That Groggy Feeling......

It has happened to all of us before. That groggy feeling in the afternoon as you sit at your desk in your cubicle... there is a pile of work in front of you, a huge pile. But your energies (what's left of them) are focused elsewhere. Work is not on your mind. In fact, the only thing you are thinking about is whether your boss saw that last "head bob". The only reason you don't experience total paranoia is because you are so focused on trying to control the next head bob... which by the way is impossible.

This happens to me all the time. And the root cause?... a heavy lunch. By "heavy" I'm not referring to the poundage of lunch consumed.. although excess intake does contribute somewhat to the groggy. It isn't the root cause, however, because 3 pounds of salad will not give you the groggy. It might make you feel bloated and gassy but it will not give you the groggy. The groggy comes from certain foods that are just "heavy". It's hard to describe what "heavy" is, but we all know what foods have this quality. Ghandi roti is heavy. Grilled salmon is not. A large meat lovers pizza with mozzarella cheese in the crust is heavy. An oriental salad with mandarin oranges is not...

This leads me to the actual food review part of this post. Veal sandwiches. Before last Friday, I would have characterized a sloppy veal sandwich as heavy. I've tried veal sandwiches from different places in the foodcourts and they are quite good. But they are all heavy... and when you sit in the open like I do, heavy is not a good thing.

Last Friday, I was prodded to try a veal sandwich from Mustachio's which is located in the St. lawrence market. I was hesitant at first as I had stuff to do that afternoon, but my friends were persistent. So I ordered. 1 Veal sandwich with sauteed mushrooms and peppers.. all of this covered in extra sauce and cheese. I figured, if I have the veal I might as well go all the way.

The sandwich was amazing. I think one of the best that I've tried. Whoever constructed the sandwich must have had an architectural degree because the thing was well built. Typically when you load on the condiments and the extra sauce, the veal sandwich has a tendency to fall apart... at the very least sauce leaks out and splatters all over the keyboard. In the past, a veal sandwich for me was a minimum 15 napkin affair... this one... barely 2. No matter how I held the thing (ie two hands, one hand, forefinger and thumb...) the structural integrity of the sandwich never became compromised. In and of itself this would rank the st. lawrence veal sandwich as one of the best... but the sandwich tasted amazing as well. The sauce was tangy and savoury and the sauteed mushrooms were not overcooked and provided a distinct mushroom flavour that complimented the sauce and the veal. In fact, all of the different ingredients retained their independence yet combined to create a greater whole. The bun looked like the standard bun, but it was light. It looked dense but it wasn't. It felt very airy (?) yet it had the strength to maintain the borders of the sandwich and most importantly it didn't soak up the sauce.

So back to the groggy. The St. lawrence veal sandwich has all the makings of a heavy lunch. The portion is healthy and they pack in layers of veal mixed with melted cheese and sauce. Yet, it is quite the opposite. For reasons unknown, I didn't feel like I had a 2 pound cement block in my stomach after lunch and there were zero head bobs that afternoon! Victory!