When Andy Williams sang that it’s the most wonderful time of the year, I assume he was talking about Christmas sandwich season. As the days grow shorter and the jumpers thicker, the meal deal gets a festive upgrade. Pushed to the back of the shelves are the limp ploughman’s and soggy falafel wraps, replaced instead with turkey and the trimmings, pigs in blankets and stuffing, and some enviable veggie alternatives. If you’re looking to bring a little festive cheer to the sad desk lunch, there’s no easier way to do it.
But a spectre haunts the chiller cabinet, floating among the Innocent smoothies and that mystifying single boiled egg in a plastic pot. This Ghost of Christmas (Sandwich) Present is red and wobbly, smearing itself across every vaguely Christmassy sandwich it finds. I’m talking, of course, about cranberry sauce, a condiment used to signpost festive offerings, regardless of whether it tastes nice. No one is safe. Not Boots sandwiches. Not Greggs pasties. Not posh Pret toasties.
