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37 S t o r y a n d P h o t o s b y J o s h F o r e m a n The rise of the sandwich ich pioneers E ach time Paris Baguette makes a sand- wich, John Montagu’s corpse howls from its grave. He is the man credited with inventing the sandwich, and Paris Baguette shits upon his memory. Though Paris Baguette is not alone in its offense, it is repre- sentative of the norm, and sandwich aficiona- dos in Korea have noticed. As summed up by the Seoul Sandwich Lovers’ Facebook page: “Korea is where sandwich craft comes to die.” To understand the depth of the problem, it’s necessary to sit and stare at a bad Korean sandwich, thinking about each part. Take the Paris Baguette “Lunch Sandwich,” for example. It costs 5,000 won and comes quartered and laid to rest in a clear, plastic coffin. The stench of sweet pickle and processed cheese escapes as you exhume it from its covering. There it sits, cross-sectioned, showing you what awaits: meager layers of lettuce, tomato, unpeeled cucumber, bell pepper, white cheese goo and “ham.” The Lunch Sandwich is not only an af- front to Montagu, but to cucumbers as well. Let me explain. The sandwich features cu- cumbers two ways: some sliced lengthwise, skin-on, and others that have been pickled to oblivion. The skin-on cucumber is sliced too thick and the skin has the mouthfeel of one of those plastic rings you take off the top of a 2-gallon milk jug back home. The pickles are — as every expat here knows — mushy, sweet and overpowering. They’re also the most no- ticeable smell and taste of the sandwich. The slices of ham are only molecules thick, the let- tuce is too crunchy and the cheese is some sort of gooey, processed un-cheese. The bell pep- pers appear to be added for the sole purpose of rendering the texture even more offensive. The sandwich’s bread has the quality of Life cereal that’s been soaked in milk and then left to dry in a strange, flaky layer. These sandwiches are all over Seoul, at Paris Baguette and a thousand other bakeries and cafés. At least the Lunch Sandwich is free of jam. But before I get carried away, let’s remember that we’re not here to bash Korean sandwich- es. Actually, quite the opposite: A handful of restaurants in the city are, like John Connor fighting an army of Terminators, leading a re- sistance. They are few and far between, but there are great sandwicheries in Seoul. “Over the past couple of years a few more restaurants have opened with sandwiches as their main concept,” said Wahid Naciri, owner of Casablanca Sandwicherie in Haebangcheon. “From classic sandwiches to signature sand- wiches, restaurateurs in the business now are working very hard at taking the sandwich thing to the next level.” Naciri compares the sandwich boom in Seoul to the influx of craft beer in the expat communi- ty in recent years. “I’m very proud of the people I know near and far in the beer industry,” he said. “Without them we’d still be in the dark. Flip the image and that’s what’s starting to hap- pen to sandwich culture in Korea.” This month, Groove Korea shows you five of the trendsetters, spread across five different neighborhoods. These restaurants all bring something special to the table: Their sandwich- es are original, they use fresh ingredients, they are prepared and presented lovingly and they’re made to order. These restaurants understand that texture is an important part of constructing a sandwich. They bake their own bread, or are using artisanal bread from bakeries in the city. They are well seasoned, flavorful and complex. The sandwiches featured in this story range in style, but they’re all among the best you’ll find in Korea. We’ll take a look at a fried cod sandwich from a European-style bakery in Gyeongnidan, a chicken sandwich from a Mo- roccan restaurant in Haebangcheon, a thick club from a wildly popular café with locations across the city, an understated veggie sand- wich from a funky café in the Ewha Womans University neighborhood and a gloriously hot, messy cheesesteak from a hole-in-the-wall in the Children’s Grand Park neighborhood. We’ll show you other sandwiches from those places as well. Seoul’s cottage sandwich industry is bur- geoning right now due to expatriate support, Naciri said. But he worries expat support might not be enough to cement a sandwich culture in Seoul. A change in local tastes is necessary, he said, to support a real industry. Visiting one of these five originals — and bringing a Korean friend along for a taste — is a good first step in ensuring that Seoul’s sand- wich scene is here to stay.