At the sandwich counter, the pressure is palpable. Some students falter, stutter, repeat part of their order and then start all over again. Mishaps are inevitable. The boy before you took the last wheat wrap; they've just doled out the final scoop of hummus. It's in these moments of panic, of the urgent need to modify an old favorite or concoct something completely new on the spot, that the imagination emerges. Suddenly the tired display of congealed egg salad and watery tomatoes becomes an opportunity for spontaneous culinary creativity. Today it might be sprouts on a bagel; tomorrow could bring the urge for tofu and mustard in a grilled spinach wrap.I conducted a series of interviews with customers in Usdan Café and Usdan Boulevard between noon and 2 p.m. on weekdays. In the line at Montague's (the sandwich station in Usdan Boulevard) and sitting at tables with friends, students divulged the recipes for their signature sandwiches. Below are some of the best.



Vegetable wrap I

Just one person stands between Siddhi Krishna '12 and the vegetable wrap she's arranged to near perfection. "I'm a strict vegetarian," she tells me. The sandwich begins, she says with surprising enthusiasm for someone who's just been asked what they're having for lunch, with a wrap. "Either plain or wheat: I think the tomato and spinach are weird." Inside the wrap is an eclectic mix of cheese ("depending on what they have"), hummus and a smattering of vegetables that generally includes cucumbers, olives and peppers. Everything except tomatoes, she adds: "They're watery" and make the sandwich sloppy. Always, she requests the sandwich grilled. "I like it melty," she says and giggles. "It's a grilled cheese in pocket form!"



Vegetable wrap II

A backpack slung over his shoulders, fellow vegetarian Logan Uretsky '11 waits patiently for his turn at the counter. "Oh, yeah!" he responds when I approach him for the recipe of his yet unmade sandwich. "Sure!" The wheat wrap is slathered with a generous helping of hummus, followed by lettuce, pepper jack and cheddar cheese, cucumbers, sprouts and Caesar dressing. "How'd you come up with it?" I ask him. "I don't know," he shrugs. "I just did." Grilled? He shakes his head. "I don't like grilled hummus."



Tofurkey

Now that she lives off campus, it's been a while since Alana Tilman '10 has ordered her favorite Usdan sandwich. ("I like to get it upstairs because they can grill it," she tells me, and is shocked when I mention that the sandwich station in lower Usdan now boasts grilling capabilities too.) Seated at a round table in Usdan, reaching periodically into a plastic bag of carrots she's brought from home, she recalls with nostalgia the recipe for the perfect kosher sandwich. A few slices of tofurkey (across the table, someone makes a face like they're about to vomit) inside a whole wheat wrap are topped with Dijon mustard, Muenster and provolone cheeses, lettuce and tomato. "I used to get it very frequently on Sunday nights when there were limited options for dinner," she adds.



Tuna melt I

Amelia Rey '12 is about to make a decision. "I'm not sure yet," she says, when I ask her what she's ordering. "Usually I get turkey, hummus, tomato. But today I took a bite of someone else's tuna." By the end of our conversation, Rey has settled on the tuna, which she prefers on bread (she only likes wraps for turkey), with American cheese and tomatoes. "And maybe honey mustard," she adds. The sandwich tastes best grilled, she says.



Tuna melt II

At first, Avi Mendelson, a first-year English Ph.D. candidate, is reluctant to give me the recipe for the sandwich he's just ordered. It's really not that strange, he says dejectedly. I tell him I'm sure it's a wonderfully tasty tuna sandwich, which seems to temporarily bolster his confidence. He's requested the sandwich grilled on wheat bread, replete with sprouts and pepper jack cheese. "That's one of the more exciting cheeses," he offers. And Dijon mustard. "Always an excess of Dijon mustard," he says seriously, "which I'm told is the very posh mustard to eat because it's French."



Turkey

As for classics, Ilon Osei '13 is sticking to the basics today. He's having turkey and mustard on white bread. "Sometimes grilled," he adds. Same sandwich every time? "I usually decide when I get up there," he says. "There's a lot of stuff going on in my mind."



Q & A with Marie Martin, expert on Usdan sandwiches

Next March marks Aramark employee Marie Martin's 22nd year at Split Personalities, the sandwich station in Lower Usdan. As the 1 p.m. lunchtime rush last Thursday slowed to a lazy trickle, I stood behind the counter and consulted her for her sandwich-making expertise.

JustFeatures: What's your typical day like?

Marie Martin: Hectic! No, I have a fun day here. I love my job. Oh, I love my job. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love it. If you don't like your job, why do you do it?

JF: When do you get here?

MM: I get here at 6 in the morning and then I leave at 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

JF: So when does Usdan officially open?

MM: We open at 11:30 a.m., the stations. I'm in the back of the house from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m..

JF: What do you do between 6 and 9?

MM: I make sandwiches for the [Provisions On Demand] store, over there [Kosher To Go] and the Boulevard. Then I come out here and set this up.

JF: What's your favorite part of the day?

MM: No favorite part. Every day's a favorite part.

JF:?What's the weirdest sandwich someone's ever ordered?

MM: Weirdest! Oh my god, the weirdest sandwich. People get some weird sandwiches. Some people come in and say can I have an egg and tuna sandwich. Now I don't do eggs and tuna. That just doesn't work for me. . And then the dressing they put on sandwiches-Caesar dressing on egg.

JF: Is it the same person who gets the weird sandwich?

MM: There's always one student that has weird, weird [sandwiches].

JF: How many sandwiches do you think you make in one day?

MM: I count 'em every day. Yesterday I did 100.

JF: How do you count them?

MM: Well see, there's 12 [slices] a bag. If you count the bags, [you can count the sandwiches]. Last week, remember, we had the baguettes? I did 108 last Thursday. We're never busy on Thursday.

JF: What's the most common sandwich people get?

MM: Chicken. Everybody loves chicken.

JF: What's your favorite sandwich?

MM: My favorite sandwich is smoked turkey. I like smoked turkey-mine is weird-with lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese, Granny Smith apples and walnuts. I wish they did it here. The apples, you'd have to put in lemon juice or else they'd turn.

-Shana D. Lebowitz