Over the past few weeks of playing and streaming The Witcher 3. I have fallen in love with the world. A few years back, I attempted playing The Witcher 2 and was enjoying the story but the combat wasn’t my favorite. A few friends assured me that the third entry in the series had better combat and there was an easy mode. I’m glad I finally gave it another shot! It’s a living and breathing world where there are no good guys, just less bad ones. Many cities are filled with peasants who are barely making it through life while the kings are enjoying lavish dinners. A huge war is engulfing the land and the common people are suffering. Geralt is seen as a monster but also a necessary evil to destroy the even worse creatures of the world. The game does an amazing job of making me really feel the pain the people are going through. I get the joy and benefit of charging head first into combat with my two swords but I make sure Geralt treats the common folk nicely.
The Witcher 3 does an amazing job of including many food elements in the game. Since many of the treats are heavily inspired by Polish cuisine, I’ve been excited to dig into my roots and explore my options. We are going to start with one of the easier food options in the game, the ham sandwich. This sandwich in the first game is represented by a piece of ham on top of a piece of bread while in the third one it just looks like a slice of ham. I began to do a bit of research and learned that open faced sandwiches are extremely popular in Poland. When developing this sandwich, I pulled from many of the sandwiches I had while growing up. It was crucial that rye bread and horseradish made an appearance in these open faced ham sandwiches.
Ingredients:
Sauce
½ tbsp horseradish
½ tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
½ tbsp mayo
Sandwich
1 ½ tbsp butter, room temperature
2 tsp garlic paste
2 slices of rye bread
2 slices of swiss cheese
4 slices of ham
½ cup sauerkraut
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Mix the butter and garlic paste together in a bowl. Spread the garlic butter over each of the rye bread slices. Place the buttered bread (butter side up) on a baking sheet.
On the same sheet, add the pieces of ham and the sauerkraut (two ¼ cup sized portions).
Turn on a broiler and place the sheet under there until the bread begins to crisp. Remove it and flip everything on the baking sheet.
Add the a slice of swiss cheese on top of each of the sauerkraut portions. Return to the broiler and cook until the other side of the bread crisps.
To assemble the sandwich, take a piece of bread and have the buttered side facing up. Smear a generous portion of the sauce on the bread. Top with the sauerkraut and cheese. Finally, add ham and enjoy.
Ham Sandwich
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp horseradish
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1/2 tbsp mayo
Sandwich
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter, room temperature
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 2 slices of rye bread
- 2 slices of swiss cheese
- 4 slices of ham
- 1/2 cup sauerkraut
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
- Mix the butter and garlic paste together in a bowl. Spread the garlic butter over each of the rye bread slices. Place the buttered bread (butter side up) on a baking sheet.
- On the same sheet, add the pieces of ham and the sauerkraut (two ¼ cup sized portions).
- Turn on a broiler and place the sheet under there until the bread begins to crisp. Remove it and flip everything on the baking sheet.
- Add the a slice of swiss cheese on top of each of the sauerkraut portions. Return to the broiler and cook until the other side of the bread crisps.
- To assemble the sandwich, take a piece of bread and have the buttered side facing up. Smear a generous portion of the sauce on the bread. Top with the sauerkraut and cheese. Finally, add ham and enjoy.