A sandwich at Helacio's Deli & Cafe, a deli in Berkeley, California.
out of 100 · very good
Very good, with one move worth +15.
A caprese with layers outside the form; five of six roles, most layers have a partner.
Holding the summit: balance 0.80 or better
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.
ciabatta roll, pressed: fresh mozzarella cheese (high tier); tomatoes; pesto sauce; fresh basil; olive oil.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 0.8 | 43rd |
| acid | 0.2 | 32nd |
| fat | 2.8 | 75th |
| sweet | 0.1 | 23rd |
| umami | 0.9 | 26th |
| heat | 0.0 | n/a |
| bitter | 0.3 | 78th |
71 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ciabatta rollscored as Ciabatta | bread | soft chewy crusty | the frame |
| fresh mozzarella cheese (high tier)scored as Fresh Mozzarella | protein | fat 3 soft creamy melty | +15 |
| tomatoesscored as Tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | +23 |
| pesto saucescored as Pesto | sauce | fat 4 salt 2 umami 2 creamy saucy | +3 |
| fresh basilscored as Basil | aromatic | fresh herbal soft | +13 |
| olive oil | fat | fat 5 silky smooth | −10 |
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
- Fresh Mozzarella + Tomato: caprese core: milky against sweet acid
- Fresh Mozzarella + Basil: basil perfume over milky mozzarella
- Tomato + Basil: shared-compound classic: tomato and basil
How to raise it
- Between you and 90: balance 0.80 or better (0.16 short).
All the sandwiches at Helacio's Deli & Cafe · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder