Idaho cuisine brought to you by a kids palette, I guess.
This week we officially reached the “I’s” on our (mostly) alphabetical sandwich journey through the states, which meant Idaho was up to bat. You know Idaho — home of the potato, a giant in the sheep agriculture industry, provider of up to 1/3 of the world’s trout, the best place in America to eat basque cuisine. So naturally, they came to the table and served up….peanut butter and huckleberry jam.
Peanut butter and huckleberry jam. What a wasted opportunity.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against PB&J. It’s a classic sandwich. It’s easy to make, travels well, and has just enough flexibility that people (let's be honest: kids) can feel like they’ve crafted their own, gourmet-ish version of the sandwich. Crunchy or creamy PB? Grape or strawberry jelly? White or wheat bread? SO MANY CHOICES!
Well, three choices, but that’s enough. No need to over-complicate the sandwich that’s built an entire career on its simplicity.
What I’m saying is, no matter how you make it, you’re going to get some nice bites. It’s easy to make, easy to love, and almost impossible to mess up.
It also has no place on this list. So this week didn’t feel like a real Sandwich Sunday where we arbitrarily pit sandwiches against each other in a weekly one-sandwich-at-a-time taste off. It was more like the crust of the sandwich of a picky eater…an obvious throwaway.
It wasn’t a negative experience. Huckleberry Jam is like the adult version of grape jelly. We bought some Huckleberry Jam from Homemade by Dorothy and it was excellent. I’ll happily spread the rest of our jar on toasted English Muffins. My issue wasn’t with the Huckleberry Jam. My issue was that Idaho could’ve done better.
Way better.
Instead, this list just let Idaho slip easily into the Not-A-Contender category. I’d say it was forgettable, but I’m so annoyed by the fact that they could have had a real knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark sandwich and instead showed up with PB&J, that I’ll remember them with the slow headshake of a disappointed parent.
