The 10 commandments of British sandwiches

Until my father retired, my mother made his sandwiches so he could brown bag it to work.  All the while bitterly complaining.  He promised he would make a sandwich-making machine for her  .  That never happened and I don't think he ever offered to make his own work sandwiches, although he made himself the odd one at home.

I do like my mayo on a sandwich......but I do miss my Miracle Whip.

I like Miracle Whip too, but am the only person in my family who does.  I guess it's a love it or hate it sort of thing, but as I was out voted we virtually never had it in the house.  Now I can add a bit of salad creme to my sandwiches (in addition to the may of course!) for a similar flavor.  Unfortunately, since salad creme is pretty thin I can't use enough to really replicate Miracle Whip... but it's still nice! 

We do, however, get into a perpetual debate about what is defined as 'a sandwich'. If I take two slices of bread and make a sandwich and then cut it in half, I have say I have two halves of a sandwich.   J says that makes two sandwiches. 1 piece of bread folded in half is still half a sandwich, but that is 1 sandwich to him.   Likewise, if I cut into 4s, he says that he has 4 sandwiches, but I say I have a 1/4 sandwich.  Drives me nuts!

This sounds like a failure to learn fractions properly in grade school.  When I taught 5th grade, several of my students would have a similar problem with the concept of one item being divided into several parts.

I'm sure suggesting that will go over well with your hubby - hah! 

When Pret first opened in New York, it failed to catch on because apparently, they put too much mayonnaise in their sandwiches.

I found this article discussing the differences between US Pret vs UK Pret:

http://www.theawl.com/2013/01/why-does-pret-a-manger-think-americans-are-stupid

My New Englander grandparents of Anglo descent always make sandwiches with 'spread' and mayo or miracle whip as the condiment of choice. My family in New York of Italian spread, it was no spread (or butter) and usually always mustard.

Haha. Using a fork for everything isn't awkward for us. Instead it's hilariously buttoned up and stuffy to us for all y'all to use a fork and knife for every little thing. It just fits into that overly polite and stiff British stereotype that is prevalent in the U.S. 

There's an episode of Seinfeld where someone eats a snickers bar with a fork and knife and watching a people eat hand foods like toast and sandwiches with a fork and knife always makes me think of that.

The most amusing one to me is the fork and knife for a burger thing. Every Brit I've spoken to just comments on how they can't possibly fit the burger in their mouths because it's too big. Meanwhile I think we Americans have categories of "foods to eat with our hands" and nothing is going to get us to eat a burger get or toast or sandwich with a knife and fork   


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Ha! I agree with you about the weirdness of people eating burgers with a knife and fork! It makes me smile ☺

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  Now I can add a bit of salad creme to my sandwiches (in addition to the may of course!) for a similar flavor.  Unfortunately, since salad creme is pretty thin I can't use enough to really replicate Miracle Whip... but it's still nice! 

ARRGHH!  Becca I am so sorry about this, and I promise to kick myself later for being so pernickety, but.... it's salad cream, not creme. (sorry... that spelling just drives me nuts, although not as nuts as people spelling 'visa' in all upper-case, like VISA. 

As to the topic... on the rare occasion that I eat a sandwich (i try not to eat bread these days, but sometimes fail on this!) I'm all about butter on the bread first, then mayo on top of the butter.   

ARRGHH!  Becca I am so sorry about this, and I promise to kick myself later for being so pernickety, but.... it's salad cream, not creme. (sorry... that spelling just drives me nuts, although not as nuts as people spelling 'visa' in all upper-case, like VISA. 

As to the topic... on the rare occasion that I eat a sandwich (i try not to eat bread these days, but sometimes fail on this!) I'm all about butter on the bread first, then mayo on top of the butter.   

Ack!  I just ran into the kitchen to confirm I screwed up! It is indeed salad cream, which is what I would have written if I was in the US.  That's what I get for trying to "fit in".   

I'll just stick to American spelling unless I know what I'm doing... 

ARRGHH!  Becca I am so sorry about this, and I promise to kick myself later for being so pernickety, but.... it's salad cream, not creme. (sorry... that spelling just drives me nuts, although not as nuts as people spelling 'visa' in all upper-case, like VISA. 

Oh god that visa thing kills me too. Almost as bad as people saying the BAR exam rather than the bar exam. What amazes me most about that is seeing friends from law school who passed the bar and still say BAR.


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We were at a cafe that served breakfast until 1 pm. They served sandwiches of all kinds, including breakfast sandwiches. I'd gotten a full English, but decided to make an egg and sausage on toast sandwich with part of it. The woman at the next table was all aflutter about it. murmuring to her husband, glaring at me, and generally going a bit overboard with her reaction. I could have gotten an egg and sausage on toast sandwich from the menu, so it wasn't too far of a stretch to make my own.

In the middle of her busybody swoon, her husband winked at me, then proceeded to make a sausage and egg on toast of his own. She really went into overdrive with her clucking after that. I suppose she couldn't cope with changing things up maybe? Or maybe this fell into the category of what is acceptable to eat with your hands and what must require a knife and fork?

I didn't start eating mayonnaise on a sandwich until I was dating an American. Up until then it was butter all the way.

I also find Americans are horrified when I make a chip butty. I get looks of horror and disgust. I just laugh maniacally. 

I also find Americans are horrified when I make a chip butty. I get looks of horror and disgust. I just laugh maniacally. 

I was making these before I knew they were chip butties.  I always thought of them as homemade steak fries and butter sandwiches.