51° CLOUDY, Now that's a sandwich . . .
Windsor High culinary students try for a world record by making a 146-foot BLT as part of the Tomato and Pepper Festival at the Windsor Farmers Market
Last Modified: Monday, September 8, 2008 at 4:26 p.m.
WINDSOR
The town that brought us the world's largest pumpkin pie and the biggest apple pie in America was shooting for the longest BLT sandwich on Sunday.
At the Windsor Farmers Market, students from the Windsor High School culinary arts program slathered chewy French bread with mayonnaise and layered the tasty bed with juicy heirloom tomatoes and mixed lettuce greens.
And on top, 120 pounds of sliced, hand-cured, pork belly bacon.
"To me, it's all about the sweet taste of the tomato and the salty, smoky flavors of the bacon," said Jeff Mall, chef and owner of Zin restaurant in Healdsburg, who cures his own bacon and donated it to Sunday's cause. "And good bread and good mayonnaise just make it."
Marie Ganister, director of the culinary program, said the students will apply to Guinness World Records for the largest BLT ever. Sunday's was 146 feet.
A check of the record-keepers' Web site had no listings Sunday for a bacon-based sandwich. A "largest sandwich" entry details a 5,440-pounder made at Wild Woody's Chill and Grill in Roseville, Mich., in 2005. It gives no indication of what was inside the behemoth.
With a line of hungry Sunday brunchers lined up, Ganister readied her students for the final step, putting both sides of the sandwich together.
"OK everybody," she said, a length of BLT for as long as she could see to either side. "Close your sandwich!"
At $5 a slice, the potential history-maker served as a fund-raiser for the 160-student culinary program.
"How sweet it is," said Windsor Town Councilman Sam Salmon, tucking into the BLT's ceremonial first slice. "I like good bread. I like tomatoes. I like lettuce. Mmm, mmm, mmm."
Windsor's BLT record attempt follows on the heels of 2006's 500-pound apple pie and what was billed as the world's largest-diameter pumpkin pie in 2003.
The sandwich fest was part of the summertime Windsor Farmers Market, which celebrated the seventh annual Tomato and Pepper Festival Sunday.
Market attendees also were able to escape the heat -- at least in fantasy -- with Beach-Boys-style tunes from the California Beach Party band.
You can reach Staff Writer L.A. Carter at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.
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Comments
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September 8, 2008 10:36:15 am
RE: Link
Dear Ms. Carter,
For the record, the World's Biggest BLT event was created by Michele Anna Jordan, author of the BLT Cookbook, a Sonoma County resident, James Beard Award winner and columnist for this newspaper. Michele started the event at Kendall-Jackson in 2003 and then she teamed up with the Windsor Farmer's Market to put on last year's event. This year, the Market put on the event again--but somehow there is absolutely no mention of Michele. Incidently the name was changed a little... from Michele's copyrighted "World's BIGGEST BLT" name to the Windsor Farmers Market new spin the "World's LARGEST BLT"....I find this slight name change most disturbing.
For the record here is Michele Anna Jordan's siteWorld's Biggest BLT.
Again for the record the first event was held at the Kendall Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival in 2003.
As a matter of fact Michele Anna Jordan was at the making of the World's Largest BLT last year in Windsor as evidenced here in this World's Biggest BLT Video
I For all intensive purposes this is Michele Anna Jordan's event. And the Windsor Farmer's market should honor that.
September 8, 2008 11:54:33 am
Michele Anna Jordan is the BLT Queen and her records stand. All others are impostors
September 8, 2008 12:02:01 pm
To keep the love of my Culinary Life out of that record making World's Biggest BLT is tantamount to a 'Whoop Ass' warrant being served! Yes, Michelle was and has been motivation for me to learn a trade that is head and sholders higher than many others where 'food' is mentioned.
Give Michelle Jordan the credit and recognition she deserves, lest I come home to see about that 'warrant'(I could take time off teh GWOT to do that, but leaving my country's fight isn't really the right thing to do)
Anyone who know's Michelle Jordan, knowsdamn well she ROCKS when it comes to doing stuff in the kitchen, and YES, I eat garlic and onions!
September 9, 2008 6:26:46 am
I understand that Windsor's BLT came up short...in many ways...
September 9, 2008 10:42:12 am
Knowing Michele as I do and the amount of hard work and passion she put into the BLT Cookbook, I find it unfathomable that the "organizers" of this year's BLT event could so easily omit Michele's role as creator and founder -- a contribution that was clearily ignored by the quoted sources in Windsor. Give credit where credit is due.
September 10, 2008 3:38:44 pm
Michele was robbed. Pretty simple. It's a shame to see her creation stolen and misappropriated. Michele is indeed queen of all things BLT, and should be recognized as such.
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