Actor Aisha Tyler Came for the Sandwich Battle and Stayed for the Mojitos

Every episode of The Great American Sandwich Show promises lots of laughs, a little friendly competition and two very good sandwiches. Aisha Tyler’s episode delivers on all of that. And then it tacks on a nice surprise: a genuinely moving speech about art and resilience delivered mid-bite.

And that’s the whole beauty about preparing food together. It can start a conversation, make us think about things more deeply, and give us a good laugh when we really need it. Every episode of The Great American Sandwich Show does just that. A celebrity guest meets with comedian Lindsay Ames to make the guest’s sandwich of choice. Lindsay whips up her own riff, and then the two trade plates, have a chat and crown a winner. By the end, you’ve usually learned a lot more about each of them than you expected.

Here’s what went down in the fourth episode with Aisha and Lindsay.

The Guest: Aisha Tyler

If you’ve spent any time watching TV in the last two decades, you know Aisha Tyler. She’s a series regular on Criminal Minds, voices super spy Lana Kane on Archer and took over hosting Whose Line Is It Anyway after Drew Carey left in 2013. Of course, she entered my world when she played Ross Geller’s love interest, Charlie, on Friends.

Aisha was born and raised in San Francisco, something she brings up proudly the second she starts building her sandwich. She studied government and environmental policy at Dartmouth before pivoting to comedy and acting. She’s written two essay collections, Swerve and Self-Inflicted Wounds, the latter of which made her a New York Times bestselling author. These days, Aisha is also busy with the organic ready-to-drink cocktail line she co-founded, losophē.

And if that isn’t impressive enough, she also makes an absolutely killer sandwich.

The Sandwiches

I think the Cubano is one of the greatest sandwiches ever built. Any way you slice it, it’s got everything that you crave: fresh bread, sliced meat, melty cheese and tangy garnishes. Pressing it thin until the cheese melts and clings to everything makes it a beautiful thing to behold.

Lindsay goes big on flavor when she whips out a roasted poblano, jalapeno and onion sauce blended with avocado and cilantro for her creation. She includes a layer of crunchy pork rinds inside for extra texture. It’s like if a Cubano took a road trip through the Southwest and landed somewhere even more delicious.

Aisha’s sandwich takes its own detour, inspired by a sandwich she grew up eating in San Francisco. She builds hers with prosciutto, Gouda, pickled onions, pickled jalapenos and a garlic aioli. It all gets stacked on toasted bread with crispy pork skin broken into shards for crunch. It’s clearly the work of someone who has spent time thinking about her perfect sandwich.

They threw both sandwiches onto the panini press and made mojitos to sip on while they waited for their sandwiches to grill.

Overheard in the Kitchen

“This is the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever given me, and several men have given me expensive jewelry.” —Aisha Tyler

This made me genuinely laugh out loud because Aisha is talking about pork skin. And to be totally clear, I understand where she is coming from.

“That’s why I always toast the inside because it resists soggy bread, and then it doesn’t rip the roof of your mouth.” —Lindsay Ames

Hearing Lindsay describe why she toasts the inside of her bread instead of the outside completely blew my mind. This is the only way I will be preparing my sandwiches from now on!

“He’s just the kind of person who really had a taste for life. If you can be the kind of person who brings people together like that, then you’ve really achieved something.” —Aisha Tyler

When asked who she’d share a cocktail with, living or dead, Aisha doesn’t hesitate in choosing Anthony Bourdain. It’s a lovely moment, and both she and Lindsay get a little emotional thinking about his impact.

The Winning Sandwich

Lindsay called it early. After one bite, she knew Aisha’s sandwich would take the win, and she was right. That means Aisha is the second guest on The Great American Sandwich Show to beat Lindsay. The first was Top Chef’s Kristen Kish, so now I want Aisha Tyler to go on Top Chef! The freshly made crispy pork skin and pickled jalapeno really hit the mark.

Aisha named her sandwich the Buena Vista Sandwich Club, a nod to the idea she’d been talking about all episode. The idea being that art and small acts of connection matter, and that a good club, sandwich or otherwise, is one way people find each other. It’s a name that is both sweet and funny, and it went right up on the board.

You Be the Judge

Should the crispy pork skin on the Buena Vista Sandwich Club have beaten out the classic grocery-store pork rinds on Lindsay’s version?

The Full Play-by-Play

Here’s the full conversation from Lindsay and Aisha’s time in the sandwich shop for anyone who wants to catch every joke in order.

Aisha: Hey, Lindsay.

Lindsay: Wow. Director. Writer. Actor. Icon. Legend. Aisha Tyler. I wasn’t expecting you.

Aisha: Wow. You weren’t expecting me, no, because that’s a painting of Kerry Washington. But I really like it. It’s beautiful.

Lindsay: Honestly, I’m so glad that you knew it was her.

Aisha: Yeah. She loves sandwiches as much as I do.

Lindsay: She does. But you know what? She’s not here to make sandwiches with me. And you are. Should we get started?

Aisha: There’ll be no scandal here today. I’m a professional.

Lindsay: So we’re going to make Cuban sandwiches.

Aisha: I’m so excited. I love Cubanos, and I love Cuban culture.

Lindsay: What inspired you to make this sandwich with me?

Aisha: Well, I have a cocktail company. It’s called losophē. Pronounced like philosophy. And it’s a line of super premium organic cocktails. So essentially, I love to drink, Lindsay, and I don’t apologize for it. We launched with the margarita, and now we have a mojito. And I thought, what goes better with mojitos than a delicious Cuban sandwich?

Lindsay: Usually, I would bake the bread, but I did a pick up. We have a lot to do today. We’re going to make los cubanos, and I’m going to do a little bit of a twist. And then you’re going to make yours. Hold on, I want to present something to you. You asked for pork skin.

Aisha: I did, I did ask for pork skin. And I have to faint now. It’s literally tears in my eyes because this is the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever given me. And several men have given me expensive jewelry. My sandwich is going to be a little bit of a variation. I was born and raised in San Francisco. We have this really great place that makes sandwiches. It’s called Roli Roti, and they make this porchetta sandwich, and the origin of the porchetta sandwich is Italian.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Aisha: You get this sandwich, and it’s like this yummy, grillie bun, and then it’s all this delicious pork. And then there’s this crispy skin in there, and the crispy skin is like the secret ingredient, right? Because it gives us all this crunch and flavor and porky goodness and je ne sais quoi. And so I love this sandwich. But it’s gonna be great. Look at that.

Lindsay: Yours toasted up so fast. Also, I felt like we were kind of almost doing like a witch-like incantation.

Aisha: We were. We were like summoning.

Both: Crispy vibes, crispy vibes, crispy vibes.

Aisha: Now, what is this little concoction?

Lindsay: So. OK. Roasted poblanos, roasted jalapenos, roasted onions and then avocado, cilantro and roasted garlic.

Aisha: So you’re f*cking hard core. I didn’t ask anybody if I could curse on your show before we started, but it’s too f*cking late now. This is a beautiful garlicky aioli, which I’m going to put on my sandwich, and that you made for me as well. And it’s amazing. I thought, OK, even if I put some saucy bits on, the bread will still stay nice and crispy on the inside.

Lindsay: That’s why I always toast the inside, because then it resists the soggy bread, and then it doesn’t rip the roof of your mouth.

Aisha: Yes!

Lindsay: Do you remember what the first sandwich you ever made was like?

Aisha: When I was a kid, I really loved eggs. I ate eggs every day, every day for breakfast. And I had, like, infinite iterations of eggs. So, like, one day it was soft-boiled with butter. One day, it was scrambled with jelly. Scrambled with jelly was my move, and I ate eggs every day. It was my only thing I ever wanted to eat. And then the doctors told my mom I was going to have a stroke by the time I was in the third grade, so I could only have eggs every other day. So then it was like egg day, which was even more exciting than when it was every day. It was like, oh, it’s egg day!

Aisha: First of all, what am I putting on my sandwich? I put on some prosciutto, which has a lot of smokiness and saltiness, which is really nice. I’ve been poking at this cheese with my finger. I’m assuming it’s Gouda? Perfect. OK. That’s great. I’m excited. Pickled onions y’all. You know what? You know what? The only garnish that is more amazing than pickled onions are pickled mother effing jalapenos, fools. And here they are. Nothing cannot be improved by a pickled jalapeno. They are so delicious.

Lindsay: Agreed.

Aisha: So you do need to break this up because it’s very crispy, and you don’t want a big, hard piece of pork skin like jamming the roof of your mouth. So I’m just breaking this stuff up to make it nice and crispy.

Lindsay: And I’m going for the more grocery store kind of snack.

Aisha: I love these.

Lindsay: It’s a good snack. Yeah, that is a very good drinking snack.

Aisha: So here’s something that really irritates me. You know, when you get a meal at a restaurant, and they haven’t broken up all of the bites so that you have to, like, go with your plate to get a little bit of every flavor in your mouth? Things need to be cut up in a way that they’re manageable. Like, if you can’t get all the flavors in one bite, then there was poor planning on the restaurant’s part, right?

Lindsay: Totally.

Aisha: OK, here we go. Crispy, crispy crunchies all over. OK. And now, smashing, smashing, smashing. The technical term is smashing. That’s what they say in culinary school. So we already have a leg up on them because we know what they’re up to.

Lindsay: OK. We’re going to grill these now.

Aisha: I’m very excited. Also, you guys, clean as you cook, OK? So let’s grill. First of all, these are the biggest sandwiches. And I was skeptical about whether this panini press can handle it. But I believe in us, and I believe in you.

Lindsay: You’ll make us make a cocktail.

Aisha: I’ll make a drink. While this panini thinks about all the mistakes it’s made in its life. Cheers. Oh my God, look how cute.

Lindsay: It’s delicious. Yeah. OK, here’s the question. Lana on Archer.

Aisha: Yes?

Lindsay: If she was going to have a sandwich either named after her or one that she would eat, what would her sandwich be?

Aisha: Well, I was gonna go for a French dip, right? Because I feel like that’s like a really, like, butch sandwich. Yeah, but, you know, Lana is also very sophisticated. She’s quite, like, the kind of Europhile. I think she would really like a bigass jambon-beurre. Like a big baguette jambon. But like, the whole baguette is the jambon. And then she just, like, eats it. Walking down the street in Paris, just being her little badass self. And but she finishes the whole thing, so it’s like a 3,000 calorie sandwich for her which, you know, because you spend a lot of energy, you know, being an international super spy.

Lindsay: Ah, yes, I know this because I am an international spy. I think mine is ready.

Aisha: Yes, it is. And it’s melting and cheesy and it’s really, it looks amazing.

Lindsay: Yeah, it looks really, really good. I’m excited. It is so sprawling. It is so aggressive.

Aisha: You know what would make the sandwich perfect? A fried egg.

Lindsay: Now we are ready for: how do you cut? OK, ready. On the count of three, we’re gonna do it. Gonna do it. Yep. One. Two. Three.

Aisha: Yeah, I like a side cut. And you know why? Because I like to eat the little crispy corner. A little cornie there. I love a crispy cornie.

Lindsay: A crispy cornie. I did a little bit more of a straight, but my straight still ended up looking a little bit like it was on an angle. Probably because I was enjoying my recipe. And now we eat. I’m thrilled. So here we’re going to try the sandwiches, and we’re going to taste them. We’re going to see whose sandwich is better, OK?

Aisha: This is going to be emotionally painful for me.

Lindsay: It’s going to be difficult for me. And then we’re going to decide whose sandwich is going to go up on the wall. And then we’re going to name it.

Aisha: OK, great. All right. Well, I’m excited about that. OK. So, what I would like to start off with is what is exciting about your sandwich. It is very aggressive. I will have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow, which I will put an egg into without a doubt. But I need a fork to eat yours. So, you know, I think I need a fork.

Lindsay: Can we get a fork?

Aisha: Thank you very much. Thank you, I appreciate you.

Lindsay: OK. Now, what I will mention about your sandwich: This is beautifully done. Look at the clean line. This is a beautiful sandwich.

Aisha: I pressed it, and I’ve been working out.

Both: Unbelievable. So good.

Aisha: Really, really tasty. What was in that pesto again?

Lindsay: Grilled poblano peppers, grilled jalapenos, grilled onions, avocado, cilantro and salt.

Aisha: Crispy on the outside, flavors are really great. Cheese is very melty. Yummy. Is this Swiss cheese that I’m tasting?

Lindsay: Yeah. Do you like it?

Aisha: So the short answer is I like Swiss cheese. It’s not my favorite cheese. It’s very distinctive. Right? Whether you love Swiss or you don’t love Swiss, it is a classic. It’s a classic cheese, so I’m not going to knock it.

Lindsay: Do you feel like it works? And I want you to answer while your mouth is the most full.

Aisha: Perfect. Yeah, that’s very nice. Very tasty. Flavors are great. Yeah. Very, very good.

Lindsay: I will say my last bite that I got here was with the skin.

Aisha: Did it stay crunchy?

Lindsay: Yes. And I feel like the flavor difference between a skin and the premade chicharron is so key. Maybe we should try each other’s now.

Aisha: We should. All right. I feel like this is unfair because I’m talking about my own sandwich, but this is f*cking delicious. I think this is the one. What’s a killer in here is the pickled jalapenos.

Lindsay: Now, tasting it, I had the same instinct. Yours is the winner. Which, I just want you to know: so far, only you and Kristen Kish, a literal Top Chef, have beaten me. I did a twist, and a twist is fun and it’s good, and that’s my job. But also, at the end of the day, having the classic the way that you want, the classic is important and delicious. Right.

Aisha: Well, it’s a classic for a reason, right? What are we going to call this sandwich?

Lindsay: I had Havana Nights.

Aisha: That’s a good one. That’s very cute. What if it’s a Buena Vista Sandwich Club? I think it’s about art. I think it’s like why we do what we do. I think artists at their nature want to make people happy; to connect with people. Cuban culture, and the Buena Vista Social Club…people operating under very difficult conditions with very little, who are still making extraordinary things that affect the whole world. And so I guess my point is, like, even when things look bleak, you can do something small, and that small thing that you do can make another person happy, and it can radiate outward. So don’t despair. Good people live through tough times, and they have since the beginning of time, and we will continue to persist, and we will continue to grow because, you know what, we will not die. We’re like cockroaches. And in the meantime, make yourself happy, make the people around you happy. That’s the power that you have.

Lindsay: I’m going to ask you questions. You have to answer them quickly.

Aisha: Oh, I’m excited. OK, great.

Lindsay: Please recast the Whose Line Is It Anyway troupe as sandwiches.

Aisha: Oh, as sandwiches. So, Ryan is bologna on white bread, and Colin is a ham and cheese, and Wayne is a corn dog.

Lindsay: Would you rather be a secret agent or an FBI analyst?

Aisha: So, honestly, I would rather be an FBI analyst because secret agents get shot at quite a bit, and FBI analysts just like, drive, and they park on the third floor of the parking structure, and they go to work. And there’s a coffee machine.

Lindsay: I just think of the cortisol levels. You get to share a cocktail with anyone living or dead. Who are you sipping with?

Aisha: It’s Anthony Bourdain.

Lindsay: Oh hell yeah.

Aisha: I was always a big fan of his. And I had a podcast for five years called Girl on Guy that was like an arts and culture podcast, and I got him on my show. He is super generous when he’s with somebody, like, he’s just super present. And I always was like, that’s the kind of person I want to be: that generous, that present in every moment of my life. You know, he’s just a person who really had a taste for life. And I think if you can be the kind of person that brings people together like that, then you’ve really achieved something. So, yeah, I miss that guy.

Lindsay: Yeah, I agree. We love you, Tony.

Aisha: We miss you, we miss you, we miss you.

Lindsay: Well, your sandwich is the winner and is going on our sandwich board.

Aisha: The Buena Vista Sandwich Club. I feel very proud of it. Sometimes you write a word and you’re like, is that how you spell it? No one will know, no one. All of us have completely illegible signatures. I should have given you like, my headshot.

Lindsay: Thank you.

Aisha: So fun, I loved it.