Remember that rumor about “Mama” Cass Elliot from the Mamas and Papas? The one about how she died in bed while munching on a sandwich? I heard that as a child and for years I took it as a cautionary tale about bedtime snacking, or else as evidence that fate has a rather whimsical sense of humor. It would serve a third purpose equally well: as a warning for those about to indulge in Vietnamese banh mi — the hulking behemoths of the sandwich world.
In the classic banh mi dac biet (special sandwich) you'll find a trio of pork: steamed deli ham, fatty roasted pork belly and cheese — which isn't cheese at all, but the rolled and pressed scrapings from a hog's head. Slivers of pickled carrot and radish, slices of cucumber, red hot chilies and fistfuls of coriander jostle for the space inside. A splash of lime juice and drizzle of fish sauce link all the flavors and give the sandwich that fresh Vietnamese flavor.
The result is basically Vietnamese resistance against the French realized in sandwich form. The French likely introduced the baguette, butter and pate to Vietnam in the early 20th century — the ingredients of the simple Parisian sandwich. But the banh mi eaten around the world are something distinctly Saigonese: stacked with ingredients, big on personality and thoroughly irrepressible. Austerity and elegance have no meaning in this context. You can almost imagine one leaping from a Frenchman's hands and slapping him roughly across the jowls, leaving only the brassic twang of fish sauce on his lips.
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