Ribbon Sandwich
Mash the yolks of five hard-boiled eggs to a paste, add three tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise dressing and pepper and salt to taste. Spread lightly with butter three square thin slices of white bread and two corresponding slices of wheat. For lower slice use the white bread and spread with the egg paste, then place the wheat bread on top of that and spread with the egg paste, followed by a slice of the white bread. Press tightly together, then take a sharp knife and cut crosswise into five sandwiches. Garnish with an olive.
A tea-table sandwich built for looks as much as flavor, and the instructions contradict themselves slightly. Read the layering note first.
- The slice count doesn't add upThe ingredient list calls for three white slices and two wheat, which stacks as white–wheat–white–wheat–white with four layers of filling. The method as written only builds one wheat layer between two whites. Use all five slices for the striped effect the name promises.
- Wheat bread"Wheat" here means a light whole-wheat sandwich loaf, not a dark rye or pumpernickel. The point is contrast in color while keeping the crumb fine and even so the stack cuts cleanly.
- Filling quantityFive yolks with three tablespoons of mayonnaise makes a stiff paste, roughly half a cup. That is enough for four thin layers if spread sparingly; overfilling makes the stack slide apart under the knife.
- Butter is structuralThe thin butter coat is not for flavor. It seals the crumb against the mayonnaise so the bread does not go soggy before serving, which matters if the sandwiches are made an hour ahead.
- Press and chill"Press tightly together" works far better cold. Wrap the assembled loaf and weight it under a plate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before cutting; the paste firms and the slices hold their stripes.
- CuttingThe recipe says only to cut crosswise into five sandwiches with a sharp knife; use a long thin blade and wipe it between cuts. Five sandwiches per stack, so scale up accordingly for a party.
- The leftover whitesOnly the yolks are used. The five cooked whites chop finely into another sandwich filling or a salad rather than going to waste.
- ServingThese dry out fast. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic until the moment they go to the table, and set the olive on each finger just before serving.
Ribbon sandwiches belong to the era of the ladies' luncheon and the afternoon tea, when a sandwich was judged first on its appearance on the plate. Striping white against whole-wheat, or later against bread tinted with nuts or watercress butter, gave hostesses a decorative effect with no special equipment beyond a sharp knife and a steady hand. The technique reaches its extreme in the checkerboard sandwich, built from two ribbon loaves cut and restacked at right angles. Sandwich manuals and sandwich chapters proliferated in the United States in the first decades of the twentieth century, when commercially bottled mayonnaise was becoming widely available.