Sandwich Standards

Turkey sandwich at Gus's!

My favorite food as a little girl was sandwiches! Okara sandwiches (Okara is a tofu by-product which can be made into fantastic little burgers), tofu sandwiches, veggies sandwiches, hoagie sandwiches; I liked it all. My passion for goodies stuffed between bread slices continues today! I love how versatile a sandwich can be, how they needn't be dull. I have had curried fried potato sandwiches, beans on toast, grilled eggplant paninis and sauteed poke (seasoned cubed fish) sandwiches. When I visit a new city, I always keep my eyes open for a good deli or sandwich shop. I am especially drawn to sandwich spots with interesting names like the "Giant Grinder," or "Mary's Jumbo Submarines." I also look for dumpy looking spots or holes in the walls. I have found that these sorts of places seem to produce really tasty, messy, enormous sandwiches. That brings me to the criteria of an awesome sandwich. Here is my list of Sandwich Standards:

1). It has to be huge. I am sorry, size does matter in this case!

2). It needs to be messy! When you bite into it, excess goodies and condiments need to make you look like a two year old learning to eat.

3). The bread can't be too hard or too soft. If it's too hard, you spend most of your time wrestling the bread and not enjoying the rest of the sandwiches' components. If it's too soft, well, who likes a sandwich that looks like Rover the Dog got to it before you did?

4). It needs to taste fresh! The lettuce should be crunchy, the bread freshly baked, the tomatoes must be
firm and the meat freshly sliced!

5). Finally, the condiments should not overpower the filling. What I mean by this is that your sandwich should not taste solely of yellow mustard, unless you like that sort of thing.

I'm not a sandwich snob. Sandwich construction and ingredient ratio is just really important if you want that perfect sandwich. Speaking of perfectly scrumptious sandwiches, here is a list of my favorite sandwich shops:

1). Gus's! Gus's makes my favorite sandwich: turkey on a Dutch crunch roll! This quaint sandwich shop and deli is located in the lovely city of San Luis Obispo, CA. They have a wide variety of sandwich choices and offer three different sizes. They have a small, regular and large but I always get the regular because it really is rather large. Their sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato, pickle, cheese, sprouts, purple onion, pepperoncini as well as a generous portion of meat on artisan quality bread! They also sell beer!

2). Manono Mini Mart and Deli. This deli has been around forever and is located in the small town of Hilo on  the Island of Hawaii. Their sandwiches aren't fancy and their bread isn't gourmet, but they are satisfying! I  love ordering a garden burger with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, sprouts and mayo and eating it in a park near this deli.

3). Island Naturals Market and Deli. Island Naturals is a health food store located on the Island of Hawaii. Their deli offers made to order gourmet sandwiches, my favorite being the teriyaki tofu sandwich with avocado, sprouts, smoked Gouda cheese and sliced tomato.

I've told you some of my favorite sandwich shops. What's yours? What's your favorite sandwich? Until next time, cheers!

Jahkotta