We Indians love to call things interchangeably, where maggie becomes a Chinese recipe and pulao becomes biryani—
Both have rice, no? Living in times where people are dissolving margins in the name of fusion or trend or mixed choices, we often forget the origin and authenticity of food recipes.
Recipes having the same base ingredients (or color, for that matter) don't make them the same. Try taking a similar point to a food connoisseur to witness the blood draining from his face!
Today, we will talk about the most synonymously used recipes in the history of the food world: burgers and sandwiches. Burgers and sandwiches make the most discussed and debated topics in the world where one side says that sandwiches are burgers and the other side believes burger comes under the sandwich family.
The anatomical difference between a burger and a sandwich demonstrates a number of differences; however, finding the similarities is quite a tedious task. For instance, the binding materials used for the fillings in the two recipes are different. Sandwiches typically have two flatbread slices, while burgers use a sliced bun to accommodate the filling.
Let's revise our lesson on how to make a burger.
As aforementioned, burgers use buns to seal the filling, which comprises a flat patty made from meat and veggies. Other ingredients are cheese and a variety of sauces. The bun is round in shape and has a horizontal slit in the center to make space for the filling. The filling is then topped with sauces like tomato, chili, and mayonnaise, as the chef or the customer desires. After the ingredients are set, the bun is covered from the top and closed. Historically speaking, the bread used to make buns was kneaded with hands. The dough prepared was relatively thick in earlier times; however, today, the dough is thin and soft.
Now let's talk a bit about sandwiches.
The binding used in sandwiches are flatbreads with a filling of meat, veggies, mostly potatoes, cheese, and sauce inside. Typically, two or more bread are used to make sandwiches. Over the years, people have done experiments with the recipes that resulted in club sandwichs, cheese sandwiches, egg sandwiches, and what not. Among all other ingredients, boiled potatoes stand out as a pre-dominate one in this recipe!
Talking about one significant distinction between a burger and sandwich
The most discussed factor of discussion is the way pieces of bread are cut for both the recipes. In sandwiches, the bread is cut vertically from the loaf and takes a flat shape, whereas burger buns have a horizontal incisor. Both the recipes have similar dough kneading styles, perhaps apart from the fact that both the dough have different consistency and thickness. However, the dough preparation is merging together in present time, leaving less to no room for distinction.
In addition to this, many people argue about the patties in both recipes. The burger patty has grounded meat, while a sandwich has a meat slice. We are not sure if that comes under the distinction point, but it seems like logical thinking and an apparent difference.
While there are multiple theories surrounding the differences in recipes, there are similarities that include them in a food family. Like the fact, that both the recipes are super easy to pack and eat! People don't necessarily like one and dislike the other; they might like the texture of one recipe and the smell of the other. In any case, the choice is upon the eater to choose what to choose.
Bottom-line, it is also crucial to be able to tell if you have ordered a sandwich or a burger. For this, it is essential to know some distinctions that we have laid above. If you are a true foodie and can tell what goes inside a recipe in the first two to three bites, we know how important it is for you to get in your hands what you order! And if you are somebody who doesn't care much about the stuff you are eating is a sandwich or a burger, we have left the decision to you to call a sandwich a burger or vice versa.
While you decide which side you are on, let us order a burg… errr… sandwich!