RECIPE - Some Sandubas

If Brazil has a Mecca for the extra-large, extra-delicious sandwich that Brazilians love to call sanduba (click here to read more about the sanduba), it has to be São Paulo's Municipal Market. Specifically the mezzanine with its line-up of restaurants open at lunchtime only to serve the thousands of vendors and shoppers who flock to the market in search of the best of the city's foodstuffs.

Downstairs at the market you'll find the usual selection of individual vendors selling fruits, vegetables, grains, spices, oils and pickles, meat, cheese, poultry and seafood. But if you head upstairs at the back of the market just before the lunch hours, you'll find an assortment of open-air restaurants on the mezzanine, all ready to sate that appetite you gained while grazining through the stalls below.

Each restaurant has its regulars, often strongly partisan and extremely loyal. Some of that loyalty even extends to particular items on the menu, and there are stories of customers who have eaten the same lunch daily for umpteen years. What makes or breaks the reputation of these restaurants, often, is the quality (and dimension) of their sandwiches (the sandubas). All the sandwiches are made on a crusty French bun, all have prodigious amounts of stuffing, and all are tremendously filling. But they succeed in their purpose - keep the customer happy and coming back for more.

Here are three recipes for sandubas from the Municipal Market, courtesy of UOL's Gastronomia & Negocios website.

Salt Cod Sandwich

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RECIPE - Salt-cod sandwich (Sanduíche de Bacalhau)

1 large French bun (or Kaiser bun or similar)
5 oz (150 gr) de-salted salt cod
1/4 cup (50 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
red wine vinegar to taste
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Boil the salt cod for two minutes in plenty of water. Drain, reserve.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, then fry the salt cod until it is golden on all sides, using two forks to shred the fish as it fries - remove any bones or skin. When the fish is golden, add the onion and garlic and heat briefly, but do not cook them.

Remove from heat, sprinkle additional olive oil and red wine vinegar over to taste. Do not season with salt.

Cut the bun in two, pack with the filling, cut the sandwich in half and serve hot.

Escabeche Sandwich

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RECIPE - Escabeche sandwich (Sanduíche de Escabeche)

1 large French bun (or Kaiser bun or similar)

Two large fresh sardines, cleaned and deboned
1/4 cup (50 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
red wine vinegar to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
sprig fresh thyme
--------------------------------------------------------------------------  Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the sardines, plus the chopped onion and garlic. Pour red wine vinegar over, but don't drown the sardines. Cook at medium-low temperature until the onions are soft and the fish is cooked.

Remove from heat, sprinkle with additional olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add fresh thyme (leaves only) if desired.


Cut the bun in two, pack with the sardines and vegetables, cut the sandwich in half and serve hot.

Fresh Ham Sandwich

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RECIPE - Fresh Ham Sandwich (Sanduíche de Pernil)

1 large French bun (or Kaiser bun or similar)

6 oz. fresh, (not smoked or cured) ham

2 thick slices large tomato
4 slices medium red or white onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh oregano chopped
3 bay leaves
salt to taste

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Twenty-four hours in advance, combine the wine, the oregano and bay leaf in a medium Zip-loc type bag. Add the ham and let marinate in the refrigerator until the next day.

Remove the ham from the marinade and drain thorough. Put the ham in a small roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Roast the ham in a preheated 375F (200C) over,for about 20 - 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear. If desired, you can baste once or twice with the left over marinade.

Remove the ham from the oven, place on a cutting board and cover with the aluminum foil. Let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan. Add the tomatoes, onions and green peppers and cook until the tomato is breaking up and the onion and peppers are softened. Season with salt.

Slice the ham. Cut the bun in half, fill with the sliced ham, then top with the tomato/onion/pepper sauce. Serve hot.

BRAZILIAN FOOD SLANG - Sanduba

In the English-speaking world there seems to be extremely diverse reactions to the term "sammich", meaning sandwich. On websites like Yahoo Answers internauts debate the origins, the appropriateness and the coolness of the term, using such language as "[People] say sammich rather than sandwich because they have never been taught to speak or enunciate correctly," or "Just try saying it, it makes me laugh". Some people love the word, others hate it.

On the "authoritative" website Urban Dictionary, you'll find a number of definitions for sammich. All of them, of course, note that sammich means sandwich, but most of the definitions also restrict the use of the word sammich to particularly elaborate, large or extra-delicious sandwiches. For example, "A sammich is not just a sandwich, it is not just a meal. Sammich is a term reserved for only the holiest and mightiest of all sandwiches. A sammich is a true work of culinary art; a feast on a bun, if you will," or "Sex in sandwich form. An orgy of flavor. A god among sandwiches."

We here at Flavors of Brazil deny ever having used the term sammich, and don't find it particularly cute. But the word comes in very useful when trying to translate the Brazilian Portuguese word sanduba into English. Sanduba is a Brazilian slang term for sandwich, but like sammich it carries connotations of being an extra-special sandwich, something above and beyond the norm. It's likely to be big, have a number of ingredients and is likely to have engendered enthusiastic reactions among those who've eaten it.

As is often the case with trying to use slang in a second or third language, if you're not Brazilian it's probably best to leave the word sanduba to the locals. Slang often carries connotations that unknown to foreign speakers and it's very possible that you might use the word in the wrong context, or with the wrong people, or at the wrong time. So, just to be on the safe side, if you're a tourist in Brazil, stick to the word sanduíche (pronounced san-du-EESH-ee). You'll be understood and you won't make Brazilians laugh at your or think you're rude.