Italian Centre Sandwich, Edmonton

A staple to any good Edmontonian, the Italian Centre Sandwiches (hot or mild) are the go-to meals for anyone who enjoys their cold cuts. As an assembly of everything from capicolli to mortadella, the real secret in my opinion is the slice of provolone and the thick spread of the red vegetable spread and an olive oil marinade they brush into their baguettes. There were the days when you had to order them at the deli, until they caught on and started premaking them. While that is certainly time saving, the option to change up the ingredients are now gone, which was always a crap shoot to substitute anyways from getting the most delicious concoctions to having someone yell at you for wanting to substitute.

I often grab one with a bag of kettle chips and an orangina or limonata, some sort of citric acid to cut the sodium nitrate. Highly recommended.

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Monty’s Bakehouse wrap, Air Canada

I’d rate this wrap as strange. Its packaging created expectations of a more appetizing experience, which it was not. After a vastly superior egg salad sandwich from London Heathrow, I could not greet this airplane freebie with serious interest, but at least it was hot, and at least I could review it for this blog. Steaming contents were oozy and largely undistinguishable, but suggested some kind of red pepper or sundried tomato origins.

La Esquina Del Chilaquil, Mexico City

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Patanisca (Codfish Cake), Brazil Bakery, Toronto

Going from one meeting to a lecture between the 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. time frame, I stopped in at Brazil Bakery on Dundas for one of their ready-made sandwiches. Choosing the patanisca (codfish cake) over the fish filet, even though the filet had a heft to it, I thoroughly enjoyed the codfish, which was not overly salty, and kept its flaked integrity in the generous mixture that was as big as the bun it came on. I actually ate it over two sittings, one right before the talk, and eating the remainder later at home.

You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

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