FEATURE // Fish sandwiches
Reel nice Fish sandwiches are a dime a dozen in the US, but here, they’re a little more niche and a whole lot more hyped. WORDS Annabelle Cloros
THE FILET-O-FISH IS a polarising
Peasnell about what goes into creating fish
snapped up in no time. “It sold more than
it conjures a childhood memory of being
flavour profiles and why they will never go
with it (I’m never happy with anything); I
sandwich. For some (author included),
denied the supreme McDonald’s foodstuff — nuggets. Other are devotees. But most
sandwiches with fan clubs, accelerating full-time on their menus.
the kofta,” he says. “But I wasn’t so happy really wanted to make it a square because
otherwise it’s not really a Filet-o-Fish. So we
can agree itʼs an exercise in simplicity —
Jean-Paul El Tom is a lifelong fish sandwich
American cheese — and a blank canvas
his dad making his version of samke harra
of people hours. The entire kitchen team
harra translates to spicy fish and goes heavy
which quickly garnered a legion of buyers
soft bread, white fish, tangy tartar and that can be amplified or dialled down.
Fish sandwiches largely live under the
radar in Australia, but they have staple status in the US where variations are
found at cafés, diners, seafood-driven restaurants, bars and everything in
between. While a little harder to come by here (sans the Golden Arches), the fish
sandwich presents an opportunity for chefs to take the bones of a classic and create their own iteration.
Hospitality talks to Baba’s Place Director
of Flavour Jean-Paul El Tom and Nico’s
Sandwich Deli Co-Owner and Chef Tom 40 | Hospitality
fan. It was his favourite burger as a kid, with for the future director of flavour. Samke on the coriander. It can be served on a
plate or eaten in sandwich form, which has been the case at Baba’s Place in Sydney’s
Marrickville. “Samke harra varies slightly up and down the coast of Lebanon and Syria
started working on making it a square.”
The shapeshifting mission required a lot
was tasked with making the fish sandwich, when it launched in August. “It’s 35 hours
of us cutting and layering fish like lasagna
— it’s very arduous,” says El Tom. “It’s like
a two-day job to get it ready for the week.”
has a version, but I grew up on the Tripoli
Over in Melbourne, Nico’s rotate their fish
the memories lived through these dishes.”
covers three categories of fish sandwiches:
style,” says El Tom. “We’re trying to recreate El Tom’s version of a fish sandwich can be
viewed as a Filet-o-Fish meets samke harra. The tastemaker debuted the burger for a
fundraiser at Bush in Redfern where it was
sandwiches every couple of weeks. The deli melts, fried and grilled. “We do that because fish has a market price, so we see what we can do and mix it up,” says Tom Peasnell.
“We don’t put them on the menu in order
