Are you a fan of the sandwich? Aren’t we all? Well, France has some signature sandwiches that you need to know about – and to try. While it will always be better in Paris, le sandwich, as it is known, is fairly simple to replicate at home. Begin with the best ingredients you can find and read on for six tasty variations of the French sandwich.
1. Croque Monsieur
Let’s talk about Croque Monsieur, essentially a grilled cheese sandwich with the addition of ham and a blanket of creamy béchamel sauce. Beloved by brunchers all over the world, the Croque Monsieur has a few simple ingredients. Select yours wisely, with quality in mind. Choose slices of freshly-baked French bread, Gruyère or Emmental and our French bistro ham for authentic results.
Great for lunch, brunch, or a light dinner, the iconic Croque Monsieur should be in everyone’s cooking repertoire. Here’s our recipe for this iconic French sandwich.
2. Croque Madame
If you like monsieur, try madame. A classic Croque Madame is our idea of the ultimate brunch dish – Berkshire pork bistro ham is right at home alongside creamy béchamel, melted cheese, with a perfectly runny egg on top. Our Croque Madame recipe includes black truffle butter, of course.
3. Jambon-Beurre
If you’ve been to Paris, you’ve no doubt had a simple lunch of jambon-beurre. This is one of those foods that vividly evoke a place and cause nostalgia. All you need to create it at home is a good baguette, butter (get the best quality you can – like our black truffle butter) and thinly sliced unsmoked ham.
In our version we use authentic French-style bistro ham, and depart with the addition of creamy Camembert to make it a jambon-fromage. Skip the cheese to take the purist route.
4. Pâté-Cornichon
Here’s how to make pâté into a meal. Start with our Pâté de Campagne – a rustic, country-style pâté made from heritage-breed pork – and a baguette. Slice in half, butter the bottom and spread mustard on the top piece of bread. Lay slices of pâté on the bottom bread, and then add cornichons – those tart and tiny pickles – that are halved lengthwise. These add a zesty note that perfectly augments the pâté. Add salt and pepper, if desired, and top the sandwich with the other half of the baguette.
5. Tartine
Tartine is a French word to describe an open-face sandwich. Tartiner means “to spread” and the term originally referred to bread spread with butter, jam, or soft cheese, and served open-faced. Now a tartine can be any sandwich with any variety of ingredients, not necessarily spreadable. For instance, this recipe for black olive tapenade and saucisson sec tartine with crisp cucumber slices on top. Improvise with your own tartines – we like jambon de Bayonne, sliced duck prosciutto and savory duck rillettes as a starting point.
6. Pan Bagnat
This is a traditional sandwich from the Mediterranean coast of France and as such, highlights ingredients from the south. Think of this sandwich as a salad niçoise on bread. Pan bagnat translates to “bathed bread” because the bread is soaked in olive oil – you can use any of our Jean Reno Olive Oils from France for this. While a round loaf is preferred for authenticity, you may use a good baguette or rustic loaf. Packed with savory ingredients like tuna fish, olives, capers, and anchovies, this is one mouthwatering sandwich. Try this recipe at home if you can’t get to Provence anytime soon.
“Too few people understand a really good sandwich.” – James Beard.
We know you appreciate a good sandwich, so shop dartagnan.com for your ingredients and plan to make a French sandwich at home ASAP.
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