¡Ay, caramba! Chivitos son muy buenos!

This may or may not be the last of my sandwich experiments for the year, but after hearing about los Chivitos from Uruguay, I knew it had to happen on my plate before the end of 2009. Chivitos translates to baby goats and there's a story behind it all, but I wasn't enamored enough to add the wikipedia link. Instead, it was Bourdain's video to start me on yet another whole-lotta-stuff-between-two-pieces-of-bread. Emphasis on the whole lotta. I think my version was probably half the size of his, but still, a 5x5-inch square bun is enough to create a friggin' sloppy mess when stuffed to the gills. A definite winner any way you look at it.

To the left is a big slab of pancetta dolce (italian sweet bacon) that we use a little at a time, cut into small dice, when making spaghetti alla carbonara. I could've bought american-style bacon (shipped in from Holland, I think) but the italian product is much better. The rest of the protein comes in the form of prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), vitello tagliato (veal cutlet), boiled egg and pizza-style mozzarella cheese. Lettuce, tomatoes, chopped olives, red bell pepper and onions round out the greens and things.

Hot peppers are quickly mentioned in the makeup of a chivito, but all I had in the fridge was a jar of salade méchouia, an addictive dish of grilled hot green peppers, tomatoes, olive oil and spices. I am madly in love with this stuff, and found it at an arabic food store not far from where my inlaws live. They even had preserved lemons which I'll use in an upcoming meal.