If this chapter is about anything, it’s about integrity. Not the integrity of an individual but the integrity of the sandwich. And make no mistake, the hamburger is a sandwich: the great, all-powerful, American sandwich, but a sandwich nonetheless. Burgers and sandwiches are a big part of the menu at Knife, especially at lunch, and I’m really proud of our creations.
When I talk about integrity in sandwiches, I’m talking about a value that has largely become irrelevant in our current culinary culture. Integrity refers to many facets of the sandwich. Structural integrity—does it maintain its shape as you eat it, or do all the ingredients squirt out the sides? Do the internal ingredients last through every bite, or at the end, are you left with a handful of soggy bread? Textural integrity—do the varying ingredients offer a tapestry of textures, from crunchy to smooth, that make each bite a rousing experience? Integrity of flavor—do the flavors work together, or has the chef tried to pile so much on one sandwich that the result is an indecipherable babble of tastes? And, of course, integrity of ingredients—are you using bread and pungent condiments as a cloak to mask ill-prepared, insipid, mystery meats, or are you treating the sandwich as a way to honor the best ingredients you’ve got?
Sorry for the rant, but in the rush to use the sandwich as a vehicle for everything, food culture has obliterated a sense of what a good sandwich is. Fast-food culture is the worst offender, where the Double Down from KFC comes to mind (bacon and melted cheese between two fried chicken fillets) as an example of a so-called sandwich completely devoid of integrity. Not just to pick on the lowbrow, the high-priced gourmet burgers created by chefs strike me equally as lacking in integrity too. Putting Wagyu beef, foie gras, black truffles, caviar, blue cheese, and mushrooms between two pieces of butter-soaked brioche is both egregious and a structural mess.
This chapter describes the care we put into our sandwiches. You’ll see that there’s a precision and a simplicity in each one of them. And if you make sandwiches with simplicity and integrity, the ingredients will have a chance to speak for themselves, and the whole thing will be a pleasure to eat.
