MacTaggart’s Market, or Tagg’s, is a University of Wisconsin student’s favorite little whole in the wall. It provides all the late night snacks, drinks and convenient groceries a college kid wants, as well as free popcorn. But what makes Tagg’s truly special is their breakfast sandwiches and made-to-order deli sandwiches.
Any Tagg’s regular knows the drill. You come down the stairs and walk up to the counter immediately on your right. You grab a pen and a Tagg’s sandwich order sheet, and depending whether it’s a breakfast sandwich or a deli sandwich, you go down the sheet and pick what you want on it.
You can play it safe and make your chicken, bacon and ranch sandwich, craft your own italian sandwich, get a basic turkey and cheese or you go crazy experimenting with different options Tagg’s offer.
While the breakfast sandwiches are arguably the most popular item, especially after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, there is a deli sandwich combination most would not dare to try, but must.
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To kick off this sandwich, look past all the delicious fresh bread options and examine the choices for wraps. The Jalapeño cheese wrap is the pick because when ordered hot, the wrap gets a needed crunch to go along with its mild cheesy flavor.
Next you go to the meats, and this is where you must stay focused. With 20 different meat options, the selection becomes overwhelming, but on the right column near the bottom, you will see the option for Tagg’s scrumptious chicken salad. This is the one. Circle it.
Now to the cheese. The problem with being in Wisconsin is that you can’t go wrong with any cheese selection. They all work. Provolone, however, is the pick here because of its slight flavor that compliments the rest of the craziness that follows.
When you get to the unlimited vegetables portion of the order, you are going to want to circle lettuce, tomato, cucumbers and jalapeño peppers. At this point you are appalled at this sandwich combination, and you are right to feel this way. This sandwich is only for the brave who like a lot of kick and overpowering flavors.
The icing on the cake, however, is choosing Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. Yes, this is crazy and sounds pretty unappetizing on paper, but college is about taking risks, right?
The chicken salad combined with the BBQ sauce creates a pulled pork flavor topped with cheese and a variety of condiments. It’s both sweet and spicy and ultimately a party your mouth has never been invited to. Until now.
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So, how does a sandwich like this come about? What kind of psychological process leads you to putting this sandwich together?
UW Senior, Ian Hirsch, is the only known originator of this zany sandwich. Hirsch loves coming up with new recipes and trying different foods. What started with a simple desire to have Tagg’s chicken salad one day, turned into this creation.
Even if it’s just a bite, next time you are at Tagg’s consider trying this unusual experiment, or try a different crazy combination of your own.
