South Beach Snapper Sandwich

Today I finally made the Snapper Fish Sandwich that I have been dreaming about. Unfortunately, I had written a very long post just now, only to find that I closed the tab by accident before I could publish. Serves me right for not writing it in Word first. Ugggh. Here I go again!

I have been wanting to make this sandwich for quite some time now. In South Beach, sandwiches are everywhere. So when I was looking at different dishes to come up with as part of my collection, I knew that I would have to do a sandwich. Not only are there sandwich joints everywhere you turn, but most high-end places also offer them on their menus. Don’t forget that this is the land of the Media Noche and Cuban Sandwich. I wanted to do a fish sandwich, because there are so many fun types of fish here. I love mahi mahi, snapper, grouper, king fish, tuna, etc. How could I not make a fish sandwich?

I was inspired by the healthy Mediterranean/Middle Eastern vibe that exists here. There is a great healthy Turkish restaurant on Lincoln Road called Pasha’s, as well as several other smaller places along Collins. They are just enough to balance out the myriad Cuban and Italian places that are everywhere you turn. I thought a tahini sauce with plenty of lemon juice and fresh herbs would go great on top of fresh fish. As a garnish, I simply use chopped up tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives. The bread is a pita. It needs to be really nicely toasted in order to hold the soft-flaky fish, but its great. The heavier the pita, the better the sandwich.

I love fish sandwiches, but don’t like how more often than not they are deep- fried. I save that indulgence for Fish and Chips in London and New England in the Summer. For South Beach, I opt for the baked, flaky fish that is lighter and healthier. In order to buy extra-fresh fish, head over to the Rickenbacker Causeway, which leads you over to Key Biscayne. Every day at around 4 pm, the fishermen come in from their excursions with plenty of their fresh catches for you to buy. I would have gotten mahi mahi if they had had it, but I was happy with my snapper, because I was able to buy enough to work on my ceviche, which you will see tomorrow!

I am sure that I will come up with some more fun sandwich options, but this was my first venture!