Banh mi thermidore

Well... not quite. But Twitter newbie Santos delivers a banh mi with pots and pincers on. You won't find a banh mi lobster on the streets of Saigon, but you might find one on the beach in Guam,

"i have been making longer shaped rolls. these are perfect for little sandwiches, especially vietnamese-style banh mi, which use french-style bread. i love the flavours and textures in banh mi--the crusty, airy white bread... this particular one was inspired by one of chef mario batali's entrees in "iron chef america" mango battle." link.

No pig skin, pate or innards in Guam. That's them American island territories for you.

Comments

[santos.]

omg, i *know*. i feel your pain. can you imagine? we were the largest vietnamese refugee camp in the seventies, and there's not a single place on island to get a decent french roll nor banh mi. we have to totally fake it.

but it was pretty darned tasty.

[Graham]

Well... the thing is and it's been debated here over the years probably somewhere in here;

http://www.noodlepie.com/blog/street_sandwiches/index.html

is that... Vietnamese banh mi are not *that* good. the bread is crap, the pate too and the rest is not *that* great BUT they really work in situ i.e. on the streets of Saigon. And you can't really replicate a Saigon street in Guam, Toulouse or London.

Frankly, I think a genuine Vietnamese banh mi in Toulouse would leave me very cold, but the memory does not. See what I mean?

[santos.]

And you can't really replicate a Saigon street in Guam

obvs you've never been here, because in certain areas it wouldn't be that difficult. but yeah, i get the gist. the best street food doesn't translate outside of its street, really.