Ham and Cheese War

Two popular DC lunchtime eateries that I've mentioned and touted before: The Breadline and Cafe Phillips. One sandwich, the classic ham and cheese – one of my absolute favorites. Who wins the ham and cheese war? We shall see.

In general, both places can be fantastic, but both definitely have their down days, so this is not a battle of the establishments. That would have to be a longer discussion.

The Ham: Breadline's is Madrange French ham, a thinly-sliced, deli-style ham with a lot of smoky, savory flavor. However, once or twice the the ham tasted old, and that's a real turn off. Usually it's moist and very flavorful though. Phillips' ham is made in-house, fresh-daily along with their turkey and roast beef, and is carved thickly and generously as you order it. It is moist and very flavorful but is not sweet at all and still has that deli smokiness. This is a must. ADVANTAGE? Phillips.

The Cheese: A deep, pungent and high-quality Swiss cheese is the only option they give you for this sandwich at the Breadline, and it is a very nice one. The powerful flavor of the cheese works well with the tang and smoke of the ham. At Phillips, the cheese is your choice of a menagerie of pre-sliced, deli varieties including Swiss, Provolone and Muenster. None are too exciting, flavorful or memorable. ADVANTAGE? Breadline.

The Bread: The most underrated portion of a great sandwich, Breadline realizes this, and true to its namesake bakes a great assortment of breads fresh each day. The ham sandwich comes on half of a French baguette. Crusty and flavorful outside with a moist, fresh inside, it is a great bread. It's never stale and plays well as a house for the rest of the sandwich. You have to be ready for a lot of bread though, as the bread-to-innards ratio is pretty high. At Phillips, the bread is not baked fresh there, but it is usually fresh and not packaged-tasting if you choose the right one. The hoagie roll, sub roll and Ciabatta are a sampling of the good bets. I get it on the Ciabatta, and it was surprisingly good bread, crusty and tasty. Plus it packs its punch while still being only a thin layer compared to the rest of the sandwich. ADVANTAGE? Breadline.

The Condiments: The Breadline keeps it simple and French and serves it to you with a small amount of some high quality butter. And that's all. This is certainly a tasty and rich addition, but not something I look to eat all the time. At Phillips, they offer to cover your sandwich with any of probably 20 toppings, but only a few usually look that enticing. I like the hot, whole-grain mustard. Theirs isn't that hot, but it’s a nice calorie-free complement to the ham. ADVANTAGE? Phillips.

The Cost: Breadline's notoriously high prices do not bypass the ham and cheese. At roughly $9, that can be a little steep for a sandwich, no matter how good. Phillips' ham and cheese runs around $7, which seems like an overall more reasonable price for a sandwich, especially considering they do their own ham. ADVANTAGE? Phillips.

The Size: Both sandwiches are huge. Big enough for two lunches, and I'm not just saying that. I almost always save the other half of either for another meal. ADVANTAGE? Push, but with a slight lean toward Phillips due to theirs costing less.

The Verdict: While both are terrific sandwiches that do the ham and cheese proud, Breadline's occasional dud (due to non-fresh ham) and higher cost despite overall slightly higher quality is enough for Phillips the Underdog to pull ahead and squeak out a win in the Ham and Cheese war. Ham & Cheese ADVANTAGE? Café Phillips over The Breadline for the title.

A Tale of Two Half-Sandwiches

I went to Heidi's, a New York-esque deli on H street near 17th in DC, and ordered the salami and provolone sandwich on fresh ciabatta with red onions, spicy mustard and lettuce. I had been here before and knew they made good sized, good quality, good tasting sandwiches. I had even gotten the salami before and quite enjoyed it. I actually eat salami and related meats quite rarely, but quite enjoyed my Heidi's version enough about 6 months ago that I randomly decided to get it again. Plus all of their sandwiches are easily large enough to really be two lunches, so in a cash and calorie saving move, I already had the second half wrapped up and in the office fridge for the next day's lunch before I even cracked the first half.

Somewhat unfortunately, this sandwich was not quite as memorable as the first. The bread was crusty but quite brittle and stale, and didn't even seem like the same bread as the pillowy, chewy “fresh” ciabatta I had had last time. The lettuce was kind of wilty and added nothing to the sandwich, and they forgot the provolone. They also went way too heavy on the mustard. The salami was generous and nice and tangy, and red onions make everything better, but the complements were not making this a truly enjoyable half-sandwich. I dreaded the next day's lunch a little and knocked Heidi's down my list of lunch places near the White House.

When it came down to eating the other half of the sandwich the next day, I was none too excited. I decided that it really could not be messed up too much more than Heidi's already had, so I decided to go out on a limb and try to make this sandwich better using my limited resources at work.

First I needed to make that bread moister – it was barely even edible the day prior. I also needed to bring out some lacking flavors and lose a little of the mustard. So I discarded the lame lettuce and with it about a third of the mustard. I also sprinkled a little water on each side of the sandwich bread and decided to go for a hot sandwich to help the bread moisten with this added water and draw out the flavors of the salami more by heating the sandwich. So I wrapped this now-wetted hunk of weird sandwich in its paper and stuck it in the microwave on high for over a minute. When it was done, it was hot and sizzling. I let it cool and opened the paper....

To my delight, the bread was nice and moist, and the now-cooked salami and onions were as well, with the help of the added moisture that sort of steamed and sizzled the sandwich within the confines of its paper cooking vessel. The salami tasted richer, tangier and deeper and played great with the tender and flavorful onions, the remaining mustard and the way-less-stale bread. It tasted more decadent now, even though the only thing I added was water. It actually turned into a really tasty half-sandwich. Really tasty! And the texture was nice as well – it even appeared quite appetizing after the mangling it went through.

While my “MacGuyver” cooking tactics might have been a little low-brow, the ultimate sandwich reminded of something of a much higher quality, but at the very least was far more edible and enjoyable than the “fresher” first half from Heidi's the day before. Sometimes you do what you have to do to enjoy your lunch. Or maybe I'm just weird and got lucky this time.