The Sandwiches That Were

Welcome back to the weekly recap of Sandwiches of History. Some ups, some downs, but at least it wasn’t totally boring, right? Also, heads up, Guest Host Friday returns next week with none other than Nick and Mike from the Doughboys podcast! Woot!

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Egg & Cress Sandwich (UK)
International Sandwich Sunday

Original rating: mayo 8.5 for both | Plussed up: mayo 9/ butter 9.5
Plus up: Curry powder

Yet another case study in how one can simultaneously nail it and get it completely wrong at the same time. Lol. All I know is that the container I bought at the store said Cress and was a cluster of baby herbs growing from a living root ball. It was peppery and from what I could tell, well, Cress. Some folks thought I used watercress (I did not) while others opined that cress in the UK is different from cress in the United States. Still others said I needed to use mustard cress. The bottom line for me is, whatever cress you can get your hands on is fine. Plussed up with a little curry powder. Even better.

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Monday, November 27, 2023

Mock Crab Sandwich (1909)
Salads and Sandwiches

Original rating: 1 | Plussed up: N/A
Plus ups: Nope

Yeah, this was garbage, straight away. Not only was the ratio of anchovy paste to other ingredients was way too high but the recipe had us add salt and chopped olives! The only way this would be palatable is if they remove the salt and olives, then reduced the amount of anchovy paste called for to about an eighth of teaspoon. Granted it makes for a funny video but still…hard pass.

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Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Sandwich Filling (1923)
College Woman’s Cook Book

Original rating: 5.5 | Minused down: 3
Plus up: Jalapeño salt

I really did not have high hopes for this one. Pecans, mayonnaise, and sweet relish? Yet, it kinda worked. Then I went ahead and screwed it up with jalapeño salt. D’oh! There were a lot of ideas on how to actually plus this up, four of which I will be trying next week. Stay tuned.

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Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Savory Sandwich (1896)
The Cook Book By “Oscar” Of The Waldorf

Original rating: 6.5 | Plussed up: 7.5

Plus up: Black pepper and prepared horseradish

Oscar Tschirky is best know for creating the famous Waldorf Salad and is widely credited with popularizing Thousand Island dressing. This, though, doesn’t live up to those. I mean, corned beef and butter isn’t bad. But also isn’t exactly inspired. Plussing it up with different ingredients that each brought their own type of bite did liven things up a bit. But there are way better corned beef sandwiches to be had.

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Thursday, November 30, 2023

Open Toasted Sandwich (1936)
1,001 Recipes

Original rating: 8.5 | Plussed up: 9 - 9.5
Plus up: Jawndiments Cherry Pepper Mayonnaise

I really wasn’t sure about this sandwich. Putting raw bacon on top of raw eggs then cooking the whole thing? At the very least, I was expecting the egg near the bread to not be cooked. Couldn’t have been more wrong. This was a delicious sandwich. Made even better by the Jawndiments Cherry Pepper Mayo and a second piece of Texas toast. Had I toasted that second slice, this most likely would’ve been a ten.

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Friday, December 1, 2023

Shenandoah Sandwich (1977)
Houston Chronicle

Original rating: 9 | Plussed up rating: 9.5
Plus up: Black pepper

This recipe called for not only combining cream cheese, sour cream, grated onion, white pepper, garlic salt, and cooked crumbled bacon but heating it as well. Which did a much better job of integrating the flavors than were it just mixed in a bowl and spread on the bread. It did say to serve it open-faced but come on, there’s no way it was meant to be consumed as such. Adding a little black pepper just gave it that extra kick. Here’s the recipe I followed if you’re keen to give it a go.

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Saturday, December 2, 2023

Sandwich of Sardine (1889)
Aunt Babett’s Cook Book

Original rating: 6 | Plussed up: 7.5
Plus up: Hackensack Brewing Pepper Coast Imperial IPA

I dig sardines. They have a nice, slightly fishy flavor and are loaded with Omega-3s. Plus they’re lower on the food chain so they are considered low-mercury fish (all fish has some mercury, btw). Combined with a little butter, whole wheat, and rye bread and you’ve got yourself a tasty little snack. I plussed it up with Hackensack Brewing’s Pepper Coast Imperial IPA which uses Uziza pepper. I was told it was citrusy and slightly peppery so I thought it would go well with this sandwich and it sure did. If you don’t have access to that beer or don’t drink, a squeeze of lemon and some fresh ground pepper would be very nice indeed.

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Cheers!
Barry