Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing-Dish Dainties Part 18

PART II.

SANDWICHES.

_Socrates brought Philosophy from the clouds, but the Englishmen have dragged her into the kitchen._ --HEGEL.

_Homer never entertained either guests or hosts with long speeches till the mouth of hunger be stopped._ --SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.

SANDWICHES.

A pale young man, with feeble whiskers and a stiff white neckcloth, came walking down the lane _en sandwich_--having a lady, that is, on each arm.

--_Thackeray_ ("_Vanity Fair_").

The term "sandwich," now applied to many a fanciful shaped and encased dainty, was formerly used in speaking of "two slices of bread with meat between." In this sense, the word had its origin, about the end of the eighteenth century, from the fact that the fourth Earl of Sandwich was so infatuated with the pleasures and excitement of the gaming-table that he often could not leave it long enough to take his meals with his family; and, on such occasions, a butler was despatched to him bearing "slices of bread with meat between."

The fillings of savory sandwiches may be placed between pieces of bread, crackers, pastry, _chou_ paste or aspic jelly. When preparing sweet sandwiches, these same materials may be used, as also lady-fingers (white or yellow), macaroons or sweet wafers.

=Bread for Sandwiches.=

As a rule, bread for sandwiches should be twenty-four hours old; but fresh bread, which is more pliable than stale, is better adapted to this use, when the sandwiches are to take the form of rolls or folds. When stale bread is used for rolls or folds, they must be ribbon-tied; or tiny j.a.panese toothpicks may be made to keep them in shape.

The bread may be yeast or peptic bread. It may be white or brown. It is not even essential that the two bits of bread be of the same kind; Quaker, rice, whole-wheat, rye or graham bread is interchangeable with white or brown bread. After selecting your loaf or loaves, slice in even, quarter-inch slices; then cut in squares, triangles or fingers, or stamp with a round or fanciful-shaped cutter. Cutters can be obtained in heart, club, diamond and spade shape, also in racquet shape.

Do not spread b.u.t.ter or filling upon the bread before it is cut from the loaf and into shape. When so treated, the b.u.t.ter or filling on the extreme edge of the bread is liable to soil the fingers or gloves that come in contact with it.

Cream the b.u.t.ter, using a small wooden spoon for the purpose, and then it can be spread upon the most delicate bread without crumbling.

=The Filling.=

Anything appropriately eaten with the _covering_ may be used for the _filling_ of a sandwich. In meats, salted meat takes the lead in popular favor; when sliced the meat should be cut across the grain and as thin as possible, and several bits should be used in each sandwich, unless a very small, aesthetic sandwich be in order. Tongue and corned beef, whether they be used in slices or finely chopped, should be cooked until they are very tender. When corned beef or ham is chopped for a filling, the sandwich is much improved by a dash of mustard; Worcesters.h.i.+re or horseradish sauce improves a filling of roast beef or boiled tongue; while chopped capers, tomato sauce, catsup or a cold mint sauce is appropriate in sandwiches made of lamb; celery salt, when the filling is of chicken or veal, and lemon juice, when the princ.i.p.al ingredient is fish, are _en rapport_.

The flavor of a few drops of onion juice is relished by many in any kind of fish or meat sandwich, while others would prefer a few grains of fine-chopped parsley.

When salad sandwiches are to be prepared, chop the meat or fish very fine and mix it with the salad dressing. Celery, cabbage, cress, cuc.u.mbers, tomatoes or olives may be chopped and added to the meat with the dressing. When lettuce is used, the leaf is served whole, the edges just appearing outside the bread. Any one of these vegetables, combined with a salad dressing, makes a delicious sandwich without meat or fish.

When desired, other well-prepared sauces may be used in the place of salad dressings. Fillings of uncooked fruit may be used; but, in the case of dried fruits, it is preferable to stew until tender, after the fruit has been finely chopped. Pineapple, lemon or orange juice may be added at pleasure. Sandwiches prepared from entire-wheat bread, with fig or date fillings, are particularly wholesome for the children's luncheon basket.

When a particularly aesthetic sandwich is desired, wrap the b.u.t.ter that is to be used in spreading the bread in a napkin, and put it over night in a jar, on a bed of violets or rose petals; strew more flowers over the top and cover the jar tightly. If meat or fish is to be used as the basis of the sandwich, subst.i.tute nasturtium leaves and blossoms, or sprigs of mignonette, for the former flowers.

Fancy b.u.t.ter makes an attractive filling for a sandwich; it has also the merit of being less often in evidence than many another filling.

Sandwiches, except when vegetables and dressings are used, may be prepared early in the day, placed in a stone jar, covered with a slightly dampened cloth, and set away in a cool place until such time as they are wanted. Or, they may be wrapped in paraffine paper. Still, when convenient, it is preferable to have everything in readiness, and put the sandwiches together just before serving. Garnish the serving-dish with parsley, cress, celery plumes, slices of lemon, barberries and leaves, or fresh nasturtium leaves and blossoms.

=Beverages Served with Sandwiches.=

Coffee heads the list of beverages most acceptably served with sandwiches. Tea comes next. Cocoa and chocolate are admissible only with the dainty, aesthetic varieties, in which fruit or some kind of sweetmeat is used.

SAVORY SANDWICHES.

"Hail, wedded nourishment!"

=Ham-and-Tongue Sandwiches.=

Chop two parts of cold tongue and one part of cold ham (one-fourth as much fat ham as lean) very fine; pound in a mortar, and season with paprica and a little mixed mustard. Spread b.u.t.ter on one piece of bread, the meat mixture on the other, and press the two pieces together.

=Ham-and-Egg Sandwiches.=

Chop the ham and pound smooth in a mortar; pa.s.s the yolks of hard-boiled eggs through a sieve; mix the yolks with an equal amount of mayonnaise dressing. b.u.t.ter one piece of bread lightly and spread with the ham, spread the other piece with the egg and dressing, and press the two together.

=Corned-Beef Sandwiches.=

Chop the cold meat very fine, using one-fourth of fat meat. Work into the meat French mustard, or any "made" mustard, to taste, and prepare the sandwiches in the usual way. Boston brownbread combines well with this preparation.

=Tongue-and-Veal (or Chicken) Sandwiches.=

Use a little less of the chopped tongue than of the other kind of meat, and one-half as much chopped celery as meat. Mix with salad dressing.

Spread one piece of bread with b.u.t.ter, the other with the mixture, and press together.

=Celery Sandwiches.=

Chop crisp celery very fine and mix with salad dressing. Spread one piece of bread with b.u.t.ter, the other with a thin layer of the mixture.

With a sharp knife split open the round stems of celery tips and put them between the bread, so that the tips will just show on the edges.

Tie with narrow ribbon, light-green in color.

=Sardine Sandwiches.=

Use, in bulk, equal parts of yolks of well-cooked eggs, rubbed to a smooth paste, and the flesh of sardines, freed from skin and bones and pounded in a mortar; season to taste with a few drops of tobasco sauce and lemon juice, and spread as usual. Crackers may be used in the place of bread, if the sandwiches be prepared just before using, otherwise the crackers lose their crispness. Garnish with slices of lemon and parsley.

=Caviare Sandwich Rolls.=

To each two tablespoonfuls of caviare add ten drops of onion juice and a few drops of lemon juice, and mix together thoroughly. Remove the crust from a fresh, moist loaf of bread, cut in thin slices, spread each slice very delicately with b.u.t.ter and the caviare mixture, roll up in a roll and tie with ribbon one-fourth an inch wide, or pin with Chinese toothpicks. The bread should not be more than twelve hours old. If fear be lest the bread will not be sufficiently moist to roll, wrap the loaf, when taken from the oven, in a damp cloth and then in a dry one; keep in this fas.h.i.+on until ready for use.