Today’s sandwich is the ham Italian from Anania’s Variety Store, in Libbytown. It combines ham, American cheese, diced onions, green peppers, pickles, black olives, salt, pepper & oil on a hero roll.

Location: 1227 Congress Street
Price: $4.25
Notes: Anania’s is my favorite type of variety store, with a full sandwich menu, a fast-moving, friendly staff, and plenty of baked goods and snacks from independent manufacturers lining its shelves. Our Italian was made from scratch in just over a minute, and I was surprised by the compactness and the weight of the finished, wrapped sandwich.

The bread was marvelously soft and chewy, and proved the perfect vehicle for what lay within. There was more ham than I expect in this type of sandwich, and a layer of incredibly creamy American cheese, which helped protect the bread from the juiciness of the other ingredients. There were only a few slices of pepper, and a few of the customary diced white onions. It was a nice change of pace; often, on this type of sandwich, the raw vegetables can be overpowering. I also liked that Anania’s uses big, thick slices of tomato, which managed to be juicy and delicious, even given the time of year. I can only imagine what this sandwich will be like in the Summer, when tomatoes are doin’ their thing. There were a few black olives (again, somewhat unusual for this type of sandwich, where I am more accustomed to seeing Kalamatas used), which provided a mild, salty flavor. I was also very happy to see the big, long spears of very snappy, perfectly sour pickles that were on top of the sandwich, with salt and pepper glistening on top.

Honestly, I was re-visiting Anania’s only for the sake of completeness, particularly after the gawdawful “Chicken Parm” sandwich I purchased there this Summer. I wasn’t expect anything beyond your standard-issue Maine-style Italian sandwich, but instead, was pleasantly surprised by one of the best Italians I have yet tried. The careful balance of ingredients keeps there from being an overwhelming “raw vegetable” flavor all-too-common in this type of sandwich, and the chewy bread and surprisingly creamy and flavorful cheese will stay in my mind for a long time. Or at least, until I go back into the kitchen and eat the other half. Anania’s has, for now, become my go-to store, for Italian sandwiches.