Bono's Favorite Sandwich Is Super Irish And Filled With Carbs

We all have our favorite sandwich, the one we usually turn to whenever we're craving a handheld meal slapped between two pieces of bread. While yours could be something simple like a ham and cheese or BLT, you might expect the rich and famous to have fancier tastes. But that's not the case for Elton John, who likes a classic British tomato sandwich, or U2 singer Bono, whose all-time fave is a chip butty — essentially, a french fry sandwich.

The rock icon revealed his love of chip butties on Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" when asked to choose the best sandwich. He said that he grew up eating them and explained that they're french fries on buttered white bread, which Colbert called "the most Irish sandwich I can imagine." In reality, the chip butty is popular not just in Ireland, but across the U.K., too. It's sold at fish and chip shops and pubs, and is a beloved comfort food, as well as a go-to after a night of drinking or for the next-day hangover.

A chip butty's components are simple, but they'd send someone on a low-carb diet running in the other direction. They're made with British-style chips, which are different from American fries, cut more like thick steak fries. They are stuffed between generously buttered bread, with optional toppings on the chips like malt vinegar, ketchup, or tangy and sweet British brown sauce.

Potatoes, butter, and white bread may make Stephen Colbert think of Ireland, but the chip butty's origins are believed to lie in northern England. Like so many traditional foods, there are competing claims for where it was created. But the generally accepted story traces it to Lancashire in 1863, at the second fish and chip shop ever in Britain. The term "butty" is used for a sandwich on buttered bread, and the chip butty is also called different things in different regions, including a chip roll, chip cob, chip barm, and chip sarnie.

The sandwich is such a part of U.K. culture that one of Sheffield United Football Club's (soccer team for Americans) most famous chants is "The Greasy Chip Butty Song" (via YouTube). Set to the tune of John Denver's "Annie's Song," the lyrics name favorite local things that "fill up my senses" like the line from the song, ending with: "Like a greasy chip butty/Like Sheffield United/Come fill me again."

If you want to try making a chip butty, some tips can help it come out just like the classic. Save the whole-grain, artisanal rolls for another time and use soft, untoasted white bread. Spread the butter on one side of both pieces of bread. (Try an Irish butter like Aldi's Kerrygold copycat.) The chips should be crispy outside with a soft interior, and they go on the bread hot. Finally, once the chip butty is assembled with any toppings, press down on it so the chips stick to the bread.