A sandwich at Helacio's Deli & Cafe, a deli in Berkeley, California.
out of 100 · very good
Very good, with one move worth +13.
Reads as a fully realized chicken pesto sandwich, five of six roles, most layers have a partner.
Holding the summit: balance 0.80 or better
−4 pressed the fresh layers flat
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: grilled chicken; fresh mozzarella cheese (high tier); roasted red peppers; red onions; pesto sauce.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 0.9 | 49th |
| acid | 0.2 | 31st |
| fat | 2.0 | 44th |
| sweet | 0.4 | 53rd |
| umami | 1.6 | 53rd |
| heat | 0.1 | 50th |
| bitter | 0.3 | 74th |
70 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 |
| grilled chickenscored as Chicken | protein | umami 3 fat 2 juicy chewy tender | +2 |
| fresh mozzarella cheese (high tier)scored as Fresh Mozzarella | protein | fat 3 soft creamy melty | +10 |
| roasted red peppersscored as Roasted Red Pepper | bulk | sweet 2 soft silky wet | 0 |
| red onionsscored as Onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | +2 |
| pesto saucescored as Pesto | sauce | fat 4 salt 2 umami 2 creamy saucy | +17 |
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
- Chicken + Pesto: pesto gives mild chicken a green engine
- Roasted Red Pepper + Onion: peppers and onions, the griddle pair
How to raise it
- Clear the board: pressed the fresh layers flat (-4).
All the sandwiches at Helacio's Deli & Cafe · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder