Great British Sandwiches: The Butty
The word `butty' is to the Northerner what the `sarnie' is to the Southerner, so what are the defining features?
Some types of sandwich would clearly never make the butty grade; a delicate, crust-less finger sandwich for example, or a 70’s style prawn-mayo. No, the term is reserved for the hearty, butter ‘n sauce slathered goodness that is the territory of the breakfast item. This is the home of the holy trinity of bread, pork product and sauce; the playground of chin-dripping butter juices and floury white baps. Crisp, sizzling bacon fat and juicy Cumberland sausages are the fillers, with perhaps a fried egg to top things off.
If I want a butty, I want a gut-busting behemoth, slapped together with gusto; I want the filling piping hot and the sauce, liberal. This is typical greasy-spoon fare, served with a smile and a steaming hot cuppa.
Chip supper
If I’m not putting breakfast in my butty, I’m putting chips. There’s just something about carb on carb which is so wrong it comes all the way back around to right again. Sometimes, people keep pushing the concept, which is what happened in Scotland, unsurprisingly, where they took things up a gear or five by battering the chips first and declaring the arrival of the ‘scollop butty’.
Universal comfort
The butty is the type of sandwich that seems to be universally loved; it’s the favourite workman’s breakfast, the tried and tested student hangover cure-all and was rumoured to have appeared at the wedding reception party of Royal couple William and Kate, in the form of 2am bacon salvation.
Cafe inspiration
There’s nothing I’d rather eat more on a Sunday morning than a decent butty; a real mammoth capable of carrying me right through to dinner. My current favourite was inspired by one of London’s best caffs - Maria’s in Borough Market - where I ate a ‘bacon, bubble and cheese special’, a giant bacon roll, topped with freshly fried bubble and squeak and finished with a layer of melting cheese. It was so good; I made my own version the very next day.
If you enjoyed reading this, why not read about where to buy the best ingredients to stuff into your butty:
Britain’s Best Fish and Chip Shops
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