Serious Sandwiches: The World's Most Expensive Sandwich
Nothing like a good sandwich battle to get you excited for lunch. There seems to be some potential for a Big Apple hamburger–style fight over who can create the most expensive commercially available sandwich in the world. In 2006, the London department store Selfridges introduced the "MacDonald" (named after a chef, not the fast food place), featuring wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras, black-truffle mayonnaise, brie de Meaux, rocket (arugula), red pepper and mustard confit and English plum tomatoes- the whole thing served on a 24-hour fermented sour dough bread, and costing a healthy £85 (US$170).
The bar was clearly not set high enough, because a few months ago, the Cliveden in Berkshire (one of the Von Essen Private Country House Hotels) started serving the £100 von Essen Platinum Club Sandwich.
The massaged Austrailian cow is replaced with the Black Iberian Pig, as the sandwich comes layered with jamon Iberico that has been air-aged for 30 months. On top of that is piled poulet de Bresse (fancy-pants French chicken), "a generous 10g" of white truffles, quail eggs, and semi-dried Italian tomatoes. Like the "Macdonald," it is also served on 24-hour fermented sour dough bread, but cut much thinner to accommodate the three slices needed for a traditional club sandwich.
Which sandwich would you shell out $200 for? From a weight standpoint alone, the "MacDonald" is the clear winner. You save £15 and get 65 more grams of food (595g vs. 530g). But even without considering weight, I think I would still go for the department store beef and foie gras sarnie over the more regal country hotel club. As much as I love aged Spanish pork, beef and duck liver is going to beat out chicken any day of the week (even if that chicken is endorsed by a French king).
No word on who will be stepping up next to challenge the £100 sandwich price tag, although with the current exchange rate, it's pretty safe to say it's not going to come from the U.S. Is there a sandwich you'd pay $200 for? Feel free to share in the comments.
About the author: Zach Brooks is the proprietor of Midtown Lunch, where he blogs about affordable lunchtime eats in Midtown Manhattan. The guy knows his sandwiches.
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6 Comments:
When you can't make the best, just make the most expensive?
Personally, I'll take a roast turkey breast on light rye with mustard from Sam LaGrassa's any day. Side of coleslaw, please.
jayfallon at 2:48PM on 08/29/07
The sourdough sounds pretty good. Fois gras might be a bit much, but I wouldn't mind a top-dollar brie on top of that beef. Still, I agree -- more expensive doesn't always mean better tasting.
docpants at 2:55PM on 08/29/07
all i can say is these people are nuts! If I want a sandwich i have no intention of spending that kind of money. Expensive is NOT a sign of Good. (you can guild crap, but in the end all you have is expensive crap)
huney_bumper at 9:13AM on 08/30/07
I'd settle for a veggie sandwich from Schlotsky's. Seriously.
tgchi at 10:12AM on 08/30/07
Why can't sandwhiches be posh? I kind of like the novelty. However, I would never buy it. nuh-uh.
B
Hand to Mouth
handtomouth at 10:56AM on 08/30/07
I will eat any sandwich as long as it not called a "sammie". Gives me chills to think about the name and the inventor of the name.
kitchen lover at 5:15PM on 02/19/08