Too Many Cooks: The Best Sandwich, Once and for All.

You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more. 

The latest issue of Lucky Peach includes the following quote from James Beard:

"One of the great American arts, which varies from being a triumph to being a disaster, is the art of sandwichmaking."

It's true -- a perfect sandwich results from almost-unattainable simplicity. Everyone has their favorite, and their own opinion on what makes a sandwich great. And really, summer is sandwich season. So this week, we asked:

What, in your opinion, is the perfect sandwich?

Things got pretty heated, and our staff showed their passion for putting stuff between bread. We start with team BLT:

Brette: BLT!!!! 

Michael: I agree with Brette: the BLT, with generous mayo to protect the bread from the tomato. But it's a high-wire act: I feel lucky if I have two great ones in a year. (And if some avocado snuck its way in there too, I would not complain.) 

Michael: Shoot. I just remembered the bahn mi, and also the lobster roll, and now I dispair of ever choosing.

[Editor's note: this inspired a full-on brawl in our office re: whether a lobster roll is a real sandwich. Discuss amongst yourselves.]

Will: I have a series of haikus called "The Bacon Series." Here is the sandwich poem:

Bacon, soft white roll,
Lettuce, tomato, mayo.
My perfect sandwich.

Amanda: I've never met a sandwich better than the BLT. It contains all the crucial elements: sweetness, crunch, salinity, pork fattiness, and juicy flashes of summer. We learned a vital BLT tip from 'Wichcraft -- toast one side of the bread and place the toasted sides on the inside of the sandwich. This way you get crispness without cutting the top of your mouth. Although a few BLT cuts are probably more authentic.

Jason: Obviously I love a good BLT, but my all-time favorite sandwich is turkey, tasso ham, prosciutto, creamy gouda, red onion, arugula, salt and pepper, a little mayo, and honey mustard on a super crusty roll. #yumtownusa

Emma: Tuna melt. Hands down. Every time.

Jennifer: Mozzarella, tomato, basil, and prosciutto on ciabatta bread drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

Ryan: I'm in the same camp as Jennifer. Fresh mozz, basil, any salty cured ham, and olive oil on something crusty. Cold or hot pressed -- I don't discriminate.

Lauren: The bahn mi.

Amanda Li: PB&J on whole wheat, because that makes things healthy.

Maddy: Open face tomato and mayo sandwich on an english muffin (the rounds of tomato fit perfectly, see?). With a good dose of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  

Marian: Crusty sourdough bread. Aioli. Juicy tomato. Avocado. Salt salt salt and pepper. They do it well at Sandwhich [sic] in Chapel Hill, NC.

Lindsay: The sister to Marian's sandwich: A toasted Zingerman's enough already bagel. Japanese mayo. Juicy tomato. Avocado. Salt.

Sarah J: Sweet: cinnamon raisin bread with bananas, honey, and peanut butter, pressed and warm. Savory: grilled eggplant, roasted tomato, muenster cheese, and muhammara on herbed focaccia (otherwise known as Z&H's Marty). 

Kenzi: Lobster roll. Also: BLT, extra mayo. 

Hannah: Maple almond butter (we're not on a first name basis or anything but I like Justin's) + really ripe banana. On any kind of bread that makes the whole house smell like yeast.

Kristen: Grilled cheese -- sharp cheddar, or whatever! -- with sliced tomatoes.

Margaret: Turkey, bacon, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, and aioli on a whole wheat wrap, toasted. My kind of heaven. Maybe some spinach if I want to feel healthy, but I don't usually get those kind of compulsions.

Stephanie: I have to play it simple. Tomato, butter, and salt on toasted bread. It's perfect. 

Merrill: Truly painful to make this decision. But since no one has mentioned it, I do love a good French ham with soft Brie, on a hard baguette spread with (cold) salted butter. A few cornichons wouldn't be out of place.

Bryce: I might have to go Muffaletta. 

Karl: Pulled pork with North Carolina-style vinegar sauce topped with coleslaw. The Reason is probably my favorite implementation.

Beatrice: Maryland blue crab crab cakes on a bed of frisée topped with a dill caper remoulade sandwiched between a lightly toasted and buttered bun. #BestSummerSandwich

Amanda Li: This TMC reminds me of the 30 Rock episode featuring the Chuckle Sandwich. And this quote:
Liz: I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.
Jack: How surprising that your world view is food-based.

Tell us: what's your favorite sandwich? And how do you define a sandwich, anyway? Do lobster rolls and hamburgers count? Go ahead -- get worked up about it.