Butifarra-inspired ham sandwiches

Two ingredients, mayonnaise, soft French rolls. It shouldn’t be as good as it is.

Butifarra-inspired Ham Sandwiches

Cuisine: Peruvian

Ham -- medium to thin sliced, and a single layer goes a long way, because the star of this dish is...

Salsa Criolla -- see our recipe or go nuts. Thin sliced red onions in a 2:1 Lime Juice:Vinegar dressing, with cilantro to taste

A good french roll -- I think the original sandwiches are crusty, but mine are done with soft rolls

Mayonnaise, salt and pepper

Directions: Spread mayonnaise on both sides of french roll, apply ham to bottom bun. Top generously with Salsa Criolla. Salt and ESPECIALLY black pepper to taste.

The story so far…

A couple of years ago, around Christmas, I was looking for a recipe for Salsa Criolla. I’ve always loved this little onion relish as a kind of light salad at Peruvian restaurants (particularly our dear departed #2 favorite restaurant, which had a lovely patio where there are always dogs — K loves dogs), and I wanted to make it to bring over to my family’s Christmas dinner. One of the recipes had an offhand remark about it being used for a traditional sandwich called a Butifarra.

I looked at a few recipes for these sandwiches, which call for a Peruvian jamón del país (country ham), and knew that I wasn’t up to making a whole fancy ham for the project. So this isn’t a Butifarra per se. In fact this is just a sliced ham I bought before Thanksgiving, un-doctored and unimproved. But it’s delicious, and really whatever you do to the ham is probably going to play nicely with this dish. That first christmas I made a Dr. Pepper glazed ham, and ate sandwiches clear through to the new year.

The only question left is what to eat them with: chips, or fries, or dressed cucumbers or korean pickles, or nothing, because you know you’re going back for seconds anyway.

Enjoy!

Variations

Aside from changes to the Salsa Criolla and different treatments of the ham, here are a few ideas to change this up.

Traditional versions may use a crustier roll than pictured here.

Other common toppings for the sandwiches are lettuce and radishes.

Jamón del país is made with garlic, which is missing entirely from this recipe. You could garnish with a little bit of garlic salt or even a clove or two of roasted garlic, spread thin.