Between the Bread

I can't decide if "biparti-sandwich" is a terrible pun or a great one, but I was excited to see sandwiches in the spotlight on last night's Top Chef. After Susan Feniger got booted off Top Chef Masters for making a sandwich with coconut jam, one Between the Bread reader wondered if the show is antisandwich. But after last night's Quickfire challenge, it's obvious that Top Chef believes in sandwich! Given, sandwiches are a pretty easy challenge (or should be) for a bunch of professional chefs. So to make the Quickfire harder, pairs of chefs had to cook with one hand each while wearing a conjoined apron. In the words of one contestant, "Who got high and came up with this?" I could say the same thing about many delicious sandwiches.

Read on to watch the video.

"Ooooh, sandwiches!" exclaims Scarlett Johansson in this clip from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as Ellen presents her with a plateful of PB&Js on whole wheat bread. Apparently, in People's 2010 Most Beautiful People issue, Scarlett says that red lipstick and sandwiches make her feel pretty, so that's what Ellen gives her. Turns out, Scarlett may have just been eating a sandwich when the question was posed.

I can't really pull off red lipstick, but I'd be honored to receive a plate of sandwiches from Ellen (just not peanut butter, thanks, I'm allergic). In fact, I think Women in Red Lipstick Eating Sandwiches would make a good blog. Like a sister site to Dudes With Beards Eating Cupcakes.

If there's any woman whose sandwich obsession almost matches mine, it's Liz Lemon. On this week's very special sandwich episode of "30 Rock," Liz and Jack venture to Stone Mountain, GA, in search of a comedian who represents the "real America." They stop at a local eatery called Fatty Fat's Sandwich Ranch, where Liz reveals her worldview that "all of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich."

I felt very clever when I came up with the tagline for this blog, until I realized most people wouldn't get the reference unless you are a Warren Zevon and/or David Letterman fan. But this is one of my all-time favorite quotes, uttered by Zevon on his final Letterman appearance before he died. I love the sentiment, and not just for the way it relates to sandwiches.

There are ham sandwiches, and then there is the Hot Hamm Sandwich, i.e. a metaphorical sandwich made with ravishingly handsome actor Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" and, more recently, "30 Rock" fame. 

If given the choice between a hot ham sandwich and a Hot Hamm Sandwich, I don't know how I could ever chose. But my buddy Melty Gruyere Emswiler has a thing for Jon Hamm and thus has started a blog called Need a Hamm Sandwich. Basically, she is trying to raise money to bid on a charity eBay auction in which one lucky winner gets to have lunch with Jon Hamm. No word on whether ham sandwiches will actually be served, but at that point, I don't think anyone will be arguing about the menu. So help a lady get a Hamm Sandwich!

I was already growing fond of "30 Rock," but the show really won me over last season with its "Sandwich Day" episode. The action unfolds on the one special day each year when the teamsters bring magically delicious sandwiches to everyone at the office but won't reveal their secret sandwich source. When Liz Lemon tries to get through airport security with the sammie, she's denied because the dipping sauce exceeds the liquids limit.

Now, according to Serious Eats, who heard it from a woman who has a friend whose husband works on "30 Rock" (so take that as you will), the sandwich place the writers had in mind is Fiore's in Hoboken, New Jersey. I have a friend in Hoboken, so perhaps I should send her over to check it out.

I myself have been tempted to keep my favorite sandwich shops secret, but it just doesn't seem fair to either the proprietors or my fellow sandwich lovers. Do you have a secret sandwich source? Then why won't you tell me about it?!

Source