Savory Sidetrack

As you've probably guessed, I'm not much of a cook. Baking is my thing, and I leave the cooking to my husband, who is quite good at it. Case in point:

When we lived in Portland, Oregon, my favorite take-out lunch was bánh mì. Our go-to place was Nam's Deli at SE 78th and Powell, where we could get two sandwiches for under $6. For those of you unfamiliar, from Wiki:

Bánh mì is a Vietnamese baguette made with both wheat and rice flour, but more popularly known as a type of sandwich traditionally made with this type of baguette.^[1] The sandwich is made up of thinly sliced pickled carrots and daikon (do chua), cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, pâté, mayonnaise, and various meat fillings or tofu. Popular bánh mì fillings include roasted or grilled pork, Vietnamese sausage, chicken, head cheese, and ham.

We've since moved to very Northern Washington State, where until recently there was no bánh mì to be found. So my husband decided he would make it for me. Oh-so-good.


We've also started making the occasional Vietnamese coffee at home -- chicory-flavored French roast with a bit of sweetened condensed milk poured into the bottom of the glass before the coffee starts dripping. Okay, I'll admit part of the appeal for me is the cute individual filter set-up. But this is a perfect afternoon pick-me-up.


Now I need to come up with some other favorite big-city food I can't get up here and see if I can't convince my husband to make that for me too.