The Great Gatsby, a Capetonian Favorite

Almost every culture in the world has some version of a giant sandwich, stuffed with many different goodies.  I was considering doing a post about the New Orleans Po' Boy, when I wandered into Village Foods, a local take-away shop and spotted gatsbys on the menu and realized that we have our own Western Cape version. Gatsbys are a perfect meal after a long day at work, the beach or when you don't feel like a massive culinary effort.  They are also (mostly) a very cheap way to feed many people. To qualify as a Gatsby a sandwich needs to be made from a baguette (locally known simply as a french loaf), a generous helping of "slap" chips (french fries) and a topping of your choice (usually mixed in with a garden salad). The Gatsby started out somewhere in Cape Town, quite likely in the poverty stricken Cape Flats area  with many local takeaways in the area claiming to have invented it.  I'll remain neutral on THAT point, but as far as I can tell it really started as a quick way to feed the family and use up the leftover food.  The recipe that follows is by no means the “only” recipe. It just happens to be the combo that I enjoy most.

Cape Flats Gatsby:

1 yard-long French loaf
1 large parcel of "slap" chips
Mango/peach atchaar
1 cucumber
1 small lettuce
2 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
mayonnaise / salad cream
400g of deep fried calamari

Rinse and shred the lettuce by hand. Finely chop up the cucumber, tomatoes and onion and combine with mayonnaise and lettuce.
Slice the loaf open lengthways, forming a “cradle” of bread, and line the loaf with the chips.
Top the chips with the salad and then cover with a layer of hot calamari. Season with the atchaar, then fold the bread closed, cut into 4 equal sections and serve.
Goes very well ice cold cola and a fresh suntan.