budget travel asia

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!

Add to that list one of the weirdest compositions ever, the "Avraham Karadi" Sandwich, also known as an "Avi Karadi. It seems like someone's idea of a faux-gourmet sandwich as it involves a lot of work just gathering and preparing the ingredients, and I cant imagine anyone actually enjoying the resulting mix of flavors, but theres been talk that its very popular in certain areas. Heres the list of exotic ingredients:

Passum, a sweet wine sauce from ancient Roman times. This is produced by boiling the must (whole fruits including the seeds, stems, and leaves pressed) and then adding honey in order to thicken it up.

Garum, an ancient Roman salty fish sauce, approximated today by combining passum with a fish paste and oregano.

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

Finally, and as desired, you may use spinach and onions as well as lettuce and tomatoes. When it comes to the bread many choose rye bread, but some do like Black Russian Bread as an alternative. Egg paste, as found in egg salad, is also sometimes used. Pastrami or Roast Beef are the meats of choice. Then there are the variations, there are too many to go over them all, just keep in mind they all pretty much keep within these ingredients. Curiously, I was not able to find out where the nickname of the "Avraham Karadi" or "Avi Karadi" came from for this sandwich.

1. Make the passum: Cook a quart of grape juice, reducing it to one-tenth its original volume. Add honey to taste.

2. The Garum: Add two full tablespoons of fish paste to the Passum. Then add a pinch of oregano.

3. Make the pine nut sauce: Soak pine nuts three hours in vinegar, then blend with honey and dashes of lovage and pepper.

Step Four: Building the sandwich. Spread egg paste on your rye bread (or your black Russian bread if that was your choice). Now add on the meat (Pastrami or Roast Beef) and add vegetables. Pour on the Passum, Garum, and Pine Nut Sauce as desired.

There you have it an "Avraham Karadi" (aka "Avi Karadi") sandwich, enjoy!