Sunday, December 14, 2008

Toasted salmon, avocado, and feta sandwich

During the summer of 2004, I had the great opportunity to travel to South Africa for 2 months and do research. I met a number of wonderful people and visited some awesome places. It was unforgettable. Especially the food. South Africa (ZA) isn't particularly known for its food. Its food heritage is a mix of English, Dutch, and traditional tribal. That sums up to lots of meats, lots of fried stuff, and lots of sweet stuff... mostly. There are of course some notable gems. Rooibos tea is one of my absolute favorites (I'd recommend Freshpak Rooibos which is a ZA brand and a great value). Biltong, which is similar but very much not jerky, is so loved by South Africans that there are literally stands in the mall that sell only that. Those may be the two most well known staples of the ZA diet, but there's certainly more.

Because it was the middle of the ZA winter, the university I was working at was on break for much of the time I was there. This meant that most of the shops on the campus were closed. Lunch came to be a choice between a pie shop (meat pies), a burger shop, and a sandwich shop (or packing). In an attempt to be healthy, I stuck with the sandwich shop, which had a number of unique and tasty creations. The one that became my standard was smoked salmon, avocado, and feta cheese on toasted brown bread (bread in ZA pretty much comes in either white or brown). Ever since I came back to the US this has become a staple of my repertoire.

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Toasted salmon, avocado, and feta sandwich:
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Smoked salmon
1/4 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup crumbled feta (I prefer the kind with black peppercorns)
2 slices bread


Assembly is quick and easy: Set a non-stick flat griddle over medium heat. Butter the outsides of the bread and place on the griddle when hot. Lay thin slice of the smoked salmon on on piece of bread and top with the avocavado. Spread the crumbled feta across the other piece of bread. Toast the edges until just beginning to brown. Flip the side with the salmon and avo onto the cheese side and drop the heat. Continue toasting till the cheese begins to soften. Serve with chips or a cup of soup and enjoy.

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There will be one last seafood related post coming up, and after that I've got a special cupcake post so stay tuned!

1 comment:

Kate said...

I bet you could have guessed which post I would choose for my inaugural comment! I don't think I ever tried that sandwich while I was there--my most memorable was the ostrich sandwich, but I guess that's slightly more difficult to replicate in the US. Merry Christmas!