Sandwiches
A meal you hold in your hand
It is a debate that has been passionately argued by culinary philosophers for centuries: Do sandwiches taste better when eaten standing over the kitchen sink, or when they are picked up from a paper plate?
I am firmly in the kitchen-sink camp. To me, paper plates are almost no better for sandwiches than china plates, which are practically like eating them with knives and forks.
I spent a lot of time standing in front of my sink the other day when I made six types of sandwiches. All of them were hot sandwiches – that is, each one had to be heated before it was ready to be eaten. I’d like to say that was my original intention, but actually the truth of it came to me like this:
Hillary the photographer: “Hey, all of these are hot sandwiches.”
Me: “Really? Huh. What do you know about that?”
So I definitely intentionally set out to make six hot sandwiches, each unusual in its own way. Some were relatively easy; some took more time and effort, some were decidedly fancy. All were awfully good.
I began with a spicy fried chicken sandwich, which I modeled on the chicken sandwich sold at Popeye’s. The fast-food chain began selling the sandwiches two years ago, and they immediately became insanely popular. At least one person cut in line to get one and was stabbed to death.
I wanted to re-create the sandwich at home, but I faced a major impediment: I have never