Join de Sarnie Army

Brood is allang niet meer de vijand. Voor ons is het dat ook nooit geweest. Een dik belegd broodje met álle ingrediënten die we lekker vinden, opgestapeld. Hmmm.

Zo enthousiast over brood is Xander ook. Hij heeft zijn Instagram-account gewijd aan het eten en beoordelen van broodjes en sandwiches. De in Engeland wonende Xander noemt zichzelf dan ook ‘The Xandwich’.

: ⚖️ 8/10 – ‘Jerusalem Spiced Chicken Pita’ ? @laffastreetfood ?? Giant Robot, London ? £7.50 •••••• The story of Laffa runs parallel to the stories of many streetfood vendors here in London, whereby owners uproot from a monotonous 9-5 and pursue the one thing we’re programmed to tune in to: our bellies. ? no. 2 from my Xandwich meet-up was this beauty. C’mon, if a Mediterranean-spiced wrap doesn’t stimulate your naughty senses, I don’t know what will. •••••• ?: Lafah (لفة/לאפה). A Middle Eastern flatbread that’s traditionally cooked in a Tabun oven. I expect that this came from a cellophane wrap and therefore not as fresh as a 6am ? ride around Richmond Park, but fluffy and chewy nevertheless. •••••• ?: Jerusalem spiced ?, sumac slaw, pomegranate salad, tahini, harissa sauce and herbs ?. •••••• ?: Yaaaaaaaaas ??‍♂️ me gusta mucho. I found the chicken was tender and the spicing was on point. Like any trusty sidekick, think Ant to Dec or Dick to Dom, the additions were what made it so incredulously unctuous ? What shone brighter than my sweaty forehead after 20mins in the sauna was the seedy tahini combined with bursting pomegranate jewels – a match made in heaven. All followed by crunch from the slaw and aromatic herbs. Get in. •••••• Right up my street in terms of flavour pairing and overall composition. It felt clean, and I wasn’t riddled with a greasy, deep-fried guilt like I am with a fair few vendors at the moment. Head down, you’ll leave ‘laff’in. Shit joke. Boo.

A post shared by I Eat Sandwiches (@the.xandwich) on Mar 15, 2018 at 10:11am PDT

The Sarnie Army

Xander spreekt zijn volgers aan met ‘my beloved Sarnie Armie’ en wij voelen ons helemaal thuis bij die aanspreekvorm. Hoe leuk is het om lid te zijn van een sandwichleger?

Humor en precisie

Nu kan je denken dat Xander een geitenbreier is die hier en daar broodjes eet en daar wat over schrijft á la de vele foodbloggers, maar nee. Xander is humoristisch, droog en precies in zijn omschrijvingen en beoordelingen. Eigenlijk alsof je een wetenschappelijk rapport zit te lezen. Hij zou goed beste vrienden kunnen worden met de Snackspert.

: ⚖️ 8.5/10 – ‘Grilled chicken / Bánh mì gà nuóng’ ? @mrslegrill ?? Clapham, London ? £6 •••••• If I were to pluck a positive from colonisation it’d be the mélange of foods and flavours: an example of this being the ?? influence left in Vietnam ??. Coincidentally, I’ve just watched the entire Ugly Delicious series on Netflix courtesy of @davidchang, where in ep. 4 the reluctance of New Orleans to stray away from ‘traditional’ boiled crawfish, ignoring all external influence, is mentioned. Like Dave, it rendered me speechless. To find a positive out of a boiling pot of negatives is rare – but when the French give you bread, by heck, you make bánh mí. •••••• ?: Crustier than a dried out scab, fluffier than a duck’s butt, the baguette stood to attention, sang La Marseillaise and carried out its duty. Not quite the preservative-free sort you buy fresh from your local boulangerie in the 6th arrondissement, but that’s fine, I think the ?? over-bake them anyway. Cue the abuse. •••••• ?: Grilled ?, liver pâté, pickled ?, ?, coriander & spring onion. There may have been extras but I can’t quite remember; the speed at which I inhaled this was similar to Kate Moss and a line of crank off a vitrine lid. •••••• ?: Nuts. No, not cashews or pistachios, the actual dog’s bollocks kinda nuts. The chicken was so bloody tender, more so than the touch of a lover, and it was cut with a masterfully balanced, lip-tingling chilli explosion ?, the sort that nurtures a masochistic brow sweat, but not too much spice that you’re left with an unquenchable desire to clench a solitary ice cube between your buttocks, or for some to poke it up, the morning after. It all paired perfectly with the earthy hum from the liver and a cheeky pickled tang. •••••• I realise that I’ve barely scratched beneath the bánh mí surface, there’s a long way to go until I know what constitutes, and therefore differentiates, a good and a sublime sarnie. But my tastebuds ? this. And as culture fusions go, this goes up there ?? as a one of the greats.

A post shared by I Eat Sandwiches (@the.xandwich) on Mar 22, 2018 at 10:32am PDT