Bocadillo de Lomo Madrileño

Bocadillo de lomo Madrileño belongs to the bar counter and the quick home supper: thin pork loin, seared on the plancha, slipped into a crusty barra, with fried green peppers if you want it sharp and sweet, or cheese if you want it softer. This isn't a sandwich built high for show. It is bread, meat, heat, and timing.

The method that decides it is the thickness of the lomo. Cut it thin, no more than 5mm, and cook it fast over a hot pan so the outside browns before the pork dries. Thick pork loin is a punishment in bread. Thin pork loin, salted just before it hits the pan, stays juicy enough that the bread catches the oil and meat juices without turning soggy.

If you're far from Madrid, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use a good crusty roll or half a baguette, not soft sandwich bread, and ask for boneless pork loin sliced thin. Padrón peppers are lovely when you have them, but Italian frying peppers or a green cubanelle are the honest substitute; they cook sweeter and a little softer, and that's fine. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.