What I meant was that when one orders a sandwich in a US Deli (at least in my experience), it's a lot like Subway, where you spec ingredients.

Oh, right, I see. In that case, the answer to "Aren't there any delicatessens in Cambridge?" is no, at least in that sense of the word. Of course Nadia's and the rest will cheerfully customise their standard sandwiches for you if you ask, but queues would soon build up if more than a tiny minority of customers did that.

I mean, I can see what Subway are getting at, if most of their customers end up feeling "empowered" and that they are having their every whim catered for. But frankly I don't often have whims about salad vegetables, and being quizzed about them as if I deeply cared seems completely unnecessary faffing about when I just want to buy a sandwich, especially as I've already chosen the sandwich I want from a list of names. (The language barrier didn't help, either; French dressing is vinaigrette, yes? What's Italian dressing?)

This is really turning into a rant now, but on a similar note, am I really the only person in the Western world who doesn't care which way up my fried egg is? (I always reply "over easy", but that's only because I can't remember what the other way up is called. If I want to memorise endless meaningless rules and responses, I'll take up bridge -- I don't want it at breakfast-time.)

Peter