recipe | the parisian
My “treat yourself” sandwich of choice, perfect for lounging on the banks of a river in the sunshine (or at least pretending you are).
When I was in college, I spent most of my summers working unpaid psychology research internships at Harvard. I would spend weekdays in the labs, recruiting, screening and running participants through experiments, and would work evenings and weekends as a personal stylist at J.Crew to pay my rent at a MIT fraternity house for the summer (yes, really – it was extremely fun).
The research lab I worked at in my sophomore year was fun but emotionally taxing. We were studying moral cognition, evaluating genetic links to ethical decision making and prosocial (and antisocial) behavior. I regularly recruited participants off of craigslist, often had to collect multiple vials of spit and blood from qualified participants who progressed into the project, and was on a first name basis with the building’s security staff after several participants wouldn’t take “no” for an answer when they asked for my phone number.
All that being said – by the weekend rolled around I needed to pull myself together to put on my best customer service face to survive a weekend working retail after a long week handling vials of other people’s spit. Friday became the official “treat yourself” day, heading out of the lab early to pick up a late lunch, eat it by the Charles River, and then head off to J.Crew to dress preppy New Englanders for their various summer events and occasions.
I quickly settled on a routine, stopping into Cardullo’s Market in Harvard Square. I worked my way down the menu, trying one of everything until I settled on a favorite - “The Parisian”. I started ordering this same sandwich so often the owner would just start making it for me the minute I walked in every Friday. It’s a little bit of an unexpected combo, but one I find irresistible – creamy brie, tangy apples, and clear-out-your-sinuses spicy mustard.
If you need to get your head right (and maybe relax on the banks of a river in the sunshine pretending you’re spending your summer in Europe) I promise this is the sandwich to do it.
the parisian (@home)
Ingredients:
1 crusty french baguette
Triple Creme Brie
1 Granny Smith Apple
Sweet Hot Mustard (I used Inglehoffer and it was perfect)
To make:
Slice baguette lengthwise
Spread one side with a thick layer of sweet hot mustard
Cut brie into slices, and layer on top of the mustard
Cut about half of the granny smith apple into medium slices, and layer on top of the brie
Optional: drizzle apples with a little bit of honey, and top with arugula.
Best Served with: Nantucket Nectar Half and Half
looking for more recipes and ideas for food and coffee? check out the archive!
thank you for reading! If you’re new here, you can also find me on instagram and tiktok (although far less often than you can find me here).
earlybird is an entirely reader supported newsletter, so if you enjoyed this guide please consider becoming a paid subscriber for only $5 per month or $56 per year. If you’d like to support the newsletter in other ways, your comments, likes and shares are the number one thing that helps me to grow. Appreciate ya!