food. I love food.
Brian (7)I'm a tax guy and technical writer living in the city known to its locals as The Big 'Ago. I self-identify as a fighter against culinary dogma, a sandwich lover, and an overly-earnest hot dog enthusiast.
juliachildish (4)No denying it, I like the sensual things of the world, especially good food and drink, though I'm no snob when it comes to either. A background in American cultural history and food studies makes me approach the world with a desire for contextualization and connection on the way to synthesis.
Thom (1)I'm a seafood-obsessed environmental scientist from North Carolina currently enduring the pain of living in a landlocked state. I spend most of my free time thinking about baseball, history, Shaw Bros. movies and weird synthesizer music.
Marinus (1)A South African now living in Australia, after 12 years in New Zealand and 4 in Ireland. Has worked as an academic researcher for the past decade, which is only slightly less time than it took him to fulfil his promise of writing an entry for the blog.
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