A consumer’s view Ben Taylorson.

A consumer’s view

For the first time, this year’s Sandwich Designer of the Year competition saw a member of the public invited to sample, and give their opinion on, the sandwiches that were created for the final of this year’s event with Ben Taylorson (pictured) from Middlesbrough in the hot seat.

How did you get involved in the judging?

The answer to this could be quite lengthy, so I’ll try to give you the abridged version! Back in February 2021, in the midst of lockdown misery, I created some unusual crisp sandwiches and put pictures of them on Twitter in an attempt to cheer folks up. They went viral, and I ended up first on local radio and then in the local press, then national radio and the papers.

The 15 minutes of fame culminated with appearances on ITV’s This Morning (via Zoom) and an American TV news station in Chicago, talking about crisp sandwiches!

I was then asked by Walkers Crisps to appear in an advert, which was bizarre (but brilliant). Anyway, as 2021 ended, I kind of forgot about it, until I saw that the British Sandwich and Food to Go Association were on the lookout for ‘Britain’s Biggest Sandwich Fan’. So I entered, citing all of the above as evidence. And I won! And my prize was to be a guest judge and attend the Sammies…

What were your impressions of the competition, and did you enjoy it?

The standard was so high, and it was so well organised. All of the entries were incredible. And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it – how could I not? I spent an entire afternoon eating sandwiches!

Did it go how you imagined or was it quite different?

I suppose I didn’t really know what to expect! I suppose it was on a larger scale than I might of imagined, and I was a little lost to begin with, but everyone was so nice and friendly, I just went with the flow…

Was there one sandwich which stood out for you?

There were an awful lot of very impressive entries, but the one that deserves a special mention was the banana and bacon one. I don’t like bananas, and I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so when I saw that the banana was caramelised and there were some other sweet ingredients, I thought I wasn’t going to be a fan. I was wrong. It was amazing!

Did you know that there is so much going on behind the scenes in the sandwich industry?

It was a real eye-opener for me, being perhaps the only person there who wasn’t involved with the industry. I learned a lot of genuinely interesting stuff during the day (which I’ve since been regaling my friends and family with!). Other than a brief stint as a supermarket worker in my teens, I’ve spent my entire working life as an academic librarian, so it was all completely new to me.

What is your favourite sandwich when you buy from a sandwich bar or shop?

I don’t think I’m going to be able to stick to just one! I love seafood, so a prawn or crab sandwich would be near the top. Or a duck and hoisin sauce wrap. Or anything with cheese!

You are a librarian, but is there one unusual thing about you that might be of interest to our normally sandwichfocused readers?

I co-produce a popular podcast looking at the films of Hammer studios from the very beginning - before they were synonymous with horror - called the House of Hammer.