Paris #2: Sandwich Grec Blues

Fast food is a kind of monster - a hunger monster - that preys upon those short of time and money. Unfortunately, I fall into this category of quarry as of late, but thankfully there is an option other than MacDo's, Quick, and KFC that is fairly easy to find around Paris and thankfully, not extremely harmful to one's blood pressure, waistline, or liver.

Enter the world of sandwich grec (or as it alternatively known, sandwich turc - some Greeks and Turks might be dismayed to know that these terms usually refer to the same sandwich). Once only a denizen of Paris' outlaying immigrant neighborhoods, the sandwich grec is now on the cusp of culinary assimilation. It seems poised to follow in the path of pizza, frankfurters, and frites, ascending (or, some would argue, descending) to the level of undifferentiated fast food from the ghettoized world of ethnic cuisine.

Already, the sandwich grec/turc is displaying signs of acculturation or mutation associated with this transition from ethnic to domestic. Those familiar with the puffy pita found in Greek and Lebanese sandwiches will find no such pleasure in the sandwich grec. There is only a kind of austere bread product that appears to be the mixed offspring of a pocket pita and a hot-dog bun. Similarly, those expecting a wide array of fillings and spicy sauces found in many falafel sandwiches will be surprised to find their options similarly curtailed. You get lettuce, tomatoes, and a choice of three sauces: piment (chili), mayonnaise, or ketchup (yes, that is ketchup in your pita) or a combination. And then there is the real action: a copious pile of lightly seasoned chopped lamb flowing out of the sandwich, which is usually enough to satisfy even the most bestial appetite.

Of course the quality of sandwich grec varies widely, and since no McGrec or McTurc has arrived yet to monopolize the market, every one of the hundreds of vendors is different. I don't recommend traveling too far out of your way for any particular sandwich grec just yet. But, if you happen to be in the far northern reaches of Paris near Porte de Clignancourt (say spending a weekend afternoon at the famous Marche aux Puces) try one of the many spots on Blvd Ornano between the Simplon and the Clignancourt Metro stations (I would recommend Le Meditarranee, at 80 Blvd Ornano). For less than five euros you can fill your stomach with a sandwich grec and frites, giving your money to a local operator instead of a multi-national, and saving your insides from total annihilation (though I doubt your blood pressure will emerge totally unscathed). Although it took me a while to get accustomed to it (I've been spoiled on some pretty good Middle-Eastern and Greek style pitas in other places) you'll realize that when you consider the other options, the sandwich grec blues are not all that bad to have.