Sandwiches and Wraps

Elena Ruz is a unique Cuban sandwich consisting of a roll topped with turkey, fruit jam, and cream cheese. Its popularity is a result of the unusual contrast between the combined sweet and savory flavors. The sandwich is traditionally served during merienda (afternoon tea) in Cuba, either whole or sliced. It is believed that the sandwich got its name after Elena Ruz Valdez-Fauli, a wealthy socialite from Havana who used to request this specific combination of ingredients during the late 1920s in El Carmelo Restaurant.

Elena Ruz

Mexico

Empalme is a Mexican sandwich consisting of two lard-brushed corn tortillas filled with refried beans and tomato salsa. Additionally, chorizo, hot chile peppers, and queso fresco can also be added to the dish as flavorful fillings. The sandwich is a specialty of the Mexican state of Nuevo Le&oacute;n, and is sometimes compared to a stacked enchilada or a Mexican pizza. With its bold flavors and the pork fat differentiating it from other similar dishes, empalme is guaranteed to remain a staple of Mexican street food.

Empalme

Enchiladas consist of a tortilla that is usually dipped in a chile-based sauce, then stuffed with various fillings such as cheese, meat, or fish. Then it is rolled up, baked, and topped with sauces, onions, beans, or more cheese. This highly versatile dish is believed to have originated from a Mayan dish called papadzules, consisting of corn tortillas dipped in pumpkin pur&eacute;e and filled with chopped boiled eggs. From there, numerous variations developed throughout Mexico and outside of its borders. The word enchilada, which first appeared in print in 1885, comes from the Spanish word enchilar, meaning to season with chile pepper. Today, there are countless versions of enchiladas. In northern Mexico's Sonora, they make them open-faced, topped with black olives and a red chile sauce, while the New Mexico version is prepared by layering the tortillas in a tall stack with cheese and onions between each layer. Enchiladas have become so popular that there is even a National Enchilada Day (in the US), celebrated every year on May 5, also known as Cinco de Mayo.

Enchiladas

Enchiladas coloniales or colonial enchiladas is a Mexican dish originating from Chihuahua. In order to prepare it, fried tortillas are topped with shredded chicken and a sauce consisting of chili peppers, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. The tortillas are folded over, topped with sour cream and grated cheese, then baked until golden brown and bubbly. These enchiladas are traditionally served with red or black beans on the side.

Enchiladas coloniales

Enchiladas de camaron is a popular Mexican dish consisting of fried tortillas filled with shrimp and various ingredients such as corn, onions, chiles, tomatoes, and coriander. These rolled tortillas are especially popular in the North Pacific and Gulf regions of Mexico, and it is recommended to serve them garnished with crema Mexicana, avocado slices, and grated cheese.

Enchiladas de camaron

Enchiladas mineras are traditional Mexican enchiladas hailing from Guanajuato, a mining town where the women took this dish to their husbands at the end of their work hours. These enchiladas are traditionally filled with onions, cheese, and a stew-like combination of carrots and potatoes. Once assembled, the filled enchiladas are topped with the remaining sauce and baked until the sauce begins to bubble. They're then served over a bed of lettuce and often garnished with jalape&ntilde;os, shredded cheese, or tomatillo salsa.

Enchiladas mineras

Enchilada Potosina is a unique enchilada variety from San Luis Potos&iacute; in Mexico, prepared by adding ancho peppers in the corn dough, filling it with cheese, closing the dough just like an empanada, and frying the concoction in hot oil until golden-brown in color. Apart from cheese, some cooks like to add tomatoes and onions to the filling. These enchiladas are usually topped with avocado slices, chopped onions, or sour cream, while refried beans are the typical accompaniment to the dish.

Enchiladas Potosinas

Enchiladas rancheras are corn tortillas dipped in hot oil, rolled around a filling, usually cheese or shredded chicken, and covered in salsa ranchera, a cooked sauce of roasted tomato, onion, garlic and green chile with a little cumin and oregano, finished with crumbled queso fresco, crema and raw onion. The name points to the sauce, not a region: ranchera means ranch-style, and the tomato-and-chile sauce it names is the everyday one of northern and central Mexico, the same salsa that goes over huevos rancheros. Within the enchilada family it sits between the rojas, built on dried chiles, and the verdes, built on tomatillo, and it is milder and sweeter than either because fresh tomato carries it. In Mexico it is a home and fonda dish served two or three to a plate with beans and rice; in Tex-Mex restaurants it has become a tray dish baked under melted cheese, which is a different thing.

The sauce is made first: ripe tomatoes, white onion, garlic and serrano or jalapeño chiles are charred on a comal or under a flame until blistered, blended with a little stock or water, then fried in a spoon of lard or oil for ten minutes until it thickens and darkens, seasoned with salt, a pinch of cumin and dried oregano. The tortillas are the step people skip: each one is passed through hot oil for a few seconds on both sides, long enough to soften and seal it so it does not fall apart in the sauce, then drained. It is filled with crumbled queso fresco or Oaxaca cheese and a little onion, or with shredded poached chicken, rolled, and laid on the plate; the hot sauce is spooned over to coat, and the top is finished with more queso fresco, a drizzle of crema, sliced onion and sometimes a few rings of chile. They are served at once, not baked.

Judge the tortilla before anything else: it should be soft and pliable, tasting of corn, holding its roll and neither cracked and dry nor dissolved into mush, which means it was fried properly. The sauce should be a deep red-orange, lightly thick, tasting of roasted tomato with a clear green-chile heat and not of tinned tomato or raw cumin; it should coat the enchiladas and pool only slightly. The cheese should be fresh, white, salty and crumbly, the crema thin and sour. Mark down tortillas that have gone to paste, a sauce that is watery or sweet, a flour tortilla used in place of corn, a plate buried under melted yellow cheese and baked until the edges have hardened, chicken that is dry and unseasoned, and sour cream from a tub in place of crema. Two enchiladas with beans and rice is a plate; six under a cheese blanket is a casserole.

Enchiladas rancheras

Enchilada regia or royal enchilada is a traditional type of Mexican enchilada characterized by the richness and abundance of its filling. These enchiladas usually consist of corn tortillas, the sauce, and the filling. The sauce is typically made with a combination of ancho chili peppers, onions, pork cooking liquid, pickled jalapenos, and spices such as cinnamon, black peppercorns, coriander, nutmeg, parsley, and thyme. The filling is usually prepared with a combination of chorizo and cooked and shredded pork shoulder. The tortillas are dipped in the warm sauce, filled with the meat mixture, then rolled loosely and served with the remaining sauce. These regal enchiladas are often garnished with queso fresco, capers, olives, and thinly sliced onion.

Enchiladas regias

Enchilada Suiza is a popular Mexican dish consisting of enchiladas topped with a sauce based on milk or cream. The first one was made in a restaurant named Sanborn in Mexico City. The name of the dish can be translated as Swiss enchiladas because the Swiss immigrants introduced dairy-based sauces to Mexican cuisine.

Enchiladas Suizas

Et şiş dürüm is cubed red meat, grilled on a skewer over charcoal and rolled in thin lavaş with onions, parsley and grilled peppers. Et simply means meat, and in Turkish grill houses it signals beef or veal rather than the lamb of kuzu şiş; striploin (kontrfile) and tenderloin (bonfile) are the usual cuts. Unlike Adana or Urfa dürüm, which wrap a minced kebab, this one wraps whole pieces, so the eating is about chew and char rather than juicy crumbs.

The meat is cut into cubes of roughly two to three centimetres, trimmed of sinew but left with a thin seam of fat, and marinated for several hours, often overnight. Grated onion juice is the classic base, because its enzymes soften the surface while the salt seasons; olive oil, black pepper and a spoon of pepper paste or yoghurt are common additions, and southern kitchens add pomegranate molasses or their own house sauce. The pieces go on a flat skewer touching but not crushed, then over hot coals for six to ten minutes, turned once or twice. Small cubes and a long fire are the usual failure: the outside never browns before the inside goes grey. As with any dürüm, the best kitchens lay the lavaş on the skewer as it leaves the grill and pull the meat off through the bread so it catches the juices. Lamb şiş follows the same method, but beef cubes forgive less, because they carry less fat and toughen fast once they pass medium.

To rate it, bite a cube on its own. It should be browned on the edges, pink or just past pink in the centre and tender enough to bite through cleanly; grey, chewy cubes mean a cheap cut, a skipped marinade or overcooking. Stewing beef from the shoulder or leg passed off as şiş is the shortcut to watch for, and so is a filling bulked out with fried potatoes or so much sauce the meat disappears. The lavaş should be thin, warm and soft, wrapped tight, with sumac onions, parsley and a charred pepper or tomato for contrast. Ayran or şalgam is the expected drink.

Beef Shish Wrap

United States

A fat sandwich is a submarine-style sandwich variety that is characterized by being overstuffed with calorie-laden, fatty, fried ingredients such as gyro meat, chicken strips, fries, and mozzarella sticks. These supersized sandwiches originated at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where they were originally served out of so-called Grease Trucks which were lined up on College Avenue, satiating the hunger of numerous students, mostly after a night of heavy drinking. It is believed that the first fat sandwich was invented in 1979 and was called the Fat Cat, consisting of a cheeseburger topped with french fries. Today, there are a number of variations including the Fat Darrell, the Fat Knight, the Fat Elvis, the Fat Lady, and the Fat Romano.

Fat Sandwich

Germany

Fischbr&ouml;tchen is a commonly consumed sandwich in Northern Germany, made with fish and a variety of other ingredients such as pickles, remoulade, onions, lettuce, or horseradish. The ingredients are typically placed in round or elongated bread buns, while the type of fish used in the sandwich is variable &ndash; herring, sprat, salmon, and mackerel are among the most common fish used in the preparation of this sandwich, which is commonly served at fast-food stands in the region.

Fischbrötchen

Fiskefilet med remoulade is a Danish open-faced sandwich. It consists of a breaded and fried fish fillet (plaice, cod, flounder, sole, or any white fish) that's placed on a slice of buttered rye bread (rugbr&oslash;d) with lettuce leaves. The sandwich is topped with remoulade sauce and a lemon slice or wedge which can be squeezed for extra acidity, if desired. Due to the fact that the sandwich has many ingredients and eating it can be quite messy, it's often eaten with a knife and fork.

Fiskefilet med remoulade

This Danish sandwich consists of a bun that is filled with thinly sliced fl&aelig;skesteg&mdash;a traditional pork roast with a crispy rind. It is usually complemented by braised red cabbage, pickles, mustard, ketchup, or mayonnaise. Fl&aelig;skestegssandwich is a popular street food item that is often served at traditional hot dog stands and fast food establishments.

Flæskestegssandwich

A fluffernutter is a sandwich consisting of two slices of bread, one slice smeared with peanut butter, and the other with marshmallow fluff (a thick marshmallow cream spread). When the two slices are combined, the sandwich is ready. It is a school cafeteria staple and an extremely popular sandwich on its own throughout New England. Marshmallow Fluff is actually a brand, invented in 1917 by entrepreneur Archibald Query, who sold it to candy makers H. Allen Durkee and Fred Mower. As it was invented in Massachusetts, it had also been proposed as the official state sandwich. Fluff is so popular that it even has its own day - National Fluffernutter Day, celebrated on October 8.

Fluffernutter

Fluff screamer is a unique American burger originating from Girardville, Pennsylvania's Tony's Lunch. The burger consists of a meat patty, burger buns, chili sauce, raw onions, marshmallow fluff, and a dab of butter. If desired, a slice of American cheese can also be added to the burger. This novelty burger was invented because a regular customer of Tony's Lunch would request some fluff on her burgers. It's recommended to wash the burger down with TrueMoo chocolate milk.

Fluff Screamer

A cutter is a type of Barbadian sandwich made with Bajan salt bread &ndash; which is a white flour bread roll characterized by its crusty exterior and a tender, fluffy interior. Insert a fillet of fried flying fish inside the bread roll, and you will have made yourself a flying fish cutter, popular throughout the island and sold at numerous food joints on Barbados. Before frying, flying fish fillets are often soaked in lime juice and salt, then seasoned with a variety of spices such as thyme, onions, garlic, parsley, basil, marjoram, and scotch bonnet peppers. It is recommended to add tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce into the cutter to make it even more appetizing.

Flying Fish Cutters

Fool's gold loaf is an American sandwich consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of bread that is filled with peanut butter, blueberry jelly, and bacon. What makes this sandwich so unique is that it is prepared with the contents of whole jars of peanut butter and jelly, and the bacon content should weigh about a full pound. Although the sandwich was invented by the owners of the Colorado Mine Company restaurant, it was popularized by Elvis Presley, who consumed 30 of the sandwiches with his friends in just two hours.

Fool's Gold Loaf

Football sandwiches are traditional American sandwiches originating from the southern parts of the country, where they are a game-day favorite. The sandwiches are usually made with a combination of white bread rolls, Swiss cheese, sliced ham, butter, mustard, poppy seeds, and Worcestershire sauce. The rolls are sliced in half and the bottom halves are arranged in a baking dish. The bottom halves are topped with cheese and ham, and then covered with the top of the roll. Butter, mustard, poppy seeds, and Worcestershire sauce are mixed together and poured over the top of the sandwiches. After a while, the sandwiches are baked until the cheese melts and the sandwiches are heated through. They're served at room temperature or warm.