Irish Sandwiches

An open sandwich of cold roast game on crisp toast, built from the leftovers of a shooting lunch. The success of it rests almost entirely on the toast.

• The hinge: crisp, not tough toastToast thin slices, let them cool on a rack rather than stacked on a plate, and dress them at the last minute. Warm toast under a moist filling steams and turns leathery, which is exactly the fault the original warns against.
• The gamePartridge and grouse are game-dealer or specialist-butcher items in most places, and grouse is seasonal. Cold roast pheasant, guinea fowl, duck breast or dark meat from a roast chicken all carve into the same thin slices; leg meat has more flavour than breast for this.
• Carve coldThe meat is left over from a roast, so slice it well chilled with a long thin blade; cold meat holds together better for the near-translucent slices the recipe asks for.
• Shredded celeryRead as fine lengthwise strips rather than dice. Crisp ribs work best; a spell in ice water and thorough drying helps them stay rigid and stops them weeping into the toast.
• Tartare sauce, 1900 senseTartare sauce, period sense -- a thick mayonnaise sharpened with capers, gherkins, shallot or chives and a little mustard, rather than the sweet jarred fish sauce sold now. If you use a commercial bottle, choose an unsweetened one and do not thin it.
• Season wellCold game is bland and the sauce is the only seasoning here. Taste the sauce before it goes on and correct it with salt, pepper and lemon or vinegar; a timid sauce leaves the sandwich flat.
• Squares, on a napkinTrim the crusts and cut each slice into two or four squares, then set them on a folded linen napkin on the platter, as the recipe directs.
• YieldA small roast bird will give only a handful of squares; reckon three or four pieces a person as a first course or with drinks. They will not hold, so assemble shortly before serving.