The perfect sandwich

does not exist. I know that. What seems perfect one day may not seem perfect on another. Yes, I know that too.

There are certain things however that apply to all sandwiches in my world.

First, and perhaps most importantly, the bread. Now bread is not "just bread". Bread varies.  I don't know a lot about bread but I do make it. There are things I have managed to learn a little about bread over the years I have made it. Bread is temperamental. It needs attention. That strange square white sliced stuff in a plastic packet you can buy at the supermarket is NOT bread. It may be a cheap form of carbohydrate but it is in no way related to bread. I know there is "white" bread which is supposed to be good. I am sure there is. I have, cautiously, eaten such stuff and some of it hasn't tasted too bad at all - rather good in fact. It tends to be labelled with words like "artisan" and might be "sourdough". It is not the plastic variety. 

Sandwich bread should be fresh. It should have some substance in itself - even though I like mine thinly sliced.  I like bread with things like seeds in it that I can see -  sunflower, pepitas, poppy seeds and more. I am interested in bread made from different sorts of flour - barley, rye, spelt and more. The loaves might not come as those convenient square "sandwich" shaped loaves but the bread tastes good. 

And why does a sandwich have to be square? Is this because someone has dictated that a sandwich has to look tidy? Is it essential that it be able to be cut conveniently into four equal size pieces. If you aren't sharing the sandwich with your best mate does it matter?

And then there is the issue of butter or margarine or something else isn't there? For a long time my nephews went off to school with sandwiches that had no butter. Their teacher (they both had the same one) had told them that "butter is bad for you". They were supposed to take sandwiches with no butter to school. It nearly drove Middle Cat insane. They now eat butter. Bread for a sandwich really requires butter - left out for long enough that it is actually soft enough to spread without tearing the bread. (In these health conscious days not everyone will use butter but, whatever you use, spread it to the edge please!) If you don't want either thing then you need to find something that will hold the filling inside the pieces of bread. Honey or Vegemite (the Downunder version of Marmite) or something else.

Oh yes, the filling. Some people will tell you this is the main reason for the sandwich, that the purpose of the bread and the butter is to keep the filling together. They may be right. Right or wrong though there does need to be plenty of filling please. There is no point in having so little filling or a filling spread so thinly that it is barely there. 

I have been given "sandwiches" where it would have been difficult to find the filling - the sort where you get one thin slice of plastic cheese and nothing else.  Such things are not sandwiches. They may look tidy and they may be tidy to eat but they are not sandwiches. A sandwich has the filling peeking out from between the bread so that you know it is cheese or tuna or egg or something else. There might a waterfall of finely shredded lettuce, some grated carrot licking at the edges or slices of tomato poking their tongues out - and you know they are there because you can see them.

Sandwiches need to be thought about. Leftover bread will make toast - but that is another story.