The most expensive sandwich ever, so it is claimed

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What is is claimed to be the world's most expensive sandwich goes on display at Selfridges Department Store in London, Monday April 10, 2006. Named the McDonald Sandwich, after it's creator, chef Scott McDonald, the ingredients are Wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras, black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit, and English plum tomatoes, all packed into 24-hour fermented sour dough bread - and it sells for 85 pounds (US$ 148.33: euro 122.53) each.

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20060410/capt.lth10404101133.britain_sandwich_lth104.jpg

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:13 (nineteen years ago)

wot, no diamonds? BLIMEY!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

"Goes on display?" Can you stand around and watch it depreciate?

― elmo argonaut (allocryptic), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

it doesn't look like it would really hold together.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

can i substitute tater tots for fries with that?

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

whats 'rocket'??

― shredding repis on the gnar gnar rad (chaki), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

You smell that? That's an 85 pound fart. (cuz, dude, that sandwich will totally give you the puffs)

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

Its ingredients are pleuf de pleuf with pleh and pleh and tomatoes.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

That sandwich sounds nauseating.

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

waaayyy too rich.

― the unbearable lightness of peeing (orion), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:27 (nineteen years ago)

rocket is, as i have recently learned, what is known as "arugula" in the States.

it is also the nicest salad leaf ever

wasnt there already a threead on this?!

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:28 (nineteen years ago)

That's got shit on the $5k hamburger.

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:29 (nineteen years ago)

The burger also comes with a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1990 and with Italian stemware you can take home with you.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:34 (nineteen years ago)

If you're going to spend £85 on food, why would you buy a sandwich? You could get three live lobsters and have change left over to rustle up a decent hollandaise!

― Treblekicker (treblekicker), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

But you wouldn't have a sandwich! Duh.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

you would if you saved a couple cents for bread!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:42 (nineteen years ago)

BREAD
3 LOBSTERS
BREAD

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

Bottle of Chateau Petrus + one setting of stemware

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

Has anyone ever talked sted Wagyu beef, apparently it's now being farmed in the UK but is still prohibitively expensive.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:47 (nineteen years ago)

Has anyone ever tasted Wagyu beef, apparently it's now being farmed in the UK but is still prohibitively expensive.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:47 (nineteen years ago)

and English plum tomatoes

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:50 (nineteen years ago)

you know like half my post got cut off but it still works cos bread + 3 lobsters + bottle of chateau petrus + one setting of stemware

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

Poor lobsters.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

ok what the holy fuck

NEVER MIND MY WHOLE POINT IS THOSE THINGS TOGETHER STILL COST LESS THAN STUPID $5K HAMBURGER WHICH PROBABLY TASTES LIKE A FANCY DONKEY'S ASS WHAT WITH ALL THAT NONSENSE ON IT ANYWAY

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

I think it's pretty well demonstrated in the world, though, that people who can afford nice stuff often buy nice stuff across the board. Like if you have spare cash and someone's offering you a superfab sandwich, you'll try the superfab sandwich. You could buy a few lobsters for the price if you wanted to, but the whole point is that you have enough money for it not to be a trade-off -- you want to try a superfab sandwich right now, and if you want lobster for dinner you'll still be able to afford that, too.

I mean, I don't know that anyone above poverty level doesn't at least kind of operate by these rules. It seems like having money, for most people, is more about raising the quality/cost level of everything they consume, across the board -- as opposed to consuming whole new things.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

Let me introduce you to my friend, diminishing returns...

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

...and his drinking buddy, the ratchet effect.

― Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

I'm going to step in and mentally erase nabisco's last post, which isn't that sensible to me (I know a lot of rich people! They'd all say the same thing--that sandwich sounds grody and no sandwich is worth that much money anyway!), and will pretend he made a 2 paragraph description of "publicity stunts by restaurants," and now I shall say...

nabisco, OTM.

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

"Once again, the conservative, sandwich-heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor."

― steal compass, drive north, disappear (tissp), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

. . . and their outcast friend, the luxury good.

A FANCY DONKEY'S ASS

Is that like "fancy ketchup?" Donkey's ass is pretty much donkey's ass, right?

― phil d. (Phil D.), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

they could've given it a better name.

― danny invincible (michael w.), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

Not if it's a fancy donkey.

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

"i know a lot of rich people"

― strongo hulkington is a guy with a belly button piercing (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think Nabisco is OffTM, I think he and Ally are just talking about different kinds of rich people. Ie it is possible to be rich and remember where you came from/respect yr consumption footprint/etc and only splurge where it does the most good or brings greatest enjoyment, and live quite modesty otherwise. In which case you mostly benefit from the occasional splurge and from the security that comes from never wondering where yr next ANYTHING is coming from.

Of course it's also posssib to be rich and crank up ALL (or at least, many) areas of consumption just because you can. I will refrain from (further?) value judgement here because well, there's enough of that going around.

― Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

Anyone who spends $5K on a hamburger clearly has more money than sense.

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:10 (nineteen years ago)

So what's in the $5K hamburger? or, much like the sandwich, is it $5k because you get a complementary bottle of fancy wine, set of frying pans and a cadillac?

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

The $5k hamburger has very similar ingredients to the $150 sandwich actually.

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1570429596.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

$5K hamburger = Lincoln Navigator

― TOMBOT (TOMBOT), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:22 (nineteen years ago)

i would pay $20 for that sandwich. it looks yummy.

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

$20 seems reasonable to me, for a sandwich. Or even $50!!! But $150, don't be ridiculous.

I did actually buy a $20 sandwich last week, or maybe it was only $15.

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

What is a $20 sandwich?

I should have had a sandwich today intead of fried rice. Fried rice is the world's finest bad idea for lunch. Sandwiches rarely disappoint.

― Dominique (dleone), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

$20 sandwich involved duck breast and basil and was not of unimpressive size. I think my "$20" estimate includes my glass of wine accompaniment though, so I am really thinking it was $15. It was tremendously yummy actually.

― Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:36 (nineteen years ago)

if i had to make a $150 sandwich using just the food i have in the house... it'd be enormous! i think i have enough bread though, i hit the late night supermarket 10 minutes before closing and got loaves upon loaves for pennies

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

what will all the other people who go in for the cheap bread do when faced with rows of empty shelving? i hope you have a large family/circle of bread-loving friends.

― danny invincible (michael w.), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:48 (nineteen years ago)

one of my friends insisted on getting the $44 hamburger at some fancy steakhouse we went to. i had no idea why he didn't just order steak, it being a steakhouse and all, but he was so mesmerized with the idea of eating a $44 burger. i hardly ate anything and just had wine (it being a steakhouse and me not eating red meat and all) and i just watched him with this burger in total fascination. it was like some kobe beef burger w. mesclun greens on like a brioche roll. hardly worth $44, but i think the beef was from cows that had been massaged their whole life and fed 24 karat droppings from a golden goose or something.

― geeta (geeta), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

maybe some dumb american tourist can buy and eat the fucking thing, already. that, or pete doherty (who's dumb/stoned/rich enough for that kinda thing).

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:50 (nineteen years ago)

and yes, there probably ARE some particularly stupid foodies who will pay an exorbitant amount for ANYTHING so long as whatever buzzwords attract that lot are applied to the slop at hand.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:51 (nineteen years ago)

xpost if they were hungry enough, they'd have beaten me to it

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

I wonder if you could make your own? A big loaf of poilane is around £10 but you can buy half and quarter loaves in selfridges, rocket is (say) £2 for a large bag, a whole foie gras would be about £40, a jar of truffle mayo is about another £10 (although I suspect they've made their own which will probably be rather better), a kilo of brie de meaux is another £20, you'd have to make your own red pepper and mustard confit (another couple of £s) , plum tomatoes - another £1. It's the beef that's most difficult to get - Selfridges have it flown in from Chile - but you could get a couple of nice kobe beef steaks for about £40 (from Scotland), So you've got all your ingredients for about 4 sandwiches (with loads of foie gras and cheese left over) for about £130. Bargain!

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:26 (nineteen years ago)

Of course you'd have to make it yourself.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:27 (nineteen years ago)

I'm baffled even about the idea of a 20$ sandwich, let alone a 85£ one. I guess I need to meet more rich people.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:42 (nineteen years ago)

It's totally a publicity stunt - and one of the London department stores does this every year, or the latest Sketch-type restaurant opens. If the Selfridges sandwich is £85 then the cost of the ingredients for this sandwich would be about £22 or £30 tops (and probably better sourced/even cheaper if I did it). I'd like to try Kobe beef IN JAPAN but I wouldn't drown it in brie and foie gras, which TOTALLY clash when eaten together. In fact foie gras (which I don't like, too rich and I can't help but think SO THIS IS WHAT THEY PULL OUT OF CLOGGED ARTERIES) and brie clash so badly they are generally eaten at opposite sides of a large fancy meal.

Selfridges *does* however do the most passable US deli-style corned beef or pastrami or reuben in London. For about £8, and it's half the height of anything you'd find in NYC.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:50 (nineteen years ago)

waaayyy too rich.
you do get a http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Gaviscon_Liquid_Aniseed_300ml.jpg free with it.

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Thursday, 13 April 2006 07:51 (nineteen years ago)

i thought the richer you are, the less you want price to match quality?

i dont think people eating £85 sandwiches are looking for value for money. seeing as most expensive food nowadays seems to be charged by the adjective, this sandwich appears to be ok value for money

― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:04 (nineteen years ago)

I dunno: fancy restaurants in the centre of London are either completely about the food or completely about creating a 'third space' for rich people - no real middle ground. I've eaten at both kinds and wold happily NEVER enter another airdog-friendly place again.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:19 (nineteen years ago)

hahaha im stuck on moscow dining philosophy i think

― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:31 (nineteen years ago)

Why on earth would you want to spoil a good sandwich with shitty English tomatoes?

Plus, everyone knows the rule of a good sandwich is that the ingredients shouldn't go flying out when you eat it* (otherwise, it's a just bread with a side salad). That sandqich does not look very well-constructed.

*Fried egg sandwich being the obvious exception.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:34 (nineteen years ago)

English tomatoes may vary wildly in quality but the British public tend to favour either organic or non-GM so we all good. If the tomatoes in question are an artisanal strain and come from the southernmost parts of Britain they are very, very good, as good as anything I've had out of Italy or my Proustian tomato, which is my aunt's yellow plum tomatoes from a hot late-summer garden eaten from the vine or turned into a gorgeous YELLOW tomato soup.

A little toasting of the Poilane should stop any sandwich disintegrating.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:43 (nineteen years ago)

Suzy is right, of course, totally a publicity stunt. And very right about english toms. You do have to look for 'em though.

How about stilton instead of brie - beef with a stilton sauce was one of the best things I ever tasted. Still got the foie gras clash though I think that might work better?

Best sandwich in london is the chrorizo/rocket/peppers one from Brindisa in Borough market - and a twentieth of the price.

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:47 (nineteen years ago)

Dangnabbit food wankery is irritating. tv chefs and all other foodie 'personalities' who describe food as 'sexy' can suck my semi-sundried vine-ripened dick.

― dr lulu (dr lulu), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:02 (nineteen years ago)

Best sandwich in london is the chrorizo/rocket/peppers one from Brindisa in Borough market - and a twentieth of the price.

Okay, I'll try this at lunch and see you in three hours.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:12 (nineteen years ago)

(Yeah, all bets are off if you grow your own toms.)

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:13 (nineteen years ago)

I'm just off to have a schmear of pepper-rolled organic goat's cheese on a lightly toasted piece of lovely sourdough bread. With more pepper and maybe a scrach of garlic across the toasted bread fiirst.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:34 (nineteen years ago)

Yah if it boils down to building ones own food with tasty local choice ingredients, made with love, I say that ain't foodism - its just damn love of cooking/eating. If I have the time, I'd always favour home made bread/risotto/stews/etc made with local veg and good quality ingredients. I like to think I'm not a wanker about that tho.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:39 (nineteen years ago)

I only become That Wanker when faced with something so foul it might as well be radioactive. Or if someone says, 'here, eat one of these GLANDS'. Ickickickick.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:42 (nineteen years ago)

Life's too short to be worried about being wanky about food.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 13 April 2006 09:46 (nineteen years ago)

They could at least throw in a can of Coca-Cola.

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!! (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Thursday, 13 April 2006 10:26 (nineteen years ago)

"Often referred to as the 'foie gras of beef', Wagyu comes from a breed of cattle naturally predisposed to produce meat which is densely marbled with fat. It has an exquisitely tender texture and luxurious taste.
The meat will be flown in from Chile to Heathrow at 5.30am every day to ensure it is as fresh as possible.

'It is as near as you can get to flying the cow itself here,' said Stephen Farmer, of Selfridges."

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=11666&in_page_id=2

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 13 April 2006 13:50 (nineteen years ago)

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