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Mince-Meat Sandwich
Moisten thick round crackers with hot milk; spread with a thick layer of hot mince meat, made rather moist with the addition of a little fruit juice or syrup. Place another cracker on top, then whipped cream on top of that. To be eaten with a fork.
SOUTHERN (BACON) SANDWICH On thin slices of buttered whole wheat bread, place a lettuce leaf; add thin slices of crisp fried bacon; spread with a little mustard, and put slices together. Garnish with a radish.
Two entries run together here: a fork-and-plate dessert built on soaked crackers, and a straightforward bacon sandwich. Both are easy, but the first depends entirely on getting the cracker right.
- Thick round crackersProbably something like the New England common cracker (sometimes sold as a pilot or Boston cracker) — a dense, dry, split-able round, not a saltine or a modern water biscuit. If you cannot find them, a split, lightly toasted English muffin or a plain unsweetened scone half is closer in behaviour than any thin cracker, which will simply dissolve.
- Moisten, do not soakBrush or spoon hot milk over the crackers and let them stand a minute. They should soften to the texture of bread pudding at the surface and stay firm in the middle. Assembled sandwiches collapse quickly, so build them at the table and serve at once.
- What mince meat meantAt the time this was a spiced preserve of chopped apple, raisins, currants, citrus peel, sugar, suet and often lean beef or ox tongue, moistened with cider or brandy — which is why it could sit alongside meat sandwiches. Jarred mincemeat today is usually meatless and much sweeter; if you want the original character, look for one made with suet.
- Fruit juice or syrupThe mincemeat is loosened so it spreads over a soft cracker without tearing it. Apple cider, the syrup from preserved fruit, or orange juice all work; add a tablespoon at a time and heat gently until it spoons easily. Do not boil it down or it turns to candy.
- The creamThe recipe does not say whether to sweeten it; unsweetened, soft-peaked cream suits the dish, since the mincemeat supplies the sugar. Whip it just before serving; it slumps quickly on anything hot.
- YieldThe recipe gives none. Reckon one double cracker per person as a small dessert or supper sweet; jar sizes vary, so judge by how thick a layer you want.
- For the bacon sandwichCook the bacon until genuinely crisp and drain it well — limp bacon soaks the bread and the sandwich falls apart. Spread the mustard thinly on the top slice rather than over the bacon, so it does not run into the lettuce. Whole wheat bread carried "health" associations in this period, though the recipe does not say why it was chosen.
The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book belongs to the American sandwich boom of the early 1900s, when club luncheons, afternoon teas and railway dining cars pushed the form far past anything you could hold in one hand — this one is to be eaten with a fork. Mincemeat's appearance among meat sandwiches is not an error: the preserve began as a way of keeping chopped meat through winter under sugar, spice, dried fruit and alcohol, and beef or tongue was still common in home-made versions around the time this book appeared. The meat gradually disappeared from commercial mincemeat over the following decades, leaving suet, and eventually not even that. Thick, dry crackers of this kind were a New England pantry staple, sold loose from the barrel and often softened in hot milk, chowder or gravy before eating.