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Westphalian Ham Sandwich
Between thin slices of lightly buttered rye bread, place thin slices of Westphalian ham; add a dash of mustard, and garnish top with a pickle.
A four-element sandwich in which nothing is cooked, so everything depends on the quality of the ham and the thinness of the cutting.
- The hamWestphalian ham is a dry-cured, cold-smoked raw ham, not the pink boiled ham of a lunch counter. Buy it sliced to order at the deli counter, or substitute another raw cured ham such as prosciutto or Serrano; the smoke is what distinguishes the Westphalian.
- Thin means transparentCured raw ham cut thick is chewy and aggressively salty. It should be shaved to near-transparency and laid in loose folds rather than flat sheets, which also keeps the sandwich from pulling apart in one piece when bitten.
- The ryeA dense, fine-grained deli rye or a pumpernickel suits this better than an airy modern sandwich loaf. Cut the slices thin, as the recipe specifies.
- Butter, not spreadThe recipe calls for the bread to be only lightly buttered. Have the butter genuinely soft so it can be spread thinly without tearing the bread.
- Mustard"A dash" points to a prepared mustard rather than dry powder. A sharp German mustard or a Dijon is closer to the intent than a sweetened yellow table mustard.
- The pickleThe recipe sets the pickle on top rather than inside, which keeps the vinegar from soaking the bread; a small gherkin, whole or sliced, does the job.
- YieldTwo slices of bread make one sandwich; the recipe gives no quantity of ham, so judge by the slices. Cut on the diagonal or into fingers if serving with drinks.
Westphalian ham takes its name from the region of northwestern Germany where the hams were traditionally dry-salted and then cold-smoked over beechwood, often with juniper added to the fire, producing a dark, dense, faintly sweet raw ham traditionally said to be eaten in shavings rather than cooked.