Between the Bread

I bristle at paying more than $10 for a sandwich (though I will, if it's worth it), so a $100 sandwich isn't on my sand wish list. Every few years, it seems, some chef dreams up a buzzworthy sandwich or burger stuffed with luxury ingredients and promoted by its high price tag. This week, it's cheese sandwich that costs $176.

Created by Chef Martin Blunos for England's Frome cheese show, the double-decker sandwich features bespoke white truffle cheese (price: 92 pounds), quail egg, heirloom black tomato, "epicure apple," figs, a few veggie flourishes and — get this — a sprinkling of gold dust.

While I'd like to try the bespoke cheese, tomatoes, figs, and apples seems like an odd combo to me, and why ruin a good sandwich with sourdough? (Sorry, not a sourdough fan; leave your angry remarks in the comments.)

For other notoriously expensive sandwiches throughout history, keep reading.

It's hard for an expensive sandwich to win me over. With so many cheap, delicious, and giant sammies available (banh mi comes to mind, as does the Honey Baked Ham store by my house), a sandwich over $8 better be transcendent. So when 'Wichcraft, the upscale NYC sandwich shop founded by Sisha Ortuzar and Tom Colicchio (of Craft and "Top Chef" fame), opened in San Francisco, I was prepared to hate it.

Admittedly, the first sandwich I tried (chicken salad) was somewhat disappointing. Not bad, but not transcendent. Then I tried again with something totally far-out: the marinated white anchovies with soft-cooked egg, roasted onion, salsa verde, and frisee on country bread. Now this is a sandwich well worth $9, assuming you like anchovies. An unexpected combo of unlikely, gourmet ingredients I'd never make at home. I found myself craving it.