Like many of the world’s great sandwiches, the Báhn Mì was born on the streets, the child of two highly refined food cultures. In Vietnamese “Bánh” refers to baked goods, and “Mì” means wheat. The baguette arrived in Vietnam in the mid 1800s by way of French settlers. The high price of imported wheat made it a luxury item until War War I, which brought an influx of French soldiers and French products. In the 1950s North Vietnamese migrants in Saigon transformed the classic French comfort food, slathering it with spicy umami mayo, loading it up with local ingredients like vietnamese sausage, liver pate, or shredded pork and pickled vegetables for that inimitable sweet and sour crunch. After the Vietnam War, Vietnamese immigrants, notably Lê Văn Bá in California, popularized Bánh Mì in the US. Myriad varieties developed, including ice cream Bánh Mì.