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Sardine Sandwich No. 3
Remove scales and bones from two boxes of sardines. Four hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, the juice of one lemon, a dash of salt, red and black pepper, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a sprig of parsley, chopped fine. Stir to a paste and spread on lightly buttered white bread with a lettuce leaf between.
A straightforward fish paste sandwich from the era when sardines came in flat keyed tins and were considered an everyday pantry staple. Little needs changing beyond the tin size and the balance of egg to fish.
- Two boxes of sardinesA "box" is a tin. Tin sizes of the period varied, but two modern tins is a reasonable reading. Drain them well or the paste will be loose and the bread will go soggy within the hour.
- Scales and bonesSardines packed a century ago were often larger and less thoroughly cleaned than the small brisling and sild sold now. Modern tinned sardines have soft, edible bones and skin; lifting out the central spine is enough, and scaling is generally unnecessary.
- Red pepperThis means cayenne, not paprika and not sweet red pepper. A dash is a pinch — enough to warm the paste behind the lemon, not to announce itself.
- Four eggs to two tinsThat is an egg-heavy ratio by modern taste, closer to an egg salad accented with fish. Three eggs gives a more sardine-forward paste if that is what you want; the recipe tolerates the change.
- Melted butterThe butter adds richness and helps hold the mixture together as it cools. Mix it in while warm and let the finished paste rest before spreading.
- Mashing"Stir to a paste" is done with a fork, not a processor. Sardines break down almost instantly and over-processing turns the mixture grey and pasty.
- YieldRoughly two cups of filling, enough for six to eight rounds of sandwiches or a dozen small tea sandwiches with the crusts off.
- Holding timeEgg and fish together spoil quickly at room temperature. Make the sandwiches close to serving, or keep the paste covered and refrigerated and assemble at the last moment.
Sandwich books proliferated in the United States between about 1900 and 1920, when afternoon teas, card parties and packed lunches created steady demand for fillings that could be made ahead from shelf-stable goods. Tinned sardines were the ideal candidate: cheap, widely available as the Maine and Norwegian canneries expanded over the closing decades of the nineteenth century, and already cooked. That a single book carries a Sardine Sandwich No. 3 tells you how many variations were in circulation. The lettuce leaf laid between paste and bread may have been intended to keep the bread from going soft, though that is a guess rather than anything the books record.