My Simien Sandwich

My Simien Sandwich

My Simien Sandwich

Last summer ExploreDreamDiscover posted about his adventures in the Simien Mountains, reminding me how incredible they are. I went hiking in the Simien Mountains the year I spent two Christmases in Africa. I posted about the 25 December I spent in Kinshasa. I went from the Congo to Ethiopia, where I stayed for Ethiopian Christmas, which is celebrated according to the orthodox calendar. That year, it was in January. I had a wonderful time in Ethiopa. I made some local friends in Gondar who hooked me up with a hiking adventure in the Simien Mountains including a wonderful cook. He made me the most incredible sandwich. It was quite surprising, with a cooked filling. But it was absolutely perfect for hiking – making the most of stale bread, and providing a healthful meal perfect for eating outdoors after a good long hike. The filling uses up left over camp vegetables, with a tin of tuna providing oil, protein and flavour. You need to use a proper ciabatta or something similarly strong because the slightly wet filling moistens the stale bread but the crust needs to be firm enough to hold up to the treatment.

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Serves 2

		tuna in oil
½		onion, finely diced
1	small	carrot
½	small	tomato, finely diced
4-5	leaves	silverbeet
2	pinches	salt
2	pinches	pepper
2		ciabatta rolls

Pour the tuna oil into a small pan. Add the diced onion, cover the pan and cook slowly, till the onion becomes translucent and sweet.

Grate or finely chop the carrot. Add it to the pan and continue cooking.

Meanwhile, remove the stalks from the silverbeet and finely dice them. Add the silverbeet stalks and diced tomato to the pan.

Add the tuna pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

Finely slice the leaves of the silverbeet. Add them to the pan, cover and cook till the silverbeet leaves are just tender.

Cut open the bread rolls and add the hot filling, spreading it right to the edges. Top the rolls and wrap or cover them for transport (while the filling is still warm). Enjoy when the filling is cool.

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