Sandwiches are a pinnacle of food.
Who doesn't love a roll with meat?
Sandwiches are the reason why delis are so massively popular.
And the improvements on this simple menu staple have taken food in general to another level.
So what are the small changes and additions that make it all that much better?
Who has the secrets?
Redditor arisal3 wanted to chat about how to improve the sandwich, so they asked:
"What makes a sandwich go from boring to amazing?"
I say mayo. Mayo. MAYO! More and always.
That's the key improvement.
Elevation
fast food eating GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphy"Seasoning and toasting the bread can seriously elevate a sandwich."
lovelyteaparty
"I like boring sandwiches, but toasting the bread 100% improves them. Especially if there is cheese on the sandwich."
Hawntir
Additions
"At the best sandwich places, all the vegetables are basically prepared like side dishes. Marinated, seasoned, grilled, or something."
han7nah
"Vinegar, whether its a dressing, mustard, brined pickles olives or anything else. Vinegar is king. Its also why i use hot sauce on everything."
eggsaladrightnow
"Gonna sound weird but banana peppers in mayo with hot relish. Got delivered someone else's order once and been addicted since."
Johnnyocean
You Do It
"Someone else making it."
unclebobsplayground
"I actually saw an article years ago about some study where they basically confirmed this. Smelling and handling the ingredients before eating the sandwich reduced cravings for and appreciation of the finished product, similar to how the fourth or fifth bite is less exciting than the first because you've gotten used to it."
Palazzo505
Pointed Issues
"Cutting it in half, diagonally."
grantnel2002
"Chef John from the fantastic https://youtube.com/@foodwishes YouTube channel often says 'It's a scientifically proven fact: people like pointy food.'"
shaggydogg
"All the fancy kids at school always had theirs cut diagonally. But our lunch tubbies were square so if it was cut diagonally, it won't fit in. My mom refused to buy new lunch tubbies just because I wanted my bread cut differently. Now that I am all grown up I ALWAYS cut mine diagonally and it is just wonderful. Simply wonderful."
magic7ball
A little touch...
salt salting GIFGiphy"Salt and pepper on the veggies."
beyd1
"Especially tomatoes. Always season your tomatoes before sandwiching."
BigShoots
Those small changes go a long way.
Starving
Hungry Orange And Black GIF by GarfieldGiphy"Hunger. It's amazing how amazing even a boring sandwich can taste when you're famished."
Somnif
The Spice
"Sweet 'n spicy mustard."
Cab8675
"Came to say basically any type of good sauce. Depending on the sandwich, chipotle or herb aioli, spicy mustard, pesto, or even just olive oil (infused is better) and vinegar."
wxmanify
"Philly cheesesteaks are my favorite sandwich, and there’s this local restaurant that makes the best one I’ve ever had."
"The main thing is that the add creole mustard to it. The bread, meat, and everything else is also really good, but that mustard takes it too another level. I never would’ve thought to put a spicy sauce on a cheesesteak (though I don’t know much about cooking)."
Frosty_Analysis_4912
The Feel
"Wrap it tightly in butcher paper after making. The compression marries all the ingredients together and pushes condiments into the crevices of the bread. Even if you're just going to eat it right after making it, a little time wrapped up seriously improves the flavor and feel of the sandwich."
LemFliggity
Just a Touch
"r/EatSandwiches assemble! In my opinion, dressing your greens is critical to a sandwich getting to that next level."
"Typically, for cold cuts, this is a vinaigrette dressing for me. But in hot sandwiches (e.g. the roast pork at DiNic’s in Philly) the greens are braised and thereby dressed as well."
"A touch of olive oil or butter and some fresh salt and pepper will never fail you either."
bpd52
It all changes...
Episode 1 Mind Blown GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Caramelized onion jam. It's a freaking game changer. Sourdough with Comté and BellaVitano expresso rubbed cheese, as a grilled cheese."
TheLivingShit
Now let's go make some sandwiches.
Do you have any other hacks to share? Let us know in the comments.
Curious to hear examples from those who've witnessed extremely unusual behavior at these facilities had plenty to share when Redditor N3SSDOGGDOGG asked:
"People who have spent time in a Psych Ward what is the craziest thing you’ve witnessed?"
One thing is certain. There is never a dull moment.
Consequences Of Enabling Drug Addiction
"In our tiny community some kids are smelly because typically the parents are addicts who either didn't pay their water bill, don't own a washer/dryer or are too brain dead to care. The nearest laundromat is now 30 miles away because the local one got broken into and robbed too many times by. Our school is awesome, there are staff members who do laundry for these kids and make sure they get showers. It's discreet so they're not ridiculed. I hate how our society enables addiction and even celebrates drug use, but I don't know how we can fix it at this point. It's gotten completely out of hand."
– Marisleysis33
Taking You To A Live Commercial
"My brother-in-law had a stint in a psych ward a little over a year ago, and on a particularly manic day they were in the middle of the community room and started singing."
“I have a structured settlement and I need cash now”
"This was then met by about 40-50 psych patients shouting back."
“CALL J.G. WENTWORTH!!! 877-CASH-NOW!!!”
"After getting a few verses in the orderlies stepped in and kindly requested they stop, which was kinda a shame since it sounded like they were all having a good time."
– MikeMars1225
Select Highlights
"I've worked in one for about 2 years now. The staff are just as crazy."
"Here's some highlights"
"Patient got into the ceiling, couldn't get them down for a while."
"Patient milked themself into their coffee. Did you know some anti-psychotics make you lactate?"
"The entire adolescent unit escaping because maintenence forgot to lock the gate. Don't worry. They all came back eventually."
"And myself getting a concussion from a patient trying to escape, they weren't successful, but at least I didn't work for 6 weeks."
– NeverlandEnding
Character Performance
"The funniest thing I ever saw (spent total of about three years in in my teens and early 20's): a kid in seclusion who was having a genuinely good time making staff's life a living nightmare while he was in there, took apart the plastic mattress, tore the foam inside into small pieces, donned the empty mattress and started yelling 'I'M GUMBY, DAMMIT!' while tossing the pieces of foam around like confetti. Even most of the staff were laughing about it."
– t_portch
Physical violence seemed to be a common occurrence.
He Had A Violent Streak
"Not a patient but an employee. Had a 16 year old kid come in who was about 6'2 220 pounds. Built like a linebacker. I found out since he was technically a child he somehow ended up at an autism school for children with very little security. He ended up inflicting a TBI on one of the teachers and got sent to us. The kid had a violent streak the likes I hadn't seen before, he knew he was stronger than most and liked to fight unprovoked and it always took 4 to 6 people to restrain him. I never seen a patient spend more time than him in the 'safety room' an incredibly small padded room with nothing in it. His parents wouldnt authorize his move somewhere else and they wouldn't take him home either. We were not equipt for someone with his level of violence. So there he sat... For one and a half years..."
"It wasn't like a single incident that was crazy, it was the entire situation."
– DisagreeableFool
David And Wendy
"I was in an adolescent inpatient facility for 30 days. One kid named David who was very tall for his age, I think he was only 13. He insisted on watching Friday the 13th movies on movie nights and everyone was afraid to disagree with him because of his violent nature and frequent homicidal fantasies. He hated taking his meds, and probably 2 or 3 times a week he'd brawl with the psych nurses over it. No joke, it took 5 to 6 large grown men to overcome this kid. He was scary."
– better-off-ted
A Mother's Experience
"My mother worked in an asylum in Ireland when she was about 15. This was in the early 60s. She loved working there, despite the fact that some of the patients would physically try and kill her. One patient always stuck out to her, every day he would tell my mum he was going to kill her when she finished work. She knew he loved music, so would tell him she was out dancing that night, and could he wait until the next day, which he agreed to. The next day he would forget what he had said, and would threaten her again, and she'd say the say thing again. This went on for a couple of years that she worked there."
– tiredandstupid82
Turns out some patients weren't seeing a change of scenery any time soon.
Fighting To Stay
"I work inpatient and we had someone who was in for 2 1/2 years. They would try to take him out but he would start fighting immediately and eventually said he preferred it."
– Deathdad
Simon
I was a social worker at an institution that had a hall for what we called 'lifers,' it was essentially for people who had no hopes of ever being released due to their conditions. Anyway, my hall had 14 beds and it was full. There was this one guy who was huge. He was 6’7 and about 350. His name was Simon. He suffered from drug-induced schizophrenia and had bipolar disorder. He talked to himself all day, but never talked to others. All the other men in the ward were scared of him."
"It was my day to do first shift. I got there early to start on some paperwork I needed to finish. When I got my keys in the door, I heard Simon hit the door with his fists. I looked through the tiny window on the door and he and the hall was covered in blood. I panicked and called security for backup because I thought he had killed somebody."
"Turns out, Simon was in the throes of an extreme manic episode and had managed to walk the literal soles of his feet off. Other medication he was on thinned his blood and led to him bleeding all over the place."
"We checked the camera footage and he had walked and talked all night. The orderly (who was fired that day) had slept through his whole shift and never heard Simon walking back and forth."
– CamillaCream02
Some of these examples sound like they could patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, without Nurse Ratched tormenting them.
But props to the real humans who are compassionate and look after those who can't function alone in society.
