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Sandwiches
Chop cold boiled ham very fine, and mix it with the yolks of eggs (beaten), a little mustard and pepper, and spread on very thin slices of bread, buttered on the loaf; trim off the crust, and cut into squares.
A tea-table sandwich spread rather than a sandwich in the lunchbox sense. The instructions are compressed, and two of them are worth unpacking before you start.
- "Buttered on the loaf"Butter the cut face of the loaf first, then slice off that buttered face with a long knife. It is the standard trick for getting a thin slice that does not tear, and it only works with softened butter and a fairly firm, close-crumbed white loaf.
- Which egg yolksThe original says the yolks are 'beaten', which points to raw yolks; some spreads of this kind use hard-cooked yolks mashed in as a binder, and that reading is possible too. Taken as raw yolks, this is uncooked egg in a spread that never sees heat; use pasteurized eggs or, better, cook them.
- ProportionsNone are given. About 1 cup finely chopped ham to 2 hard-cooked yolks, a teaspoon of mustard and a couple of tablespoons of softened butter or cream makes a spread that holds together without being greasy.
- The mustardThis most likely means dry mustard powder rather than a prepared jarred mustard, though the recipe does not say and prepared mustards were also to be had. Roughly a quarter to a third of a teaspoon of powder stands in for a teaspoon of made mustard, and the powder needs a few minutes' contact with moisture to develop.
- Chopping the hamHand-chopping gives a spread with texture. A food processor will take the ham to paste very quickly, so work in short bursts if you use one.
- SaltNone is called for, correctly. Boiled ham carries plenty; taste before adding any.
- Yield and servingA cup of spread fills roughly eight slices of bread, cut into four squares each, so about sixteen small sandwiches. Cover with a damp cloth and refrigerate if they must wait, and trim the crusts only just before serving so the edges do not dry.
Sandwiches of this type belong to the tea table, where the point was small, crustless, uniform pieces. The use of cold boiled ham reflects a kitchen in which a boiled ham sat in the larder for days and was worked down through successive meals hen chchopped for spreads and croquettes when the good slices were gone. Egg yolk as a binder is older than commercial mayonnaise; the mustard is there to cut the fat, a pairing with ham often associated with English cookery. That this appears among sauces, salads, pickles and condiments rather than among luncheon dishes tells you how the book classified it: less a meal than a made-up relish spread on bread.