The Unconventional Bread Tip For A More Texturally Complex Sandwich

Sandwiches are ideal for all meals of the day — from breakfast to dinner and especially lunch. So, a sandwich hack is always welcome. Chef-owner of Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro in New Orleans, Nina Compton, told Time Out that her favorite simple tomato sandwich tip is to give the white bread a little more structure by leaving it out overnight, firming it up and enhancing its texture. And if you're the kind of person who likes to zap your bread in the toaster, your sandwich will be even tastier since the heat will only add more crunch to the already crisp bread.

The correct way to store bread is by leaving it in a place without too much heat and light. Store-bought, presliced sandwich bread usually comes in a plastic bag, which helps the bread not lose moisture and go stale. However, if you want to imbue your bread with a little more pizazz for the sandwich you're planning to have tomorrow, you can grab however many slices you'll consume the next day and leave them out of the bag. That way, when you're ready to prepare and eat your sandwich, the bread won't be as soft as if it had been left in a reusable plastic bag.

Leaving bread out of the bag overnight so that it hardens and gains more texture is a tip that can be applied to any type of soft bread, like Japanese milk bread, ciabatta, potato, rye, whole wheat, focaccia, or pumpernickel, to name a few. Just make sure you're using fresh bread — you definitely don't want to make stale bread even tougher. This hack works for pretty much whatever sandwich you could potentially dream up, but if you want to follow in Nina Compton's footsteps, you might be wondering what the best possible bread for the most classic tomato sandwich is. As it turns out, dependable white sandwich bread is the one that's mainly used, but feel free to get creative and try any softer type that you prefer.

If you enjoy extra crunch, a French baguette will be a good choice when left out overnight, as it gets dry and crisp quickly. The goal is to choose a loaf in which the taste of the bread won't overpower the other ingredients. However, If you're into flavored bread, go for whatever will best complement the other components. A good example is Italian parmesan bread, which will add a fatty sharpness to your meal without the other elements getting lost. When selecting the perfect loaf, you can also skip the store-bought options in favor of baking some Pullman bread yourself.

While the stale bread trick is great for any sandwich, it's particularly suited to tomato sandwiches. And while Nina Compton might love them, the chef is far from the dish's only fan. The hashtag #tomatosandwich on TikTok has over 40 million views, and people constantly post their takes on this popular snack. In a video, Creator Carolina Gelen said that one of her favorite tips for preparing the best tomato sandwich is adding MSG to the tomatoes. MSG is found naturally in tomatoes and various other foods, such as cheeses (parmesan, Roquefort, Emmental, and cheddar), seaweed, vegemite, and soy sauce. So, when you add the powdered stuff to the fruit, it boosts the flavor of the tomato even more. You can also season your sandwich with dried kombu or miso for the same effect. 

@carolinagelen

tomato sandwich with olive oil mayo #tomato #sandwich #cooking

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Another TikToker posted a video explaining that they like adding both mayonnaise and butter to their tomato sandwiches. They do that by slathering one slice of bread with the former and the other with the latter. Then, they prefer adding two thick tomato slices that have already been seasoned with salt and pepper (preseasoning draws out moisture, concentrating the tomatoes' flavor). This technique brings extra richness and luscious flavor to the already delicious sandwich with the creaminess and savory taste of the mayo and butter — a must-try.