A sandwich at Helacio's Deli & Cafe, a deli in Berkeley, California.
out of 100 · excellent
Excellent. Small moves left on the board.
Reads as a fully realized italian sub, six of six roles, most layers have a partner.
Holding the summit: complete structure
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.
sourdough roll, served cold: ham; salami; pepperoni; provolone cheese; lettuce; tomatoes; red onion; peppercinis; olive oil; garlic aioli.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.1 | 90th |
| acid | 0.8 | 62nd |
| fat | 2.8 | 75th |
| sweet | 0.3 | 34th |
| umami | 2.1 | 77th |
| heat | 0.4 | 80th |
| bitter | 0.1 | 40th |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| sourdough rollscored as Sourdough | bread | soft chewy crusty | the frame |
| ham | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender | +2 |
| salami | protein | salt 4 fat 4 umami 4 chewy silky | +18 |
| pepperoni | protein | salt 4 fat 4 umami 4 heat 2 chewy tender | −2 |
| provolone cheesescored as Provolone | protein | fat 3 umami 3 salt 2 soft melty | +11 |
| lettuce | texture | crunchy juicy fresh | −1 |
| tomatoesscored as Tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | 0 |
| red onionscored as Onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | −3 |
| peppercinisscored as Pepperoncini | acid | acid 4 salt 2 pickled crunchy wet | +13 |
| olive oil | fat | fat 5 silky smooth | −6 |
| garlic aioliscored as Aioli | sauce | fat 5 creamy silky saucy | −5 |
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
- Salami + Pepperoni: the italian sub's spiced cures
- Salami + Provolone: italian sub spine: salami and provolone
- Salami + Pepperoncini: hot pickled peppers cut fatty salami
- Pepperoni + Provolone: pizzeria cure under sharp provolone
- Pepperoni + Pepperoncini: hot pickled pepper cuts pepperoni fat
- Tomato + Aioli: garlic aioli against sweet acid
How to raise it
- Judged as an italian sub: focus is not held against it.
- Between you and 90: complete structure (0.01 short).
All the sandwiches at Helacio's Deli & Cafe · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder