'Wichcraft' - Cookbook Spotlight

'Wichcraft'
Recipes by Tom Colicchio with Sisha Ortuzar
Text by Rhona Silverbush
Photos by Bill Bettencourt
Clarkson Potter -- 2009
Buy it at Amazon

It's not unusual to find one of us standing in the lunch crowd line at the 'wichcraft so conveniently located right downstairs from our office building. Can you blame us? Anyone who's ever tasted a sammie designed by Tom Colicchio and Sisha Ortuzar's knows exactly what we are talking about -- this isn't your ordinary sandwich, it's a sandwich adventure. For those who have wondered, sleepless, how they could replicate those tastes at home, pine no more: This cookbook divulges all the be-'wiching secrets for your munching pleasure.

Takeaway tips: Hoagie-making is taken to a new level by essays that instruct the reader on stocking the ideal pantry and define the architecture of a structurally sound sandwich. We also love the picture-packed "menu" at the beginning of the book that gives snapshots of the rest of the book (so much better than a Table of Contents!). The tome concludes with a source guide including all of the ingredients the shop uses, most of which are available online.

Quality of pictures: Mouthwatering -- some of the most detailed and appealing food porn we've ever seen.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying -- after the jump.

We tested: Meatloaf with cheddar, bacon and tomato relish.

Possibly one their most popular sandwiches, this sandwich was the one to judge by which we knew we could judge the whole book. Stacked with thick slabs of bacon and freshly sliced yellow cheddar cheese (don't use Kraft! Please!) this sandwich was an exact replication of the original. The meatloaf -- a comforting combination of ground beef, yellow onion, garlic, fresh breadcrumbs, oregano and Dijon mustard -- is a close runner-up to any mom's recipe. Take the time to make the tomato relish, though. Without it, the sandwich was less distinctive, and too burgerlike. Lip-smackingly tasty meatloaf leftovers the next day make the whole thing well worth the effort.

Worth the investment: Absolutely. Even those sandwich lovers who have never visited one of their locations in New York, San Francisco or Las Vegas will fall head over heels for these 'wichcraft creations.