''Sándwiches de miga'', also called ''rafaelitos'', are popular food items in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, where they are often consumed at parties.
Rather than making them from scratch, Argentines usually buy them at a local
bakery
A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...
. They can be
toasted
Toast most commonly refers to:
* Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat
* Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken
Toast may also refer to:
Places
* Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States
Books
* Toas ...
or untoasted. The toasted version is common bar food in both countries, known locally as ''tostados'' or ''carlitos'' in Argentina, and ''sándwiches calientes'' in Uruguay.
The sándwiches de miga resemble the Italian ''
tramezzino
The tramezzino (; plural ) is a usually triangular Italian sandwich constructed from two slices of soft white bread, with the crusts removed. Popular fillings include tuna, olive, and prosciutto, but many other fillings can be used.
Etymology
T ...
'' and the English
cucumber sandwich
The traditional cucumber sandwich is a crustless tea sandwich (or finger sandwich) composed of thin slices of cucumber situated between two thin slices of lightly buttered white bread. The sandwich originated in the United Kingdom, and modern ...
for afternoon tea, which is a typical
tea-time food. The ''Academia Argentina de Gastronomía'' suggests that the
sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
es may have been introduced into Argentina by immigrants from
Northern Italy
Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
.
The Buenos Aires newspaper ''
Clarín'', however, suggests that the sandwich was actually invented by local bakers at the Confitería Ideal, who had made a sandwich with a recreated
English-style bread to satisfy a group of homesick British engineers who used to frequent their establishment during the early part of the twentieth century.
![Sandwich de Miga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Sandwich_de_Miga.jpg)
The sandwiches are single, double or multiple layered and are made from
thinly sliced bread with no crust, i.e. the part of the bread called ''miga''. They are filled with thinly sliced
cold cut
Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in sandwiches or on ...
s (especially
ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut of pork, cut that has been food preservation, preserved by wet or dry Curing (food preservation), curing, with or without smoking (cooking), smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. Lo ...
),
hard-boiled eggs
Boiled eggs are eggs, typically from a chicken, cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may leave the yolk, a ...
,
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
,
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es,
bell pepper
The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange ...
s,
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
,
lettuce
Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...
, and sometimes other vegetables such as
asparagus
Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
It was once classified in ...
.
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...
or
mayonnaise
Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...
is another important ingredient.
See also
*
Crustless bread
Crustless bread is bread without crusts. Panko is made from such a bread, which is produced by passing an electric current through the dough.
The British food group RHM manufactures a crustless bread targeted at children called Hovis Invisible Cru ...
*
Cuisine of Argentina
Argentine cuisine is described as a cultural blending of Mediterranean influences brought by the Spanish during the colonial period and, later, by Italian and Spanish immigrants to Argentina during 19th and 20th centuries, with influences fro ...
*
List of sandwiches
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
{{Sandwiches
Argentine cuisine
Chilean cuisine
Uruguayan cuisine
Cheese sandwiches
Egg sandwiches