A sandwich at The Sandwich Spot Menlo College, a sandwich shop in Atherton, California.
out of 100 · solid
Solid, with one move worth +25.
An italian sub with layers outside the form; six of six roles.
Holding the summit: a focused, restrained build
−6 sauce overload
−5 a wet layer on soft bread
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.
choice of bread, served cold: ham; salami; prosciutto (high tier); provolone; italian dressing; mayo; mustard; secret sauce; lettuce; tomato; pickles; onions; peppers.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.4 | 90th |
| acid | 1.6 | 90th |
| fat | 2.2 | 54th |
| sweet | 0.4 | 47th |
| umami | 1.9 | 69th |
| heat | 0.3 | 75th |
| bitter | 0.3 | 75th |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| choice of bread | bread | soft | the frame |
| ham | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender | −2 |
| salami | protein | salt 4 fat 4 umami 4 chewy silky | −2 |
| prosciutto (high tier) | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 silky chewy tender | −3 |
| provolone | protein | fat 3 umami 3 salt 2 soft melty | −2 |
| italian dressingscored as Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar) | sauce | acid 4 fat 4 salt 2 saucy wet | −12 |
| mayoscored as Mayonnaise | sauce | fat 5 acid 2 creamy saucy | −11 |
| mustard | sauce | acid 3 salt 2 heat 2 saucy smooth | −25 |
| secret sauce | not scored | ||
| lettuce | texture | crunchy juicy fresh | −1 |
| tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | −1 |
| picklesscored as Pickle (cucumber) | acid | acid 5 salt 4 crunchy juicy pickled | −19 |
| onionsscored as Onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | −1 |
| peppersscored as Pepper (bell/hot) | texture | heat 3 crunchy juicy | −2 |
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 + Salami: salami and ham, the deli's double cure
- Ham + Mustard: deli constant: hot mustard on cured pork
- Ham + Pickle (cucumber): the cubano lesson: brine cuts cured pork
- Salami + Provolone: italian sub spine: salami and provolone
- Salami + Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar): vinaigrette cuts fatty salami, sub shop law
- Salami + Mustard: hot mustard against fatty salami
- Provolone + Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar): sharp cheese, sharp dressing
- Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar) + Lettuce: dressed greens, the sub shop way
- Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar) + Tomato: vinaigrette on tomato, salad logic
- Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar) + Pickle (cucumber): cucumber in vinegar, a pickle in progress
- Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar) + Onion: raw onion in vinegar, the quick pickle
- Mayonnaise + Tomato: summer tomato sandwich: acid on rich
- Onion + Pepper (bell/hot): peppers and onions, the griddle pair
How to raise it
- Clear the board: sauce overload (-6).
All the sandwiches at The Sandwich Spot Menlo College · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder