Few foods are as perfect for fusion as sandwiches, which whether in Dagwood monumental style or miniature snack size allow for a variety of differing ingredients to share one bready meeting place. Over the span of one week I consumed four fusion-oriented sandwiches, prepared with varying degrees of success: 1 - Paneer Achari Tikki / Polenta / Orange Tomatoes / Cilantro / Tamarind & Date Chutney: A leftover serving of these delectable cheese kebabs paved the way for a vaguely Indian-themed sandwich, using the ubiquitous tamarind date chutney (familiar as part of the omnipresent trio of condiments offered at Indian restaurants), also available in bottle form. A previous attempt at haphazardly pairing lamb shami kebab with polenta having proven successful, I embarked on the larger scale effort of mixing mild corn pap with Subcontinental flavors, fresh herbs and cherry tomatoes. The result was possibly the most successful of these four sandwiches, and also the only photograph taken under ideal circumstances. Fair warning that the backdrop will only grow more rumpled, and the staging more haphazard, as we continue. 2 – ‘Big Trouble in Little China’: A pairing of Sichuan braised pork, pickled cabbage and hoisin sauce, purchased from Morris Sandwich Shop, a grilled cheese place located on a former drug corner, itself abandoned due to the closing of a corner deli which provided much-needed snacks and shelter. Morris is attached to Glady’s, which I haven’t visited since it transitioned from sandwich shop to gussied-up nouveau-Caribbean spot, but the sandwich was well-constructed and ideally-sized at a modest $7.50, a welcome rejoinder to the recent trend of oversized $12 behemoths. May not look like much here, but the mild homemade flatbread was the perfect pairing to the piquant fillings, its nice, bing-y texture absorbing the intense ginger taste of the house-prepared hoisin. 3 – ‘The Reubenese’: Less successful was the Reubenese, which attempts a similar feat of transference by subbing in Chinese hot mustard and mozzarella cheese, and which appears to have dented in transit, following a pickup from Boomwich’s Atlantic Ave. location. Based on the music and décor choices, Boomwich is an old-school hip-hop themed eatery in the Eddie Huang mold, the sandwich offshoot of the similarly eccentric PeteZaaz, whose cheese slice I enjoyed (mostly for the inclusion of fragrant fresh marjoram) but whose weirder offerings I never got to sample before their summer 2014 closing. The mild cheese does a good job of muting the other flavors, but the recently opened Boomwich otherwise seems a bit shaky in terms of balance, the sauerkraut so heavy on brine that it overpowers the other ingredients. 4 – Tortilla Sandwich: As the centerpiece of a Valentine’s Night tapas feast, I prepared a hefty Spanish tortilla/omelet, sourced from this recipe, which recommends serving the leftovers on crusty bread with aioli. I tweaked this suggestion a bunch, both to accommodate ingredients on hand and to continue the fusion trend, sandwiching the egg and potato colossus between two halves of thin Turkish pide (purchased from Francela on the UES), supplemented with homemade pesto, mayo, heirloom tomatoes and purple kale, a feast of colors and that’s mostly lost in this cruddy, hastily snapped photo. I may have also went a bit overboard on the toppings, creating a sandwich literally spilling over with a plethora of international ingredients.
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The coded language of snacks, sandwiches and seasonings, in NYC and beyond.
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