A sandwich at Diablo Foods, a corner store in Lafayette, California.
out of 100 · excellent
Excellent, with one move worth +9.
A roast beef with layers outside the form; six of six roles.
Holding the summit: a finished composition
More heat 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: roast beef; pepper jack; lettuce; tomato; onion; pepperoncini; jalapeños; biyn mustard; horseradish sauce; oil and vinegar.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 1.2 | 62nd |
| acid | 1.8 | 90th |
| fat | 1.6 | 30th |
| sweet | 0.2 | 26th |
| umami | 1.0 | 28th |
| heat | 0.9 | 90th |
| bitter | 0.4 | 86th |
95 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 |
| roast beefscored as Beef | protein | fat 3 umami 3 juicy chewy tender | +13 |
| pepper jackscored as Monterey Jack | protein | fat 3 salt 2 umami 2 soft creamy melty | −5 |
| lettuce | texture | crunchy juicy fresh | +11 |
| tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | +11 |
| onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | +7 |
| pepperoncini | acid | acid 4 salt 2 pickled crunchy wet | −8 |
| jalapeñosscored as Jalapeño | texture | heat 4 crunchy fresh raw | −8 |
| biyn mustard | not scored | ||
| horseradish saucescored as Horseradish | sauce | heat 4 acid 2 creamy saucy | +3 |
| oil and vinegarscored as Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar) | sauce | acid 4 fat 4 salt 2 saucy wet | +8 |
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
- Beef + Onion: onions sweeten seared beef, philly style
- Beef + Horseradish: hot horseradish cuts rich roast beef
- Lettuce + Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar): dressed greens, the sub shop way
- Tomato + Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar): vinaigrette on tomato, salad logic
- Onion + Italian Vinaigrette (oil & vinegar): raw onion in vinegar, the quick pickle
How to raise it
- Between you and 90: a finished composition (0.12 short).
All the sandwiches at Diablo Foods · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder