Dont you just love bizarre sandwiches? You dont have to actually make them or even eat them at all, but for some reason its kind of nice to know that there are those who like such things! I mean, ever heard of a “St. Paul”, which is apparently only available in St. Louis, Missouri, and only then in certain old-timey Chinese restaurants? Its a hunk of egg foo young on white bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayo ” sometimes even a slice of American cheese! Or the chow mein sandwich, which apparently is a common menu item on Route 195 in southern Massachusetts ” and not confined to Chinese restaurants! Others report having peanut butter-and-onion sandwiches, peanut butter-and-pickle sandwiches, or peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches with crushed potato chipsthere is no end to the variety of bizarre sandwiches out there!

Included in the list might be one of the most bizarre, the “Avraham Karadi” sandwich (A.K.A. Avi Karadi sandwich). It seems like it may have been created as a gourmet sandwich as it involves a tremendous amount of time and effort to gather and prepare the ingredients. I simply could not see anyone actually enjoying the resulting sandwich, but that’s just me as there has been talk that it is popular in some locations. Here is the list of ingredients:

An old Roman sweet wine sauce, Passum, is made by boiling the must, newly pressed whole fruits which include the stems, seeds, leaves and all. And then you would add in honey to thicken it.

Garum, a salty fish sauce from ancient Rome, approximated today by combining passum, oregano and fish paste.

Pine nut sauce, an old Roman stand by, this is made by combining pine nuts, vinegar, honey and some lovage and some pepper.

To finish it off add spinach, onions, lettuce and tomatoes as desired. Rye bread would be the usual choice, but black Russian bread comes in at a distant second. As found in egg salad “Egg Paste” is sometimes also added. Now the meat, Roast Beef or Pastrami are some of the favored meats to use. Of course as will all recipes there are some variations, but they all appear to stick to these main ingredients. Oddly, I was unable to find where the sandwiches nickname “Avraham Karadi” or “Avi Karadi” had come from.

Step One: Making the Passum: Reduce a quart of grape juice to one tenth its starting volume. You can add honey for taste.

2. Make the garum: Add to passum two tablespoonfuls of fish paste, with pinch of oregano.

Step Three: Making the pine nut sauce. You will need to soak the pine nuts for three hours in vinegar. Once completed you then want to blend it with honey and a few dashes of lovage and pepper.

4. Build the sandwich: Smear egg paste on rye or black Russian bread; insert meats and vegetables; ladle passum, garum, and pine nut sauce generously.

All done, enjoy your “Avraham Karadi” (aka “Avi Karadi”) sandwich!

Tags: Travel Tips

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