Of
all culinary inventions, there is one, more than any other, for which I will be
forever grateful. It is the sandwich. The story goes, a few hundred years ago,
the fourth Earl of Sandwich (I want to giggle every time I hear that title)
caught-up in a heavy game of cards, wouldn’t leave the entertainment to eat.
So, one of his servants quickly threw something between two slices of bread and
presented his master with a hand-held meal. Of course, the blueblood got credit
for the creation and the lackey none. Isn’t it always that way? Anyhow, that’s
how the Earl of Sandwich’s little nosh became known as a “sandwich.”
I
have loved sandwiches ever since I watched my mother making tons of them for
her club when I was a kid. Her club consisted of a group of women who would
regularly gather at our kitchen table, spend the evening playing 120’s (banging
their fists, yelling, laughing and screeching loud enough to wake the dead),
and then sit back for strong cups of tea and fistfuls of Mom’s sandwiches. Her
efforts were simple. She’d make them with boiled ham and those perfectly square
baker’s bread sandwich slices, always making sure to cut off the crusts
Needless
to say, I frequently eat sandwiches for lunch. Sometimes I’ll do the “brown
bag” thing from a shop or bakery; sometimes I’ll actually order one in a greasy
spoon. I’m happy to report that you can buy some really good sandwiches in this
part of the world. Here’s what I’ve found…
Breen’s,
at its five St. John’s locations, has been selling its cold turkey with
dressing (stuffing) sandwich ($3.19) for years. I believe it’s a worthy rival
to the ubiquitous and ever popular Newfoundland hot turkey sandwich. Many have
tried to duplicate the Breen’s product, but, for my money, the original Breen’s
is still the favourite. The secret is in the way the turkey is handled, and in
the dressing. Breen’s does not carve its turkey. They pull the meat apart. (In
the southern U.S. they do the same thing with their famous barbecued,
pulled-pork sandwiches. Instead of cutting the meat with a knife, the slowly
cooked meat is pulled apart by hand.) It makes the sandwich look like it was
made in a rush, but the meat retains its natural texture that way. It’s moister
and thicker. They also seem to use a lot of dark meat in their famous
sandwiches. That’s another reason they taste so good to me. I love the darker
meat; it’s fattier, moister.
Their
dressing is moist as well. It makes for tastier eating, and it’s also less
messy. I’ve had sandwiches from other makers who used that dry, flyaway
dressing. You take one bite and your clothes look like they’ve been dragged
through the bottom of the bread bin at Sobey’s. Breen’s dressing compacts
nicely so it stays in the sandwich. It’s also seasoned with enough savoury to
be distinctive but not overpowering.
One
look at the line-up of hungry punters at Manna Bakery, 342 Freshwater Road,
virtually any lunchtime, will tell you there’s something good behind the
sandwich counter. Cast your eyes on their workbench, groaning from the weight
of mounds and mounds of freshly cooked breaded chicken breasts on aluminum
platters and find out why. Most of those folks are cuing for Manna’s tasty
breaded chicken breast sandwiches ($6.25). You’d better get there early or they
might be sold-out; and they won’t put one away for you either, at least, not if
you phone after ten in the morning, as I was told one day recently when I tried
that trick. “That’s our policy, sorry” was the reply from the other end.
It’s
the breading that makes them so good. - Isn’t anything rolled in breadcrumbs
and cooked with oil? - That, and the bread. Manna bakes it daily, so their
sandwich breads are always fresh and beautifully aromatic. You can choose
whichever type you like. I prefer the poppy seed pretzel bread for my breaded
chicken breast with a combination of mayo and mustard, plus lettuce, tomato,
and a slice of provolone cheese. I also get them to throw in some green olives
on the side. (I hate those darn pits in the black ones.) Actually, if you like,
they’ll give you a healthy portion of green, or black olives (with pits), raw
baby carrots, or dill pickle on the side.
One
thing I like on the menu at My Brother’s Place, 686 Topsail Road, is the
Clubhouse sandwich ($8.99), although the turkey in a recent one was a little
dry. I got over it though, because they were generous with the mayo. They make
a conventional club, a triple-decker, held together with the longest, most
lethal looking toothpicks I’ve ever seen. The toothpicks look almost ridiculous
with prissy bright yellow and blue tufts of cellophane stuck to the ends of
them - in the same way a meat cleaver with pom-poms on its handle would. By the
way, the great American food authority, James Beard, always insisted that the
original Clubhouse sandwich was made with only two slices of bread. It seems
that it was invented sometime near the beginning of the last century.
In
addition to turkey, crispy bacon, tomato, and lettuce, all ingredients for the
classic club, My Brother’s included a slice of processed cheese. Perhaps some
might have preferred a slice of real cheddar, but not me. I like processed
cheese slices. Don’t get me wrong, I like stinky, rich cheeses as well, but for
a sandwich like the club the processed slice is fine. Any other type of cheese
slice would have taken away from the taste of the ingredients that really count
in a club, the turkey, bacon, and tomato.
What’s
delightful about sandwiches is their infinite variety. They come in all shapes
and styles. In Britain, they like cheese and onion butties, chip butties
(French fries between two slices of bread), bacon butties, and my favourite,
sausage butties. Perhaps we in Newfoundland and Labrador should expand our
sandwich repertoire. How about pan-fried cod with tartar sauce on a bun? For
now though, I’ll continue to enjoy our own turkey with dressing sandwich and
feel sorry for those poor wretches outside our province who may never
experience that unique indulgence.
Ratings
Category:
Breen’s
turkey with dressing – 8.5 points out of 10.
Manna’s
breaded chicken breast – 8.5 points out of 10.
My
Brother’s Clubhouse – 7 points out of 10.