We're Seeing It Everywhere: Potato Chips in Sandwiches
Photo credit: Food & Wine
There are two approaches to the chips-in-your-sandwich thing:
Good: Joy the Baker’s Grilled Ham, Cheese, Pickle, and Potato Chip Sandwich, which is a beautiful, harmonious marriage of salt, tang, pork, crunch and nutty cheese. Or PB and C (sweet and salty!).
Bad: Subway’s new Fritos Chicken Enchilada Melt, in which whole Fritos are placed atop pulled chicken and smothered in “authentic enchilada sauce.” We’re not opposed to the idea of Fritos as garnish—all hail Texas Frito Pie—but consider the sodium levels of this sandwich. And consider the fact that, well, it’s Subway. (Also note that the TV ad’s “cruncha-muncha” jingle makes us want to dropkick something.)
Whatever your approach, there’s no denying that chips are all up in sandwiches, all over the place.
McDonald’s added a burger containing tortilla chips to its dollar menu last summer. (This would fall under the “bad” grouping.) Crave in New York City sells a seasonal tuna melt called “the Regan” comprised of tuna salad, melted cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and “crunch.” The crunch, in Crave’s case, is straightforward, salted potato chips, crumbled and layered onto the melt for texture. (“Good.”) (Patrons can also opt to add “crunch” to any of Crave’s sandwich offerings.) Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo serve classic potato chips on lobster rolls at their restaurant Son of a Gun in Los Angeles. (“Good.”) Good Housekeeping and Food Republic both offer some potato chip-sandwich pairing suggestions. And, of course, there’s a Facebook page devoted to the practice.
We called Potato Chips Deli in LA, thinking they would be the kings of chip-on-sandwich offerings, but alas, no chipwiches. They do, though, serve a variety of potato chip brands for homesick East Coasters and Southerners, such as UTZ, Zapps, and Cape Cod, telling us that they “offer a lot of chips so you can crunch them into your sandwiches yourself.” They’re clearly quite familiar with diners’ penchants for extra cruncha-muncha.
