The sandwich, a simple concoction of meat tucked between bread, became a culinary legend in 1762 when the 4th Earl of Sandwich famously didn't want to leave his card game for a meal. This convenient food has since evolved into a global street food phenomenon.
Across the globe, each culture has crafted its unique take on the sandwich, using local breads and fillings to create an array of flavors and styles. From the Vietnamese Bánh Mì to the American Sub, these creations are as diverse as the cultures themselves.
1. Pan Bagnat, France
Anyone who has read most bar menus will be familiar with France’s Nicoise salad, a combination of boiled eggs, tuna, olives, and lettuce. A pan bagnat packs all these ingredients into a baguette, along with optional extras like roasted red peppers and anchovies.
Those looking to try one need to visit Provence in Southern France — but this Bon Appetit recipe is also a winner.
2. Shawarma, Turkey
The humble shawarma originated in the Levant region during the Ottoman Empire. It comes from the Turkish word “cevirme,” which means “turning.” Shawarma is effectively a piece of meat turned by the fire.
The meat is spiced with a potent blend of smoked paprika, cinnamon, and cloves, then rolled in flatbread, and complemented with pickles and salad.
3. Bean Sandwich, Senegal
Senegal has a French colonial past, which, as we know from the Indochina region, influences the region’s gastronomy. Therefore, the baguette forms the base for the no-nonsense bean sandwich, using a blend of red beans braised in tomato, onion, and a blend of East African spices.
Locals eat this for breakfast and will often embellish their bean sandwiches with whatever they fancy.
4. New Jersey Sloppy Joe, United States
The sloppy joe is such a mess to eat that it turns some people off. Curiously, there is more than one type of sloppy joe, though most are familiar with the standard ground beef cooked with tomato sauce or ketchup, served on hamburger buns (or whatever bread works best).
Have you ever tried a New Jersey sloppy joe? Entirely different from the well-known version, this design incorporates cold cuts, including roast beef, dried coleslaw, and Russian dressing — it is somewhere between a Cuban and a Reuben.
5. Serranito, Spain
In Spain, the bocadillo is a local favorite, usually sitting atop most menus as an alternative to tapas. Most people in the South choose a Serranito for their sandwich of choice, a simple baguette roll packed with fried Iberico pork (loin, shoulder, or feather steak), a grilled green pepper, and Serrano jamon.
Fried eggs are optional and make for a messy yet divine eating experience.
6. Gatsby, South Africa
South Africa has several sandwich types, but one that stands out is the Gatsby, a bread roll filled with steak slices and slow-fried potatoes, known as “slap chips.” When local fish-and-chip shop owner Rashaad Pandy ran out of ingredients for his day workers’ lunch, he grabbed what was on hand and assembled a sandwich.
It was so popular he put it on his menu — “Gatsby smash” — and the legend was born.
7. Tripleta, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s answer to a Hot Cuban sandwich is the tripleta, which can thank Fidel Castro for its conception. Dissidents fleeing Cuba following the communist dictator’s annexation of the island found solace in Puerto Rico, where they brought their sandwich game.
The tripleta’s name comes from being piled high with three types of meat: lechon pork, grilled steak, and ham. Vegetables and crispy potato sticks add texture.
8. Tortas, Mexico
Mexico stands at the top of the sandwich food chain with many variations of bread-wrapped meat or vegetables. However, the torta is closer to a European-style sandwich, using telera rolls instead of tortilla bread, carne asada, refried beans, and tomatillo-avocado salsa verde to form the bulk of this treat.
Mexico has upgraded the Earl of Sandwich’s original idea, exemplified in Moribyan’s mouthwatering recipe.
9. Sanduch*e de Hornado, Ecuador
Who doesn’t love a leftover roasted meat sandwich? Ecuadorians do, so they devised a genius way to use up leftover pork. Hornado de chancho (roasted pork) is popular in Ecuadorian food stands.
The sanduch*e de tornado comes on a toasted bun with vegetables and a tree-tomato-based hot sauce called aji.
10. Tramezzino, Italy
Italians have a claim for Europe’s chief gastronomy experts, though the French would beg to differ. Not many would have tried an Italian sandwich, better known as tramezzino. Ironically, the Italians invented this sandwich in 1925 to rival the world’s chief superpower and dainty sandwich experts, the British.
Tramezzini are white, crustless, bread sandwich pockets stuffed with anything the region offers: prosciutto, cheese, or roasted vegetables.
11. Shark and Bake, Trinidad
Trinidad has its version of a Mexican fish taco, and this one isn’t for the faint-hearted: a shark and bake uses fried cuts of blacktip shark mixed with mango chutney, garlic sauce, fiery chadon beni (a hot Caribbean cilantro sauce), and coleslaw.
For anyone visiting Trinidad, a shark and bake sandwich at Maracas Bay is a must.
12. Banh Mi, Vietnam
It’s hard to top Vietnam’s post-colonial offering. I can’t think of another Southeast Asian country that enjoys pâté on a baguette. However, it doesn’t end there. Banh mi, first conceived in ‘50s Saigon, contains various Vietnamese-style fillings, (pickled mooli, carrot), some form of delectable Vietnamese protein like chicken or pork, and cilantro and onion chives.
Hungry Huy’s banh mi with pork belly is simple and delectable.
13. Mitraillette, Belgium
There has been much dispute over the origin of french fries, with Francophone Belgium staking a claim from 1680, even though potatoes didn’t arrive there until 1735. However, we can ascertain that the mitraillette sandwich celebrates the Belgium (or French) fry in sandwich format.
Crispy fries are piled atop a baguette, covered in cheese and mayonnaise — what else in Belgium?
14. Falafel and Pita, Egypt
There's a centuries-long debate about the origin of falafel, with most historians pointing toward Egypt — though other nations such as Israel, Lebanon, and Yemen all have their claim, says History Today.
Regardless, you can visit almost any Middle Eastern country and enjoy mashed chickpeas deep-fried in oil and served on whichever bread comes as that region’s staple, such as pita bread.
15. Leberkäse, Germanic Alpine Regions
“Liver cheese” isn’t the most appetite-inducing word combination we have heard, but the Leberkäse contains no liver. The meat filling is a combination of ground bacon, pork, and beef, seasoned and baked like a meatloaf before going into a soft roll with sweet mustard and onions.
Chefkoch has dozens of variations on this German staple.
16. The Great British Bacon Butty, Britain
Ask any Brit what their favorite sandwich is, and you are guaranteed not to hear cucumber and cream cheese. While these anemic offerings may appeal to summertime cricket crowds, true Brits will tell you a bacon sandwich is number one.
Some prefer fresh bread and others prefer toast, with grilled back bacon, butter, and ketchup, or the extremely British brown sauce. One can eat a bacon butty any time of the day your bacon cravings catch up with you.
17. Gyro, Greece
The further east through Europe one travels, the more flat the bread becomes, and this is the case with the Greek — via Turkish migrants — gyro. Although Greece is in Europe, it resembles the Middle East in some ways, namely its cuisine. Gyro is much like shawarma in that its translation is the same: “to turn.”
However, a gyro’s pork-based interpretation and its complement of tzatziki sauce give it distinctly European status.
18. Bifanas, Portugal
The Southern Iberian tip is blessed with the finest pork in the world — and this is no exaggeration. The black pigs of Andalusia also roam west of the border, and Portugal eats pork in equal measure to its neighbors.
Bifanas are simple grilled pork rolls made with a marinade of white wine, garlic, and paprika. They make the perfect pit-stop snack with a cold beer, best eaten on a city sidewalk or hot beach.
19. Dosa, India
Some might say this isn’t a sandwich at all, but if gyros and shawarma are in the conversation, a dosa has a good claim. A dosa is an Indian crepe made from fermented black gram (black gram is a mung bean-like pulse eaten across India) and rice flour.
Served hot as a street food snack or meal, dosas come with various fillings, but the most popular is potato masala and sambar, a spicy lentil stew.
20. Croquette Sando, Japan
Like neighboring Korea, Japan welcomed Western ideas into its culinary repertoire sometime after Sakoku — or Japan’s national seclusion period of 1603 to 1868. Western-influenced recipes took off after World War II when American and European sports, music, and fashion infiltrated a hitherto predominantly Japanese way of life.
During this period, the croquette sando was born: a sandwich filled with fried potato croquettes alongside various other ingredients such as tuna, ground beef, or mac-and-cheese. Mayonnaise and katsu sauce are mandatory condiments.
21. Kaya Toast, Malaysia
Westerners in Asia may sometimes struggle to find breakfast to suit their toast-based morning needs, but kaya toast will do the trick. Kaya is a Malay coconut and egg-based spread made with coconut milk and sugar.
Malaysians (among other Asians who enjoy similar concoctions) put this in between sliced toasted white bread with a slab of cold butter that slowly melts over the kaya. With some strong coffee on the side and a balcony overlooking a gleaming sea, kaya toast is a perfect toast alternative.
22. Steamed Bao Buns, China
Eaten across more northerly Asian latitudes (and in trendier Western cities), bao buns are made with simple all-purpose flour and yeast dough. The fluffy, white bread clouds are then packed with a combination of any meats or vegetables one wants, and Taiwanese-style gua bao with pork belly is very popular.
However, char siu pork, beef short rib, or any variation of slow-cooked meat makes for a perfect combination in one’s bao.
23. Prawn Roll, Australia
There is a shrimp-prawn dichotomy in American and British English, with Americans rarely using the term prawn unless referring to a larger-sized shrimp. In any case, Australians mostly live within a rock’s throw of the sea, so they have a healthy relationship with seafood, exemplified in their prawn roll.
This relationship can manifest in several ways, and a sliced baguette stuffed with prawns, lettuce, and avocado makes for Aussies’ take on the lobster roll.
24. Sabich, Israel
In a region famed for its love of oversized fire-roasted meats, the Middle East is blessed with some amazing vegetarian fare, including a sabich.
Sabich is like a falafel sandwich’s exotic cousin: fried eggplant, hummus and tahini, pickled mango, salad, and hard-boiled eggs sit among various other delectables in this Amen chorus for Mediterranean ingredients.
25. Cevapcici, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Balkans is renowned for its hearty, rustic fare and hangover-inducing local moonshine (Balkanese regions rank among the heaviest drinkers in Europe). However, what better way to soak it up than a spiced, charcoal-grilled meat sausage, between toasted flatbread, smothered with onions and two secret weapons: kajmak and ajvar?
Kajmak is a sour cream, feta, and cream cheese-based spread; ajvar is roasted red pepper sauce.
