Fine Dining: Le Sandwich Omelette

The network of Peace Corps volunteers in Togo maintain a literary magazine called Perspectives. The magazines editor has asked me to write a regular food column. This article was originally published from the July 2008 issue.

It's not that I don't like Togolese food. My counterpart, for example, makes some seriously delicious kom (the fermented corn patty), especially when it is complimented with a side of fried fish. But I am always disappointed when I try it on the streets of Sokodé or Kara. The sauce isn't as good. I love the rice ladies, too—it's always service with a smile there! And most times, a local volunteer has a good recommendation. However, without a guide you may find that the sauce contains more snotty okra than you would like or is swamped with fish-skin flakes and cartilage. After a two to ten hour ride in a bush taxi, you want something that you can rely on ... the Egg Sandwich.

Home Away from Home
The formula is simple: eggs beaten, mixed with chopped tomatoes and onion, fried in oil and then laid in a mayo-smothered baguette. No surprises. The egg sandwich is all-American: I've seen every one of those ingredients in America and I can see every single ingredient that goes into making my perfect to-go repas.

Well, I may have exaggerated; it's not quite all-American. When making egg sandwiches in the United States, it's usually on toasted Wonder bread and not the Togolese version of a French baguette. Also, I like to scramble the eggs with some American cheese product, like Kraft singles. (I like a milder cheese with my eggs and therefore tend to avoid the sharp cheddars, which overwhelm the palate.) Then I top it all off with some ketchup.

Don't forget the mayo!
I love ketchup. But where there is no ketchup—there is mayonnaise. I can't get enough of this strange concoction of oil, vinegar, egg, salt, sugar, thickener E412 and other tasty preservatives. The Ghanaians give further instruction on the application of these fine condiments when fried rice is served with both mayonnaise and ketchup. Their culinary genius is misguided, however, when Ghanaians choose to serve their egg sandwiches with margarine! Margarine—the blandest condiment to ever exist and a poor substitute for butter. Unfortunately, the arbitrarily drawn border separating Ghana from Togo has left us with delicious, crusty bread on one side and egg-sandwiches with mayonnaise on the other.

Volunteers may debate whether or not adding mayonnaise to an already greasy omelet is a good idea, but my advice is this: take the mayonnaise! Then ask for more. It just tastes better, and besides, you're an American living in a land of pâte and snot sauce – you could use a little comfort food. What might usually hold us Westerners back from such an indulgence doesn't really apply here. After living in Togo for a year, I've gained 10 pounds, and the gentlemen at the taxi station tell me that I've never looked better.

As for something to wash it all down, I prefer a simple cup of tea. It is true that the first time I sipped a café au lait (that delicate mix of Nescafé and "Sweetened Concentrated Milk with Vegetable Oil") after four Starbucks-starved months, I could have sworn it tasted like a white-chocolate mocha. Today, however, I don't find the "Sweetened Concentrated Milk and Vegetable Oil" as refreshing as a cup of Lipton-simple after a greasy egg sandwich.

Order Up!
Ordering an egg sandwich is not always easy. Some vendors have no idea what the word "sandwich" means—whether you say it with a French accent or not. Even after repeated visits to a particular cafeteria, I have to specify that it's an omelet in bread with mayonnaise. No worries though, it always turns out fine.

In your own village, you may quickly become associated with a particular egg-sandwich man. As a replacement volunteer, I inherited my egg-sandwich guy in Kaboli. But after his marriage proposal, I decided to make my own at home whenever the craving hits.

In Sokodé, it's a different story. The proprietor of the Cafeteria de Boulevard (next to the CIB-Inta on the Tchamba road) serves up some good conversation as well as a great egg sandwich. We often discuss music, philosophy and politics. For instance, we both like Usher. Yet, he wonders why so many pop songs focus on romantic love but ignore pressing social issues. I've promised to introduce him to Mos Def and Nas.

The most technically impressive egg sandwich man I've seen so far is in Kara. While he orchestrates an elaborate presentation for your tea or coffee, the neighboring boutique tosses him supplies through the window as his run out. Best of all, there is no skimping on the mayonnaise.