Cajun Muffaletta Sandwich with Meat Olives and CheeseAdobeStock_77762307
(CNN) --
Is there a more modest but universally adored food than the sandwich?
And while one person's burger may be another's katsu sando or chivito, there are few countries on the planet that don't turn to some sort of stuffed bun to cure a craving.
Touring the sandwiches of the world is, in a way, like traveling the world.
To help you choose the sandwich to plan your next trip around, here are 23 of the best sandwiches in the world:
Pambazo, Mexico
The pambazo from Mexico is stuffed with potatoes and chorizo, among other things.
Credit: Ulises Lima/Adobe Stock
Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about Mexico is tortillas.
But one of the most famous snacks in the country is the pambazo, a favorite street snack from Veracruz and Puebla that is said to be inspired by the shape of a Mexican volcano.
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It is a very filling sandwich and the bread is dyed red thanks to the fact that it is soaked in slightly spicy guajillo chili sauce.
Open wide to enjoy potatoes and chorizo topped with lettuce, cheese, and sour cream.
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Tramezzino, Italy
Although it hails from Turin, Venice has taken this popular bar snack to the next level, properly stuffing English tea-style triangles of white bread with fillings ranging from olives and tuna, hard-boiled eggs and vegetables, to mounds of crispy truffle prosciutto. .
Bars all over Venice bring out trays of tramezzini at mealtimes.
If you're doing things right, you'll enjoy them by the canal with a glass of local wine.
Shawarma, Middle East
Shawarma's name comes from the Arabic word for "turn," a reference to the way the meat filling in this favorite Middle Eastern sandwich is cooked on a vertical spit.
In adaptations that spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the shawarma has been reinterpreted as a gyro in Greece or a doner kebab in Germany, via Turkey.
Although there are many variations of this popular street food, its base is spiced meat (usually chicken, lamb or beef) that is grilled vertically and cut directly on the spit.
The meat is stuffed into a light pita bread, accompanied by items such as tomato, onion and parsley, and perhaps also tahini sauce and hot sauce.
Banh mi, Vietnam
The classic bánh mì is served on French-style bread (baguette) with grilled pork, grated carrots, jalapeño peppers and cilantro.
Credit: Anastasia Nurullina/iStockphoto/Getty Images
The Vietnamese reinterpreted the baguette sandwich, a culinary holdover from French colonialism, to their liking.
Bánh mì are now sold from food carts on almost every street corner in Ho Chi Minh City and throughout Vietnam, and are highly regarded far beyond the country's borders.
The classic version is pork-based, with chả lụa (Vietnamese-style pork roll), grated pickled carrots, pickled daikon, coriander leaves, mayonnaise, and other ingredients.
You can also find variants with tofu and thin slices of lemon chicken.
The flavor is crisp, fresh, flavorful and absolutely delicious.
Muffaletta, New Orleans, United States
Italian immigrants who settled in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are responsible for the invention of this quintessential New Orleans sandwich, made with round, sesame-covered Sicilian bread that can easily be exceed the size of his head.
Inside the muffaletta, layers of chopped olives, Genoa salami, prosciutto, and various cheeses (often Swiss and provolone) are mixed to a delicious effect.
Chivito, Uruguay
Although the name of this Uruguayan sandwich translates to "kid," meat from that ruminant is decidedly absent from this decadent dish of thinly sliced steak (called churrasco), ham, bacon, lettuce, mayonnaise, and melted mozzarella.
Stacked on a bun similar to hamburgers or ciabatta, chivito is usually topped with a fried egg, so you won't leave hungry.
Bread bagnat, France
If you love a good Niçoise salad, chances are you're a fan of pan bagnat, a sandwich that also hails from Nice in the south of France and is made with crispy pain de campagne, a bakery favourite.
Cut in half (but not all the way), the bread opens up to reveal layers of raw vegetables, anchovies, olives, sliced hard-boiled eggs, chunks of tuna, and plenty of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Bon appetit, no doubt.
Smorrebrod, Denmark
Beloved throughout Scandinavia, but especially iconic as one of Denmark's national dishes, this open sandwich translates to "bread and butter," but smørrebrød is so much more.
It is typically served on rye bread and toppings include dozens (perhaps hundreds) of combinations ranging from curried or pickled herring and small pink shrimp, to sliced boiled eggs and roast beef on a layer of butter.
In true Scandinavian style, smørrebrød also goes for aesthetics: the sandwiches are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious.
Spatlo, South Africa
With special ties to the Gauteng province and Johannesburg, the South African spatlo sandwich (often called a kota, loosely translating to quarter loaf) is made from a quarter loaf hollowed out and stuffed to the max with meat and more.
Inside are seasoned fries, cheese, bacon, bologna, Russian-style sausage, and maybe a bunch of spicy atchar sauce (made with unripe mangoes) and a fried egg.
smoked meat sandwich montreal canada
Smoked meat sandwiches, seen here at Montreal's Schwartz's delicatessen, are packed with smoked brisket.
Credit: Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press/AP
Carnivores say "oui" to this Quebecois sandwich made with smoked meat between slices of light rye bread and dressed with yellow mustard.
The finest brisket used in an authentic Montreal smoked meat sandwich is said to be soaked for up to two weeks in brine and aromatics like coriander, peppercorns and garlic before being smoked and hand-sliced to be enjoyed in everlasting glory. of the sandwich.
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Po'boy, New Orleans, United States
The po'boy (also known as "poor boy") is rumored to have been invented to feed the city's streetcar conductors during a strike in 1929.
The story is still confusing, but the taste of this sandwich certainly isn't.
Whoever tries this baguette loaded with mayonnaise and stuffed with fried oysters (or perhaps fried shrimp or roast beef) and piled high with lettuce, tomato and pickles, is in for a wonderfully delicious sandwich.
Fricasse, Tunisia
With a comforting fried yeast bun as a base and a delicious stuffing of tuna, potatoes and boiled egg inside, this North African sandwich offers a whole meal in a seemingly small package.
Tunisia's favorite street food and picnic sandwich, the fricassee, is often made more appealing with sliced black olives, preserved lemon, and harissa, the ubiquitous spicy condiment in this part of the world, made with dried red chillies, garlic, and a mixture of spices that usually includes caraway, cumin and coriander seeds.
Cuban sandwich, Cuba/United States
The origin of the delicious Cuban sandwich is disputed by many.
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According to Andy Huse, author of an upcoming book on the Cuban sandwich, this Florida favorite is the subject of constant debate in Miami and Tampa, with purists arguing about its key ingredients and where it comes from.
Whether you eat it with salami (Tampa way) or not (Miami way), this sandwich is layered with cooked ham, roast pork, pickles, mustard, Swiss cheese and butter and pressed between pieces of fluffy bread. Cubano is a simple, abundant and almost always affordable food.
Cucumber sandwich, UK
Cucumber sandwiches, on the more delicate side of the sandwich spectrum, are a traditional element of English afternoon tea, often found on the same trays with scones and scones.
Layered on the extra soft white crustless bread are very fine English cucumbers (peeled, please, then lightly salted and drained), butter, a light sprinkling of fine pepper, and perhaps a little fresh herbs like dill.
Cut the sandwich into triangles and accompany it with a cup of tea.
chip butty, uk
The opposite of chic, the chip butty means business: after all, it's a sandwich on buttered white bread stuffed with French fries (also known as chips in its home country of Britain) that seem to make a hollow in all that softness.
Its roots are said to go back to the 1860s and a fish and chip shop in Lancashire, England, and the chip butty can be dressed with optional condiments ranging from ketchup and malt vinegar to mayonnaise.
Katsu sando, Japan
Japanese katsu sando consists of a fried pork cutlet.
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A deep-fried pork cutlet, flattened and breaded with panko and stuffed into a fluffy white Japanese milk bread called shokupan, is the basis of this cult snack in Japanese convenience stores.
Regarded as yōshoku (Western-influenced) cuisine, katsu sando is often garnished with shredded cabbage and also comes in chicken and egg salad (tamago) versions.
Reubens, United States
If you ask Nebraskans, they'll say that the Reuben was invented there by a local winemaker who wanted to feed a gang of hungry poker players.
In New York, the story goes that the sloppy and sinful rye sandwich was named after the founder of New York's Reuben restaurant.
What is not in dispute is the deliciousness that goes inside a Reuben: sliced corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian or Thousand Island dressing.
You will need napkins.
Many.
Croque monsieur/madame, France
This crunchy wonder (croquant), the archetype of French sandwiches, comes in male and female versions (madame and monsieur) and originated in French cafes as a snack.
In the case of croque monsieur, slices of white bread covered with grated cheese and stuffed with thinly sliced ham and emmental or gruyere inside are dipped in an egg batter and fried.
In the case of the croque madame, the egg is served fried on top of the sandwich.
Philly cheesesteak, Philadelphia, United States
The City of Brotherly Love's most beloved sandwich is a delicious hot dish with thinly sliced ribeye, provolone slices, and sautéed bell peppers and onions to taste.
Purists insist that the Philly cheesesteak is wrapped in a hoagie bun.
But if you make one at home, any thick white bread will work.
Broodjeharing, Netherlands
As a taste of the salty North Sea in sandwich form, the Like a taste of the salty North Sea distilled in sandwich form, this classic Dutch sandwich is for fish lovers only.
Served cold, broodje haring is a crusty baguette filled with thin slices of cold, salt-cured herring and chopped onion.
Depending on where you are in the Netherlands, you can also bring sliced pickles.
You can find it anywhere there is a market at stalls called vihandels.
Falafel pita, Middle East
Vegetarian falafel pita is bursting with fresh flavors.
Credit: Brent Hofacker/Adobe Stock
You won't miss the meat in this vegetarian staple of Middle Eastern cuisine.
The falafel pita is exactly what its name suggests.
Crispy fried falafel balls, made with soaked and ground chickpeas mixed with herbs, are stuffed into a warm, fluffy pita and topped with lettuce, tomatoes, tahini sauce and other toppings that can include chili sauce and hummus.
On the streets of Beirut, Amman and many other places in the Middle East, people line up to buy this sandwich.
Choripan, Argentina
Sausages sprinkled with mustard and chimichurri sauce are the ingredients of this Argentine classic whose name is a mixture of chorizo and bread.
The origins of choripán are believed to date back to the gauchos, known for their grilled meat asados.
But today, this casual and filling sandwich can be found beyond Buenos Aires and the Andes, at food stalls, soccer games and restaurants throughout South America.
It is best enjoyed fresh off the grill.
Lobster roll, New England, United States
A classic Maine lobster roll served on a dock by the Five Islands Lobster Co.
Credit: Patrick Donovan/Moment RF/Getty Images
New Englanders cherish their humble lobster roll, a summery seaside treat with large chunks of steamed lobster meat, usually tossed with lemon juice, mayonnaise, and herbs, and stuffed into a hot dog-like roll. .
You can find them in seafood restaurants across the United States.
But eating one at a classic lobster shack on the stretch of coast from Maine to Connecticut is going to be hard to beat.
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