Put a bunch of cooks in a room to debate the artwork of sandwich making, and you may just about depend on them hashing out a well-known set of subjects: which cheeses have one of the best meltability, the perfect bread to make use of and whether or not to toast it or not, ratios and portions of fillings, stacking order, and the perfect condiments for each bread-bound creation recognized to humankind. However one method that’s mission important to an unlimited variety of sandwiches typically will get ignored: the necessity to wrap them after meeting and earlier than digging in. 

It is simple to disregard this elementary sandwich method—if you get a wrapped sandwich from a deli or restaurant you would possibly assume the one purpose it’s swaddled in paper and/or foil is to make it simpler to eat on the go. However the wrapping of a sandwich typically delivers culinary advantages so vital that it is nicely price wrapping them when making them to eat at residence. For sure sandwiches—together with scorching ones like bacon, egg, and cheese and chilly ones like pan bagnat—the wrapping isn’t optionally available, it’s important.

Faucet Into the Advantages of Wrapping Scorching Sandwiches

There are a number of fascinating issues wrapping a sandwich helps accomplish. For warm sandwiches, a couple of minutes in a decent wrapper is sufficient to lure warmth and steam, softening the bread, additional melting the cheese, and fusing all the components right into a extra cohesive entire. Take the bacon, egg, and cheese for instance. A part of the BEC’s enchantment is how the fluffy eggs, crisp bacon, and cheese meld collectively and glue to the tender roll holding them. “Wrapping ensures that the cheese melts totally and the inside steams barely, which softens and warms the sandwich simply sufficient,” writes Critical Eats contributor Tim Chin, who makes wrapping a closing step in his BEC recipe even for individuals who are solely carrying it from the kitchen to the breakfast desk. “The wrap is the explanation why a deli-style BEC stays scorching, stays gooey, and has a novel texture.” You can make a BEC with out wrapping it, or you might enhance it by about 200% by taking the time to wrap it and let it sit for a number of minutes earlier than digging in. 

Just like the BEC, there are a bevy of different scorching sandwiches that profit from the fast wrap and steam: the chopped cheese, the pork roll, the Italian meatball sub, and lots of extra. Wrapping retains the sandwich hotter for longer and ensures that the cheese—the glue holding the sandwich’s contents collectively—melts correctly. It additionally steams the bread, softening it simply sufficient that it’s pillowy and tender, not chilly and off tasting. 

For each cold and hot sandwiches, wrapping may compress the sandwich, additional unifying the fillings whereas making the completed creation simpler to eat. The pork roll’s cohesiveness is essential—the professional transfer for consuming it includes dipping the sandwich in a facet of ketchup, an act that is made way more manageable by first gluing and squishing all of the layers collectively. And the chopped cheese—a New York bodega basic loaded with floor beef, American cheese, sliced onions, tomatoes, and lettuce—depends on the compression and steaming courtesy of a decent wrapping to correctly soften the cheese and bind the fillings.

Some Chilly Sandwiches Prefer to Be Wrapped Too

Now contemplate chilly sandwiches, just like the muffuletta. Full of a briny, tangy olive salad and an assortment of chilly cuts, the New Orleans basic is noticeably extra flavorful if you wrap it and let it sit for an hour or extra to offer the bread an opportunity to absorb all of the juices from the olives and pickles. Likewise, pan bagnat—the famed Provençal sandwich that’s primarily a Niçoise salad between bread—reaches its true heights solely after its filling has had time to settle and intermingle. 

Typically these chilly sandwiches should not solely wrapped however left to take a seat with a weight on prime to make sure enough compression and cohesion (some scorching sandwiches are pressed with weights additionally, and since they’re softer from the warmth, the load has a extra profound impact on the diploma of compression). As Daniel notes in his recipe, pan bagnat actually means “bathed bread” in French, however for the bread to really bathe you first have to offer the sandwich a second to luxuriate in these irresistible Niçoise drippings. Whilst you wouldn’t need to use a weight on them, wrapping, barely compressing, and refrigerating cream-filled Japanese fruit sandwiches creates an excellent layer of cream, helps the cream and fruit set into each other, and makes slicing and consuming the sandwiches a lot much less messy. 

When Ought to—and Shouldn’t—I Wrap My Sandwich?

The massive query, then, is resolve if a sandwich wants wrapping. There are not any arduous guidelines about when (or when to not) wrap, but when most soften, softness, cohesion, soaking, or marinating are vital to the sandwich, it’s most likely a good suggestion to take action. Most sandwiches constructed on sliced sandwich bread are extra vulnerable to sogginess, as they lack the thicker, sturdier crust of rustic loaves, so assume twice earlier than wrapping these, particularly if the filling is especially moist. We’d keep away from wrapping tuna or rooster salad on comfortable bread, for instance. Toasted or griddled bread will help offset a number of the moisture, however there’s no assure the sandwich gained’t sog with time, so use your judgment earlier than you begin wrapping. 

The following time you contemplate the numerous methods to enhance your sandwich, don’t sleep on this too-often-overlooked step: wrapping and resting. It’s the simplest and most cost-efficient method to make your sandwich exponentially extra scrumptious. All you want is a chunk of foil—possibly some parchment—and simply sufficient endurance to attend a number of extra minutes earlier than taking a chunk.

March 2024