Sandwich Love and a Quest

My history with sandwiches, like many others I’m sure, starts way back in my humble tupperware lunchbox with a very basic and monotonous beginning; fom the age of ooooh about 5 till 11 my packed lunch consisted of 1 white bread sandwich spread with margerine and marmite and was accompanied day in, day out, by a solitary chunk of edam, no exaggeration, my bother got honey sarnies, god forbid we ever got the wrong lunch box. I remember gazing longingly at the other childrens extavagent lunch affairs but knew that crisps and chocolate or sweets were not to be. To be honest though, the main event I was quite happy with, I’ve always loved Marmite and could quite happily still eat it evey day – as long as the spread was pushed right to the edges, and at that age I knew no better concerning the white pappy bread.

My experience with the sandwich has come on in leaps and bounds since then with a slightly shaky period of gastronomic wilderness in my late teens where pretty much every meal was served between 2 slices, in ever increasingly horrifying combinations, culminating in me regularly serving my poor Brother and I chicken nugget, baked bean and cheese monstrosoites topped with a fried egg – not that he ever complained….My love affair picked up momentum when I spent a year in Australia; enthralled with their fusion flavours and use of exciting breads I indulged wholeheartedly in steak, garlic aoli in ciabatta, and chicken, sweet chilli and avocado in turkish bread and their amazing chicken kebab wraps made the perfect conclusion to a night of drinking. Inspired by the endless possible combinations I invested in a panini press on my return, and to this day still use it easily 2-3 times a week for an easy and convenient meal when I’m sat at the laptop.

So even now I find that I am loyal to bread and eschew all other carbs, all my favourite meals have dough at the centre; there’s nothing wrong with rice, but I’d much prefer a plump, pillowy naan to mop up my curry, a kebab is nothing without it’s yielding pitta, or a georgian feast without the incredible khachapuri, I adore slices of rare steak crammed into and oozing unctuous juices onto a homemade roll with melted cheese, or chunks of sweet lamb tucked into fragrant flatbreads with aubergine pesto and halloumi. I’ve already mentioned my adoration of a good pizza, but then there’s the piadina’s I ate on the East Coast of Italy; a simple construction of lard enhanced, blistered flatbread filled with soft sheeps cheese, cured meat and peppery rocket. I’ve also always been a lover of a burger, but have only recently had my eyes opened to the ‘gourmet burger’ and enjoyed frankly awesome versions courtesy of both Hawksmoor Seven Dials and the Meat Wagon.

I think the appeal of bread, at least for me lies in it’s ability to be pulled apart, torn assunder, dunked, mopped, it enables me to play with my food a little, to pick and nibble in a way that rice, potatoes, cous cous etc just won’t allow . And then there are the many varieties available, obviously home baked is optimum but when I’m feeling lazy or time won’t allow, I love a loaf of St Johns sourdough which is just heaven served simply with butter or my other love – cheese (although that deserves a whole post of it’s own) and some chutney and fresh figs. It would be remiss of me to leave out the humble bacon sarnie, with it’s magical hangover diminishing properties, loved in force by the masses, I’m sure many wouldn’t start their weekend without one. The incarnation of which I’m most longing to try is that of the bacon naan at Dishoom – alas it is only on their breakfast menu, and I’m just never there early enough (did I mention I walk everywhere?)…..maybe one day.

This brings me to my quest (if you’ve managed to make it this far), I’ve found that on my travels, pounding the pavement for hours at a time, out of sheer laziness and bad planning, I’ve become a slave to those easy to find giants with their loyalty cards, weak coffee and uninspiring pre-packed crap. I’m vowing now to abandon those establishments and embark upon an adventure to find my perfect lunchtime haunt, a little hideaway that I can retreat to for half an hour or so, somewhere I can indulge my sandwich lust while enjoying a good coffee and maybe something sweet – you know I’m a chocoholic right? I’m not looking for anything fancy, merely an oasis amongst my day, to gather my thoughts and refresh. I’m looking for somewhere that is beguilling, I want to be enchanted, bewitched even, but also knocked sideways by flavours and outstanding produce…..does this place exist?

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Well, I promise to report back on my weekend discoveries and you can return here to read about my progress and thoughts on places I’ve tried. I’m already starting with a long list of places I’m excited to visit in Central London but I’d love to have some recommendations of anywhere you think’s great or that you think I would! Let me know what you think…