Two nations with a common tongue but spread apart
September 20, 2023 9:15 AM Subscribe
Why don’t Americans put butter on their sandwiches? When American in Paris Amanda Rollins posted a TikTok about a jambon beurre sandwich, there was a lot of mutual incomprehension on both sides of the Atlantic as to whether it's normal to assume there will be butter in a sandwich — for the Europeans, absolutely de rigeur; for the North Americans, odd and greasy. When The Guardian's Arma Mahdawi realised her American wife was on Team Mayo she wrote the linked op-ed (and took a regrettable swipe at American butter, sadly).
It's Arwa Mahdawi, not Arma, and she's right about the butter.
posted by GeorgeBickham at 9:25 AM on September 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by GeorgeBickham at 9:25 AM on September 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
The answer is simple - different flavor profiles and preferences. Not to mention that American sandwich culture is very, very different from the rest of the world, given the variety of sandwiches in the US.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:25 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:25 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
Anyway, having cleared that up, we can move on to harder-hitting issues: why have Americans not discovered the late-night kebab or the sausage roll? Now there’s a question to sink your teeth into.
Because Americans have amazing Mexican food, including Tacos al Pastor, which are basically a doner kebab but using fresh tortillas! If this person doesn't know all that, they have no business writing about food!
Also corn dogs > sausage rolls.
posted by vacapinta at 9:28 AM on September 20, 2023 [34 favorites]
Because Americans have amazing Mexican food, including Tacos al Pastor, which are basically a doner kebab but using fresh tortillas! If this person doesn't know all that, they have no business writing about food!
Also corn dogs > sausage rolls.
posted by vacapinta at 9:28 AM on September 20, 2023 [34 favorites]
Mahdawi is right about American butter. The TikTok has Rollins complaining about there being no flavor in the butter. Poor lady. The biggest problem with American butter is that we don't culture it. That's why she thinks butter has no flavor.
But French sandwiches are some bullshit. You get a jambon beurre from any corner shop, what you get is a very good but quite thick bread roll, two slices of ham, a smear of butter. And that's it. Nothing at all like a glorious American ham sandwich with toasted bread, two or three spreads, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, maybe some cheese, and then like a half pound of ham.
The French ham will be better, the American ham is likely to be some wet-packed perfectly uniform textured processed meat. Unless you're lucky to live in the small part of the US that has country ham hanging in the rafters or you're in a fancy shop where the ham is actually Iberico or prosciutto.
posted by Nelson at 9:32 AM on September 20, 2023 [14 favorites]
But French sandwiches are some bullshit. You get a jambon beurre from any corner shop, what you get is a very good but quite thick bread roll, two slices of ham, a smear of butter. And that's it. Nothing at all like a glorious American ham sandwich with toasted bread, two or three spreads, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, maybe some cheese, and then like a half pound of ham.
The French ham will be better, the American ham is likely to be some wet-packed perfectly uniform textured processed meat. Unless you're lucky to live in the small part of the US that has country ham hanging in the rafters or you're in a fancy shop where the ham is actually Iberico or prosciutto.
posted by Nelson at 9:32 AM on September 20, 2023 [14 favorites]
I only remember eating one sandwich in Paris, but it was glorious and had lettuce, tomatoes and onions on it, the way a North American sandwich would.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:36 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:36 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
The swipe at American butter is fine to me, finding a butter with a high-enough butter fat to use for specialty cooking requires buying European butter (which is commonly available, it's not a giant thing). But Euro butter doesn't really taste that much better by itself, so I'm not sure I buy that as an excuse. I mean it tastes a little better, but it's not going to blow your mind.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:38 AM on September 20, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:38 AM on September 20, 2023 [10 favorites]
It's like convergent evolution in action--every culture realizes sandwiches are a bad idea, so they invent a bread-lubricant to make them go down faster!
posted by mittens at 9:39 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mittens at 9:39 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
My mom was born in Cork, Ireland, and lived in London with relatives after about 10 years old. Married my (American sailor) father in 1952 in England, and we lived in the the American south from about 1960.
She usually liked butter on her sandwiches....and so did her (5) kids. This used to completely freak out all my "non-Irish" mother friends. A ham sandwich with butter just tasted good to us. We liked mayo, of course, but we liked butter.
My mom's explanation goes far past all the "but American butter fat content/our pigs in Europe are raised on honesty and sunlight". It was simple for her: refrigeration wasn't as common when and where she grew up, and butter would keep a long time without it.
It was that simple.
PS: there is a small subset of "people who ate lunch at my house" in South Carolina who probably still reach for the butter occasionally for their ham sandwiches.
posted by pthomas745 at 9:40 AM on September 20, 2023 [14 favorites]
She usually liked butter on her sandwiches....and so did her (5) kids. This used to completely freak out all my "non-Irish" mother friends. A ham sandwich with butter just tasted good to us. We liked mayo, of course, but we liked butter.
My mom's explanation goes far past all the "but American butter fat content/our pigs in Europe are raised on honesty and sunlight". It was simple for her: refrigeration wasn't as common when and where she grew up, and butter would keep a long time without it.
It was that simple.
PS: there is a small subset of "people who ate lunch at my house" in South Carolina who probably still reach for the butter occasionally for their ham sandwiches.
posted by pthomas745 at 9:40 AM on September 20, 2023 [14 favorites]
It’s not just the butterfat percentage it’s also the differences in diet between American and European dairy cows.
But also it’s about if your butter is out a room temperature or kept unspreadable in the fridge, if your sandwich bread is too soft and will disintegrate if you spread something on it, and the quality and flavor of what goes into the sandwich.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:40 AM on September 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
But also it’s about if your butter is out a room temperature or kept unspreadable in the fridge, if your sandwich bread is too soft and will disintegrate if you spread something on it, and the quality and flavor of what goes into the sandwich.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:40 AM on September 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
"If this person doesn't know all that, they have no business writing about food!"
That's a bit harsh. Here in the UK we don't do very well for Mexican food: I can only think of one place within 10 miles where I might be able to get tacos Al Pastor.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:42 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
That's a bit harsh. Here in the UK we don't do very well for Mexican food: I can only think of one place within 10 miles where I might be able to get tacos Al Pastor.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:42 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
You get a jambon beurre from any corner shop, what you get is a very good but quite thick bread roll, two slices of ham, a smear of butter. And that's it.
Untrue! There are often just a few absolutely perfect pickles, and a sprinkling of salt over that butter. But personally I find the jambon beurre to be the perfect foodstuff and am very over the giant, overstuffed American sandwich, so I am biased.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [25 favorites]
Untrue! There are often just a few absolutely perfect pickles, and a sprinkling of salt over that butter. But personally I find the jambon beurre to be the perfect foodstuff and am very over the giant, overstuffed American sandwich, so I am biased.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [25 favorites]
I am a mustard person, not a mayo person. Do Europeans put butter on sandwiches with mustard? That doesn't sound very good to me, but what do I know?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
There are some delightful American butters (e.g.). I think we even had a thread about butter relatively recently where some American names came up. Higher fat content is for baking, sure, but, in an already fatty item, it doesn't necessarily make for a better sandwich spread.
posted by praemunire at 9:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 9:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
...Euro butter doesn't really taste that much better by itself, so I'm not sure I buy that as an excuse. I mean it tastes a little better, but it's not going to blow your mind.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:38 AM on September 20
epony-something-or-other-y...
posted by y2karl at 9:47 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:38 AM on September 20
epony-something-or-other-y...
posted by y2karl at 9:47 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
It’s not just the butterfat percentage it’s also the differences in diet between American and European dairy cows.
But also it’s about if your butter is out a room temperature or kept unspreadable in the fridge, if your sandwich bread is too soft and will disintegrate if you spread something on it, and the quality and flavor of what goes into the sandwich.
IDK, I think animal diets in general are far too broad to be generalizable between entire countries, sandwiches are served at variable temperatures - some hot and capable of melting cold butter, and the bread used for them far too variable on a scale from very soft to very hard to generalize like that.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:47 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
But also it’s about if your butter is out a room temperature or kept unspreadable in the fridge, if your sandwich bread is too soft and will disintegrate if you spread something on it, and the quality and flavor of what goes into the sandwich.
IDK, I think animal diets in general are far too broad to be generalizable between entire countries, sandwiches are served at variable temperatures - some hot and capable of melting cold butter, and the bread used for them far too variable on a scale from very soft to very hard to generalize like that.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:47 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes, Americans do butter their sandwiches. Uh, at least in Wisconsin.
posted by eschatfische at 9:50 AM on September 20, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by eschatfische at 9:50 AM on September 20, 2023 [10 favorites]
More butter, always.
posted by Melismata at 9:51 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 9:51 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Grew up in an American house where butter was laid down before the peanut butter in a PB&J.
BOOM, take that, Europe!
posted by wenestvedt at 9:51 AM on September 20, 2023 [16 favorites]
BOOM, take that, Europe!
posted by wenestvedt at 9:51 AM on September 20, 2023 [16 favorites]
Also chiming in. My Dad buttered every sandwich he made himself.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:53 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:53 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's also both regional and generational here in the US. I grew up as Southern Gen X Team Mayo. My mom, a New England Boomer, grew up as Team Butter. My grandparents, also New Englanders, were stolidly team butter on sandwiches.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:54 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:54 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
I am a mustard person, not a mayo person. Do Europeans put butter on sandwiches with mustard?
Yes, in my case. For example: rye bread, butter, roast beef, fried onions and mustard or horseradish, in that order bottom to top. No top bread.
But just in general, if I were to make a more anglophone ham sandwich, I would butter the bread, put in the ham, maybe some tomato or lettuce (maybe not) and then mustard. Buttering is just something you do to the bread. It isn't a filling in the sandwich, like the mustard is, just part of the structure of 'sandwich'.
posted by Dysk at 9:55 AM on September 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
Yes, in my case. For example: rye bread, butter, roast beef, fried onions and mustard or horseradish, in that order bottom to top. No top bread.
But just in general, if I were to make a more anglophone ham sandwich, I would butter the bread, put in the ham, maybe some tomato or lettuce (maybe not) and then mustard. Buttering is just something you do to the bread. It isn't a filling in the sandwich, like the mustard is, just part of the structure of 'sandwich'.
posted by Dysk at 9:55 AM on September 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
“That butter was fantastic!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, but it’s actually ghee.”
“Ah — thanks for clarifying.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:59 AM on September 20, 2023 [123 favorites]
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, but it’s actually ghee.”
“Ah — thanks for clarifying.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:59 AM on September 20, 2023 [123 favorites]
Do Europeans put butter on sandwiches with mustard?
Yes, because if you put enough English mustard on the bread to actually replace the butter with it, you'd blow your head off.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:59 AM on September 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
Yes, because if you put enough English mustard on the bread to actually replace the butter with it, you'd blow your head off.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:59 AM on September 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
"Why would anyone choose mayo over this?"
Because mayonnaise is the most gourmet of all foods.
"European butter has to have a higher butterfat percentage than American butter and those extra percentages add a lot of flavour. "
Doh! Most of the flavinoids in butter are in the butter solids, not the fat.
posted by 3.2.3 at 10:01 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Because mayonnaise is the most gourmet of all foods.
"European butter has to have a higher butterfat percentage than American butter and those extra percentages add a lot of flavour. "
Doh! Most of the flavinoids in butter are in the butter solids, not the fat.
posted by 3.2.3 at 10:01 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
My mom, from Buffalo NY, always made our sandwiches with butter. Radishes also always got buttered. If we were out of peanut butter, we had butter and jam sandwiches instead of PB&J. We also ate a lot of buttered crackers, usually saltines. My mom also thought mayo was gross and would only use Miracle Whip.
I don't often butter my sandwiches anymore (I prefer a thick layer of mustard instead), and haven't had a buttered radish or saltine in decades. I never got into mayo on sandwiches (my wife love it though) and won't touch Miracle Whip.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:03 AM on September 20, 2023
I don't often butter my sandwiches anymore (I prefer a thick layer of mustard instead), and haven't had a buttered radish or saltine in decades. I never got into mayo on sandwiches (my wife love it though) and won't touch Miracle Whip.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:03 AM on September 20, 2023
Buttered sandwiches is totally a yummy thing I've eaten in the States...also late night kebabs...but is that only a coastal city thing maybe?
I can top the run-of-the-mill American who eats butter on sandwiches though. My Army buddy "J" ate everything AS a sandwich with butter. I mean nearly everything that kid ate was stuffed into heavily buttered white bread. It was "a thing," the whole squad would pack extra loaves and save any surplus white bread we found when out in the field to give him.
Spaghetti bolognese? Put buttered bread around it!
Steamed vegetables? Wrap em up, down they go!
Stew? Messy, but works.
Thanksgiving dinner? You better believe turkey and stuffing fit in a sandwich.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:09 AM on September 20, 2023 [13 favorites]
I can top the run-of-the-mill American who eats butter on sandwiches though. My Army buddy "J" ate everything AS a sandwich with butter. I mean nearly everything that kid ate was stuffed into heavily buttered white bread. It was "a thing," the whole squad would pack extra loaves and save any surplus white bread we found when out in the field to give him.
Spaghetti bolognese? Put buttered bread around it!
Steamed vegetables? Wrap em up, down they go!
Stew? Messy, but works.
Thanksgiving dinner? You better believe turkey and stuffing fit in a sandwich.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:09 AM on September 20, 2023 [13 favorites]
A friend's granddad, Pennsylvania Polish-American, liked to boast he'd "never eaten a slice of bread without butter." Prob true of my Maine-raised grandmother too, and she liked her Hellman's. The greatest generation definately used the butter. This must be another American thing to blame on Boomers.
posted by bendybendy at 10:11 AM on September 20, 2023
posted by bendybendy at 10:11 AM on September 20, 2023
Also corn dogs > sausage rolls.
*blinking white guy gif*
This is a very wrong take.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 10:15 AM on September 20, 2023 [19 favorites]
*blinking white guy gif*
This is a very wrong take.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 10:15 AM on September 20, 2023 [19 favorites]
I'm skeptical of the claim that Europeans all butter their sandwiches. In Spain, a bocadillo is usually a baguette with meat, cheese, or a wedge of potato omelet. Sometimes there's a little mayo, sometimes olive oil, but never butter. Often the sandwich is served sans lubricant.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 10:15 AM on September 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 10:15 AM on September 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Broadly speaking use of butter is more common in Northern European countries, but there are exceptions.
posted by Ballad of Peckham Rye at 10:22 AM on September 20, 2023
posted by Ballad of Peckham Rye at 10:22 AM on September 20, 2023
Just a quick pan-European bit of input:
- Germans cannot conceive of sandwiches (or many other foods) without the presence of butter (or, shudder, margarine).
- French sandwiches will typically require butter as a base, it’s not so much an ingredient as a precondition for putting anything on bread
- Italians and Spanish sandwiches will most likely be unbuttered (and I suspect the fortune that the former had in spreading through the US is part of the reason why butter’s not an a priori there)
Germans and French will also just have bread&butter (some French will dip theirs into their morning caffè au lait); Italians just bread and oil; the Spanish just pan y tomate - all a kind of proto/pre-sandwich, as it were.
posted by progosk at 10:24 AM on September 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
- Germans cannot conceive of sandwiches (or many other foods) without the presence of butter (or, shudder, margarine).
- French sandwiches will typically require butter as a base, it’s not so much an ingredient as a precondition for putting anything on bread
- Italians and Spanish sandwiches will most likely be unbuttered (and I suspect the fortune that the former had in spreading through the US is part of the reason why butter’s not an a priori there)
Germans and French will also just have bread&butter (some French will dip theirs into their morning caffè au lait); Italians just bread and oil; the Spanish just pan y tomate - all a kind of proto/pre-sandwich, as it were.
posted by progosk at 10:24 AM on September 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
I am an American from a butter family. As I kid I ate peanut butter-and-butter sandwiches, for chrissake. The idea that buttering sandwiches isn't done in the US is bananas (which I have probably also eaten in a buttered sandwich).
We don't eat many sandwiches at home these days, and when we do, butter isn't usually the condiment of choice. But we went to Paris this year, where my daughter discovered the pleasure of a really great jambon beurre, so now we have to put American butter on American sandwich bread with Boar's Head ham for her. The resemblance is more conceptual than concrete, unfortunately, but she seems to be happy enough.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:24 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
We don't eat many sandwiches at home these days, and when we do, butter isn't usually the condiment of choice. But we went to Paris this year, where my daughter discovered the pleasure of a really great jambon beurre, so now we have to put American butter on American sandwich bread with Boar's Head ham for her. The resemblance is more conceptual than concrete, unfortunately, but she seems to be happy enough.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:24 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm skeptical of the claim that Europeans all butter their sandwiches
Ditto, and likewise pretty much any blanket assertion about "American" food is going to be wrong. It's a big country.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:25 AM on September 20, 2023 [11 favorites]
Ditto, and likewise pretty much any blanket assertion about "American" food is going to be wrong. It's a big country.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:25 AM on September 20, 2023 [11 favorites]
Also corn dogs > sausage rolls.
Bloody yanks.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 10:26 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Bloody yanks.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 10:26 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
This must be another American thing to blame on Boomers.
posted by y2karl at 10:26 AM on September 20, 2023
posted by y2karl at 10:26 AM on September 20, 2023
What about this: butter the bread and then add mayo. Call it a Euro-American fusion sandwich if that helps.
posted by asnider at 10:29 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by asnider at 10:29 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
the purpose of butter or mayo is to keep damp sandwich items from disintegrating the bread. it's a moisture barrier. butter is that and also a bit of an adhesive, assuming your sandwich is cold. the thought of a chip butty makes my stomach roil but you really couldn't make one without butter, the chips would just fall out. i respect obnoxiously bland foods but for god's sake don't ask me to eat them
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:35 AM on September 20, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:35 AM on September 20, 2023 [11 favorites]
I always thought the European butter, in addition to a higher fat content, is more often cultured (i.e. fermented), whereas typical American grocery store butter is not.
posted by slogger at 10:35 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by slogger at 10:35 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
i will say however, that peanut butter and butter is an acceptable sandwich, while peanut butter and mayo is a horf
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:36 AM on September 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:36 AM on September 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
Now I want a bread butter and sugar sandwich. That was the only (?) way I ever used butter on sandwiches as a kid. Never with peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Never ever with tuna salad sandwiches. Never with baloney sandwiches.
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
That's a bit harsh. Here in the UK we don't do very well for Mexican food: I can only think of one place within 10 miles where I might be able to get tacos Al Pastor.
As I see your profile says London, you need to get yourself over to Homies on Donkeys in Leytonstone. They don't always have al pastor, but it's got a strong argument to be the best place for tacos in London.
posted by knapah at 10:52 AM on September 20, 2023
As I see your profile says London, you need to get yourself over to Homies on Donkeys in Leytonstone. They don't always have al pastor, but it's got a strong argument to be the best place for tacos in London.
posted by knapah at 10:52 AM on September 20, 2023
I could see butter and ham, but butter and salami sounds kind of gross to me. Do Italians eat butter on their sandwiches? I think at least some American sandwich traditions come from East Coast delis that were making sandwiches with Italian meats, and I've never had a sub with butter on it.
posted by doctor_negative at 10:52 AM on September 20, 2023
posted by doctor_negative at 10:52 AM on September 20, 2023
The grilled cheese sandwich, at least in my family, always begins with a fine buttering.
posted by Atreides at 10:52 AM on September 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Atreides at 10:52 AM on September 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
I love buttered bread, and frequently had buttered crackers growing up, but never had butter on a sandwich until I tried a bread-and-butter pickle sandwich on buttered bread. Delicious.
posted by indexy at 10:57 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by indexy at 10:57 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Italians do not do this. They might put a pesto on it though.
posted by vacapinta at 10:58 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by vacapinta at 10:58 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
I've made my own cultured butter from unhomogenized, non-UHT pasteurized milk plus a little kefir milk (to add culture back in), it's not hard. It was good, I make it now and then for special occasions, but I didn't find the difference between it and regular butter enough to make me want to permanently substitute all of my butter with it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:05 AM on September 20, 2023
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:05 AM on September 20, 2023
I am a big buttered sandwich believer.
One of the latest iterations of my practice, before I had to give bread up altogether, was one part really ripe blue cheese mashed up with three parts butter as a base layer on the bread of each side of the sandwich.
After I developed celiac disease, I reprised and upgraded my favorite childhood after school snack of an 8oz. bag of potato chips with a cube of softened butter as a dip to the mixture of blue cheese and butter with highly satisfactory results.
posted by jamjam at 11:10 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
One of the latest iterations of my practice, before I had to give bread up altogether, was one part really ripe blue cheese mashed up with three parts butter as a base layer on the bread of each side of the sandwich.
After I developed celiac disease, I reprised and upgraded my favorite childhood after school snack of an 8oz. bag of potato chips with a cube of softened butter as a dip to the mixture of blue cheese and butter with highly satisfactory results.
posted by jamjam at 11:10 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
This has made me remember a sandwich my mother and I used to make starting when I was, like, 3 or 4? We copied it out of a picture book; I no longer remember the book, just the sandwich. It was white bread, butter, iceburg lettuce, applesauce and powdered sugar. That sounds completely horrific to me now but as a preschooler and, honestly, even up until I was in 6th grade or so? I loved it so much.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:10 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:10 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
I find Canadians are a weird outlier here (I'm sure there's likely regional differences). In my youth (70s and 80s) all sandwiches were buttered when coming from home. With the incursion of US chains or chains making US style sandwiches buttering was something you'd have to ask for if available at all. Delis rarely seemed to have buttering as an option but many small non-chain sub shops offered buttering as default and you'd have to ask them not to do this.
Often the key is quality of butter and layering of the fillings in the sandwich for optimal texture and tastiness.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:23 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Often the key is quality of butter and layering of the fillings in the sandwich for optimal texture and tastiness.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:23 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sometimes I want butter, sometimes I want mayo and mustard. Sometimes I do not want any of that (my PB&J is unbuttered, thank you very much). And to be honest, buttered sandwiches were mostly of the rye bread-butter-sauerkraut-kielbasa kind. And Thanksgiving leftovers sandwiches. Nowadays, I keep my dairy and meat separate and mayo is parve so that is that. And heavy on the mustard, please. Though I bet schmaltz and/or gribenes would be great on a leftover turkey & fixings sandwich.
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:24 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:24 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
The idea that buttering sandwiches isn't done in the US is bananas (which I have probably also eaten in a buttered sandwich).
My grandfather would eat butter and banana sandwiches, in addition to just plain butter sandwiches. And not a smear of butter, either. He would layer in 3/8" thick slabs of butter (i.e., most of a full stick of butter) over the full piece of bread. As a kid I found watching him eat those to be intensely gross.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:26 AM on September 20, 2023
My grandfather would eat butter and banana sandwiches, in addition to just plain butter sandwiches. And not a smear of butter, either. He would layer in 3/8" thick slabs of butter (i.e., most of a full stick of butter) over the full piece of bread. As a kid I found watching him eat those to be intensely gross.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:26 AM on September 20, 2023
None of this stuff is either/or. I love a good quality baguette with butter and a single slice of decent smoked ham. It's mainly about enjoying the great bread with a bit of ham and butter flavor. It's a great breakfast sandwich.
When I'm in the mood for something more substantial I go a la americaine and add the swiss cheese, sun dried tomato, a huge amount of arugula, sliced tomato and onion, grainy mustard AND mayo. It's also delicious to my taste buds.
We contain sandwich multitudes, people. We can eat all the things.
posted by newpotato at 11:27 AM on September 20, 2023 [18 favorites]
When I'm in the mood for something more substantial I go a la americaine and add the swiss cheese, sun dried tomato, a huge amount of arugula, sliced tomato and onion, grainy mustard AND mayo. It's also delicious to my taste buds.
We contain sandwich multitudes, people. We can eat all the things.
posted by newpotato at 11:27 AM on September 20, 2023 [18 favorites]
My mother always buttered the bread probably because she grew up on a dairy farm where they churned their own so it’s normal for me. I can’t find decent butter in my area and I’ve tried the imported ones. If only I could find Lurpak. Organic Valley has some cultured butter (at last!) but I guess it wasn’t selling well enough around here so no more.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:31 AM on September 20, 2023
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:31 AM on September 20, 2023
Yes, Americans do butter their sandwiches . Uh, at least in Wisconsin.
My mom, from Buffalo NY, always made our sandwiches with butter.I'm from Iowa. Sometimes we used butter, sometimes mayo, and it was never a big deal either way. I suspect that they don't butter sandwiches in New York City or Los Angeles, and the whole debate is a generalization from there.
Also, mayonnaise is a wonderful condiment and it's too bad that it's become a proxy target in these kinds of cultural debates, because people are missing out. I feel like I've seen a lot of US-centric comments denigrating mayo as white people food, but it's famously used as a topping for corn in Mexico, and I just got back from a trip to Taiwan where I was served more than one dish that included a heap of mayo for dipping (a couple times it was bamboo shoots and another time it was fried fish balls). Oh, and in the last mayo thread people were enthusiastically recommending the Japanese brand Kewpie.
posted by jomato at 11:55 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
I have a confession. I have replaced the butter in my cheese-on-toast with HP Sauce.
posted by biffa at 12:02 PM on September 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by biffa at 12:02 PM on September 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Use butter on your grilled cheese, but that's the only sandwich where it's acceptable. Don't use mayo, it's wrong on so many levels. I've tried roasted garlic aioli but was disappointed and went back to butter.
posted by tommasz at 12:04 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 12:04 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Illinois/Wisconsin here, and I grew up thinking of butter (although it was usually margarine when I was a kid) on bread or toast, occasionally with other things; I liked the combination of butter with peanut butter, and also developed a taste for mac and cheese on buttered bread. And, say what you will about the bulletproof coffee fad, but there's nothing wrong with blending butter into your coffee; it's practically the same as heavy cream, after all.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:05 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:05 PM on September 20, 2023
While we're doing the Americans vs Europeans in re sandwiches thing let me just drop this link right here, in which an American TikTok "influencer" goes to a Portuguese restaurant, orders a Francesinha, and then eats it with his hands as if it were a burger.
posted by chavenet at 12:07 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 12:07 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
None of this stuff is either/or.
Agreed. I appreciate a good US-style sandwich but jambon beurre is the shit. It's simple, not heavy (thus perfect for a quick lunch), and emphasizes quality vs quantity. Get a good baguette and decent ham and you're set. Also, slight tangent but the best sandwich I've ever had anywhere was at a random sandwich place in Paris. Just a simple hot ham and cheese sandwich but multiple types of cheese and OMG it was perfect. Gotta go with the French on this one.
posted by photo guy at 12:08 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
Agreed. I appreciate a good US-style sandwich but jambon beurre is the shit. It's simple, not heavy (thus perfect for a quick lunch), and emphasizes quality vs quantity. Get a good baguette and decent ham and you're set. Also, slight tangent but the best sandwich I've ever had anywhere was at a random sandwich place in Paris. Just a simple hot ham and cheese sandwich but multiple types of cheese and OMG it was perfect. Gotta go with the French on this one.
posted by photo guy at 12:08 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
> I have a confession. I have replaced the butter in my cheese-on-toast with HP Sauce.
i am reading this as harry potter sauce and am completely baffled. is this made with butterbeer?
posted by Clowder of bats at 12:09 PM on September 20, 2023
i am reading this as harry potter sauce and am completely baffled. is this made with butterbeer?
posted by Clowder of bats at 12:09 PM on September 20, 2023
HP sauce is a savory brown sauce popular in the UK - an American equivalent is A1.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:14 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:14 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
God I love HP sauce. Shame my supermarket only has Chef brown sauce (and it's like $7 for a small bottle, no thank you).
posted by uncleozzy at 12:26 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by uncleozzy at 12:26 PM on September 20, 2023
There's a place around the corner from us that does a black pudding sausage roll. I couldn't eat one every day, but the days when I do are good days.
posted by Hogshead at 12:27 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Hogshead at 12:27 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
There's no HP sauce in the US? I guess this is one of those times when Canada leans more toward the British than the American (though you can also buy A1 here and both are owned by Heinz).
Looking it up, I see the markets for HP sauce are: Europe, Canada.
posted by asnider at 12:33 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Looking it up, I see the markets for HP sauce are: Europe, Canada.
posted by asnider at 12:33 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Growing up in northern Minnesota and descended from Swedish immigrants, all church lunches came with butter and ham on dinner roll sandwiches.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:34 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ArgentCorvid at 12:34 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Butter is far better than mayo on grilled cheese sandwiches. I tried substituting mayo for butter on a GC once, it was greasy and lacked the rich sweet flavor of butter that works together so well with proper cheese.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:38 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:38 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
HP sauce is a savory brown sauce popular in the UK - an American equivalent is A1.
Hmm, I would never consider HP equivalent to A1, in the sense that I would never soak my eggs and sausage with it. I guess they are both complex umami-laden sweet-sour brown sauces, but to me A1 is very much a thing you only put on steak.
My dad was a sandwich-butterer, but my Nana was from England so maybe that's why. I don't butter sandwiches now, but a jambon beurre sandwich is a thing of lovely simplicity that just works. I put butter on bread before Nutella but to me that does not count as a sandwich.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:52 PM on September 20, 2023
My family didn't much use butter or mayo on sandwiches while I was growing up in New Jersey. The one exception I can remember is sandwiches with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. They got the butter treatment, but turkey will do that. I ate a lot of salami and cheese sandwiches as school lunches, and would never think about putting mayo that.
If I had to choose what to use a sandwich, I'd opt for butter without question as I don't like mayo, but I usually make dry sandwiches and they seem fine to me. The interesting exception, to me, is if I get an Italian hoagie (you may know it as a sub with a few types of ham, salami, provolone, shredded lettuce, tomato, and onion). That requires oil and red wine vinegar. The pizza places I usually get one from don't put mayo on it, but I have seen other places put mayo on hoagies. That just seems flat out wrong to me. I think it's because I associate hoagies with Italian-American pizza places where mayo doesn't seem the right ingredient.
posted by mollweide at 12:57 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
If I had to choose what to use a sandwich, I'd opt for butter without question as I don't like mayo, but I usually make dry sandwiches and they seem fine to me. The interesting exception, to me, is if I get an Italian hoagie (you may know it as a sub with a few types of ham, salami, provolone, shredded lettuce, tomato, and onion). That requires oil and red wine vinegar. The pizza places I usually get one from don't put mayo on it, but I have seen other places put mayo on hoagies. That just seems flat out wrong to me. I think it's because I associate hoagies with Italian-American pizza places where mayo doesn't seem the right ingredient.
posted by mollweide at 12:57 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I like butter, and my peanut butter sandwiches used to always have butter. (Or margarine, which fooled me when I was a kid but which I have been rejecting out of hand for the past 30 years.)
Sadly, keeping butter in the fridge, and tending to use soft bread for sandwiches, don't make a great combination. Butter is a must for toast, biscuits (that's scones to some of you, I guess), waffles, pancakes etc.
posted by Foosnark at 1:02 PM on September 20, 2023
Sadly, keeping butter in the fridge, and tending to use soft bread for sandwiches, don't make a great combination. Butter is a must for toast, biscuits (that's scones to some of you, I guess), waffles, pancakes etc.
posted by Foosnark at 1:02 PM on September 20, 2023
There's no HP sauce in the US?
I have seen it in the condiment aisle in our big supermarket, but I live in a college town and we have more import items than many other towns in the U.S.
posted by aught at 1:04 PM on September 20, 2023
I have seen it in the condiment aisle in our big supermarket, but I live in a college town and we have more import items than many other towns in the U.S.
posted by aught at 1:04 PM on September 20, 2023
sandwiches with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. They got the butter treatment, but turkey will do that.
Interesting! I'd think turkey calls for mayo, not butter!
posted by asnider at 1:05 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Interesting! I'd think turkey calls for mayo, not butter!
posted by asnider at 1:05 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Leftover turkey calls for mustard
posted by Windopaene at 1:07 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 1:07 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, for another data point, my parents usually buttered sandwiches, and both grew up working class in the Northeast U.S. In my own college-educated and -employed adulthood I lean toward mayo (except on toast, which I slather with butter).
posted by aught at 1:08 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by aught at 1:08 PM on September 20, 2023
Leftover turkey calls for mustard
I would have said a ridiculous amount of mayo, copious salt, and like a half shaker of black pepper on a leftover turkey sandwich, with a layer of crunchy iceberg lettuce if one has it on hand.
posted by aught at 1:10 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
I would have said a ridiculous amount of mayo, copious salt, and like a half shaker of black pepper on a leftover turkey sandwich, with a layer of crunchy iceberg lettuce if one has it on hand.
posted by aught at 1:10 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
We were talking about this on mefi.social the other day and it came up that several of us Americans who do put butter on our sandwiches were Appalachian or had family from Appalachia. Could just be anecdata, but I sort of suspect it's yet another "weird thing Appalachian people do" that ends up being a totally normal European thing to do that Appalachians kept doing after other Americans had quit.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:16 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:16 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I know a few sandwich shops that do a "thanksgiving leftover" sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.
posted by LionIndex at 1:16 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by LionIndex at 1:16 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
The "nice" Kroger's in Cincinnati carry HP Sauce in the "English" section of the International aisle.
posted by mmascolino at 1:21 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mmascolino at 1:21 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Butter is typical here in New Zealand. I'll point out that if you make a sandwich with a wet ingredient, say a pickle or a sliced tomato, a layer of butter stops the bread from getting soggy.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:26 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:26 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
I like butter, and my peanut butter sandwiches used to always have butter.
My current breakfast is butter and peanut butter on an english muffin, in about 50/50 proportions. so good.
Sadly, keeping butter in the fridge, and tending to use soft bread for sandwiches, don't make a great combination.
Salted butter keeps just fine at room temperature, and spreads like...well like butter.
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:33 PM on September 20, 2023
My current breakfast is butter and peanut butter on an english muffin, in about 50/50 proportions. so good.
Sadly, keeping butter in the fridge, and tending to use soft bread for sandwiches, don't make a great combination.
Salted butter keeps just fine at room temperature, and spreads like...well like butter.
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:33 PM on September 20, 2023
Another American here chiming in to say that I too grew up thinking that butter is acceptable in any sandwich made with peanut butter. I grew up in New Jersey, and my parents are from Massachusetts.
My take is that American culture basically has a division between sweet and savory sandwiches, although we don't generally call it that. Sweet sandwich ingredients include such things as peanut butter, jams and jellies, and butter. Savory ingredients include meat, lettuce, cheese, and mayo. These are not complete lists, and we're never explicitly taught this categorization, but we have a strong intuitive sense of what ingredients belong in which group, and that you do not put both sweet and savory ingredients on the same sandwich.
I've been told that the British find the idea of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich revolting, even though it's a staple of American childhoods. While I think this is mainly because "jelly" means different things -- in America, it means a kind of pulpless pectin-based jam, whereas in Britain it means a gelatin-based dessert like Jell-O -- I suspect it's also because the whole idea of sweet sandwiches is basically an American thing.
Also, if the idea that peanut butter goes in the sweet group sounds strange to you, you're probably unfamiliar with American peanut butter.
posted by baf at 1:33 PM on September 20, 2023
My take is that American culture basically has a division between sweet and savory sandwiches, although we don't generally call it that. Sweet sandwich ingredients include such things as peanut butter, jams and jellies, and butter. Savory ingredients include meat, lettuce, cheese, and mayo. These are not complete lists, and we're never explicitly taught this categorization, but we have a strong intuitive sense of what ingredients belong in which group, and that you do not put both sweet and savory ingredients on the same sandwich.
I've been told that the British find the idea of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich revolting, even though it's a staple of American childhoods. While I think this is mainly because "jelly" means different things -- in America, it means a kind of pulpless pectin-based jam, whereas in Britain it means a gelatin-based dessert like Jell-O -- I suspect it's also because the whole idea of sweet sandwiches is basically an American thing.
Also, if the idea that peanut butter goes in the sweet group sounds strange to you, you're probably unfamiliar with American peanut butter.
posted by baf at 1:33 PM on September 20, 2023
While we're doing the Americans vs Europeans in re sandwiches thing let me just drop this link right here, in which an American TikTok "influencer" goes to a Portuguese restaurant, orders a Francesinha, and then eats it with his hands as if it were a burger.
OK, that is just not civilised. Sorry.
Anyways, I think part of the butter vs. mayo thing is that the butter needs to be fresh and probably cultured. I came to this conclusion when reading about the left-over turkey sandwiches; the thing is, I don't like turkey in any shape, but I do like leftover goose and duck very much, to the extent that it is a central part of my personal Christmas ritual to get up before anyone else and make a leftover goose sandwich. Whole rye bread or toast, very good fresh butter (read the date on the stick when you buy it), roast goose, salt flakes, pickled red cabbage. Sometimes I'll fit in a smear of dijon somewhere, but tbh it is not important. This would not be right with mayo. It is very right with goose fat, which you should have plenty of, but cold, bright butter is the best. The salt flakes are a texture thing. I put some fruit jelly in my red cabbage, most often red currants, but it could be cranberry sauce, or quince jelly or even plum jelly.
Good thing it is soon Thanksgiving for you guys, St. Martin's for us. We have goose on St. Martin's because of the legend where he hid among the geese to avoid becoming a bishop.
re.: peanut butter and jelly. To me, the problem is the bread. I like peanut butter on hard rye bread, so there is a textural contrast. I can put jelly or fresh slices of apple on top. But peanut butter on soft bread is very unappealing.
posted by mumimor at 1:37 PM on September 20, 2023
OK, that is just not civilised. Sorry.
Anyways, I think part of the butter vs. mayo thing is that the butter needs to be fresh and probably cultured. I came to this conclusion when reading about the left-over turkey sandwiches; the thing is, I don't like turkey in any shape, but I do like leftover goose and duck very much, to the extent that it is a central part of my personal Christmas ritual to get up before anyone else and make a leftover goose sandwich. Whole rye bread or toast, very good fresh butter (read the date on the stick when you buy it), roast goose, salt flakes, pickled red cabbage. Sometimes I'll fit in a smear of dijon somewhere, but tbh it is not important. This would not be right with mayo. It is very right with goose fat, which you should have plenty of, but cold, bright butter is the best. The salt flakes are a texture thing. I put some fruit jelly in my red cabbage, most often red currants, but it could be cranberry sauce, or quince jelly or even plum jelly.
Good thing it is soon Thanksgiving for you guys, St. Martin's for us. We have goose on St. Martin's because of the legend where he hid among the geese to avoid becoming a bishop.
re.: peanut butter and jelly. To me, the problem is the bread. I like peanut butter on hard rye bread, so there is a textural contrast. I can put jelly or fresh slices of apple on top. But peanut butter on soft bread is very unappealing.
posted by mumimor at 1:37 PM on September 20, 2023
Interesting! I'd think turkey calls for mayo, not butter!
Yeah, I find it interesting my parents didn't put mayo or butter on any sandwich unless was butter on a leftover turkey sandwich. I can see where mayo would be fine if you're mayo inclined.
posted by mollweide at 1:39 PM on September 20, 2023
Yeah, I find it interesting my parents didn't put mayo or butter on any sandwich unless was butter on a leftover turkey sandwich. I can see where mayo would be fine if you're mayo inclined.
posted by mollweide at 1:39 PM on September 20, 2023
I've had buttered bread with ham and cheese and lumpy mustard with whole mustards in it, apply judiciously. FOR HIKING. Because buttered bread holds up better in field conditions. At home, it's mayo.
posted by which_chick at 1:40 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by which_chick at 1:40 PM on September 20, 2023
I'd think turkey calls for mayo, not butter!
Leftover turkey calls for mustard
I call for both - mayo for lube/fat for dry turkey, mustard for flavor.
Although when it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers, I do love a turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich (I've even been known to add stuffing/dressing to it) - no mustard in that case, but mayo is necessary to keep the sauce from making the bread soggy.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:41 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Leftover turkey calls for mustard
I call for both - mayo for lube/fat for dry turkey, mustard for flavor.
Although when it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers, I do love a turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich (I've even been known to add stuffing/dressing to it) - no mustard in that case, but mayo is necessary to keep the sauce from making the bread soggy.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:41 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I also grew up in an Midwestern American household where my dad buttered every sandwich he made. My theory as to why Americans don't do that so much anymore boils down to two things: 1) it is my perception that Americans are more susceptible than other nations about food fads, and there was a strong anti-fat/anti-butter movement in the 80s and 90s, which effectively killed the tradition for subsequent generations, and 2) most American sandwiches are made with weak bread, while butter is typically stored in the fridge. You can't spread it like you can mayonnaise. If you have a nice fresh baguette, and high-quality room temperature butter, then it's delicious.
posted by tempestuoso at 1:41 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tempestuoso at 1:41 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
As a hater of mayo, it's nice to see butter mentioned as a sandwich spread.
(And what is it with sauces and spreads being put on in vast quantities? Do people not have teeth? Perhaps just have the whole thing pureed. If the spread is dripping out of the sandwich, that is a defect [and gross, to boot], not a feature.)
posted by maxwelton at 1:58 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
(And what is it with sauces and spreads being put on in vast quantities? Do people not have teeth? Perhaps just have the whole thing pureed. If the spread is dripping out of the sandwich, that is a defect [and gross, to boot], not a feature.)
posted by maxwelton at 1:58 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
If the spread is dripping out of the sandwich, that is a defect
Counterpoint: The best sandwiches require you to wash your hands when done.
Add me to the "Although we don't need to, we habitually we store butter in the fridge, which makes it less ...smooth like butter?, and thus not optimal for a sandwich spread." tallly
posted by mikelieman at 2:03 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
Counterpoint: The best sandwiches require you to wash your hands when done.
Add me to the "Although we don't need to, we habitually we store butter in the fridge, which makes it less ...smooth like butter?, and thus not optimal for a sandwich spread." tallly
posted by mikelieman at 2:03 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
As Australia wakes up to this thread, can I check in on whether butter or margarine is best for fairy bread? Party coming up …
posted by jjderooy at 2:03 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by jjderooy at 2:03 PM on September 20, 2023
Margerine is an unacceptable substitute for butter, in any context I can imagine. I will die on this hill.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:06 PM on September 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:06 PM on September 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
I feel that I was traumatised as a child because my stepdad insisted on margarine over butter. Not in Australia, but just saying... My therapist finds this was a minor element of the abuse in my family, but I feel it was major
posted by mumimor at 2:08 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mumimor at 2:08 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
We contain sandwich multitudes, people. We can eat all the things.
posted by newpotato at 8:27 PM on September 20
So much this.
The Sandwich, whatever else it might be to whomever wherever, is also the everchanging neverfinding yearning to impose a unique moment of ordered control on the world before accepting the ephemeral, transient, hand-to-face-applicative nature of existence.
I'm a Brit living in France, and I will with no apologies endorse a baguette de tradition split down the middle, stuffed with paté de campagne and sliced cornichons, one side of the bread spread with garlic and crushed toasted fennel seed mayo, the other with Breton unsalted butter compounded with Lao Gan Ma chili crisp.
posted by protorp at 2:32 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by newpotato at 8:27 PM on September 20
So much this.
The Sandwich, whatever else it might be to whomever wherever, is also the everchanging neverfinding yearning to impose a unique moment of ordered control on the world before accepting the ephemeral, transient, hand-to-face-applicative nature of existence.
I'm a Brit living in France, and I will with no apologies endorse a baguette de tradition split down the middle, stuffed with paté de campagne and sliced cornichons, one side of the bread spread with garlic and crushed toasted fennel seed mayo, the other with Breton unsalted butter compounded with Lao Gan Ma chili crisp.
posted by protorp at 2:32 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
re.: peanut butter and jelly. To me, the problem is the bread. I like peanut butter on hard rye bread, so there is a textural contrast. I can put jelly or fresh slices of apple on top. But peanut butter on soft bread is very unappealing.
Reminds me of my most recent eating fad, once I stated making these it's become my preferred:
Instead of PB&J I sub out the jelly for seedless grapes cut in half. It only takes about five or six grapes per sandwich. I switched ages ago to the natural kind of peanut butter that doesn't have added sugar, and regular jam or jelly, unless used very sparsely, overwhelmed the PB. Grapes still add a sweetness though much gentler than jam, and it gives the sandwich much needed moisture with the added benefit of a snappy crunch when you bite it. Highly recommend.
posted by newpotato at 2:41 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Reminds me of my most recent eating fad, once I stated making these it's become my preferred:
Instead of PB&J I sub out the jelly for seedless grapes cut in half. It only takes about five or six grapes per sandwich. I switched ages ago to the natural kind of peanut butter that doesn't have added sugar, and regular jam or jelly, unless used very sparsely, overwhelmed the PB. Grapes still add a sweetness though much gentler than jam, and it gives the sandwich much needed moisture with the added benefit of a snappy crunch when you bite it. Highly recommend.
posted by newpotato at 2:41 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yes, Americans do butter their sandwiches. Uh, at least in Wisconsin.
I'm laughing because when I went to visit a college boyfriend in Milwaukee his mother was making ham sandwiches and called out "what do you want on your sandwiches besides butter" and I thought I surely must have heard her wrong because why on earth would butter go on a meat sandwich? I grew up only one state south and it was a whole different world.
(Note: at some point in my adulthood I discovered that butter absolutely goes on salami sandwiches. No other meat sandwiches--yet, anyway--but butter works with hard salami because it just amplifies salami's inherent greasiness in a way that mayo or mustard does not.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 2:44 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm laughing because when I went to visit a college boyfriend in Milwaukee his mother was making ham sandwiches and called out "what do you want on your sandwiches besides butter" and I thought I surely must have heard her wrong because why on earth would butter go on a meat sandwich? I grew up only one state south and it was a whole different world.
(Note: at some point in my adulthood I discovered that butter absolutely goes on salami sandwiches. No other meat sandwiches--yet, anyway--but butter works with hard salami because it just amplifies salami's inherent greasiness in a way that mayo or mustard does not.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 2:44 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's important to have a layer of butter thick enough to see your teeth marks in.
posted by knapah at 2:46 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by knapah at 2:46 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
My guess is that the inflection point here is the 1980s. Most of the recipes on Sandwiches of History are before 1970, and most come from American cookbooks and start with buttered bread. But over the 1980s the influences in ever-expanding fern bars and sandwich chains becomes Italian, Jewish and vegetarian/Moosewood hippy/heath nut yuppie approaches to sandwiches. Stick it on a pita, a bagel, a ciabatta, a thick slice of whole grain. None of those approaches are gonna use butter.
Hmm, maybe it’s not the thoughts about fillings that changed so much as the breads.
posted by bendybendy at 2:47 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Hmm, maybe it’s not the thoughts about fillings that changed so much as the breads.
posted by bendybendy at 2:47 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I HAVE THOUGHTS. When I was about seven, my mother would routinely make me sandwiches to bring in my bag lunch to school. MY MOTHER PUT BUTTER ON THESE SANDWICHES and it was HORRIBLE. Eventually I got enough courage to say, mom, please not more butter on my sandwiches. Her response? (my mother was a tough cookie). Well you can make your own lunch then Bluesky! Not my fondest memory. I don't think she held me to it though.
posted by bluesky43 at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by bluesky43 at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2023
Also today in sandwiches, the Spanish Guardia Civil tweeted out a recommendation not to celebrate World Paella Day with a(n English) Tesco Paella sandwich. Just so we're all clear.
posted by ambrosen at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by ambrosen at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Never did butter or mayo in sandwiches. Except for an occasional peanut butter & butter or grilled cheese.
posted by cuscutis at 3:30 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by cuscutis at 3:30 PM on September 20, 2023
Our child declared she would not eat jelly, so I made her a plain peanut butter sandwich. Then our child declared it was too dry, and had the brilliant idea to maybe just have a lunch of white bread and potato chips please?
My partner, a Yankee-American, huffed and spread peanut butter on one slice of bread, then butter on the other, and served the sandwich while I looked on in horror. Such a violation of sandwich law had never occurred to me, but apparently in my partner's came-over-on-the-Mayflower family a sandwich wasn't a sandwich unless it had butter on it.
Child licked it suspiciously, then took a bite, then happily ate it.
And that is why 10 years later my actual teenager eats peanut-butter-and-butter sandwiches and tells the haters in the cafeteria to fuck off.
posted by xthlc at 3:36 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
My partner, a Yankee-American, huffed and spread peanut butter on one slice of bread, then butter on the other, and served the sandwich while I looked on in horror. Such a violation of sandwich law had never occurred to me, but apparently in my partner's came-over-on-the-Mayflower family a sandwich wasn't a sandwich unless it had butter on it.
Child licked it suspiciously, then took a bite, then happily ate it.
And that is why 10 years later my actual teenager eats peanut-butter-and-butter sandwiches and tells the haters in the cafeteria to fuck off.
posted by xthlc at 3:36 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
If you really want to plus up a PB&J, use apricot jam and add a dusting of red pepper flakes.
posted by rifflesby at 3:44 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by rifflesby at 3:44 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
or cinnamon, if what you really want is dessert.
posted by rifflesby at 3:45 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by rifflesby at 3:45 PM on September 20, 2023
I once had the experience of explaining my [Australian, Anglo] grandparents’ diet to a Japanese man. ‘Dripping’ is the accumulated fats from grilled meat, collected and reused both as cooking fat and as a substitute for butter. In the early 20thC lamb and mutton were the cheapest meats in rural NSW, and the thing my grandfather liked the best was ‘bread and dripping’: congealed cold spread mutton grease on bread.
I won’t forget the look of incomprehension that turned into horror, and then disgust…
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:07 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I won’t forget the look of incomprehension that turned into horror, and then disgust…
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:07 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here in the UK we don't do very well for Mexican food: I can only think of one place within 10 miles where I might be able to get tacos Al Pastor.
That's because the British Empire never conquered Mexico. British food is bad but they conquered places like India for their yummy curries.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:15 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
That's because the British Empire never conquered Mexico. British food is bad but they conquered places like India for their yummy curries.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:15 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Though honestly peanut butter and honey sandwiches are better. Don't do pb honey and butter though, because the honey must sink into the bread or it will make a colossal mess. though i guess you could put the butter on the bottom slice and then the honey on the top slice and then spread the pb over the butter. i am not sure about this.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:27 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:27 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
... the everchanging neverfinding yearning to impose a unique moment of ordered control on the world before accepting the ephemeral, transient, hand-to-face-applicative nature of existence.
I mean, I just think sandwiches taste good.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:38 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I mean, I just think sandwiches taste good.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:38 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm not strict or orthodox about it but when I want a nice sandwich of any kind I use butter, especially if I'm toasting the bread. Doesn't matter if it's peanut butter sandwich or a hamburger or a cold cut sandwich with mayo and mustard, a nice thin layer of warm/soft butter keeps your sandwich from soaking up moisture from condiments.
This is especially true for a nice grilled cheese, except you don't butter the outside, you butter the inside so there''s butter between the bread and cheese. The outside gets a very thin but very even coat of mayo on light to medium toasted bread and *then* you grill the sandwich.
But I've worked in commercial kitchens. If you've ever had a really good burger or burger-like sandwich and wondered how it doesn't get too soggy and holds up and is just extra good, the secret is butter. Not too much, just a nice seal on the insides of the buns and toasted/grilled a bit on the flat top or in a pan, then assemble with condiments and veggies.
And this is also true of most restaurant sandwiches of any kind whether the bread is toasted in a toaster and/or grilled or if the whole sandwich is pressed and grilled or whatever.
I don't know where the article is getting this idea that Americans don't butter their sandwiches. I mean I would guess that most people making a cheap/quick bologna or ham and cheese sandwich on cold, untoasted bread don't butter the bread, but damn near any hot sandwich from a deli or basically anywhere above a fast food chain or Subway or whatever is buttering the bread, and it's not just for flavor or sandwich lube.
A thin smear of butter keeps the bread from going totally soggy in seconds from the moisture of condiments, pickles, tomatoes, meat or whatever else.
Like I have never worked somewhere where we made sandwiches or burgers and we didn't butter the bread in some form.
posted by loquacious at 4:50 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
This is especially true for a nice grilled cheese, except you don't butter the outside, you butter the inside so there''s butter between the bread and cheese. The outside gets a very thin but very even coat of mayo on light to medium toasted bread and *then* you grill the sandwich.
But I've worked in commercial kitchens. If you've ever had a really good burger or burger-like sandwich and wondered how it doesn't get too soggy and holds up and is just extra good, the secret is butter. Not too much, just a nice seal on the insides of the buns and toasted/grilled a bit on the flat top or in a pan, then assemble with condiments and veggies.
And this is also true of most restaurant sandwiches of any kind whether the bread is toasted in a toaster and/or grilled or if the whole sandwich is pressed and grilled or whatever.
I don't know where the article is getting this idea that Americans don't butter their sandwiches. I mean I would guess that most people making a cheap/quick bologna or ham and cheese sandwich on cold, untoasted bread don't butter the bread, but damn near any hot sandwich from a deli or basically anywhere above a fast food chain or Subway or whatever is buttering the bread, and it's not just for flavor or sandwich lube.
A thin smear of butter keeps the bread from going totally soggy in seconds from the moisture of condiments, pickles, tomatoes, meat or whatever else.
Like I have never worked somewhere where we made sandwiches or burgers and we didn't butter the bread in some form.
posted by loquacious at 4:50 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
As Australia wakes up to this thread, can I check in on whether butter or margarine is best for fairy bread? Party coming up …
The kids literally give no fucks, they lust only for the sugar. My adult palette demands the butter. However, no fancy sourdoughs here, you must use the softest crappiest tip top white bread available. This is non negotiable.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:50 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
The kids literally give no fucks, they lust only for the sugar. My adult palette demands the butter. However, no fancy sourdoughs here, you must use the softest crappiest tip top white bread available. This is non negotiable.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:50 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I once had the experience of explaining my [Australian, Anglo] grandparents’ diet to a Japanese man. ‘Dripping’ is the accumulated fats from grilled meat, collected and reused both as cooking fat and as a substitute for butter. In the early 20thC lamb and mutton were the cheapest meats in rural NSW, and the thing my grandfather liked the best was ‘bread and dripping’: congealed cold spread mutton grease on bread.
So, now that I think about it, your description is obvious. But as someone who had only ever encountered bread and dripping in books, I had always imagined it being hot fatty gravy-ish stuff. Basically, the yummy stuff off the pan, not just the grease.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:52 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
So, now that I think about it, your description is obvious. But as someone who had only ever encountered bread and dripping in books, I had always imagined it being hot fatty gravy-ish stuff. Basically, the yummy stuff off the pan, not just the grease.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:52 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes, because if you put enough English mustard on the bread to actually replace the butter with it, you'd blow your head off.
Oh, please. I can eat spoonfuls of Colman's right out of the jar. Chinese hot mustard barely gets me lachrymose. I once ate an entire tube of pseudo-wasabi on saltine crackers just because I wanted to feel something. Granted, I've also chewed on fresh horseradish stalks because: Wow.
If there's anything indigenous to the British Isles spicy enough to blow one's head off I would very much like to meet it because apparently you guys have been hiding it behind the Bovril and Jellied Eels.
posted by loquacious at 5:01 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, please. I can eat spoonfuls of Colman's right out of the jar. Chinese hot mustard barely gets me lachrymose. I once ate an entire tube of pseudo-wasabi on saltine crackers just because I wanted to feel something. Granted, I've also chewed on fresh horseradish stalks because: Wow.
If there's anything indigenous to the British Isles spicy enough to blow one's head off I would very much like to meet it because apparently you guys have been hiding it behind the Bovril and Jellied Eels.
posted by loquacious at 5:01 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Granted, I've also chewed on fresh horseradish stalks because: Wow.
I once worked on a "farm", which was more hippie-commune than actual farm and no records were ever kept of who planted what where. While tilling a fallow field I uncovered a patch of horseradish in one corner that clearly someone had planted/cultivated at some point in the past, probably years ago. I stopped, cut off and skinned a fat piece of root, and started happily munched on it - so intensely tasty and wonderful! - until I took too large a bite of it by accident and nearly did blow my head off. I was so woozy and sick I had to sit down for a while to recover.
I finished eating the piece though, and harvested quite a bit more for later.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:25 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I once worked on a "farm", which was more hippie-commune than actual farm and no records were ever kept of who planted what where. While tilling a fallow field I uncovered a patch of horseradish in one corner that clearly someone had planted/cultivated at some point in the past, probably years ago. I stopped, cut off and skinned a fat piece of root, and started happily munched on it - so intensely tasty and wonderful! - until I took too large a bite of it by accident and nearly did blow my head off. I was so woozy and sick I had to sit down for a while to recover.
I finished eating the piece though, and harvested quite a bit more for later.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:25 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
That said, I like Colman's mustard but wouldn't want to try horking down spoonfuls of it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:26 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:26 PM on September 20, 2023
As Australia wakes up to this thread, can I check in on whether butter or margarine is best for fairy bread? Party coming up …
The kids literally give no fucks, they lust only for the sugar. My adult palette demands the butter. However, no fancy sourdoughs here, you must use the softest crappiest tip top white bread available. This is non negotiable.
His thoughts were red thoughts, I agree the kids need their hundreds and thousands on Coles Regular Spread and the cheapest, thinnest, most sugary white bread available (ie fairy bread), but I'm now inspired to provide an adult/artisan version (faerie sourdough with organic cultured butter).
posted by jjderooy at 5:30 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
The kids literally give no fucks, they lust only for the sugar. My adult palette demands the butter. However, no fancy sourdoughs here, you must use the softest crappiest tip top white bread available. This is non negotiable.
His thoughts were red thoughts, I agree the kids need their hundreds and thousands on Coles Regular Spread and the cheapest, thinnest, most sugary white bread available (ie fairy bread), but I'm now inspired to provide an adult/artisan version (faerie sourdough with organic cultured butter).
posted by jjderooy at 5:30 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Just the one swan, actually: "I'm skeptical of the claim that Europeans all butter their sandwiches."
As you should be. In many part of Italy, butter is frowned upon as so unhealthy that it is not available.
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:37 PM on September 20, 2023
As you should be. In many part of Italy, butter is frowned upon as so unhealthy that it is not available.
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:37 PM on September 20, 2023
As Australia wakes up to this thread, can I check in on whether butter or margarine is best for fairy bread? Party coming up …
The kids literally give no fucks, they lust only for the sugar. My adult palette demands the butter. However, no fancy sourdoughs here, you must use the softest crappiest tip top white bread available. This is non negotiable.
Very true. Of course, when you use the crappy soft bread, you have to either use margarine (or one of those processed butter-like but not really spreads in a tub) or wait for the butter to soften after taking it out of the fridge, because that shit has no structural integrity at all. Fairy bread is, obviously, not a sandwich though.
I can't stand the thought of a sandwich with unbuttered bread and the same goes for toast. I guess it's what you grew up with and whatever you prefer is actually fine.
posted by dg at 5:47 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
The kids literally give no fucks, they lust only for the sugar. My adult palette demands the butter. However, no fancy sourdoughs here, you must use the softest crappiest tip top white bread available. This is non negotiable.
Very true. Of course, when you use the crappy soft bread, you have to either use margarine (or one of those processed butter-like but not really spreads in a tub) or wait for the butter to soften after taking it out of the fridge, because that shit has no structural integrity at all. Fairy bread is, obviously, not a sandwich though.
I can't stand the thought of a sandwich with unbuttered bread and the same goes for toast. I guess it's what you grew up with and whatever you prefer is actually fine.
posted by dg at 5:47 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
In many part of Italy, butter is frowned upon as so unhealthy that it is not available.
Lolwut? I’d love to hear about even a single Italian village where butter is unavailable.
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 6:05 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Lolwut? I’d love to hear about even a single Italian village where butter is unavailable.
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 6:05 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I grew to tolerate mayo and enjoy mustard as I grew up, but as a kid, it was butter on sandwiches or I'd just eat them dry. It was a bit weird, but not totally bizarre (context: eastern US). Butter and peanut butter was okay, butter and sugar was much-longed for treat. I loved bread and butter as a snack. As a adult, I had my mind blown at a continental breakfast at a hotel in Eastern Europe with some local colleagues when one nonchalantly slathered a roll in butter and honey. She became my hero and I became extremely carbed up at continental breakfasts there for awhile.
posted by EvaDestruction at 6:09 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by EvaDestruction at 6:09 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
No less an American culinary giant than James Beard hisself professed a love for the humble butter and sliced-onion sandwich. Which a bar in town serves, parsley around the cut edges, and it is Delicious.
posted by janell at 6:27 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by janell at 6:27 PM on September 20, 2023
By the way, steeping a couple slices of fresh horseradish root in vodka for 4-6 days makes an excellent sipping drink! Steeping the horseradish longer than that makes for a more aggressive end result...fair warning.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:28 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:28 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’ve always buttered my sandwiches but I’m in Minnesota which is Wisconsin adjacent. Here’s a simple hack for better butter - Aldi house brand is just repackaged Kerry Gold and is cheaper than any other place you get KG. In fact it used to be Kerry Gold but they relabeled it a few years ago. Get yourself a butter dish and keep it on the counter. Problem solved.
posted by misterpatrick at 6:50 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by misterpatrick at 6:50 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Growing up, the big debate in my family was do you or don’t you butter your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? My mom was very much pro-butter. Of course, she buttered pretty much all of her sandwiches. I can confirm that a cold pork roast, onion and mayonnaise sandwich on buttered white bread is glorious. Egg salad on buttered white bread is pretty damned good, too.
When I was 19, my parents took me and my younger brother to visit our sister in Italy (her husband was a Marine). Almost every meal in the restaurants we ate at was served with slices of delicious, crusty bread and nary a pat of butter in sight. After almost three weeks of butterless bread, my dad was ready to go out of his mind. What sort of savages were these Italians that they didn’t even give you the option for butter on your bread!?
At my mom’s funeral, the church ladies served buttered ham sandwiches on hard rolls. Nobody asked what we wanted — it’s just what they did.
It was perfect.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:04 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
When I was 19, my parents took me and my younger brother to visit our sister in Italy (her husband was a Marine). Almost every meal in the restaurants we ate at was served with slices of delicious, crusty bread and nary a pat of butter in sight. After almost three weeks of butterless bread, my dad was ready to go out of his mind. What sort of savages were these Italians that they didn’t even give you the option for butter on your bread!?
At my mom’s funeral, the church ladies served buttered ham sandwiches on hard rolls. Nobody asked what we wanted — it’s just what they did.
It was perfect.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:04 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
misterpatrick, my mom was from Wisconsin and my dad was from SW Minnesota, so your experience tracks.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:06 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:06 PM on September 20, 2023
EvaDestruction — butter and brown sugar sandwiches! You kicked loose memories of those and butter & honey sandwiches from my childhood.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:09 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:09 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Australian here, in favour of butter. I don't think I've ever had mayo on a sandwich.
I strongly dislike overloaded sandwiches. They're difficult to eat, stuff drops out and falls everywhere, they get soggy and messy so you either have to gulp them down or they fall apart - or you eat them with a knife and fork, which I suppose is OK if you're in a sit-down cafe and not just grabbing something to eat at the desk.
If you've got good quality ingredients you don't need too many of them; you can enjoy the pure flavour of the delicious ham or cheese or whatever you have. One of the delights of the UK, for me, was discovering that Pret sold smoked salmon sandwiches that were literally just butter, smoked salmon and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Perfect flavour balance, no need to hide anything with capers and cream cheese and cucumber and whatever assorted rubbish gets used to smother salmon.
posted by andraste at 7:23 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
I strongly dislike overloaded sandwiches. They're difficult to eat, stuff drops out and falls everywhere, they get soggy and messy so you either have to gulp them down or they fall apart - or you eat them with a knife and fork, which I suppose is OK if you're in a sit-down cafe and not just grabbing something to eat at the desk.
If you've got good quality ingredients you don't need too many of them; you can enjoy the pure flavour of the delicious ham or cheese or whatever you have. One of the delights of the UK, for me, was discovering that Pret sold smoked salmon sandwiches that were literally just butter, smoked salmon and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Perfect flavour balance, no need to hide anything with capers and cream cheese and cucumber and whatever assorted rubbish gets used to smother salmon.
posted by andraste at 7:23 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Another Australian checking in. Butter on a sandwich or toast is the default down here. As for mayo, I don’t think I even tried it until I was an adult. We never had it in the house growing up, although I like it sometimes now for an extra hint of greasy sour.
I love these food culture threads, I always learn something new about how people do things elsewhere. Heck, it was only a couple of months ago I discovered on here that what Americans call ‘jelly’ isn’t just a synonym for what we call ‘jam’. A whole new class of condiment I’d never known existed! More things to try!
posted by threecheesetrees at 8:35 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
I love these food culture threads, I always learn something new about how people do things elsewhere. Heck, it was only a couple of months ago I discovered on here that what Americans call ‘jelly’ isn’t just a synonym for what we call ‘jam’. A whole new class of condiment I’d never known existed! More things to try!
posted by threecheesetrees at 8:35 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
My parents, of Scandinavian-American descent, buttered their sandwiches. I stopped when I became more health/calorie conscious. But recently we got a panini press and mercy, buttering the outside and letting the sandwich cook between those hot slabs of metal for four minutes lifts any sandwich into the divine.
posted by Ber at 9:15 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ber at 9:15 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
American stuff:
- ah yes, the jam vs jelly vs preserves thing. Boil some whole strawberries or whatever in sugar water, then mash the chunks and juice into a jar with the back of a spoon. = Preserves. Mash the boiled fruit into a uniform paste, sometimes remove the seeds, add a bit of pectin to make it set firmly, then into jars = Jam. Strain out all the fruit pulpy bits until you have just concentrated juice, sugar, and pectin jarred as a jewel-toned gel = Jelly.
Jelly is for children, and for primitives. Unless it's citrus jelly, with little slivers of bittersweet peel mixed in, then it's marmalade and fancy. Most people's 'good' peanut butter and jelly recipes involve jam or preserves, not jelly. Unless they are young enough to not notice that they have purple grape jelly all over their face, in which case, such sins are forgiven.
-American Butter, the stuff that comes in four sticks to the pound, each wrapped in wax paper marked with arcane measurements for 'cups' and 'teaspoons', is just one of those sacrifices that was made for the Continent Spanning Industrial Food System. The bad news is it's pale and without terroir; the good news is it's a uniform product from Montana to Mississippi, NY to LA, and it is cheap and plentiful. Excellent small batch butters are available (to varying degrees), but the no-name supermarket stuff wherever you go is...fine. It's predictable at least.
- I bet if we examined for regional variations in sandwich butterization, you might find some differences due to local temperatures, affecting whether that stick of butter in its little dish lives out on the counter, or cold in the fridge.
Personally, I came from a Butter gets Left Out during any Month with an R in it! household. (July on the counter would leave you with just a little puddle of ghee, so butter went into the fridge until school started again in SeptembeR.)
Try buttering soft white sliced bread with cold hard rectangles of fridge butter once, and you'll either quit buttering for good or switch to toast.
So I'd expect some correspondence re: the at-hand-ness of soft/ room temperature butter and sturdiness of bread, in the local sandwich vernacular.
- you can make a grilled cheese, or do the hamburger-bun-grill-toasting trick above, by mayonnaising the bread instead of buttering it. Give it a blind taste test vs buttered.
posted by bartleby at 9:49 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
- ah yes, the jam vs jelly vs preserves thing. Boil some whole strawberries or whatever in sugar water, then mash the chunks and juice into a jar with the back of a spoon. = Preserves. Mash the boiled fruit into a uniform paste, sometimes remove the seeds, add a bit of pectin to make it set firmly, then into jars = Jam. Strain out all the fruit pulpy bits until you have just concentrated juice, sugar, and pectin jarred as a jewel-toned gel = Jelly.
Jelly is for children, and for primitives. Unless it's citrus jelly, with little slivers of bittersweet peel mixed in, then it's marmalade and fancy. Most people's 'good' peanut butter and jelly recipes involve jam or preserves, not jelly. Unless they are young enough to not notice that they have purple grape jelly all over their face, in which case, such sins are forgiven.
-American Butter, the stuff that comes in four sticks to the pound, each wrapped in wax paper marked with arcane measurements for 'cups' and 'teaspoons', is just one of those sacrifices that was made for the Continent Spanning Industrial Food System. The bad news is it's pale and without terroir; the good news is it's a uniform product from Montana to Mississippi, NY to LA, and it is cheap and plentiful. Excellent small batch butters are available (to varying degrees), but the no-name supermarket stuff wherever you go is...fine. It's predictable at least.
- I bet if we examined for regional variations in sandwich butterization, you might find some differences due to local temperatures, affecting whether that stick of butter in its little dish lives out on the counter, or cold in the fridge.
Personally, I came from a Butter gets Left Out during any Month with an R in it! household. (July on the counter would leave you with just a little puddle of ghee, so butter went into the fridge until school started again in SeptembeR.)
Try buttering soft white sliced bread with cold hard rectangles of fridge butter once, and you'll either quit buttering for good or switch to toast.
So I'd expect some correspondence re: the at-hand-ness of soft/ room temperature butter and sturdiness of bread, in the local sandwich vernacular.
- you can make a grilled cheese, or do the hamburger-bun-grill-toasting trick above, by mayonnaising the bread instead of buttering it. Give it a blind taste test vs buttered.
posted by bartleby at 9:49 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Try buttering soft white sliced bread with cold hard rectangles of fridge butter once, and you'll either quit buttering for good or switch to toast.
...or switch to proper solid rye bread. You can easily spread butter straight from the fridge on it. It also tastes delicious, and has a satisfying texture. It is everything that "sandwich bread" isn't.
posted by Dysk at 12:07 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
...or switch to proper solid rye bread. You can easily spread butter straight from the fridge on it. It also tastes delicious, and has a satisfying texture. It is everything that "sandwich bread" isn't.
posted by Dysk at 12:07 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
And this is also true of most restaurant sandwiches of any kind whether the bread is toasted in a toaster and/or grilled or if the whole sandwich is pressed and grilled or whatever.
damn near any hot sandwich from a deli
the “hot” qualifier seems important here because a cold sandwich from a deli won’t but I agree with the basic point here even from the standpoint of having been a sandwich consumer more than a preparer - it’s very common for restaurant sandwiches to be buttered in America
posted by atoxyl at 12:27 AM on September 21, 2023
damn near any hot sandwich from a deli
the “hot” qualifier seems important here because a cold sandwich from a deli won’t but I agree with the basic point here even from the standpoint of having been a sandwich consumer more than a preparer - it’s very common for restaurant sandwiches to be buttered in America
posted by atoxyl at 12:27 AM on September 21, 2023
No less an American culinary giant than James Beard hisself professed a love for the humble butter and sliced-onion sandwich. Which a bar in town serves, parsley around the cut edges, and it is Delicious.
My mother's favourite sandwich.
Quality white bread, generously buttered with semi-hard butter so it spreads in light schmears. Generous slender slices of tomato - ripe and sweet, firm and warm, fresh from the garden or greengrocer where it has never felt refrigeration. Salt and white pepper. Sheer slices of white onion; must be white - don't bother with any other, make a different sandwich, layered to almost obscure the tomato. Top with another buttered slice of bread. De-crust if desired, especially if bread is thick. Plate and eat with a delicious cup of black tea with milk of choice.
Make your own butter in minutes.
Bonus: buttermilk!
posted by Thella at 12:51 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
My mother's favourite sandwich.
Quality white bread, generously buttered with semi-hard butter so it spreads in light schmears. Generous slender slices of tomato - ripe and sweet, firm and warm, fresh from the garden or greengrocer where it has never felt refrigeration. Salt and white pepper. Sheer slices of white onion; must be white - don't bother with any other, make a different sandwich, layered to almost obscure the tomato. Top with another buttered slice of bread. De-crust if desired, especially if bread is thick. Plate and eat with a delicious cup of black tea with milk of choice.
Make your own butter in minutes.
Bonus: buttermilk!
posted by Thella at 12:51 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
As an Australian with form in MeFi's eternal sandwich wars, I would like to chime in that margarine is disgusting except in the case of fairy bread, in which case you need to slather them TipTop WonderWhite shits with Mrs. McGregor's and add more rainbow sprinkles than a Sydney Mardi Gras afterparty.
In all seriousness though, sandwich cultures worldwide are delightfully varied (Bread Pakora,.anyone?) and no-one is necessarily wrong - except for banana-and-vegemite motherfuckers...
posted by prismatic7 at 1:57 AM on September 21, 2023
In all seriousness though, sandwich cultures worldwide are delightfully varied (Bread Pakora,.anyone?) and no-one is necessarily wrong - except for banana-and-vegemite motherfuckers...
posted by prismatic7 at 1:57 AM on September 21, 2023
baf: I suspect it's also because the whole idea of sweet sandwiches is basically an American thing.
Whole generations of Dutch children have been brought up (and are still being brought up) eating bread-with-toppings for breakfast and lunch. We even have a word for that: boterham. Yes, that means "butter ham", apparently after the typical or ideal toppings.
Many of these are 'dubbele boterhammen': a slice of bread, butter and another topping, another buttered slice of bread. Essentially a sandwich.
And for sweet toppings we have jam, hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles), other types of sprinkles, Nutella, syrup, honey and more...
So I'd say sweet sandwiches are quite common here in the Netherlands. Always with butter though, or something very similar. Gotta glue those hagelslag down.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:54 AM on September 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
Whole generations of Dutch children have been brought up (and are still being brought up) eating bread-with-toppings for breakfast and lunch. We even have a word for that: boterham. Yes, that means "butter ham", apparently after the typical or ideal toppings.
Many of these are 'dubbele boterhammen': a slice of bread, butter and another topping, another buttered slice of bread. Essentially a sandwich.
And for sweet toppings we have jam, hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles), other types of sprinkles, Nutella, syrup, honey and more...
So I'd say sweet sandwiches are quite common here in the Netherlands. Always with butter though, or something very similar. Gotta glue those hagelslag down.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:54 AM on September 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
For the curious, here's a popular supermarket's assortiment of sweet bread toppings (and peanut butter).
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:02 AM on September 21, 2023
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:02 AM on September 21, 2023
The Dutch have a lot in common with the Americans here. They love sandwiches, sweet and savory. And they also are huge peanut butter fans, something which Americans think only they appreciate. Bread and peanut butter is pretty much a staple over here.
posted by vacapinta at 4:48 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by vacapinta at 4:48 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Oh yes... peanut butter is as Dutch as apple pie!
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:58 AM on September 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:58 AM on September 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Just in case anyone read about hagelslag and thought the Dutch were decadent sandwich geniuses, the Netherlands are the same country that inflicted muisjes on itself.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 4:58 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 4:58 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
vacapinta: Bread and peanut butter is pretty much a staple over here.
Calve, the best-known brand of peanut butter in the Netherlands, has just hit the 75-year mark; as a sandwich spread it's been around since before WW1.
posted by Stoneshop at 5:08 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Calve, the best-known brand of peanut butter in the Netherlands, has just hit the 75-year mark; as a sandwich spread it's been around since before WW1.
posted by Stoneshop at 5:08 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
We don't put butter on *every* sandwich, also American butter is awful compared with something like Kerrygold.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:20 AM on September 21, 2023
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:20 AM on September 21, 2023
Sweet sandwiches used to be more of a thing in Britain. Condensed milk sandwiches were a working class treat for boomers. When I was a kid in the 80s it was still quite common for packed lunches to include jam sandwiches, which you don't see as often now. The Queen apparently had the posh version every afternoon - jam pennies.
posted by Ballad of Peckham Rye at 5:41 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ballad of Peckham Rye at 5:41 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
...or switch to proper solid rye bread. You can easily spread butter straight from the fridge on it. It also tastes delicious, and has a satisfying texture. It is everything that "sandwich bread" isn't.
I don't know if you have been to the US or not but I surmise that you have never been to the bread section of an American grocery store. The rye bread situation in most of this country is tragic. Even your fancy grocery stores will only have soft light rye, maybe soft rather sweet dark rye.
There's a local bakery here in MPLS that makes a brick-like medium rye but it's a weird sourdough base and it costs a million dollars.
If you're thinking of that sort of moist very grainy dark whole rye bread, it's a bit hit and miss. Aldi sometimes has it, but it's not especially popular and my nearby Aldi stopped carrying it.
Back in the day, there was a bakery in Chicago, sort of near where I grew up, that made this wonderful, very solid, fine-textured pale rye bread that came unsliced. I learned later that the bakery was literally shut down over serious health code violations but I felt at the time and still feel that I would rather not have known and have carried on, since that bread was my single favorite rye bread ever. I eat other ryes because I am perpetually looking for that bread again and never finding it.
In any case! Most widely-available rye bread in the US will not stand up to cold butter.
posted by Frowner at 6:52 AM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don't know if you have been to the US or not but I surmise that you have never been to the bread section of an American grocery store. The rye bread situation in most of this country is tragic. Even your fancy grocery stores will only have soft light rye, maybe soft rather sweet dark rye.
There's a local bakery here in MPLS that makes a brick-like medium rye but it's a weird sourdough base and it costs a million dollars.
If you're thinking of that sort of moist very grainy dark whole rye bread, it's a bit hit and miss. Aldi sometimes has it, but it's not especially popular and my nearby Aldi stopped carrying it.
Back in the day, there was a bakery in Chicago, sort of near where I grew up, that made this wonderful, very solid, fine-textured pale rye bread that came unsliced. I learned later that the bakery was literally shut down over serious health code violations but I felt at the time and still feel that I would rather not have known and have carried on, since that bread was my single favorite rye bread ever. I eat other ryes because I am perpetually looking for that bread again and never finding it.
In any case! Most widely-available rye bread in the US will not stand up to cold butter.
posted by Frowner at 6:52 AM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Many of your refrigerated butter issues could be solved with a cheese slicer
posted by mumimor at 7:04 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mumimor at 7:04 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Grew up in NZ, had butter or more realistically margarine/table spread (cheaper, less logistical hassle than butter) on almost every type of sandwich, including as I'm now remembering with some horror, Nutella.
As an adult my sandwich fillings are pretty much exclusively salad/vegetables and so my preferred sandwich spread is a thin layer of hummus, which does the same structural integrity job while also elevating the flavour profile.
posted by lwb at 7:15 AM on September 21, 2023
As an adult my sandwich fillings are pretty much exclusively salad/vegetables and so my preferred sandwich spread is a thin layer of hummus, which does the same structural integrity job while also elevating the flavour profile.
posted by lwb at 7:15 AM on September 21, 2023
Like I have never worked somewhere where we made sandwiches or burgers and we didn't butter the bread in some form.
I worked in a restaurant, and we only buttered hot sandwiches, and we used what I would call 'disgruntled fast-food worker' amount, or about a nickel or maybe quarter size before grilling every type of bread, even for hamburgers, lightly. It meant a tiny amount, that if it were any other topping, would get returned by the customer. Didn't go edge to edge. We certainly didn't butter any cold sandwich, on any type of bread.
We didn't do it for any type of 'structural integrity' or as a moisture barrier either - we did it because people like grilled/fried/toasted stuff better than fresh stuff, including bread, and most other things at the restaurant would get like 3X the amount of butter one would normally use at home.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:01 AM on September 21, 2023
I worked in a restaurant, and we only buttered hot sandwiches, and we used what I would call 'disgruntled fast-food worker' amount, or about a nickel or maybe quarter size before grilling every type of bread, even for hamburgers, lightly. It meant a tiny amount, that if it were any other topping, would get returned by the customer. Didn't go edge to edge. We certainly didn't butter any cold sandwich, on any type of bread.
We didn't do it for any type of 'structural integrity' or as a moisture barrier either - we did it because people like grilled/fried/toasted stuff better than fresh stuff, including bread, and most other things at the restaurant would get like 3X the amount of butter one would normally use at home.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:01 AM on September 21, 2023
Canadian here, and I grew up with margerine on my cheese and coldcut sandwiches. The bread will be too dry if you don't, particularly on something old a roast beef or salami sandwhich.
posted by Canageek at 8:31 AM on September 21, 2023
posted by Canageek at 8:31 AM on September 21, 2023
lwb: including as I'm now remembering with some horror, Nutella.
If you're ever in Germany go grab a jar of Nudossi from one of the non-discount supermarkets. 34% hazelnuts.
It will erase all Nutella memories.
posted by Stoneshop at 8:44 AM on September 21, 2023
If you're ever in Germany go grab a jar of Nudossi from one of the non-discount supermarkets. 34% hazelnuts.
It will erase all Nutella memories.
posted by Stoneshop at 8:44 AM on September 21, 2023
Many of your refrigerated butter issues could be solved with a cheese slicer
My fix for "Someone finished off the butter on the counter without pulling one from the fridge/freezer, & I have toast and don't want to wait for the stick to soften or risk microwaving it" is a fine microplane grater. You have to work quickly before the heat of your hands works into it, but it makes for a very spreadable butter.
posted by CrystalDave at 9:06 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
My fix for "Someone finished off the butter on the counter without pulling one from the fridge/freezer, & I have toast and don't want to wait for the stick to soften or risk microwaving it" is a fine microplane grater. You have to work quickly before the heat of your hands works into it, but it makes for a very spreadable butter.
posted by CrystalDave at 9:06 AM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
We lived in Germany for a while when I was 12 and my brother was 6. He was a picky eater and basically existed on peanut butter. You really couldn't find peanut butter in Germany in the 70s. My mother carried a big jar of it in her purse so he would always have something to eat, which led to a lot of amused comments from customs men (always men, then) when we crossed a border. Germany is where we discovered Nutella, which turned out to be something else my brother would eat, surprise surprise. I remember picnicking in the hills above Heidelburg, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches on real European bread; it was heavenly.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:07 AM on September 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:07 AM on September 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
In other news, I made sandwiches with butter. I got some decent quality sandwich fixings of the sort that my grandparents had when they (their parents came over from Sweden) made buttered sandwiches, and some pretty good butter. None of this was outstanding stuff but none of it was terrible.
I used about as much butter as I would mayo - a modest, non-gloopy amount. The butter was room temperature.
If I were eating good bread with just butter, I might have used larger amounts of colder butter for a more buttery experience, but this seemed like it was just acting as a sandwich spread.
It was pretty good, on the whole. Much more neutral than mayo - although this was fairly buttery butter, not a lot of really buttery flavor came through, just a mild, pleasant dairy note. I would say that it seemed much more in the European "less seasoning, more quality ingredients" tradition, and that this is probably one reason that it's not so big in the US - when we're eating the brash, Guy Fieri, junky sandwiches we like a lot of sort of junk flavors, and when we're eating fancy sandwiches we tend to like more spices/strongly-flavored spreads.
I'd say that for your vegetable/cheese/maybe-meat-type sandwich, I may replace mayo with butter, but for things like veggie burgers I'll probably stick to mayo and/or mustard. Butter and mustard is still a bridge too far.
posted by Frowner at 10:11 AM on September 21, 2023
I used about as much butter as I would mayo - a modest, non-gloopy amount. The butter was room temperature.
If I were eating good bread with just butter, I might have used larger amounts of colder butter for a more buttery experience, but this seemed like it was just acting as a sandwich spread.
It was pretty good, on the whole. Much more neutral than mayo - although this was fairly buttery butter, not a lot of really buttery flavor came through, just a mild, pleasant dairy note. I would say that it seemed much more in the European "less seasoning, more quality ingredients" tradition, and that this is probably one reason that it's not so big in the US - when we're eating the brash, Guy Fieri, junky sandwiches we like a lot of sort of junk flavors, and when we're eating fancy sandwiches we tend to like more spices/strongly-flavored spreads.
I'd say that for your vegetable/cheese/maybe-meat-type sandwich, I may replace mayo with butter, but for things like veggie burgers I'll probably stick to mayo and/or mustard. Butter and mustard is still a bridge too far.
posted by Frowner at 10:11 AM on September 21, 2023
Frowner: I made sandwiches with butter.
You daredevil, you.
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:27 AM on September 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
You daredevil, you.
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:27 AM on September 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
I don't see anyone else coming in here making sandwiches with butter!
Due to a complete breakdown in the meal-planning department, I also had sandwiches with butter for dinner. They continue pretty good.
posted by Frowner at 6:32 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Due to a complete breakdown in the meal-planning department, I also had sandwiches with butter for dinner. They continue pretty good.
posted by Frowner at 6:32 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had one with a peanut butter sandwich - ie: Président butter and Jif peanut butter. Same opinion as peanut butter and pickles: already had enough salt, didn't add much. I wouldn't take the step myself to make it like that again, but I wouldn't turn it away if it was served to me. Fine, I guess.
Now to try it on a different type of sandwich.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:19 AM on September 22, 2023
Now to try it on a different type of sandwich.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:19 AM on September 22, 2023
There was a bagel shop around here that used to make an extremely dense, dark, and chewy rye and raisin (but otherwise unsweetened) bagel that was excellent with butter. I miss those a lot.
posted by jamjam at 12:19 PM on September 22, 2023
posted by jamjam at 12:19 PM on September 22, 2023
The_Vegetables: already had enough salt, didn't add much.
Salt is not why you butter a sandwich, it's to fluid-proof annex lubricate the bread, a function that's wholly superfluous when you're putting peanut butter on it.
posted by Stoneshop at 12:39 PM on September 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Salt is not why you butter a sandwich, it's to fluid-proof annex lubricate the bread, a function that's wholly superfluous when you're putting peanut butter on it.
posted by Stoneshop at 12:39 PM on September 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Butter on peanut butter toast (butter in the middle) prevents the peanut butter from fusing one’s mouth closed. And it’s just nice.
posted by janell at 6:34 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by janell at 6:34 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's not like it's hard to get European butter in many places in the US. It's what I use, normally, and while it's certainly better than American butters I have tried, it's a marginal* improvement.
*Margarinal?
posted by fncll at 9:12 AM on September 26, 2023
*Margarinal?
posted by fncll at 9:12 AM on September 26, 2023
Salt is not why you butter a sandwich, it's to fluid-proof annex lubricate the bread, a function that's wholly superfluous when you're putting peanut butter on it.
I just had a bbq pork sandwhich that was moderately wet - I still just don't see the point of butter as a moisture barrier unless you are wrapping it for much later - like making it 8:00am to eat at noon - I mean, mine was on a cheap hamburger bun and didn't soak through in the 30 minutes of making to eating. I did half with butter and half without for a test. So adding a moisture barrier seems unnecessary unless you are just really excited about dry bread. Also people mention adding butter to all sandwiches, with the one mentioned in the article being a jambon which is a relatively dry ham.
Culturally, ie: just because you want to, it makes sense. The idea of mayo repulses me, even though I can eat it on a sandwich, I would never put it on myself, but other sauces don't, including butter. But IMO it also doesn't add much.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:46 AM on September 26, 2023
I just had a bbq pork sandwhich that was moderately wet - I still just don't see the point of butter as a moisture barrier unless you are wrapping it for much later - like making it 8:00am to eat at noon - I mean, mine was on a cheap hamburger bun and didn't soak through in the 30 minutes of making to eating. I did half with butter and half without for a test. So adding a moisture barrier seems unnecessary unless you are just really excited about dry bread. Also people mention adding butter to all sandwiches, with the one mentioned in the article being a jambon which is a relatively dry ham.
Culturally, ie: just because you want to, it makes sense. The idea of mayo repulses me, even though I can eat it on a sandwich, I would never put it on myself, but other sauces don't, including butter. But IMO it also doesn't add much.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:46 AM on September 26, 2023
IMO, the quality of the butter makes a huge difference. But it is not so much about different styles as about freshness. A stick of butter can last forever, if you are using it for cooking. But for spreading on bread, I think a week is the longest possible life. Maybe even that is too long. Max Miller made butter on his channel today, and homemade butter is delicious, but keeps even worse than good cultured and salted butter.
posted by mumimor at 1:18 PM on September 26, 2023
posted by mumimor at 1:18 PM on September 26, 2023
As Australia wakes up to this thread, can I check in on whether butter or margarine is best for fairy bread?
Nutella in our house! Not traditional, but pretty bloody great.
posted by goo at 12:32 PM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nutella in our house! Not traditional, but pretty bloody great.
posted by goo at 12:32 PM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nutella in our house! Not traditional, but pretty bloody great.
That does seem genius. And on rye bread instead of a white loaf, there could even be a nice texture.
posted by mumimor at 3:20 PM on September 27, 2023
That does seem genius. And on rye bread instead of a white loaf, there could even be a nice texture.
posted by mumimor at 3:20 PM on September 27, 2023
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posted by gottabefunky at 9:23 AM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]