The shawarma has just been named the World's Best sandwich

But can you guess what else has made the top 10..?

The humble shawarma – regional delicacy, mood elevator, ballad of the bossman and the great equaliser – has just been crowned the world’s best sandwich, by @tasteatlas.

Taste Atlas is a website and social media channel that is concerned with the ratings and rankings of the international culinary arts. When it looks at specific dish diaspora, it applies ‘out of five’ ratings to individual examples from different countries within the genre. The scores for these rankings are based on bundled data points from food critic reviews – preferring expert opinion over user experience. They don’t say ‘no peasants’ but, you know.

And of the 50 assembled sandwich candidates, the shawarma – shone brightest. Clearly a favourite of the critics as well as of the people.

Shawarma drama

But the win comes with its share of controversy. There are many purists who would argue that the shawarma isn’t a sandwich. That for a snack to be considered as such, a filling has to be sandwiched between two separate pieces of bread. The shawarma’s defence counsel might argue, that sandwiching – the name coming from it’s creator – is not a verb with any definitive authority, and that this snacking great not only satisfies the core requisites of the sandwich, it exemplifies them. It is the opinion of this court, that the shawarma has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt – its deeply flavourful central melange, held within the loving, carby embrace of the majestic, bready khubz, qualifies it to be a real sandwich. And after all, what is in a name? Whether you call a brioche roll a sandwich or a brioche roll, it still tastes as sweet.

There’s also the issue of lineage. It’s a Levantine creation no doubt, but the Greeks will always claim their gyros both predate and hold the IP for the hardware. And even if we agree that shawarma has a distinct and sovereign identity, which I think we must… is it Lebanese, Syrian, or Palestinian? The precise GPS coordinates don’t matter to most, but Taste Atlas has to put a flag against the dish. They chose Lebanon in case you were wondering. And if the comment section on the post that put a British flag against ‘chicken tikka masala’ is anything to go by, this could get heated.

Other rando sandos

The full list (below) is likely to cause even more culinary consternation. As much as I love the classic Vietnamese fusion snack stack, three bahn mi varieties in the top five feels excessive. I have no idea what a jibarito is but I want one immediately. Our homegrown maestros of Mexican food, Taqado will happy to see tortas (something they’ve just added to their own menu) at number eight on the list.

Sweden’s Svamptoast at 17 sounds like something Shrek might eat but I’m sure is absolutely delightful; placing the reuben as low as 17, and the vada pav at an insulting 39, feels like a criminal injustice; and whilst we’re on the miscarriages of duty bandwagon, what about the BLT? the smoked salmon bagel? The Gobbler at Gino’s Deli? British garden party cucumber sandwiches? Mortadella on rye?

One final thought/confession. When I was at secondary school, it was not uncommon for me to take pickled onion sandwiches in for my packed lunches. I can only hope Taste Atlas hasn’t taken any of my earlier reviews into consideration.

But do you agree with the shawarma’s top billing? Where do you think its really from? What else was missing in the list?

Images: Unsplash