Cheese-and-Nut Sandwiches

A plain filling that depends entirely on chopping fine enough to hold together. Two adjustments make it behave: bind it, and choose a nut with some fat.

• "Nut meat"Simply the shelled kernel — walnuts, pecans or almonds, not a processed nut product. The recipe does not specify; walnut is a common choice in period sandwich fillings.
• It needs a binderChopped cheese and chopped nuts alone will fall out of the bread. A tablespoon or two of softened butter, mayonnaise or cream cheese worked into each cup of the mixture holds it without changing the flavour much.
• Chop, don't grateGrated Swiss shreds into strands that slide apart. Cut the cheese into small dice, about the size of the nut pieces, so the two lock together.
• The SwissTurn-of-the-century "Swiss cheese" in America meant an Emmental-style cheese with holes. A domestic Swiss or a young Emmental works; Gruyère is firmer and drier and needs slightly more binder.
• Toast the nutsFive to seven minutes in a 350F oven, cooled before chopping, sharpens the flavour considerably. Untoasted nuts read as soft and slightly raw against the cheese.
• Cayenne"A dash" here means a pinch; a scant 1/8 teaspoon per cup of filling is a reasonable modern reading. It is meant to lift the cheese, not to register as heat.
• Yield and holdingThe recipe gives no quantities; as a rough guide, about a cup of filling will fill four to five sandwiches, or sixteen to twenty small rounds. Cut shapes dry out fast; assemble no more than an hour ahead and keep them covered with a damp cloth.