Sandwich science

Coming from a linguistic and cultural background other than Spanish, it has been a bit of a headache for me to have breakfast out as in my mother tongue there's one word for “tostada”, “sándwich”, “bocadillo” and “montado”. So I haven't changed my breakfast preferences much staying at home in the mornings. Nevertheless, I have studied the science of the types of bread and the ways they are typically used by Andalusian people. It's not relying on your vocabulary, or dictionary using skills, it's learning the basics right.

Lesson 1. Toast

Toast (tostada) can be had, topped with anything imaginable from simple olive oil and garlic, or olive oil and tomato, to a richer topping, like cheese, ham and cheese, loin of pork, grilled meat, tongue, chicken, tuna, cod, salmon, anchovy, blue crab, prawns, lobster salad, surimi, egg, Spanish omlette, mushrooms, kidney beans, lard with paprika and other spices, or something sweet instead, such as honey, hazelnut chocolate spread, etc. One could have their toast with just about anything, hypothetically speaking, but in reality, the few popular toppings for a toast - in addition to olive oil, garlic and tomato, of course - are some good cheese and cured meat cuts (ham or pork loin).

Toast with ham and cheese

It's a question of taste, for sure, but the bread that makes the best toast is probably a soft round white bread called Mollete de Antequera.

Molletes de Antequera. Made and photographed by Marichu

Toast with olive oil and tomato. Image taken from another food blog

Lesson 2. Sandwich

Sandwich (sándwich) is made with sliced bread (pan de molde) that is not toasted. White bread, very soft in texture, baked in rectangular loaves that are suitable for making even slices (rebanadas), is the most popular for a plain sandwich. But bread for this breakfast treat can also be baked in round or oval loaves, better for making some firmer, butter lovers friendly slices (trozos).

Sandwich with crustless bread. Image taken from a blog

Lesson 3. Filled baguette

For filled baguette some good crispy fresh bread is used. They can be made of longer stick loaves (then, called bocadillos) or of shorter ones (called montados or montaditos as such). Size makes the difference here, and matters - these filled baguettes can be brutally large. Check out the guide of large baguettes from the province of Cádiz, otherwise you won't believe me.

Small cured ham baguettes. Photo from a blog

Small pork loin baguettes. Photo by Luzcarrion

Large pork loin baguette, cut in half vertically. Photo by Tulipán