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Banana Sandwich No. 2
On thin slices of lightly buttered white bread spread mayonnaise dressing then add thin slices of bananas; cover with another slice of bread. Serve on a lettuce leaf.
A two-minute sandwich whose success rests entirely on what you understand by "mayonnaise dressing" and on how thin you cut the fruit.
- Mayonnaise dressingIn books of this period the phrase may mean true mayonnaise or one of the cooked or "boiled" dressings thickened with egg and flour and sharpened with vinegar, which are tangier and softer than jarred mayonnaise. The recipe does not say which; either will work, and a boiled dressing gives a sharper contrast to the sweetness of the banana.
- Butter and mayonnaise bothThe butter is not redundant. A thin film of butter on the crumb keeps the dressing and the fruit's moisture from soaking through, which matters for a sandwich meant to sit on a plate rather than be eaten instantly.
- Slice thin, assemble lateThe recipe says only "thin"; an eighth of an inch or less works well. Lay the slices down last, as cut banana begins to discolour quite quickly and the acid in the dressing slows but does not stop it.
- The breadA firm white pullman or plain sandwich loaf, close-crumbed and not sweet, gives the right result; trim the crusts if you like.
- ServingThe lettuce leaf is a plate garnish in the tea-table style, not a filling. Cut the sandwich into halves or fingers and set it on the leaf.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantities; one medium banana will roughly fill two or three sandwiches, enough for a light plate for two.
Banana sandwiches belong to the moment when the fruit stopped being a luxury. Fast steamer and rail transport and the growth of the Central American trade in the 1880s and 1890s pushed bananas into ordinary American grocery stores, and cookbooks responded by treating them as an everyday filler rather than a curiosity. The pairing with mayonnaise looks odd now but was entirely conventional at the time: a great many early-twentieth-century "salads" combined fruit with a boiled or mayonnaise dressing on lettuce, and the sandwich book simply moved the same combination between two slices of bread. Sandwich collections of this kind were aimed at the tea table, the card party and the packed lunch, all occasions where a hostess needed variety more than substance.