Sandwiches Galore!

Aaaaand we are back, baby! Time to re-visit the sandwiches of the week to try and suss out what’s what. Let us do it, to it!

Sunday, December 10, 2023
Pan Con Pollo (El Salvador)
International Sandwich Sunday

Original rating: 10
Plus up: None
Plussed up rating: N/A

So, for this sandwich, I decided to do a recipe from my online friend Bernie’s cookbook, Herencia Cookbook. She intended it as an approachable version of the sandwich. Naturally, that meant I got taken to the woodshed for “making it wrong” which I understand. After all, I didn’t set that context in the video. She also has the more traditional version that she’s posted recently. But between the lemon pepper, onion, garlic, etc., this simplified version was packed with flavor. So yeah, I still stand by the 10 (though I would like to give the more complex version a go too).

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Monday, December 11, 2023
The Corned Cutie (recent history)
Adventures in Aardia: Roll for Sandwiches

Original rating: 9 1/2
Plus ups: Slice of seasoned tomato
Plussed up rating: 10

My man Jacob over on Adventures in Aardia gets lucky everyone once in a while with his Roll For Sandwich concoctions. If you’re not familiar, he rolls Dungeons and Dragons dice to determine different parts of the sandwich (e.g. bread, meat, cheese, roughage, sauce, etc). It is a real crap shoot. So when he deems one a ten out of ten I take notice. This one featured a pretzel bun, corned beef, horseradish cheddar, shredded lettuce, and celery salt. It was an amazing combination to begin with. With the sweet freshness of tomato it easily got to a ten.

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Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Lettuce and Mayonnaise Sandwich (1901)
Mrs. Seely’s Cook Book with Chapters on Servants, Their Rights and Duties

Original rating: 6
Plus up: Dijon mustard, slice of seasoned tomato, hard boiled egg whites
Plussed up rating: 7

Despite it not being in the name, the hard boiled egg yolk definitely brought richness and flavor to this sandwich. But yeah, it was pretty much lettuce and egg, just enhanced a bit. I think this might be one of those sandwiches where adding a little bacon might not of stolen focus. But I stayed with my practice of not adding meat to a sandwich that doesn’t already have any. The sharp Dijon mustard brought a nice counter to the richness and the slice of seasoned tomato a little sweetness and freshness. The egg whites didn’t bring a lot but I figured it was a way to use them up.

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Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Deviled Ham Sandwich (1930)
PET Recipes

Original rating: 6
Plus up: Dirty Dill Pickled Okra and grilled cheese treatment
Plussed up rating: 7 1/2

First things first, as several commenters correctly pointed out, PET Milk is still very much a brand and is actually evaporated milk. So, that is my bad for not figuring that out. Would the use of canned, evaporated milk have radically changed the sandwich? I’m not sure flavor-wise but texture-wise probably a bit. The base sandwich with it’s ground ham, cheese, and dry mustard on rye bread really felt like a solid start. But to me this screamed out for the grilled cheese treatment. And, since I had plenty leftover from The Corned Cutie a few days prior, I opted to use Wickles Pickles Dirty Dill Pickled Okra instead of dill pickles. The okra, by the way, isn’t slimy in the least and has nice crunch to it. Definitely worth checking out.

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Thursday, December 14, 2023
Newport Rarebit (1935)
Piggly Wiggly Around The World Cook Book

Original rating: 6 1/2
Plus up: Salt, avocado, second piece of toast
Plussed up rating: 8

This sandwich was basically cheesy scrambled eggs on toast. Can’t hate that at all, really. Some folks suggested I should’ve cooked the scrambled eggs in a French style so that they were more creamy. Others suggested that a ten cents of cheese in 1935 would’ve been a lot more cheese. And both ideas may be right. We’d still have scrambled eggs with cheese which is not really akin to a cheese sauce in my opinion. Plussed it up with a little seasoning and avocado and then made it more portable with a second piece of toast. No regrets.

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Friday, December 15, 2023
American Cheese, Onion, and Anchovy Sandwich (1970)
230 Tasty Sandwiches

Original rating: .5
Plus up: Thick slice of tomato and black pepper
Plussed up rating: .75

To be fair, I knew that this was going to be a disaster going into it. The amount of anchovy paste called for is ridiculous relative to the amounts for the other ingredients. These recipes alway prompt folks to suggest that maybe anchovy paste was less salty back in the day or that I should make my own. I’ve looked into it and I cannot find anything to indicate that the anchovy paste used today is saltier. Could be wrong about that but haven’t found anything yet. And I am pretty sure folks weren’t making their own in 1970. Normally, this would’ve gone straight in the bin but I thought I try one of the other most common suggestions when I make these types of sandwich - add tomato. Sorry, no. The only thing that will redeem this sandwich is to re-approach it. So look for met to revisit this and the Cottage Cheese and Anchovy Sandwich two ways. One, with far less anchovy paste and two, using tinned anchovy fillets instead.

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Saturday, December 16, 2023
Cottage Cheese and Peanut Sandwich (1936)
1,001 Sandwiches

Original rating: 6
Plus up: Strawberry jam
Plussed up rating: 7

When you have to fill a book with one thousand and one sandwich recipes, you might have to start using unusual ingredient pairings. To wit, cottage cheese and peanuts. I like cottage cheese and found the combo to be pretty ok. For the plus up, strawberry jam, I took inspiration from the tasty combo of goat cheese with a sweet jam. While not exactly alike, both cottage cheese and goat cheese have a slight tang to them. And the combination of tanginess and sweetness works really well together. Which is why we see cottage cheese paired with fruit so often.

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Thanks again for subscribing to Sandwiches of History Substack, I appreciate it. I hope you and your family are healthy and happy this holiday season.

Quick programming note, I am going to take the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day off.

Cheers!
Barry