Want to know what the hottest, crunchiest trend of 2015 is so far?
Drumroll please; introducing the crisp sandwich.
Yes, you read that right, the crisp sandwich. Not an invention fresh off the boats from our American cousins (à la the Cronut, which took 2014 by storm) but the humble crisp sandwich. Nostalgic memories of packed lunches of white bread and butter, a slice of something nice and a layer of carefully placed cheese and onion crisps which then, ladies and gentlemen, would be squashed together before chowing down. Bliss.
The crisp sandwich, which makes many a mouth water at mere mention, has hit the headlines thanks to a newly opened café in Belfast which specialises in such gastronomic delicacies.
The thing is, would having someone else make your crisp sandwich be a good thing? Word on the street is that the crisp sarnie is a thing of great personal preference. While some can’t get enough of salt and vinegar in a buttered bap, others would balk at such an idea, eschewing anything but prawn cocktail in brown with a sliced banana (no joke!).
And, is a crisp sandwich not all the more pleasurable because it’s a bit naughty and a bit of a secret? Many an adult still find themselves watching the clock until lunchtime (usually cracking at about 11.47am – that’s lunchtime right?) because they know, THEY JUST KNOW, that they have a lovingly-prepared sandwich lurking in their lunchbox just begging to be slyly stuffed with crisps and devoured. Doesn’t a café make it a bit too legit? A bit too much choice of what bread, what filling and, most importantly, what crisps? It’s all very avant-garde.
But, if it’s wrong, maybe it’s wrong because it’s right. That’s what the sell-out crowds who stormed said sandwich shop on its first day and cleared the shelves of all things salty, crunchy and flavoursome between two slices of bread must have reckoned anyway. So, let’s give in to the mother of all memory-lane business inventions and open our arms, minds and mouths to the mighty crisp sandwich.
Waiter! Make mine a peanut butter and beefy on white!