As a rule, I include sogginess — an excessively maligned texture in meals, I’d argue. I relish the best way the chocolate wafers of an ice cream sandwich yield to my tooth, and the way torn bread turns right into a squishy, broth-soaked sponge in a bowl of beans. I even love a pie with a soggy backside; it feels comforting, one way or the other.
However the only position the general public, myself integrated, appear to agree that sogginess doesn’t belong is in a sandwich. Although that remark merits a caveat: There’s a large distinction, after all, between the intentional dunking of a hoagie roll in marinara sauce and the displeasing gumminess of tuna salad-stuffed white bread that’s sat in a lunch bag for too lengthy.
The one easiest method to keep away from a soggy sandwich is to devour it in an instant. However that’s no longer all the time conceivable, and with places of work reopening and heat climate across the nook, the possibility of a packed lunch is as soon as once more looming. Picnics, hikes, day journeys, or only a need to keep away from some other fast-casual chain salad all imply numerous alternatives for soggy sandwiches. However consistent with sandwich professionals, it doesn’t must be this manner: the bottom line is mastering each meeting and garage.
Whilst you’re creating a sandwich that will have to be packed, get started with moderately drier bread, like a crusty baguette or toasted sourdough or rye, says Jeff Strauss, proprietor of the Los Angeles sandwich store Jeff’s Desk. Then — and that is a very powerful — thoughts your unfold. Such things as mustard, ketchup, scorching sauce, vinegar, and purple pepper unfold upload moisture to a sandwich, in contrast to oil-based spreads like mayo, which don’t seep into bread as a lot.
That doesn’t imply going with out the ones taste boosts, despite the fact that: To verify optimum texture and style, throw the ones water-based condiments in squeeze bottles and upload them proper ahead of you devour. You’ll be able to even pass a step additional and stay each sandwich part separate, in a position to be briefly assembled within the park or at the path. “However,” Strauss recognizes, “no longer everyone needs to try this.” Regardless of how or while you collect it, he recommends packing sandwiches in parchment or foil — principally the rest with the exception of plastic, which doesn’t breathe in any respect.
Ben Gollan, a sandwich lover who runs sandwich excursions thru his New York-based corporate A Guy and His Sandwich, will get a little bit extra granular together with his sandwich building, all to keep away from that dreaded dampness. “Soggy sandwiches which can be the bane of my lifestyles,” he says. To keep away from them, it is advisable do what his mother did and retailer rainy components like sliced tomatoes clear of dry components. Or it is advisable apply Gollan’s personal sandwich building philosophy.
Imagine the sandwich as a most sensible part and a backside part, Gollan says. He likes to place rainy components at the most sensible part as a result of despite the fact that they contact the slice of bread, gravity does the process of drawing them downwards and no longer permitting them to soak in. He places dry components like chilly cuts at the backside part of the sandwich. “You’re developing this meat coverage layer at the bread, which goes to lend a hand forestall the ones juices from peppers or no matter from dripping down onto the ground base,” he explains.
You’ll lose a little bit regulate over all of this when you’re purchasing a sandwich that you understand can have to sit down for some time ahead of consuming, however you’ll nonetheless select correctly. On the ones events, Gollan most often is going for an Italian sandwich with chilly cuts, banh mi, or a bagel sandwich (the denser texture of a bagel is especially useful for keeping off sog) and steers transparent of juicier choices like Philly cheesesteaks and meatball subs, which can be each fast to soak.
But when the ones approaches are all a little bit too fussy for you, most likely the solution is to as an alternative channel Strauss, who sees a little bit romance within the occasional soggy sandwich. “Like chilly pizza the following morning or chilly Chinese language meals, now and again you gotta include the place existence takes you,” he says. “Stay that soggy stuff off till the ultimate minute — and if you’ll’t do this, discover ways to love what you’re gonna get.”
Marie Assénat is an illustrator founded in Paris. She loves to attract foolish issues and enjoys making her personal sandwiches with a excellent baguette.
