In the days when people gathered for morning and afternoon teas, sandwiches were a delicate affair, not the huge doorstop mounds of bread and a variety of fillings we have today. In Nana’s time they were finger food, cut into delicate shapes and filled with delectable pastes, potted meats and salads.
These days you might find nana sandwiches at a hotel high tea, funerals or bridge parties, but perhaps we should bring back serving them at home.
Here are some recipes to try – you never know, your kids might like them in their lunchboxes. I’ve omitted the very popular recipe for brain paste, which I found in many of my old cookbooks. I’ll save that for the column I devote entirely to the cooking of brains!
Potted tomato paste
3 ripe tomatoes
Salt and pepper
50g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
50g grated cheese
100g breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
Peel the tomatoes and chop.
Put in a saucepan with salt and pepper, butter and onion and cook until tender.
Mash until smooth and add cheese, breadcrumbs and egg, stirring quickly until thick.
Cheese and salmon paste
210g tinned salmon
1 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 tsp mustard
100g cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
Drain liquid from the tin of salmon and reserve.
Mash the salmon, removing any bones or skin.
Add butter, mustard and cheese. Season to taste.
Mix all together well and stir through the lemon juice. If the mixture is a bit dry, drizzle back in a little of the salmon liquid you reserved earlier.
Spoon into clean jars and store in the fridge.
Sardine paste
100g tin of sardines in oil
1 tsp anchovy or fish sauce
1 tsp tomato sauce
1 hard-boiled egg
1 tsp parsley or chives, chopped
Few drops malt vinegar
Tip the sardines – with their oil – into a pot and heat until warm.
Mash with a fork, then add the fish sauce and tomato sauce.
Mash the hard-boiled egg and combine.
When cold, add chopped herbs and malt vinegar to suit.
Nana’s vegetarian potted meat
Although this recipe isn’t actually vegetarian, it’s what Nana thought to be a meat substitute. Vegetarians can substitute the anchovy sauce for soy sauce.
400g tin borlotti beans, drained
50g breadcrumbs
25g cheese, grated
1 tsp onion, finely chopped
25g butter
Large pinch of dried herbs
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp anchovy or soy sauce
Combine ingredients in a food processor or mash together.
Adjust seasonings if necessary.
Spoon into clean jars and store in the fridge.
Peanut butter
2 cups shelled peanuts
Place the peanuts in the oven and roast at 180ºC until lightly browned – about 10 minutes.
Rub off the red husk and put them through a hand mincer two or three times, or in your food processor until they become a smooth mass.
Flavour with salt and store in airtight jars.
Nuts and raisins
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
Lemon juice
Cream
Chop the walnuts and raisins until very fine, then moisten with a little lemon juice and cream of equal quantities.
Serve on buttered wholemeal bread. You can replace the cream with sour cream for extra flavour.
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