As we celebrate 15 years of community meals, we’ve teamed up with sarnie supremo Max Halley to show that sharing a meal doesn’t have to be an extravagant feat.
Our recent survey highlighted that half of Brits (49%) say that sharing a meal is the best way to connect with family and friends. And while the vast majority of Brits (81%) feel that sharing a meal improves mental wellbeing, 20% say they do not do this as often as they would like to.
To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week (13-19 May) and British Sandwich Week (20-26 May) we’ve given Max the honorary title of “Chief Sandwich Officer”. Sharing a meal is our bread and butter and it is core to helping us on our mission to fight food poverty, loneliness and food waste. Max is coming on board to help us highlight the benefits of breaking bread together, sharing his delicious veggie sandwich recipe and providing top tips on how you can keep your sarnies sustainable by using leftovers.
For those in London, Max will also be serving up a special vegetarian sandwich from 25th to 26th May at his shop, with £1 from every sarnie bought being donated to FoodCycle*.
Max comments: “Being given the honorary title of Chief Sandwich Officer by FoodCycle is one of the great honours of my life and the best thing since sliced bread. And I should know. At my sandwich shop we make all our sandwiches to order which not only guarantees freshness but massively minimises waste!
I love thinking about all the amazing, delicious and unexpected things you might be able to put between two bits of bread, and many of my greatest creations have come from leftovers. Leftovers are a gift to creative sandwiching.”
Sophie Tebbetts, FoodCycle CEO, continues:
“We really believe in the power of sharing food, whether that’s a three-course meal or a tasty sandwich shared on a picnic blanket. As summer approaches we wanted to team up with Max to help make sharing food sustainable, simple and fun. We hope that Max’s waste saving sandwich recipes will encourage people to get creative, come together and enjoy the magic of a shared meal”.
Get the ‘How am I Samosa Know’ Recipe
Max’s Sandwich Tips
How to use up leftover bread
There is of course the famous Panzanella Salad made with old bread. We keep any offcuts of bread to turn into croutons (‘they said you couldn’t put bread in a sandwich, but they didn’t think about deep frying it’), or you can make breadcrumbs that keep for a very long time. Toasted sandwiches are also miles better made with stale bread than fresh bread.
Condiments are a gift to veggie sandwiches (and vice versa!).
I always LOVE vinaigrette (olive oil, lemon juice, salt) in a sandwich which people often don’t think of for some reason. Mixing your condiment/sauce of choice into mayo is a real Sarnie Secret too, so much easier to spread evenly.
When it comes to sandwich bread – crust is key!
Focaccia, ciabatta or even repurposed hot cross buns can be used. Crust everywhere is what you’re after because then you can go to town on juicy things without the bread falling apart.
Leftovers sandwiches’ can be served hot or cold
Whether to serve hot or cold depends on their contents. I ALWAYS melt cheese. Think to yourself – how would I want to eat this if it was on a plate, not in a sandwich, and treat it like that.
Leftover veg is a gift to pickling!
Utilising leftover vegetables for quick pickling, we use an intense pickling ‘liquor’ called a 3:2:1 (ratio of white wine vinegar to sugar to water), enabling rapid pickling. Warm the ‘liquor’ up in a pan stirring like mad until all the sugar has dissolved, then set it aside until cool and you’re ready to pickle. Really you can pickle just about anything in the veg world. The harder and bigger the pieces the thing is cut into, the longer it will take to pickle. Always pickle in a sterilised container.
*Max’s Sandwich Shop, 19 Crouch Hill, N4 – please check opening times before visiting.
