Duncan Barkes: ‘Whatever happened to great sandwiches?’

IT IS tough to find a decent sandwich these days. Too many places are offering what they call a ‘sandwich’ but, in reality, it is just some chemically enhanced gunk.

It is believed he enjoyed this form of eating, as it meant he did not need cutlery and it allowed him to carry on playing cards in between taking mouthfuls.

This renowned 18th-century aristocrat must be spinning in his grave when you consider what we laughingly call a sandwich nowadays.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As with many things in life, the hunger for convenience is largely to blame for what has become today’s excuse for a butty. Supermarkets and petrol stations are the main culprits.

Two bits of slightly cold and soggy bread, containing some regurgitated and often unspecified filling, served in a plastic container. Take a look at the ingredients and the amount of chemicals and preservatives in one of these pre-packaged cartons. It’s a list you might find in a science lab.

The great British sandwich has become greatly abused and we deserve better.

Obviously the answer is to make your own, but if time is short, or you’re just a bit lazy, some good sarnies can still be found. In Chichester I have two favourites.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

First, the excellent Lane’s End café off St Martin’s Street does sublime sandwiches.

The Serious Sandwich Company totally lives up to its name with their delicious ‘Hey Pesto’, a combination of chicken, tomato, fresh basil and pesto mayonnaise. It is a taste explosion like no other.

Rustington is home to The Coastal Coffee Company, where the club sandwich would give some of New York’s most famous delis a run for their money. When I was growing up in Worthing, there used to be a great little sandwich bar in an alley off Montague Street, called Love at First Bite (a rather excellent name for any eatery). In Shoreham, when I was doing work experience at the Adur Herald newspaper some moons ago, there used to be a lovely shop opposite the church on the corner, where every lunchtime I would enjoy a freshly made chicken, tomato and raw onion floury bap.

I do not have interests in any of the places I have mentioned; I just care about good food and resent the all-too-many grotty pretenders that masquerade as sandwiches these days.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Do your taste buds a favour and give them some flavour by championing decent sandwiches. Accept no substitutes.

• Agree or disagree with Duncan, or want to share your own views? Email your views to letters@worthing herald.co.uk, letters@shoreham herald.co.uk or [email protected], and we will print the best on the letters pages in the papers. Alternatively, comment below.

Related topics: