I’m A Food Editor & I Can’t Stop Thinking About This Sandwich
At The Handbook, we’ve made it our personal mission to discover London’s best dishes, which is no easy feat even for the best and the hungriest of us all. So, in our endeavour to bring to our readers the best of London’s food and drink, here’s introducing our Dish Of The Month series – where every month to put the spotlight on one incredible dish that has been ordered, eaten and loved by one of us on the team. To kickstart the series, allow us to introduce you to a sandwich that has newly landed on the scene.
One of London’s most exciting chefs is undoubtedly Nieves Barragán Mohacho, who is the mastermind behind Heddon Street’s Sabor and the new Shoreditch spot, Legado. As someone who’s been to the one-Michelin-starred Sabor at least three times and visited Legado when it opened, I feel qualified enough to write about Nieves’ dishes that I have grown to love over the past few years.
Funnily enough, I never visited Legado for the sandwich. That was far from my mind – what I was really eager for was the dish that you’ll find on almost every table at Sabor and Legado – in fact, if Nieves had opened a new restaurant without including it on the menu, people might have protested. The suckling pig, served in different portions depending on how many people are at your table, is what might attract people to the restaurants at first, but you invariably find another dish that you fall in love with as well. For me, it was the Legado sandwich.
The dish
The Legado sandwich is just such a clever preparation. It’s far from your regular cheese squeezed between bread, but it would be far too simplistic to call it a grilled cheese. Its preparation involves a two-day process, and it has layers of Swiss chard, Cecina and smoked cheese. The real magic is that it’s then fried in breadcrumbs (because sometimes bread needs more bread), and served hot and oozing with cheese once you bite or cut into it.
What makes it all the more special is that it is a fond memory from Nieves’ grandmother’s kitchen, and you really can imagine being a child and being delighted to see a dish like this on the table – forget being a child, this 33-year-old was ecstatic. Priced at £12, it’s a great way to start your meal at Legado.
What makes it all the more special is that it is a fond memory from Nieves’ grandmother’s kitchen.
Andrea, Contributing Food, Culture & Lifestyle Editor
What else is good?
The food at Legado is all about celebrating regional Spanish cuisine that you might never have heard of before, so it’s great to get recommendations from your server, who can chat with you more about each dish. Some of my other favourites include the piquillo goat cheese tempura and even the quisquillas de Cadiz is something I never thought I’d like, but it’s got such interesting flavours you feel like it’s a science experiment on your plate. It’s a local delicacy, and is essentially fine blue belly prawns that are served raw, save for the heads, which are fried until crisp. It’s then dressed in citrus, sesame and soy and split with a coriander-infused Arbequina olive oil.
The food at Legado is all about celebrating regional Spanish cuisine that you might never have heard of before,
It’s pretty much a given that you’ll order the suckling pig – served with a delicious sauce that I can honestly drink as soup, it’s the stuff you think about later fondly and wonder when you’ll visit again. But when it comes to starters and when it comes to sandwiches, the Legado Sandwich is quite the scene stealer – and it’s got me thinking about it even though two months have passed since I visited.
