Sandwiches With Craig Horlbeck

"Probably one of the funniest movies. I love this movie. It changed my life. It probably is the reason why... it's why I became a chef." That admission from Dave Chang, about the 1986 comedy Back to School, lands midway through this episode of Recipe Club and reframes everything that came before it. Chang, Chris Ying, and guest Craig Horlbeck (of The Ringer's fantasy football and Rewatchables podcasts) gather to discuss three iconic movie sandwiches—from Chef, Spanglish, and Back to School—but the conversation quickly becomes a broader meditation on what sandwiches reveal about the people who make and eat them.

The Private, Freaky Nature of Sandwiches

Chris Ying opens with a thesis that threads through the entire episode: sandwiches are where you "let your freak flag fly." The hosts explore this idea through examples ranging from Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club pouring Pixy Stix onto her bologna sandwich to the tuna melt, which Ying calls "the freakiest fucking sandwich in the world" because it involves melted cheese on fish. Even the hosts' own habits confirm the theory. Horlbeck describes his late-night sandwich-making as "a private affair" where he assembles the sandwich in his hand by the light of the refrigerator, never using a cutting board. Chang admits that when he makes a sandwich at home, it's "maybe disgusting to everyone else, inc