The Dudes of Food

Imperialism is _________

a) Good

b) Bad

c) What is imperialism?

d) Delicious

If choice d) even crossed your mind, then you are in the right place. The bahn mi, the sandwich that meshes cultures unlike any other, is the product of the long, grueling, and violent French rule in Vietnam. It is made up of a tough French baguette exterior and filled with a meaty vegetable interior.

The build:

1. Your choice of BBQ pork, meatloaf, grilled chicken, or pork sausage.

2. A buttery spread, or dare I say it, a pâté.

3. Pickled daikon radish and carrots.

4. Fresh cilantro

5. A few jalapeños

The combination of the sweet protein, the tart radishes, the spicy jalapeños, the fresh cilantro, and the creamy butter create an unforgettable and insane taste treat.

Any great historian would say that the bahn mi is symbolic of French imperialism in Vietnam. The outside appearance is French influenced; yet the interior stands strong on its traditional Vietnamese base. A deep, perhaps even mind blowing, history lesson from the Dudes of Food.

We all know that the French colonized Vietnam, known in the day as Indochina (if you don’t know that, you probably answered c). Yet the Dudes, when eating the bahn mi, began to ponder whether there was really much French influence in this Vietnamese sandwich. To us, the sandwich is primarily Vietnamese, not French. This led us to a new question: Who imperialized whom? Is food the greatest indicator of cultural synthesis? The Dudes have taken a firm stand: although Vietnam was a French colony, the bahn mi demonstrates where the colonized had a greater influence on the colonizers. If your mind has not yet been blown, please check out our future post on how babies are made.

A well known (primarily among Atlanta food bloggers between the ages of 18-40 who have access to Buford Highway) feud exists between the two restaurants claiming to serve the best bahn mi in Atlanta, Quoc Huong and Lee’s Bakery. The bahn mi at Quoc Huong is the sandwich that reigns for three reasons. First, the bread is baked daily at a bakery down the road. Second, the ingredients are incredibly fresh. Finally, it destroys the “sub” standard $5.00 footlong on price. A Quoc Huong banh mi is a mere $2.00 ($2.50 for specials) and this gets you around 8-10 inches of pure imperialistic deliciousness. Sounds cheap? Put your mind back together so it can be blow again. Buy 5, and the 6^th bahn mi is free.

Be warned, the prime time to ecstatically enjoy a bahn mi is lunch. They are sold out by dinner, and even arriving at four or five in the afternoon is risky business. Once they are out of bread, the sandwich station closes. Get there early for the Quoc Huong bahn mi, or as the The Dudes might call it, the bargain mi.