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American Sandwiches
Get half a pound of cold boiled ham or tongue, chop it fine, and put it into a basin, with a table-spoonful of chopped pickles, a tea-spoonful of mustard, and a little pepper. Put about six ounces of butter in a basin, and stir it quickly with a spoon till it forms a kind of cream; add the chopped meat and seasoning, and mix all thoroughly. Cut some bread into thin slices, and some very thin slices of veal, fowl, or game; spread a slice of the bread with the above mixture, then a slice of the meat; lay on another slice of bread, and so on, till the quantity required is prepared. If cut into small shapes, these sandwiches prove very acceptable for breakfast or for evening parties. The above quantities will make as many sandwiches as will fill a moderate-sized dish. Probable cost, 2s.
This is a compound potted-meat butter used as both spread and filling, and it stands or falls on the creaming step. The butter must be soft enough to whip smooth before the meat goes in, or the mixture tears the thin bread instead of spreading on it.
- Cream the butter firstSix ounces of butter beaten to a paste before the ham is added is what makes this spreadable straight from the basin. Leave it at room temperature for an hour; melted or half-melted butter will separate and soak the bread.
- The butter-to-meat ratioHalf a pound of ham to six ounces of butter is a Victorian richness that reads as very heavy now. Three to four ounces of butter to the same weight of meat gives a spread that still binds and slices.
- Chopped picklesIn an English kitchen of this date this would most likely mean mixed pickle from the jar — cauliflower, onion, cucumber in spiced vinegar. Drain and blot it well before chopping, or the vinegar will loosen the butter.
- MustardProbably made mustard rather than dry powder; if using powder, mix it to a paste with a little water first and let it stand ten minutes to develop.
- TongueCold boiled ox tongue was a standing item in a Victorian larder and is now a butcher's order or a deli counter in some places. Ham, cold roast pork or a good salt beef all work in the same role.
- Thin slicesThis predates the sliced loaf. Use a firm close-crumbed white sandwich loaf, chill it briefly, and cut as thin as the knife allows; a very thin slice is what makes the layered construction work.
- The meat layerCold roast veal, chicken or game breast, carved paper-thin. Anything from a roasting joint the day before is the intent — this is a leftovers recipe dressed up for the tea table.
- Cut into small shapesCrusts off, then fingers, triangles or rounds cut with a plain cutter. Made a few hours ahead, they should be covered with a damp cloth or cling film and kept cold.
- Yield and costThe quantities fill "a moderate-sized dish"; the recipe gives no count. The 2s. is the original marketing cost and is of historical interest only.
Why Cassell's calls these American is not explained in the book itself, and any account of the name must remain speculation. The actual technique is thoroughly English: a seasoned compound butter of the sort used for potted meats, which were among the standard ways of using up a cold joint before refrigeration made leftovers keep on their own. Potting meat under butter is documented in English cookery well before this book, and the recipe here simply skips the pot and puts the mixture straight onto bread. The double filling of spread plus a slice of carved meat, and the instruction to cut into small shapes, place it squarely in the world of the late-Victorian at-home and the breakfast sideboard rather than the packed lunch.