Thought for Food

Traditional or modern, a fresh sandwich
is always great to grab, gobble and go

How sandwiches have changed since my teens – back then, the order of the day was a scrape of marg on sliced pan with maybe a slice of Calvita or “cooked ham” with salad well-flavoured with salad cream.

When one went to a ballroom of romance like Las Vegas in Templemore, if a “likely lad” invited you to have a ham sandwich as well as a “mineral”, that coded message meant that you were in with a good chance for the evening!

Sandwiches are now the food of the moment in every sense. Perfect for a “grab, gobble and go” lifestyle and a perfect base for us to play with ideas and flavour combinations. The ever-widening range of breads provides a variety of textures, flavours and shapes to fill or pile toppings onto. At the Cork Market, the Midleton Farmers Market and Leopardstown Market in Dublin, Declan Ryan of Arbutus Breads sells a range of about ten different breads – soda, yeast, and sour dough. Gorgeous real bread like it used to be and many like they never were – Foccacia, Tomato and Basil, Red wine and walnut, Olive, and delicious chewy hearth-baked sour dough, rye and spelt breads and Fougasse. The Alternative Bread Company in Cork also has its devotees.

If however, you are fortunate enough to still have a good traditional baker in your area where one can buy a decent pan loaf, treasure them. Such a tragedy that we have lost so many small bakeries and indeed family butchers in recent years, just at a time when people are beginning to notice the difference.

CHUNKY PROVENCAL SANDWICH
Makes 8
 
2 long crusty artisan baguettes; French dressing (1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil; Salt and freshly ground pepper); Handful of mixed salad leaves and mesclun and lots of fresh herbs; 7 ozs (200g) canned tuna, (dolphin friendly); 8 anchovy fillets, drained and rinsed; 2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and sliced; 1 tablespoon tiny capers, drained; 6 black olives, stoned; 1 red pepper, finely sliced; 1 red onion or 2 spring onions, peeled and finely sliced; 4 firm ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced

Leave the baguettes whole or cut each into 4 equal lengths, halve and press down some of the soft inside crumb. Whisk all the ingredients together for the dressing. Toss a few mixed salad leaves and lots of fresh herbs in dressing then brush a little dressing over the crumb. Fill each roll, starting with lettuce leaves, adding tuna, anchovies, egg, capers, olives, pepper, onion and well seasoned tomatoes. Top with the other half of the roll, and tie tightly with cotton string or raffia.