I am not sure how popular putting “salads” on sandwiches are, but I used to work at a butcher shop throughout high school to make some extra money. At my job, we had a variety of deli salads that we could sell to consumers including tuna salad, ham salad, and chicken salad.
We also made sandwiches right behind the counter for “special customers;” I have no clue what constituted a special customer, I would always just ask if I could serve this person a salad sandwich. It seemed that it was a secret menu item. If you knew you could ask for the sandwich with a salad on it, you were instantly special.
For some context, my hometown has a very large retirement home, where the residents often come to our shop looking for food. I am not sure if salads on sandwiches are an antiquated practice, but it seems that plenty of people enjoy it.
Now, the “salad” part of the sandwich could be argued for a while, as what really constitutes a salad. For the purposes of this blog, I will just ignore the definition of a salad and treat it loosely as just another filling for sandwiches.
What bothers me primarily about these sandwiches other than their unique flavor combinations is the ease at which you can eat the sandwich. Salads are essentially a thick jam consistency with larger chunks of meat throughout. How do you hold onto the sandwich without making a mess?
For instance, for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for the most part, the filling adheres to the bread and has nowhere to slide. However, for the chicken salad sandwich, there’s not a strong force holding it together, so once a bite is taken, you have a large glop of salad with the bread that needs to fully break apart from the rest of the salad. Otherwise, it is hanging there and it is a struggle to separate the filling without looking awkward.
This is similar to when you bite into a sandwich with ham, without enough force, so that now you just have a half piece of ham hanging in your mouth while trying to tear the other half away. Hopefully, it is not just me that has an issue eating ham sandwiches!
Additionally, salads that are served at the deli are moist. They contain a significant amount of liquid, which makes the bread soggy. If there is anything I dislike, it is soggy bread. You would have to eat the sandwich very fast to avoid the bread becoming soggy.
Although, I do recognize that a simple toast of the bread would solve the issue. The bread type could affect the rate at which the bread becomes soggy and impact the eating time you have. Overall, I do not support salads on sandwiches, but I recognize they exist. If you are for salads on sandwiches, would you please explain why you find them delicious to eat?
