Four Great Ingredients, One Amazing Sandwich to Make at Home
Baguette, hand-cut prosciutto, cultured butter, and Emmentaler
If you’re looking for a remarkable sandwich you can whip up at home in minutes, something so tasty you might well be thinking about it many days after you eat, try this. I’ve eaten it four times in the last few weeks. Terrifically tasty!
As with pretty much all the food we make and eat around here, the key is the quality of the ingredients. Each of these four is world-class on its own—together they really make for a magical symphony of flavors.
The French Baguette from the Bakehouse is the base of the whole thing. When I teach the “Welcome to ZCoB” new staff orientation class, we do a quick product tasting to demonstrate to folks how much difference there is between what’s typically sold in supermarkets and what we do at the Bakehouse. It really is night and day, and the tasting quickly makes an impression on everyone! Sweeter (even though no sugar is added), butterier (even though we use no dairy in it).
Hand-cut, three-year-old Prosciutto di Parma at the Deli right now is from the family-owned and run Pio Tosini. The hams are all made by hand at the Pio Tosini plant. Carefully hand-salted, turned regularly, slowly matured as they have been for 150 years, and checked closely before they’re shipped. Delicate, a bit nutty, lovely finish. Because the Deli staff still hand-slices, the texture and flavor are protected right up until you buy some.
Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter has been a hugely positive addition to our food in the last few years here in the ZCoB. The cream, all from local farms, is allowed to ripen as it would have done centuries ago. Be sure the butter is at room temperature so it’s easily spreadable and its full flavor comes to the fore.
Last but not least, the Emmentaler Réserve cheese. This is the real thing, and man, it is really good! The current wheel we have at the Deli is especially delicious. Over 19 months of maturing, it’s got a lovely nuttiness, a sprinkling of those tyrosine crystals that develop naturally after the sort of long aging this cheese has. It’s a particularly dense and delicious batch of the cheese, so even if you aren’t going to make this sandwich, it’s still worth checking out!
Putting all four together is pretty straightforward. Slice the fresh baguette horizontally. Spread both sides with a generous amount of butter. You can decide how much, but for context, this is a European-style sandwich, not a Deli Reuben, so the amount of butter you use might seem like a lot. Then add a few slices of ham and cheese. Great with a salad of spring greens!
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