· 2 min read

Ham & Cheese Panino at Helacio's Deli & Cafe

Ham, provolone cheese, tomatoes, mayo on ciabatta roll. Sandwich Score 64, very good. At Helacio's Deli & Cafe, Berkeley.

Ham & Cheese Panino at Helacio's Deli & Cafe: an illustration of the sandwich.
Illustration, AI-generated

A sandwich at Helacio's Deli & Cafe, a deli in Berkeley, California.

CiabattaMayonnaiseTomatoProvoloneHamCiabatta
64
Sandwich Score
out of 100 · very good

Very good, with one move worth +22.

Uncharted, five of six roles, few layers have a partner.

Holding the summit: a finished composition

Balance
92
Harmony
84
Contrast
100
Structure
98
Focus
100
Composition
44
Quality
100
Envelope
100

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: ham; provolone cheese; tomatoes; mayo.

Balance

salt1.9 · 86thacid0.7 · 59thfat2.8 · 75thsweet0.4 · 55thumami2.4 · 87thheat0.0bitter0.0
Flavor axes
AxisValueCatalog percentile
salt1.986th
acid0.759th
fat2.875th
sweet0.455th
umami2.487th
heat0.0n/a
bitter0.0n/a

93 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

LayerRoleFlavor and texturePoints
ciabatta rollscored as Ciabattabreadsoft chewy crustythe frame
hamproteinsalt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender+1
provolone cheesescored as Provoloneproteinfat 3 umami 3 salt 2 soft melty+3
tomatoesscored as Tomatotextureacid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh+13
mayoscored as Mayonnaisesaucefat 5 acid 2 creamy saucy+6

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

Build this sandwich

Load its stack into the Sandwich Builder. Swap a layer, watch the score move.

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