A sandwich at Perry's Delicatessen, a deli in Inverness, California.
out of 100 · outstanding
Outstanding, and the road to 90 is open.
Reads as a fully realized cubano, five of six roles, most layers have a partner.
More acid 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.
cuban bread (inferred from the name), pressed: house made carnitas; taso ham; swiss cheese; harissa aioli; pickles; hot mustard.
Much of this build is inferred from the name; the score is a reading, and it stays out of Perry's Delicatessen's typical score.
Worth a look: house-made: Pork; rare in the Bay Area (5 or fewer shops): Harissa Aioli; ingredient not in the pantry: Tasso Ham.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.0 | 88th |
| acid | 1.8 | 90th |
| fat | 1.6 | 29th |
| sweet | 0.5 | 58th |
| umami | 1.8 | 64th |
| heat | 0.4 | 81st |
| bitter | 0.2 | 64th |
98 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| cuban bread (inferred from the name) | bread | soft crusty | the frame |
| house made carnitasscored as Pork | protein | fat 4 umami 4 juicy chewy tender | +24 |
| taso ham | not scored | ||
| swiss cheese | protein | fat 3 umami 3 salt 2 soft melty | +14 |
| harissa aioli | not scored | ||
| picklesscored as Pickle (cucumber) | acid | acid 5 salt 4 crunchy juicy pickled | +16 |
| hot mustardscored as Mustard | sauce | acid 3 salt 2 heat 2 saucy smooth | +15 |
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
- Pork + Pickle (cucumber): rich pork wants the pickle's sharp edge
- Pork + Mustard: roast pork wants mustard's sharp edge
How to raise it
- Outstanding, not legendary: the menu does not name its bread.
All the sandwiches at Perry's Delicatessen · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder