When it comes to sandwiches, 2014 was the year of the pig. The variety of cuts and the versatility of pork inspired chefs across all segments to put everything from barbecue pulled pork and roast pork shoulder to house-cured pork pastrami and pork schnitzel between two pieces of bread.
Sandwiches with pork are driving growth of the already popular sandwich category, according to Datassential MenuTrends. Pork is now featured on 27 percent of all restaurant menus that feature sandwiches, an increase of 3 percent from a year ago.
“[Pork is a hot sandwich] because chefs are utilizing more parts of the animal now,” said chef Nate Anda. “That creates more menu items and more options that appeal to customers.”
At Red Apron, a whole-animal butcher and sandwich shop in Washington, D.C., Anda serves the Porkstrami sandwich, made with pastrami-style pork, mustard aioli and bacon-braised sauerkraut on a baguette. That bestselling sandwich came to be after Anda began experimenting with some extra pork sirloin and leftover pastrami brine. Anda calls the result a “sort of anti-Reuben.”
Across the country, at the Bookstore Bar & Café in Seattle, chef Caprial Pence offers the Bookstore Reuben. Pence’s sandwich features house-cured pork that is spice-rubbed, smoked and slow-roasted with beer, then sliced thin and served with a housemade slaw, cheese and spicy Russian dressing on toasted rye.
“I love a great Reuben,” Pence said. “My husband, John, makes a killer pastrami, so I stole his recipe and used it on a pork shoulder to make a naughty pastrami.”
The sandwich is selling so well that Pence recently added it to the café’s dinner menu.
At Lo Spiedo, Marc Vetri’s new eatery at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, chef Scott Calhoun offers a Chopped Pork Shoulder Sandwich with pickles and vinegar. The sandwich developed out of Calhoun’s desire to use all of the meat, fish and vegetables that the restaurant slow roasts on its six-foot rotisserie. The chopped pork shoulder comes from the trimmings left over from the whole spit-roasted pork, which Calhoun says is “perfect for a sandwich.”
Many chefs are menuing Cuban sandwiches, a twist on ham and cheese first made at eateries serving Cuban workers in immigrant communities in South Florida.
At Pilar Cuban Eatery in Brooklyn, N.Y., chef-owner Ricardo Barreras offers a traditional Cuban sandwich, with Cuban bread made by a local bakery, mojo-marinated roast pork, smoked country-style ham, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard and dill pickles.
Also going Cuban is the recently opened Bar Sardine in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, which serves a version with roast pork shoulder and sliced Gruyere topped with housemade mayonnaise, chipotle-pepper puree, cilantro, chopped red onions and cornichons on a Sullivan Street Bakery ciabatta brushed with melted butter and pressed on a griddle.
In the fall, Tim Wiechmann, chef of Bronwyn Restaurant in Somerville, Mass., put a German spin on the pork sandwich with his Pork Schnitzel. Wiechmann says the sandwich — a pork cutlet breaded in egg, flour, pretzel/challah crumbs topped with Obatzda Bavarian cheese spread, caramelized onions, cucumber and dill, served on a Kaiser roll — sells well at the bar and at brunch.
A number of major chains also added pork sandwiches to their menus this year, but with preparation methods and ingredients more familiar to the masses.
In May, Togo’s, the San Jose, Calif.-based fast-casual sandwich chain, turned its Smokehouse Pulled BBQ Pork sandwich limited-time offer into a permanent menu item. And in the summer, the chain introduced The Cuban sandwich, featuring pulled pork and Black Forest ham topped with melted Swiss cheese, pickles and Dijon mustard vinaigrette on toasted white bread.
This fall, Wendy’s offered two pork items for a limited time, the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, with hickory-smoked pulled pork, slaw and choice of sweet, smoky or spicy sauce, served on a toasted brioche bun, and the BBQ Pulled Pork Cheeseburger, a beef patty topped with pulled pork, Cheddar cheese, slaw and choice of sauces, served on brioche.
