This open-faced sandwich shares almost nothing with the stateside versions: it’s clean, formal and almost beautiful. A thick slice of fresh bread, mayonnaise, a large piece of smoked mackerel topped with arugula and tomatoes. Simple, classy and delicious. The stateside open-faced ‘wiches have to be eaten with a knife and fork or risk dropping a 3lb chunk of melted American and 2 quarts of red sauce down your trousers, but this one is simple and clean enough to temp my fingers. I tried, but the bread was way too thick and I didn’t want my toppings flying all over the plate and becoming fallen soldiers. With the knife and fork it went down in two passes: first the mackerel and toppings then the remaining mackerel, mayo and delicious soft and crunchy bread.

This is the best open-faced sandwich I’ve ever had. The bar has been raised, finally! No post-meal food coma and no melted cheese! The stigma of the open-face has been cast off. May open-faced sandwiches start their triumphant return from menu’s at Denny’s and Friday’s to hold a special place in everyone’s heart!

Plated (in modern white and metal):

Workin’ it:

Bow before the new standard of open-faced euphoria:

This recipe comes from the incredibly in-depth book, Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings: The Best Sandwiches in America (Amazon link), by Margaux Sky. The book has great recipes and great photos, but horrible cooking instructions. It’s one of the few sandwich books I’ve read that the writer’s love for sandwiches seeps through each and every page, like the way marinara sauce leaks through the bread of a meatball sub, even though you ate as fast as you could. Each sandwich recipe in the book starts with a reference to the correct bread to use and includes directions to make your own mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup. That’s what I call thorough! Simply Sandwiches wants to make air-sandwiches (“high-five”) with you, Margaux Sky!

Sky scopes open-faced eggplant parm as:

• butter
• sliced eggplant, peeled
• flour
• shredded Parmesan cheese
• marinara sauce (home made, with book recipe)
• French bread (home made, with book recipe)

Making the sandwiches themselves was relatively simple: pat the flour on the eggplant and fry in boiling butter. Cover in cheese, melt and put on buttered bread topped with marinara sauce. The long haul was making the bread, as always. The bread is sweet, delicious and chewy. The marina sauce was a bit too sweet (I forgot to add the red wine), but the sandwiches turned out tasty.

Naturally, you can substitute a soft Italian hero and canned marinara sauce, if you’re LAZY.

Sweet, lumpy ‘wich foundation:

Eggplant Parm 1: Like an incredible robot-person sent from the future to save you

Eggplant Parm 2: I’ll be back (for leftovers)