When it comes to sandwiches, you either spend ages selecting the perfect fillings or you just slap something between two slices of bread - there's no in-between.
Product developer Catherine Fleetwood is someone who would almost certainly fall in the first category as she creates sandwich masterpieces - and has recently been named Sandwich Designer of the Year at The Sammies 2022, an awards ceremony that has been likened to the Grammys of the sandwich world.
Fleetwood, who works for convenience food producer Greencore, wowed the judging panel with her highly inventive ‘You’re Bacon Miso Bananas’.
Far from the sort of butty you'd whip up five minutes before setting off for work, this sweet, creamy - yet satisfyingly salty - concoction combines bacon, miso paste, caramelised rice puffs, and bananas.
The sandwich is said to have been inspired by innovative restaurants as Momofuku, Milk Bar, and Café Bao, who combine western dishes with Asian flavours to make "exciting and delicious combinations".
Bored of regular lunches, I decided to recreate the award-winning sandwich for myself to see if the flavours worked as well together as she claimed.
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Fancying myself a bit of a foodie on the sly, I assumed I could put the sandwich together without much trouble. Of course, I naturally underestimated just how fancy it actually is.
Unlike my regular fare of tuna and cucumber plonked between a bit of wholemeal, this sandwich needs to be made in a number of stages, with plenty of stirring, whisking, and measuring.
First up, I brushed 40g of bacon with plenty of maple syrup before popping it in the oven for ten minutes.
Then, while the classic smoky-sweet scent filled the kitchen quite temptingly, I got to work on the other fillings.
Grabbing a bowl, I combined 100g cream cheese with 5g malt powder and 10g icing sugar, mixing this together with a bit of elbow grease until smooth.
Setting my cream cheese mix to one side - after testing an all-important spoonful - I moved on to the bananas, arguably one of the most comforting sandwich fillings of all time.
As 10g of butter melted away in the frying pan, I sliced two bananas at an angle, chucking these in on top of a layer of sugar.
I then caramelised the bananas, a process I've never personally tried before with this particular fruit.
Being a life-long Rice Crispies aficionado, I was perhaps most excited for the caramelised rice puffs.
After melting 10g of butter in a separate frying pan - you might want to stock up on washing up liquid for this recipe - I sprinkled another layer of sugar.
I then added rice puffs and cooked until the sugar had melted clear away, before giving the pan a good stir and adding a fair pinch of sea salt.
It was then time to whip up the miso caramel. As someone who is very partial to salted caramel ice cream, I was particularly intrigued by this Japanese-inspired twist.
I melted 75g of sugar in a little pan until it darkened, stirring in 75g of cream. Once this was nicely combined, I added 15g butter and 5g miso paste and continued to stir.
With so many pans on the go, I was a little flustered at this point, and it took plenty of patient stirring to get the smooth, non-runny texture I so desired. I'd recommend having a soothing cuppa on the go for mini sip breaks.
Finally, it was time for the bread, two super fluffy blocks of the Japanese milk bread loaf shokupan. This was the one ingredient I struggled to get from the local shops, but I did manage to order a loaf online with relative ease.
Bread safely on my kitchen counter, I set to work making the batter, made up of one egg, 40ml cream, and a drop of vanilla essence.
I dipped two big wedges in the batter, before topping with black sesame seeds and frying in butter until golden.
With all my layers prepared, I smeared the malted cream cheese on one slice of the fried bread, before topping this with bacon and the by then nicely caramelised bananas.
I then spread the miso caramel on the other slice and carefully put them together. This was by far the trickiest bit for me and led to what I can only describe as a creamy avalanche.
Now, I'm not a professional chef and my own results looked far different from Fleetwood's beautifully assembled artwork. To others of similarly modest capabilities, I must stress this was a bit of a messy process if your consistencies aren't spot on.
After slicing my sandwich in half, I took a well-earned bite. As untidy as my own version looked, the flavours paired together in a very interesting fashion that will no doubt appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth.
The sandwich had a cake-like quality that I myself can't imagine eating every day, but which certainly demonstrates the imaginative possibilities of the simple butty. I will certainly be trying shokupan French toast again.
Although very creamy, there was a saltiness that cut through pleasantly, while the texture of the rice puffs added a satisfying crunch to the bacon's crispiness. I doubt I'll ever try a more memorable sandwich.
Advising others looking to create a winning sandwich, Fleetwood added: "My advice for others would be to pick a cuisine you are really interested in and use that as your inspiration.
"It's really important to have contrasting flavours, textures, and temperatures."
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