A Simple Sandwich

Is all it takes to turn a day around. One second you're in a huff, totally overwhelmed by the happenings in your world. The next second you're reminded of the sandwich that never was, and you get a craving. You rush to the grocery store and buy the items necessary. You get nostalgic about something you can't fully remember because you've never actually enjoyed it. For me, this sandwich is one I spied on a menu at Les Deux Gamins in the Village this summer. I really did want to get it, but something in me told me not to. Since that day, I have envisioned this sandwich. Today was the day I finally decided to make it.



I couldn't quite remember what was on it exactly, but I knew what the building blocks were - a baguette, smoked salmon and hard boiled egg. I also remembered that there was mayonnaise on it, which was probably what led to my order of eggs over a goat cheese potato cake. I just don't really like mayonnaise. I decided to replace it with a dill-speckled creme fraiche. I'm sure the mayonnaise worked better, since it didn't have that slightly sour note lingering after each bite, but I enjoyed that sour note. It was a very simple sandwich in the end - I layered some smoked salmon, julienned cucumber, sliced tomato, onion and chopped hardboiled egg on the baguette. I chopped up some dill and mixed it into my creme fraiche and then slid that on to the top. It was perfect. And when I was finished I understood why I was so nostalgic for something that I had never tasted before. I didn't have to eat the sandwich to miss it. It was a testament to pure simplicity. Those are the tastes we cling to, the ones that are simple and familiar, the ones that you crave even though you've never tasted them before.