We delve deeper into ‘History’s Most Horrifying Sandwiches’ today… With a look at the (in)famous Dagwood Sandwich. Those old enough to remember the classic daily newspaper cartoon strip Blondie will remember the sammy…
Dagwood Bumstead on his way from the fridge to the kitchen table,
to create yet another bread-and-everything monster…
It was a symbol of Dagwood’s food addiction. And objectified his unique response to stress. But it also symbolized the unbounded joy food brought him. Alas, no one truly understood him. And everyone criticised him for indulging in such a big way. Especially his long-suffering wife, Blondie…
Never the same twice…
You have to give credit to cartoonist Chick Young who created the Blondie strip in 1930. He drew more than 15,000 Blondie strips over his career, and the Dagwood Sandwich appeared in hundreds of them. And it was different every time. That’s the essence of the Dagwood. It is continually evolving, even decades after the creator’s passing, and even after the demise of the strip itself. Even after the death of daily newspapers as my generation knew them…
The very concept of the Dagwood sandwich is an institution in itself. It is renewed and reimagined over and over again, every time a famished diner throws everything they can get their hands on between two pieces of bread.
The ‘recipe’…
The recipe for the Dagwood Sandwich is kind of like the Rules of Fight Club. As far as devotées are concerned – there are NO rules!
But it is worth noting that a real world Dagwood should contain a moderate number of layers (rel-ative to the sammys depicted in the cartoon) of complementary foods. In practical terms, it should not contain too many sauces, nor should their flavours be overly complex. They all have to coexist without making the sammy unmanageable or the sensory experience muddy – a real concern which is amplified with each succeeding layer of ingredients you apply.
Personal experience…
The best Dagwood I ever built was made up of Christmas Turkey Dinner leftovers – including dressing and cranberry sauce. (I wisely withheld the gravy.) And since I was making it for Boxing Day brunch, I interleaved the classic feast ingredients with over-easy fried eggs.
I used four really long wooden skewers to stabilize it, and cut it diagonally into 4 wedges. Which I served on their sides on regular large dinner plates. With reheated gravy on the side for dipping.
And everyone loved it. So there!
My take
There is – and always will be – a place for the Dagwood Sandwich in the real world. The principles behind it are universal. And its exact recipe will continue to evolve, reflecting the current state of our contemporary dinner tables.
Long live its name, and long live its glory! And long may its story be told…
~ Maggie J.