Ask somebody on the street, "Who invented the hero?" and chances are the respondent will credit Italian American immigrants, who modified a torpedo-shaped French loaf, freighted it with cold cuts or leftover meat-balls, crammed it in a lunch pail, and carried it off to work. But wait a minute! Halfway around the world, the hero was simultaneously being invented by the Vietnamese. Also deploying a modified baguette—one that combined rice and wheat flours—they piled on rubbery pâté, sliced pork, and anisey Chinese sausage. Then they garnished it with sweet pickled vegetables and cilantro, and smeared it with chile paste. Known as banh mi, the resulting clash of cultures and flavors represents an invention as formidable as the... More >>>