A sandwich at Picnic, a deli in Albany, California.
out of 100 · very good
Very good, with one move worth +26.
Uncharted, five of six roles, half the layers have no partner.
Holding the summit: a finished composition
More salt than 90% of the catalog.
Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.
acme sweet baguette, served cold: smoked ham; early girl tomato jam; cheddar; arugula; dijonnaise.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.1 | 90th |
| acid | 1.1 | 73rd |
| fat | 1.6 | 30th |
| sweet | 0.4 | 47th |
| umami | 2.0 | 77th |
| heat | 0.4 | 81st |
| bitter | 0.5 | 90th |
100 Balance, out of 100
The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.
What each layer brings
| Layer | Role | Flavor and texture | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| acme sweet baguettescored as Baguette | bread | crispy soft flaky | the frame |
| smoked hamscored as Ham | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender | +5 |
| early girl tomato jamscored as Tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | +2 |
| cheddarscored as Cheddar Cheese | protein | fat 4 salt 3 umami 3 soft gooey melty | +6 |
| arugula | bulk | bitter 2 fresh leafy tender | −7 |
| dijonnaisescored as Mustard | sauce | acid 3 salt 2 heat 2 saucy smooth | +9 |
Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.
Pairings
- Ham + Mustard: deli constant: hot mustard on cured pork
- Tomato + Cheddar Cheese: grilled cheese and tomato, the lunch pair
- Cheddar Cheese + Mustard: ploughman's law: sharp cheese, sharp mustard
All the sandwiches at Picnic · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder