Choosing your bread
As a rule of thumb, always use the best bread you can find; you should want to eat the bread you use with or without the filling. Not only is your bread the vehicle, it also plays a big role in providing flavour and texture.
Next step, think about what you will be ‘sandwiching’ and whether your bread is appropriate. Soft, moist or saucy fillings generally need a more robust bread with a denser texture to help maintain structure and a good crust to contrast with the soft centre of the sandwich.
Crisp, crunchy and drier fillings can be housed between slices of softer, doughier bread, where the textures will complement each other perfectly. Obviously, if you are a white-sliced kind of gal or guy, then only this will do. Always go with what you love.
Spreading your bread
Not only does a slick of butter, mayo, mustard, dressing or sauce spread on your bread add a layer of flavour to your sandwich, it also adds texture and moisture. Importantly, your choice of spread will create a barrier between the bread and filling, preventing your sandwich from becoming soggy.
Whatever spread you choose, take it right to the edges – no dry corners please. Your last mouthful should be as good as your first.
To toast or not to toast
Some sandwiches call out for the bread to be soft and yielding. When the bread can hold its own against the filling, leave it dense, doughy and untoasted – I’m thinking of the Twice-fried hand-cut chip butties.
If your sandwich is on the moist side and you don’t want the bread to soak up all the juices, a gentle toast under a hot grill or a few minutes in a griddle pan will help the bread to keep its integrity, and stop it collapsing into a soggy mess in front of your eyes. Toasting and griddling your bread also adds a delicious nutty, toasty flavour to your sandwich.
This book is packed full of posh recipe delights designed to give you the ultimate sandwich experience. Bread has been chosen for its texture and taste, but so that it complements the filling rather than overshadowing it or leaving the filling to sing alone.
Spreads and fillings have been chosen for taste, texture and deliciousness; accompaniments, such as pickles and slaws, for their supporting role to the main event.
A few hints if you do decide to get experimental with your fillings:
• Something bitter is great balanced with something sweet
• Creamy needs a little acid hit
• Crunchy loves squidgy softness
• Salty goes so well with sweet
• Fatty needs something healthy
• Healthy always needs something indulgent
If you are not going to eat your sandwich immediately, wet ingredients such as tomatoes, lettuce, slaws and pickles can be stored separately and added when you are ready to serve.
How to eat your sandwich
Most sandwiches can be eaten with your hands, pulled from a paper bag, wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, sliced, diced and cut into wedges for a picnic, a buffet spread or your packed lunchbox.
Posh sandwiches sometimes require an accessory to facilitate the eating thereof. Serve afternoon tea on dainty plates, sandwich cakes with a little fork, and always have a pile of napkins at the ready for messy fingers.
Most importantly, take the time to sit and enjoy your sandwich. It is posh, after all.
