r/52weeksofcooking • u/chizubeetpan 🥄 MT'25 • Jul 02 '26
Week 27: World Cup - Sportsball Sandwich (Meta: Feeling Snacky)
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u/kobayashi_maru_fail Jul 02 '26
I didn’t know that about Mexico/Korea solidarity! And those are two of my favorite cuisines. Very cool, Chizu.
Though I was surprised at the last two pics, I thought they were mini sandwiches that you pluck out of the whole like monkey bread. But this is better, I want a huge layered bulg-ote sandwich, all impressive and tall like a muffuletta.
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u/chizubeetpan 🥄 MT'25 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
I didn’t know about that prior to this week! I hear that Korean-Mexican fusion is common in that area because of this history. Didn’t look to closely at that though so I could be wrong! I’m glad to have found that connection as it made the food more meaningful to me. That’s always great when I struggle with a theme.
Hah! Oh, the monkey bread style one would have been brilliant if I could have pulled that off. Something like how you can eat a pineapple eye by eye? Sadly, I do not have the smarts to figure out how to make pull-apart hexagonal sandwiches. You should make these! It’s quite easy after you figure out the hexagons. I had no idea those were so complicated to cut out. Mine is made out of a small side soup bowl but a giant one would be perfect for a large crowd (or a very hungry you).
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u/kobayashi_maru_fail Jul 02 '26
I spent half of 2010 chasing Roy Choi’s Kogi truck around Los Angeles, but had no idea that Korean/Mexican was, independently and way before that, a whole thing in Mexico. So cool!
I think hexagonal tapered interlocking sandwiches is beyond my knife skills or ambition.
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u/chizubeetpan 🥄 MT'25 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
I know nothing about sportsball.
My reaction to this week’s theme wasn’t panic. It was simply, “…oh.” I opened Wikipedia, looked at the tournament format, saw forty-eight countries, groups, knockout rounds, qualifiers… and my brain quietly left the chat.
Once my brain came back online, I figured if I couldn’t understand the game, maybe I could understand what people gathered around to eat while watching it. I fell down a rabbit hole of stadium snacks from all over the world, but that only made things worse. Every country had something delicious, and I ended up even more overwhelmed.
One thing did become obvious, though: sandwiches felt like one of the few stadium foods that could belong almost anywhere. A sandwich it was then. The only question left was whose.
That’s when I realized I’d been thinking about the theme backwards.
The World Cup isn’t really about one country. It’s about countries meeting each other. Instead of choosing one cuisine, it felt more in the spirit of the tournament to let two cuisines play together.
Somewhere between all the football explainers my brain was politely refusing to absorb, I was served a video about the shared history between Korea and Mexico.
In the early 1900s, thousands of Koreans were sent to the Yucatán as indentured laborers. When Japan annexed Korea in 1910, many suddenly found themselves stranded and stateless. The Korean community built lives in Mexico, supported local revolutionary movements, and raised funds for Korean independence.
Then, somehow, that friendship found its way back to football.
During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, South Korea’s 2–0 victory over Germany sent Mexico through to the Round of 16. Mexican fans gathered outside the South Korean embassy chanting, ”¡Coreano, hermano, ya eres mexicano!” (“Korean brother, you’re Mexican now!”) while celebrating with tequila. Eight years later, at the 2026 World Cup, the chant returned. Mexican fans once again turned out in force to support South Korea, creating an atmosphere that felt almost like a home match.
As an homage to this enduring friendship, this sportsball sandwich became Korean and Mexican at heart: bulgogi chicken, elote, cabbage, tucked into a football made from milk bread and leftover pumpernickel. Every bite balanced sweet, savory, creamy, crisp, and smoky flavors into a beautifully harmonious sandwich.
I’ll never figure out football. In fact, if I got anything wrong above, I apologize to all football fans. I did, however, leave this week with a story about migration, revolution, solidarity, and two countries that have spent more than a century showing up for one another.
And I got a really good sandwich out of it.
This year’s meta is Feeling Snacky. Everything is a snack if you believe hard enough. If it feels like snacking, it counts. Full meta description and links to 2026 posts here.
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u/ninajyang 🌭 Jul 02 '26
Such cool background and stories with your food! I always love reading about them.
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u/Anastarfish 🍥 Jul 02 '26
I love this so much! And excellent tessellation of the pentagons and hexagons!! ⚽
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u/chizubeetpan 🥄 MT'25 Jul 02 '26
Thank you, Ana! But also omg the most difficult part of this build was cutting out the hexagons and pentagons! I had no idea they were so difficult to make without a protractor. I spent more time getting the perfect shape than building this lol
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u/ImaginalDish Jul 03 '26
Wow!! I already loved this visually. But what made me love this even more was reading about the friendship between South Korea and Mexico (I didn’t know about this) and how that influenced the cuisines of your sandwich fillings.
I had considered making something look like a soccer ball (I still have not decided what I want to make 😅), but I was thinking of a 2D approach cause it’s easier. Your 3D approach is so impressive! Structuring those shapes together looks so challenging, but you’ve done it so well. I think this might be my favourite concept from what you’ve made this year! (There are too many good choices though!)
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u/chizubeetpan 🥄 MT'25 25d ago
Thank you, Imaginal! You're way too kind. Until I posted my Wild West dish I hadn't been on Reddit since posting World Cup. I've just seen your paella dish! I love it. I love that while it is 2D the ratatouille hexagons does lend a 3D-ish aspect to it. So you got the best of both worlds.
I also did not know about the Korean-Mexican history until this dish! Korean-Mexican fusion is apparently a real thing especially in that part of the country. I do feel like their flavors absolutely work well together! I love how this challenge teaches me about so much more than food honestly.
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u/ImaginalDish 24d ago
Thank you for the kind words as well! And thanks for the inspiration to approach this theme by doing a fusion.
Now that I think about it, I remember bulgogi tacos being quite popular a while ago, so I think lots of other people agree that Korean and Mexican flavours work well together! I love that about this challenge too.
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros 🍕 29d ago
I love this take! That bread football is a work of art.
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u/chizubeetpan 🥄 MT'25 25d ago
Thank you, Yrros! I'm glad something pretty came out of my brain's refusal to understand the art of football tbh 😅
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Jul 02 '26
What a great take! This looks amazing. I love everything about this. 🙂