What used to be a last-minute lunch has ascended the ranks of food royalty in recent years, becoming a meal-between-bread that can hold its own against anything on a plate. Make 2023 the year of the sandwich and start giving this universally loved snack the reverence and attention it deserves
Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t like a sandwich? Doorstops, panini, tortas, sandos, sangers, subs, vada pav, bao, bahn mi – ingredients encased in something wheat-based can be found the world over. Until relatively recently, however, sandwiches in the UK were almost always relegated to lunchtime; something you’d pull together with what you had in the fridge, or pick up as part of a meal deal at the supermarket during a fleeting work break.
But things are changing in the sandwich world. The new wave of sandwich shops – with all the artisanal, gourmet, locally sourced bells and whistles you’d expect from a restaurant – are giving what they put between bread the same care and consideration a chef would their signature dish. Today a sandwich can take inspiration from a ‘proper’ dish; it can be tongue-in-cheek; it can be – gasp – served hot like a burger (which is just another sandwich really, isn’t it?).
Many modern-day sandwich specialists were inspired by the Japanese katsu sando – the nation’s take on Western-style sandwiches made using sweet and fluffy shokupan (Japanese milk bread) and filled with breaded pork (like a schnitzel), tangy tonkatsu sauce and cabbage. Such a simple thing highlighted how a perfectly balanced sandwich with the right amount of sweetness, saltiness, crunch and softness can be one of the greatest things you can eat.
The growing popularity of sandos kickstarted a wider sandwich revolution in the UK, which is now in full swing. The mayo-heavy supermarket meal deal or a Pret baguette is no longer the pinnacle of sandwich innovation; making a sandwich for dinner no longer sounds like something you’d only do when you’re too tired to cook. So join us in the sandwich revolution and embrace the endless possibilities of what you can put between two bits of bread.
Prawn cocktail sub with avocado and Tabasco relish
Makes 2 Hands-on time 30 min
We’ve combined two classic prawn dishes to create this killer sandwich. All the classic ingredients of a prawn cocktail go in there but, in the style of Louisana’s shrimp po’ boy, we’ve deep-fried the prawns – using an extra-crispy coating of smashed-up prawn cocktail crisps for double the flavour.
