Kingsclere chef scoops national sandwich award

A chef from Kingsclere is the best thing since sliced bread after scooping top prize at the Sandwich Designer of the Year competition.

Susannah Montgomery, a new product developer at the Soho Sandwich Co, earned the accolade for her sandwich inspired by the Japanese word ‘oishii’ meaning 'delicious' and 'tasty' and aptly named The Oishii Sando.

Combining H Smith steamed cooked whole fillet chicken breast, miso and lime mayonnaise, edamame bean and spring onion crush and pickled carrots, on black sesame coated thick milk bread, it’s not hard to see why the judges were so impressed.

The winners were revealed by celebrity chef Theo Randall and comedian Jo Caulfield during a gala evening at the Royal Lancaster, London.

The competition is a highlight of the annual British Sandwich & Food to Go Industry Awards – or ‘The Sammies', the Grammys of the sandwich world.

This year’s entries were unwrapped, sampled, and judged by a panel of industry experts, including Mr Randall, sandwich guru Max Halley and industry heavyweights James Newton-Brown (M&S) and Marta Pogroszewska (Gail’s Bakery).

Talking of the award, which was in the H Smith category, Ms Montgomery said: “I’m so proud to have a panel of such esteemed judges pick my product as the winner.

“The competition is strong and every year there’s never-seen-before innovation so I’m delighted to be recognised as part of that.”

Ms Montgomery attended St Gabriel’s in Newbury, before going on to study food science and nutrition at the University of Leeds.

She then completed a placement year at Dr Oetker in new product development, which confirmed the direction she wanted to take her career.

She went straight into a product developer role, creating sauces, mayo and chutneys that typically went into retail food-to-go products.

This led into her current role at Soho Sandwich Company as new product development manager.

Jim Winship, director of the British Sandwich & Food to Go Association, said: “What we tasted at this event were no ordinary sandwiches.

“With ingredients like duck confit, mashed potato, cronuts and bacon and banana (together) our chefs are pushing the boundaries of creativity within everyone’s favourite everyday dining staple.

“We’ve tasted some truly tremendous sandwiches.

“Susannah’s creation brought in some bold Eastern Asian flavours with the miso and lime mayo giving it a salty, citrusy kick and the lightly pickled carrot balancing that with out with a touch of sesame oil.

“Overall, it was a very moreish sandwich and certainly lived up to its name.”