Sainsbury's - that bastion of British supermarketery - gounded in 1869 by one John James Sainsbury, if Wikipedia can be believed. More recently making news for losing market share, along with old nemises Tesco and Asda, to the vigorous uprising of younger upstarts Lidl and Aldi. More on them in later posts, I suspect. Today I visited Sainsbury's whilst walking from Chancery Lane back to my Regent Street office, through one of my most sacred London stops - Charing Cross. Perhaps it was the miriad of memories stirring through my mind as I stopped made my trip in an area I know and love so well, but walking to the sandwich counter I knew I was in for a special sandwich experience this day.
I selected the Tast the Difference Ham Hock & Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese today, it is a sunny day, and perhaps I was in the kind of mood one would associate with a picnic, and that could explain why I found the bag-like packaging so alluring. Ham Hock! What is Ham Hock? I wondered. A quick Google search informs me the hock of a ham refers to the calf or ankle region, and can be tender and fat-free. I have always been partial to ham-based sandwiches, and was intrigued that Sainsbury's had left ay immediate advertising of mustard either elusive or entirely absent. Mustard I feel is the perfect accomplice and indeed lover to ham within a sandwich.
I walked back to the office eager to start this mysterious beauty, and start writing my blog. I was entirely not dissapointed. The bread, grainy and soft to the touch, a pleasing light brown colour with freckles one would expect from a 'multiseed farmhouse batch bread', immediately satisfied the senses. The first bite and the flavour explodes onto my tongue, the perfectly matured cheddar, with sweet notes of the chutney shining through, and an earthy, salty ham with wonderfully shredded texture.
The texture of this sandwich cannot be amphasised enough - it is a masterclass of how to please the inside of a mouth. My teeth sunk through the farmhouse bread, crunching pleasingly against lettuce before moving into the firm cheese and ham like a war-fatigued hero arriving home to sink down into bed. A bed made of ham hock & extra mature cheese. Unfortunately, there is a slight points loss for the last half of the sandwich whereby unfortunate crafstanship left one bite almost entirely pickle, with the distribution of ham, cheddar and lettuce clearly focused elsewhere. However working the other way to regain said points was the mayonnaise that was sporadically distributed throughout the sandwich, allowing for an unexpected moistener on the occasional bite.
Overall, this is one of the finest sandwiches I have tasted in a supermarket - it is worthy of serving on a china plate in an upmarket eaterie. As a note, it was included with my choice of crisps and a drink (McCoys salt & vinegar, and a tropicana orange and raspberry juice, would recommend as the sweet and tart juice added a je ne sais quoi) for a sensaional £3.00 - retail price without the meal deal was £4.95!! For these reasons, I award this champion of a sandwich a Sandwich Experience Score of 87.5%. For a full data breakdown, please see below.
Experience: 15/17
Branding: 3/3
Content: 3/4
Ingredients: 3/3
Appearence: 4/5
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