A new take on an old feature, in part inspired by a conversation I had with Scanwiches creator Jon Chonko before our Q&A session a couple weeks ago. It turned out Jon and I had different definitions of what constituted a “sandwich,” and though I tried, I could not express what I thought made a sandwich a sandwich. I operate with a relatively liberal definition of the term, but I rely mostly on the ol’ Potter Stewart “I know it when I see it” instinct.
Anyway, since I fear much of the sandwich writing on this site is growing stagnant, and since I never intended the sandwich reviews to be mistaken for legitimate food-criticism so much as food appreciation and investigation, I figured I’d endeavor something a bit different in 2012: Eating and discussing various sandwichy foods and determining whether they are in fact sandwiches to work toward a distinct definition of the term.
A lofty, perhaps unobtainable and entirely semantic goal, I realize. But the truth is, nearly every man on my father’s side of my family besides me has been an architect or an engineer (the two exceptions are SCUBA divers, incidentally), and while the math part of those fields failed me, the appreciation for them did not. I suspect my sandwich-making success while employed at the deli came thanks in part to those engineering instincts, what with the sense of proportion and structure necessary to conceive and construct great sandwiches.
So I hope spending more time thinking about the way sandwiches are built — and the way non-sandwiches are built — can provide me further insight into how to build great sandwiches, which I will then also probably detail here because really I just don’t lead that interesting a life.
There’ll still be traditional TedQuarters sandwich reviews when appropriate, of course.
The candidate: K roll from Buddha BBeeQ, 2nd Ave. between 91st and 92nd in Manhattan.
The construction: Large piece of nori (seaweed) wrapped into a cone shape, stuffed with a layer of rice, marinated and grilled Korean beef, and assorted vegetables. I ordered mine “spicy,” which meant there was some thickish red hot sauce in there.
Arguments for sandwich-hood: The K Roll features meat (and vegetables) wrapped in starch and it can be eaten with the hands without too much mess.
Counter-arguments: With or without fish in there it’s pretty clearly sushi, and if you’re extending the definition of “sandwich” to include all sushi that can be picked up with the fingers, you’re heading down a foggy road on a dark night.
How it tastes: Kind of confusing, honestly. I like sushi, and I love the flavor that every Korean beef has that I still can’t put my finger on (seriously, can someone tell me what this flavor is?). But the K Roll takes some getting used to, because the seaweed on the outside brings you to the ocean and hands you a fishing pole, and then you reel in a cow and some pickled vegetables.
The beef tasted good and the proportion of beef to vegetables seemed about right, and it had about the right amount of spice to keep things interesting without getting out of hand.
But the texture seemed off: It required a lot of nori to keep the K Roll intact, so the outside layer was a bit chewier and filmier than I’d hoped. The Wikipedia entry for sushi stresses that temaki rolls — this style — should be eaten immediately after its prepared so the nori doesn’t lose its crispness. I took this home before eating it, so maybe that’s on me. Still, I only live a few blocks away.
There was also a lot of rice here, which works fine with sushi when you’re dipping it in soy sauce and wasabi and in burritos when it gets all mixed up with delicious burrito-stuff, but it made parts of the K Roll kind of dry. They included a packet of soy sauce with the order, so I shot that into the second roll, which made the rice wetter and the whole thing saltier and soy saucier and thus more delicious.
On the whole, pretty good, but not nearly the best thing I’ve had from Buddha BBeeQ, which has so far proven to be one of the better and more interesting takeout places in my new neighborhood.
What it’s worth: The K Roll cost $8. It’s a little small to be a full dinner for a hungry person. Probably the type of thing you want to order with an appetizer, or to share if you’re into the family-style thing. You can figure that stuff out though, you’re smart.
The verdict: Not a sandwich. Still a perfectly pleasant item of food, but I’d say that the nori/rice wrap is not close enough to bread to make this a sandwich. They’re too prevalent a part of the eating experience here, whereas I feel on a sandwich the bread is in most cases a complement to the ingredients contained therein (hence “a turkey sandwich on whole wheat” and not “a whole wheat sandwich with turkey”).
Again: Just because something isn’t a sandwich doesn’t mean it’s not good. Many of my favorite foods are not sandwiches. But since I’m now, as of today, in the business of figuring out what is and what is not a sandwich, we start with the determination that the K Roll decidedly is not.
It’s a valid question. Readers of this site must know how I feel about bacon, what with the way I write about bacon like once a week and talk about it in nearly every podcast and even smoked my own bacon that one time. But oddly, I’ve never finished a Shake Shack burger and thought, “man, I really wish that had bacon.”
Tedquarters 