Posted on 06/02/2022 6:51:07 AM PDT by mylife
I hate to hand it to the French, but the best beach/hiking/picnic sandwich is jambon-beurre (ham-butter). It’s just baguette, butter, and ham, and it is perfect.
Eating food outside amongst the sand and sea (or trees and squirrels) is a decidedly summery way to dine. Sandwiches were made for such meals—after all, they were designed to be eaten while the eater is doing something else. That something else was originally gambling, but outdoorspeople can take advantage of the sandwich’s portability while hiking through a forest, sitting in some grass, or lounging on the beach. All sandwiches can be enjoyed this way, but the jambon-beurre is by far your best option.
Related Stories Do Not Eat Any of These Products That Contain Peanut Butter, FDA Says Watch Now Three of the Best Ways to Improve Your Credit Score Why You Shouldn't Store Your Avocados in Water After All The jambon-beurre is the perfect beach sandwich Incredible flavor aside—and we’ll get to that in a moment—this sandwich is a structural marvel engineered to travel well, keep its form, and never, ever get soggy. Both filling ingredients (ham and butter) are hydrophobic (water repelling), so there’s simply no water for your bread to absorb. This lack of water also translates into extreme packability; thanks to the high fat content and low water content, this sandwich will stay edible—no, delightful!—in a warm beach bag or backpack for the entire day.
It is also incredibly easy to make. I love a muffaletta (or similar pressed sandwich), which is similarly unlikely to sog, but those have so many ingredients and have to be pressed overnight. The jambon-beurre is easier, breezier, and can be slapped together right before you run out the door.
Unlike the muffaletta and its cousins, the jambon-buerre doesn’t contain any little bits—no shredded lettuce, no olive tapenade, no slippery pickles. Nothing to slide out, fall out, or go splat on your sunscreened lap.
This sandwich is also as delicious as it is practical. The combination of salty pork and creamy butter is very French and decadent—and the French are quite good at decadence. Using two incredibly flavorful, rich ingredients means you only need the two—they work together to create a salty, meaty, creamy bite that miraculously doesn’t feel too heavy.
Since there are so few ingredients, purchasing high-quality bread, butter, and ham makes sense: Get a fresh baguette with a nice caramel color and a crust that crackles slightly when you squeeze it, and grab a butter with flavor. I’ve been using Kerrygold, but the sandwich you see above was made with duck frosting because it’s what I had at room temp. The Kerrygold is better, if I’m being honest, so pick a pure butter instead of a compound.
For the ham, I like the dry-cured stuff (prosciutto, speck, jamon iberico, and country ham all work beautifully), though Parisian style, wet-cured ham is traditional. For best results, keep the flavors simple and avoid honey ham and the like.
Slice the baguette horizontally (keeping it whole or cutting into smaller segments if needed), then spread a thick layer of butter on each side before piling on thinly-sliced ham. Close it up, wrap it, take it out, and eat it up. Do not add cheese (you’ve already got creamy butter), and do not add vegetables. The beauty of this sandwich lies in its simplicity. Embrace it, and you will be rewarded with the perfect outdoor meal.
I will stick with a Scotch egg.
Perfect for on the go.
Only way I’d eat that if it went into a toaster for 10 minutes.
I love Thai food. But they don't have good bread here like in Vietnam (because Vietnam was colonized by the French and Thailand was never colonized by any Western empire).
The only decent bread here is that made by bakeries owned by French or Germans. Fortunately there are a few in the area where I live. But if I go to other areas that don't have a group of expats, I'm SOL.
Oh Gawd, Subway can hardly be considered food. Terrible food.
LOL! Quite true!
You can improve your credit score by not storing your avocado in water.
my muslim friends are gonna love this.
White bread, creamy peanut butter, Welch’s grape jelly. Optional, Velveeta.
mine do. in secret...
Yuck! I'd rather have that Fish Fillet with Bacon that McDonald's served up to the Muslims.
That would be OK, too.
Which ketchup goes with that kind of sandwich?
LOL, just kidding. PBJ’s are good, hold the Velveeta.
“Real Cheese” snobs, no other cheese will do for this.
just a little butter is very good, that sandwich has too much, imho.
You have that right. I have tried the last 54 years to find a sandwich that comes close to a Bahn-Mi sandwich I bought from an old street vendor in Bien Hoa South Vietnam in 1968. The bread used was simply the best French baguette I ever tasted. That's the best thing the French influence left the Vietnamese. I have eaten a ton on baguettes since then with nothing coming close. Even the U.S. Vietnamese deli's and bakeries I have tried have not ever been able to duplicate it. The search continues and i'm getting fatter.
“White bread, creamy peanut butter, Welch’s grape jelly. Optional, Velveeta.”
I was just thinking the EXACT same thing and ya beat me to it. :)
A jambon-beurre is just one step removed and a good solution to a little hunger when a full meal is not required. Just add some good butter and ham. Want to take that a step further, make a croque monsieur - add béchamel sauce and grill. Not satisfied yet? Add an egg and have a croque madame. It all starts with good bread.
For hiking or spending a lot of time outdoors...A can of Spam and Saltine crackers....
When I was a kid who had no money, the best beach sandwich was Jones Beach catsup on bread, or hot water with catsup.
We also walked to the beach.
Can’t do that today.
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