June List Sandwiches and May Wrapup

Good morning sandwich fans and friends of the Tribunal! It is the first of June, almost halfway through the year, and as usual we have 3 new sandwiches, or sandwich-adjacent foodstuffs, for the Tribunal to tackle. But also true to form, first we must take a look back at what has gone before, so let’s recap our May sandwiches!

In May the Tribunal did its best to explore the intricacies of what is at heart a very simple sandwich, the Persian Sāndevich-e Kālbās, a concoction of a Persian type of mortadella called Kālbās with tomatoes, pickles, and herbs in a buttered bread roll. Some commenters think we may have gone overboard on the herbs a bit–but you can’t argue with results. Next we considered Indian Kathi rolls, a type of paratha wrap native to Kolkata. There are many variations on the wrap of varying quality, and what we were able to find or make for ourselves may not have been the most authentic versions, but it was interesting giving it a shot! And finally, we baked some buttery bread rolls to serve kheema pav, a street food of Mumbai that features spicy minced meat served with fresh dinner roll-like pavs. It’s unlikely that we will get tired of Indian food any time soon!

But now we have three new items to discover, so let’s take a look at what’s next for the Tribunal!

In June, the Tribunal will do its best to replicate one of the “Sandwiches of Canada” we learned about from friend of the site Sandwich Dad, the Kubie Burger of Alberta. It sounds like a Ukrainian/Albertan analog of the German/Wisconsonian Brat Burger and we are here for that. Next we’ll be checking into Kumru, a Turkish sandwich of hot sujuk sausage tucked into a sesame seed bread with tomato and melted cheese. Again, we can find no fault with this proposal. Sadly, that is where the good news ends, as the final sandwich of the month is a Finnish take on the hot dog called Kuuma Koira that is served in a sugar-dusted jelly donut. Just when we thought we were out of the donut sandwich game…

It’ll be interesting though, and maybe it’ll surprise us! If any of our readers have a personal connection to any of this month’s sandwiches, we very much appreciate any insight you can share with us! We’ll be back soon with sandwiches to share!

Changes to the List

Wikipedia List

• On May 10th, a Wikipedia user named Majordizaster added a sandwich called “Spiced ham” to the list. Supposedly originating in Chicago, this sandwich consists of spiced ham, mozzarella, and Miracle Whip on rye bread. To my knowledge, there is no regional sandwich matching this description, though I can just about imagine it as something you’d make from the dregs of your last trip to the nearest Polish deli. I doubt this will make it onto our list but I’ll keep my ear to the ground for any additional sources on it.
• On May 21st, an unidentified Wikipedia user added an undescribed antipasto sandwich to the list. Now this at least I’ve seen–J.P. Graziano, longtime favorite of the Tribunal, has an antipasto sub on their menu, as do other Italian delis. Time will tell whether we deem it a worth addition to our List though.

Our List

Just the other day we learned of a regional sandwich popular in Saskatchewan called the Frajolaki, again from our Canadian pal Sandwich Dad. It’s a simple enough thing, steak or chicken marinated with souvlaki spices and served in a sub roll with onions and tomatoes. Simple yet somewhat obscure, it sounds tasty and is very much the kind of thing we enjoy hearing about at the Tribunal. It’s going on our List, though it will be added to Phase 4.