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Sandwich (Spread thin slices of Boston) (II)
Spread thin slices of Boston brown bread with butter; then chop English walnuts fine, sprinkle with salt, and put a layer of the nuts between two slices of bread.
A two-ingredient sandwich that depends almost entirely on the quality of the bread and the freshness of the nuts.
- Boston brown breadA steamed rye-cornmeal-wheat bread sweetened with molasses, traditionally cooked in a cylindrical can or mold, so slices come out round. Canned versions are still sold; slice about 1/4 inch thick and it will hold together better if slightly chilled or lightly toasted.
- English walnutsThe ordinary walnut of the supermarket, as distinct from the American black walnut, which was widely gathered in regions where it grew. Black walnuts would be far more assertive here and would fight the molasses.
- Chop, do not grindThe nuts are meant to stay as distinct pieces for texture against the soft, damp bread. Chopped to a paste they simply disappear.
- Freshness mattersWalnuts go rancid quickly because of their oil content. Taste one before building the sandwich; if there is any bitterness or paint-like note, the whole sandwich is lost.
- Butter both slicesThe recipe says to spread the bread, and it means it. Butter on both faces keeps the nuts anchored and stops the moist bread from turning gummy where it meets them.
- SaltA light sprinkle only. Boston brown bread is sweet, and the salt is there as a counterweight, not as seasoning in its own right.
- Yield and servingRound slices trim neatly into quarters or halves for a tea tray. Assemble close to serving; cut sandwiches on this bread dry at the edges within an hour or two.
Boston brown bread belongs to the New England tradition of steamed, molasses-sweetened breads built on rye and cornmeal rather than wheat, which was scarcer and dearer in the colonial Northeast; it is generally traced to that grain economy and survived long after the necessity passed, chiefly as the partner to Saturday-night baked beans. Nut sandwiches of this kind flourished in the tea-table and luncheon books of the early twentieth century, when a sandwich was as often a dainty as a meal, and when walnuts, almonds and pecans were being promoted energetically as a protein source for vegetarian and health-reform households. The pairing of the sweet dark bread with salted walnuts is a small piece of that moment: a filling with no meat, no mayonnaise and no cooking, meant to be eaten in quarters off a plate.