We do love a pickle around here.

Doug’s fave tuna sandwich:
Tuna sandwiches are one of my all-time easy, healthy and tasty ‘wiches. I like mine spicy, so I add some chopped Hotties…lots of ’em. I munch on some Spears of Influence for extra pickle goodness!Rick’s Picks

The most perfect gift I ever gave was an extra large, red, plastic dogbowl with non-skid feet. The boyfriend I had then ate a lot, a real lot, and complained that my bowls were too small. The dogbowl, with its non-skid feet, did not run away from him on the enamel-top table either.

It was an everything bowl, and accommodated a full half box of cereal in the morning, a full four sandwiches worth of tuna salad at lunch. He liked his tuna salad spicy, too. Tuna and jarred salsa. Light tuna, not white, like us suburban-raised kids.

The sound of his spoon, scrape, scrape, scraping the bottom of that bowl, chasing milk, was my common early morning soundtrack in those days. I slept again after the muffled closing of the heavy, fireproof apartment door.

Nancy Baron sent me a note about this spot.

You NEED to look at Nancy’s images.

click click click click on the link. do it.

The French dip and the banh mi: The prior was invented in Downtown Los Angeles, regardless of which stories you believe, written either by Cole’s or Philippe’s. The latter has a more fact-checkable history, mirroring that of French Indochina: a mash-up of Vietnamese fillings stuffed into its colonizer’s bread.

Xoia, a new, gleaming white spot in Echo Park that blends Vietnamese cooking with L.A. traditions in their signature pho beef tacos, is now bringing these two Southland sandwich favorites together in their brisket banh mi with pho au jus and shrimp chips (pictured; $7).

It’s a sandwich that spans the miles between Downtown and Rosemead surprisingly well. Dipping the crunchy baguette into the anise-perfumed broth, the bread moves toward the texture of a soft roll, giving the brisket a boost of flavor and doubling the depth of its taste to recall the roast beef of Downtown’s sandwiches. The bright flavors and heat of the traditional banh mi garnishes–pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber and jalapeño–maintain their crunch, keeping this sandwich grounded in Vietnam.

With the cross-cultural taco now a near-necessity–everything from kalbi to kosher brisket to tandoori-grilled meats has been stuffed into tortillas at myriad trucks and restaurants–it’s refreshing to see Xoia pick up on a new reference point from Los Angeles’ food history.

Xoia, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park; 213-413-3232

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY, OR POSSIBLE.

WHY WINNING MATTERS: BECAUSE IF YOU WIN, YOU WILL BE GOING TO HEAR THE AMAZING MARK BITTMAN SPEAK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK, FOOD MATTERS ON OCTOBER 5TH, 2010.

Mark Bittman speaks at 6th and I Synagogue

TO ENTER, SIMPLY SUBMIT A PHOTO, TAKEN BY YOU, OF A SANDWICH, ANY SANDWICH, along with up to five sentences on why this sandwich matters. Or is matter. For that matter.

All submissions will be reviewed by our judges, and the lucky winner will receive TWO tickets to the Mark Bittman event at Sixth and I Synagogue on October 5, 2010. If you are super lucky, I will sit next to you.

You may send your photos and comments as attachments here, at The Lunch Encounter, or you may send them directly to me at LisaCherkasky@gmail.com

WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2010.

GOOD LUCK. Oh and, please no more than 11 submissions per contestant.

Photo by Scott Suchman, Styling by Me, Art Direction by Amanda White

Baltimore Magazine

From a steak such as this, one hopes for leftovers. From a steak such as this, one makes a SANDWICH! The first meal, the actual steak, is your duty, a prerequisite, Steak Sandwich 101. From this obligation springs a STEAK SANDWICH. Now for that, I will put on a skirt and heels. Both days.

Toast. What can be more boring… More mundane… More ho-hum than a piece of toast? Well, not anymore thanks to the this amazingly creative product takes your common piece of white bread and turns it into a crunchy work of art.

The Pop Art Toaster comes with six different templates, allowing you to create six different works of toast art. You get: DOUBLE HEARTS, SNOW FLAKE, FLOWER, BIRTHDAY CAKE, LUV U, and HAVE A NICE DAY FACE.

It has all the features you would want for a normal toaster, too. You can set the levels, defrost frozen food, and remove crumbs with the handy crumb tray. It’s UL approved and has a 1-Year warrantee.

And if you’re not in the playful mood, you can even make ordinary toast with it.

If we are gonna talk about art, we have to talk about luvin-u with a warrantee. Can’t see a have-a-nice-day-face way around IT. Haven’t seen “amazingly creative” and “product” strung along in the same sentence prior to this amazingly creative product which takes your common piece of white bread (I beg your pardon. Bread, even the most common piece, is a miracle just waiting for a toaster to appear) and turns it into a crunchy work of art. I think this begs a heated, as hot as toast, discussion of craft versus art.

yup yup yup yup yup yup yup yup

This just in from the Sublime Miss M whose latest editing coup was just unveiled, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.

Sandwich Trends: Updating an American Staple

NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – September 7, 2010) – Sandwiches aren’t just an important part of the American diet; they are essential to it.

“The role of sandwiches in people’s lives is huge,” says Kimberly Egan, CEO of CCD. “It makes sense that redefined sandwiches reflect the same values consumers are embracing in their lives.”

These values include supporting artisan and sustainable food production, eating more seasonally and nutritionally, and celebrating regional and global foods and flavors.

Today’s top sandwich trends include:

The “Fine Fast” Sandwich Shop: Gourmet sandwich shops helmed by chefs feature high-quality, artisan and locally source ingredients along with a wide range of house-made condiments and toppings.

The Asian Sandwich Invasion: Chinese bao sandwiches and Vietnamese bahn mi are crossing over and attracting adventurous eaters craving new flavors.

The Reinvented Jewish Deli: Traditional delis are re-inventing themselves with more sustainable and ethical raw ingredients.

Glamorous Grilled Cheese: This American classic is getting an overhaul with artisan bread and cheese plus sophisticated flavorings.

The Great Sandwich Shop Takeover: Fast-casual sandwich and bakery chains are innovating with more healthful offerings, global flavor profiles and even some local ingredients.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Better Burgers: While the North Carolina classic goes national, the beloved burger explodes with new styles of beef, a variety of tasty buns and a host of exotic toppings.

yup yup yup yup yup yup yup yup

Thank you Sorry-Birds Ellen!

Who’s got time to work when there are food trucks to chase?

Wonky Fries = Poutine

Those of us holding Bucky Badger close to our fat-soaked hearts want to know, where does Eat Wonky get squeaky cheese then?? Curds? Curds? Got to get me some curds! Will they taste as good when the air does not smell like a summer lake? I’m guessing no, doncha know.

I’ll take a brandy old-fashioned and a beer chaser to wash it down. Ya hey.

(Not to burst my own great-lakes-size bubble, but that so-called squeaky cheese looks a heck of a lot like chopped up cheesesticks. Say it isn’t so.)

Read more here.

Thanks much to Mike at ComicsDC!

many thanks to Russ Merbeth for the pocket toast teller toon.
where he got it at the drop of a slice – butter side up! – I will never know.

Toast has been on my mind lately for many, many reasons. Is it the quintessential comfort food? As much as I go to toast for nourishment and comfort, there are a few other foods that wrap their arms around me first when I am in need. That said, I tried out toast as a well-spring of nurturance, late night, needed something to sooth, and the toast delivered, stealthfully, quietly, a bit crunchy and a bit tender. I ordered it with butter on the side and was served buttered toast with a side of butter. What could lubricate a person’s warmth and inner peace more?

TOAST

We may pay lip service to seared tuna on a bed of rocket…but given the choice most of us would go for scrambled egg on a bed of toast any day of the week. Nick Parker

I wouldn’t go so far as to say all of life can be summed up by a slice of toast, but close. Close enough.

(A little old lady stands up at the general meeting of her retirement center, holds up a fist and announces loudly, “Whoever can guess what I have in my hand gets to spend the night with me.” “An elephant?” shouts a smart aleck codger from the back of the room. “Close enough,” says she.)

How does your bread absorb soft butter?  Synergetically, with sympatico, consanguinely? Before you spread your buttered heart onto the slice of his soul enlist your inner enginerd to double check the absorption capacity for alignment. Make a mass/volume estimation. Are you spatially related? Voluminously? The putting in and taking out equates mathematically, as in 1 = 1.  Every bit of crumb open and airy and hungry. Unlimited capacity. Not a spot of grease released onto the napkin.