Ann Althouse has issued the Sandwich Manifesto:
But the original intent of the sandwich is clear: To take messy food and make it neat and convenient. You want a substantial meal, but you want to have it on a plate over to the side, so you can continue doing something else. You want to be able to reach over without paying attention, pick it up in one hand, and easily take a bite and put it down again. You shouldn’t have to use your fingers to poke stray pieces in before you pick it up. No sauce should drip out.
Generally I agree, particularly when the sandwich is needlessly stuffed so thick it can’t possibly be eaten. I like Jason’s Deli Reuben the Great, for instance, but they put enough corned beef and kraut in it for three sandwiches, which upsets the balance of flavor with the bread, cheese, and russian dressing.
Sometimes, though, as with the Hamdog below, the most you can ask the bread to do is to hold everything together long enough to get it into your mouth, while reveling in the savage pleasure of gobbling your food with your bare hands.
Tags: althouse, sandwich, sandwich manifesto