So I was on my thankfully final trip out to Knoxville—involving, praise be, neither US Airways nor Charlotte Douglas International Airport in any way—a couple of weeks ago, and I had another unexpectedly sublime sandwich experience.
Anyone who travels with any frequency knows not to expect too much from airport food. Your choices are generally limited to greasy junk food or dry sandwiches and wilted salads. In short, with the exception of a couple of terminals at SFO, most airport food is a fitting accompaniment for the unadulterated misery that is modern air travel in America.
Not so that day, however. I was flying American for the first time in a long while, so I was in an area of Terminal 3—one of the aforementioned exceptions—I do not normally frequent. On the lookout for an inoffensive sandwich, I spotted guava & java, which offered quite an impressive selection thereof. I selected the “Turkey Festa Americana,” which frankly I wasn’t too keen on, but I felt like turkey more than roast beef or tuna.
Let me take a moment here to praise the g & j packaging. Whimsical and friendly, all purchases come in a cheery orange or lime green paper bag, which injects a bit of brighness into an otherwise dreary day of travel.
Anyway, what set this sandwich apart from the mediocre masses was the fact that not only did it have cranberries in it (actual cranberries, mind you, not a sugary sauce), but it contained stuffing. Stuffing! In the sandwich. Brilliant! The stuffing contained just the right amount of moisture and saltiness to balance the turkey beautifully. The balance of flavors was so well judged, in fact, that I wasn’t even bothered by the presence of the iceberg lettuce (normally a deal-breaker). Good stuff.
In other sandwich news, I’d also like to praise the Sentinel’s roasted eggplant, basil and goat cheese sandwich, which I enjoyed for the first time last week. It was a bit heavy on the basil, but the absolutely gorgeous bread and the perfect texture of the grilled eggplant hits a sandwich home run. Don’t miss it!
Oh, man. Now I’m hungry.
Prachee said:
Speaking of stuffing. . .we have a nice bakery here where I sometimes buy sandwich bread for the week. When you go in, they have an assortment of their fresh breads that they offer to you as a free slice to try. Last week they had “stuffing bread.” The bread itself seemed like stuffing shaped into a loaf. Unbelievably tasty and not at all too salty either. It blew my mind!
November 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm