Well, I finally did it. No more putting it off, no more excuses, no more waffling. It was time. I had nice shiny new loaf of bread sitting there, all full of possibilities, and I was about to simply take the first two slices like I always do. But then…I don’t know how, I don’t know why, these things just happen…I decided, "What the hell, I’m going for the gusto today. I’m making this goddam sandwich out of the two end pieces!" (“And no, I’m not going to bother figuring out what the ‘correct term’ is! Getting through all those Olympic videos is taking up enough of my time, dangit!”)
After slathering on the peanut butter and jam (I find that just one or the other is too dull for my tastes), I got to work. This particular loaf was a thick, rich multigrain bread with correspondingly hearty end pieces, so I figured it would take some effort to get through it, which it did.
I never really noticed it before, but there’s a pronounced difference in both taste and texture between the crust and the rest of the bread. On a normal slice the effect is minimal, but on an end piece I can tell the difference, and when I used both it was almost like a completely different type of bread. The sensation almost overpowered the peanut butter and jam, it was that powerful. It also had a different mouth feel from a regular sandwich, more…robust, for lack of a better term.
I should stress that this was with a very rich multigrain bread, which may have skewed the result. Someday I hope to try this with a more conventional “Japanese style” wheat bread (which is actually the kind I get the most often). But yeah, end piece sandwich! Everyone should try it once! Er, assuming you eat bread, which I wouldn’t know.
I actually turn them in, putting the mustard or peanut butter or whatever filling I’m using directly on the crusty surface, with the non-heel side out, so it looks like normal bread. Seems to intensify the effect.
I like the end pieces (aka heels), but I prefer to leave them on the sliced loaf until they’re the only thing left, because their crusty surface makes them seal the ends of the load against moisture loss, which keeps the rest of the loaf slightly more fresh over time.
Heels, and they work well for certain sandwiches where you want the taste of the bread to be dominant or at least strong, such as (at least in my case) Peanut butter and jam.
The original poster was quite rude (at least in my household) of stealing the backend crust. When you start a new loaf, you get the bonus of getting the frontend crust. But the backend crust must go to whoever finishes the loaf. No cutting the queue!
As a kid we would call the sandwich with the end pieces a “dad sandwich” because our dad always insisted to make a sandwich with them for himself so they would NOT go to waste.
Did the OP have to dig through the whole loaf of bread to get both heels? Open both sides, thus exposing more to the air? These are practical problems.
The only problem with heels for me is that they tend to be thinner than the standard slice, which results in an uneven sandwich. So at our house the heels go into the freezer to be combined with other heels and eventually made into stuffing.
Now the heel, end, of a baguette is clearly the best part of it. I was happy to note that my three-year-old grandson thought so also. Nice to know he is being raised correctly.
First thing that came to mind for end pieces was the end slices from cold cuts. Delis used to sell those at a discount. You could get a pound of cold cut ends for next to nothing and make a very disgusting sandwich out of it. Never occurred to me before that such a sandwich would appropriately be made with a pair of bread heels to make it even more unappetizing.
Hey, when the inspiration hits, it hits, okay? Granted this isn’t a particularly big loaf, definitely a lot smaller than the Japanese style I normally get (which is the best deal at both Costco and Sam’s Club). Staling isn’t normally something that’s a problem for me (when I buy something for myself, I eat it), and I absolutely have to keep it properly refrigerated, because once mold sets in, there’s no salvation.
But fine, I’ll keep tabs on the overall freshness of that loaf as I work my way through it, and if I notice anything drying out a lot faster than it should, I’ll save the ends for last next time. Live and learn. (Seriously, this is the first I’ve ever heard of this. I really was not raised right at all. )
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