CAPE TOWN – The idea came — as the nutty ones often do — over a few drinks in a bar.
A South African restaurant served up a 3-meter-long (9.8 feet) sandwich recently in the latest offering from an establishment with a taste for the supersized. The giant submarine sandwich produced by Annies Ladies Bar in Cape Town follows a burger it cooked up in 2019 that weighed in at a whopping 124 kilograms (273 pounds).
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With no less than 10 layers of fillings, the sandwich tipped the scales at 65.27 kilograms (145 pounds) after it was balanced precariously on a weighing machine using a tray with supports. It took over four hours to prepare at a cost of about $160 for the ingredients, said Joe Redelinghuys, who came up with the plan and runs the restaurant and bar with his wife and owner, Annie.
Those ingredients included: 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of tomatoes. About 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of meat, from three types of sliced sausage to steak to burger patties and chicken fillets. Three layers of french fries weighing a total of around 10 kilograms (22 pounds) to break up the meats. A layer of calamari for those who prefer seafood. And, finally, a generous helping of onion rings on top. All in a sandwich.
The sauces ranged from garlic to cheese, pepper, mushroom and tartare, depending on which layer.
Redelinghuys said the biggest challenge was finding a bread roll for it all to fit in. He had to have three, 1-meter (3 feet) -long rolls specially baked and joined them together.
The sandwich was a gigantic take on the Gatsby, a renowned South African takeaway meal that has its own unique history. The Gatsby is usually made up of “slap chips” — sloppy french fries — and meat in a chunky bread roll and was traditionally served big enough to feed multiple people. It was born in Cape Town in the mid-1970s as a takeaway for blue-collar workers who would cut it up and share it.
It got its name, the story goes, because “The Great Gatsby” movie had just hit the cinemas.
Redelinghuys said Annies Ladies Bar had recently put Gatsbys on its menu and talk in the bar one day last month turned to another supersized project following the pre-COVID-19 pandemic burger.
“So, I said next Saturday I’m going to make the biggest Gatsby in South Africa," Redelinghuys said.
The greatest Gatsby, if you like.
Redelinghuys said he has been in contact with South African record officials and it's in the process of being recognized as the country's biggest Gatsby sandwich. It is not world-record potential as the biggest sandwich honor is held by a grill in Roseville, Michigan, for a stupendous 2,467-kilogram (5,440-pound) sandwich in 2005, according to the Guinness World Records organization.
The Gatsby is now long-gone after being offered to regulars at Annies to share as a snack. By Redelinghuys' count, it fed about 140 people.
“We invited a lot of our regular clients (to come and eat the sandwich)," Redelinghuys said. "And they invited friends. And their friends invited friends.”
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