I Want One!

Twenty years ago, as a struggling and penniless sous chef in Paris, Giorgio Locatelli once saved a month’s salary simply to buy a cut of beef. But then it wasn’t just any cut. It was Wagyu, and it was making its European debut as the world’s most expensive meat. On Saturday he tasted it again, though this time it was free. Which was just as well, really, since the rare ingredient, imported from Japan, was the gourmet filling in Britain’s most expensive sandwich — a speciality which goes on sale from Monday at the Sandwich Counter at Selfridge’s, in Oxford Street. So who better than Giorgio, now a celebrity chef and the owner of Locanda Locatelli, the Michelin-starred restaurant, to give it a taste run? “It’s big, isn’t it,” he says, gazing at the sandwich’s creator, Scott McDonald, Selfridge’s executive chef, who, with the practised dexterity of a professional, slices the 21oz sandwich in two. “It’d better be, mate,” says Scott, “it’s £85 for a round.” But is the costly cut worth it? Well, Giorgio was certainly impressed. “Delicious,” he says, struggling not to lose any of the succulent beef as he tries to get his mouth around the sandwich. “Utterly fantastic mixture of tastes. Tangy, sweet... a monster mouthful that would be a really sexy love food to share with a lover. The beef simply melts, it falls apart. I’m impressed.” But just why does it cost so much? The slices of 24-hour fermented sour dough bread are spread with a mayonnaise flavoured with foie gras (£30 a lb) and black truffle (£340 a lb). There is a generous helping of brie de meaux, considered Europe’s finest cheese. The beef itself, comprising a third of the weight of the sandwich, is a snip at £28 a pound. English cherry tomatoes and rocket, plus peppers roasted on a naked flame and then skinned and sliced finely, complete the presentation.

(From the Telegraph)

San Nakji for President!