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Gruyere Sandwichh
Cut rye and white bread in very thin slices and spread sparingly with butter; cut cold tongue and gruyere cheese in thin slices; on white bread arrange the tongue, rye bread over tongue and cheese over rye bread; repeat, put under a weight and let stand for two hours; then cut crosswise in thin slices. Garnish with olive.
A pressed ribbon sandwich, built in layers and sliced across so each finger shows stripes of rye and white. Almost all the work is in the slicing and the weighting.
- The hinge is the pressingTwo hours under a weight is what fuses the layers so the loaf can be cut crosswise without collapsing. Wrap the assembled block tightly in plastic or parchment, set it on a tray, and lay a second tray with a few cans on top. Chilled pressing works better than room temperature.
- Bread thickness"Very thin" is not defined in the recipe; somewhere around 1/4 inch or less is a reasonable reading. Day-old bread cuts far more cleanly than fresh, and a long serrated knife drawn in single strokes beats sawing. Trim the crusts before assembly, not after.
- Cold tongueBeef tongue, simmered until tender, peeled, pressed and chilled — a standard cold-larder item in period households. Delis and butchers still sell it cooked and sliced; ask for it shaved. Thin-sliced corned beef or good ham stands in without changing the character much.
- GruyèreGenuine Swiss Gruyère is firm and slightly gritty with age, and it slices thin without tearing. Sliced on a mandoline or with a cheese plane it presses flatter and glues the layers better than shredded cheese.
- Butter "sparingly"The thin butter film is structural as much as flavoring — it seals the bread against moisture from the tongue and cheese. Use softened, not melted, butter and take it right to the edges.
- Cutting crosswiseSlice the pressed block across the layers into strips about 1/2 inch wide, wiping the blade between cuts. Warm the knife under hot water and dry it if the cheese drags.
- Yield and servingA block built from six slices of bread gives a modest number of finger sandwiches — tea or cocktail portions, not lunch. Serve cold, cut side up, with the olive on a pick or alongside.
Ribbon and checkerboard sandwiches, built from alternating light and dark breads, pressed and sliced to show a pattern, were a familiar feature of American tea tables and card parties in the early twentieth century. Cold tongue was ordinary household fare then rather than a specialty: it kept well pressed and chilled, and sliced cleanly, which made it well suited to this kind of construction. Imported Swiss cheeses such as Gruyère read as a Continental touch alongside a homely cut.