Cherry Salad Sandwich

A luncheon sandwich of the salad type, closer to a chopped fruit salad on bread than to anything hot. Two things decide whether it works: the moisture in the cherries and the thickness of the bread.

• Drain the cherriesPitted sweet cherries release a surprising amount of juice once cut. Halve or quarter them, let them sit in a sieve for ten minutes, and blot before mixing, or the filling will soak through the bread within minutes.
• Which cherriesThe recipe simply says cherries; fresh sweet cherries in season are the likeliest intent. Sour pie cherries would be sharply acidic here. Jarred maraschinos, by this period increasingly a sweetened confection rather than the older liqueur-steeped fruit, would overwhelm the celery.
• English walnutsSimply the common walnut, as distinct from the black walnut then still widely gathered in America. Black walnuts are far more assertive and would dominate the cherries. Toast the walnuts briefly and chop them fine.
• Mayonnaise"Enough to moisten" means roughly two to three tablespoons for this quantity — the filling should cling, not pool. Period mayonnaise was made at home with raw yolk and oil; ordinary commercial mayonnaise is the sensible substitute and is what the proportions here suit.
• The breadThin slices of a close-grained white loaf, buttered right to the edges. The butter is a moisture barrier as much as a flavouring, which matters more with a wet filling than with a dry one.
• Yield and timingThe recipe gives no yield; two cups of cherries plus the walnuts and celery makes a generous quantity of filling, enough for several rounds cut in halves or fingers. Assemble close to serving; these do not hold overnight.