(Hey everyone. Be sure to check out my most recent post on cucumber sandwiches for a slightly more authentic version.)
"...Hallo! Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young?"
-Jack, from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest
After my body had officialy rejected anything of substance thanks to my weekend cheesesteak binge, my mind dreamt of something a little more, well, superfluous. I wanted less of everything. I wanted to eat a meal, to relax and make quick jokes instead of lying heavily on the couch recounting former glories like an out-of-shape football player. After keying in all the vegetables I could think of on epicurious.com, the cucumber rang in my mind. Oscar Wilde starting talking to me. And I knew what needed to happen next.
It sounded like a wonderful little game, but finding cucumber sandwiches isn't as clear as I had hoped. Apparently the sandwiches were a little too English for the Joy of Cooking, and most of the sites online wanted to add all kinds of meats to the sandwich to give it heft. I didn't want heft. I wanted the insubstantial.
Loads of English Tea websites will pop up if you google cucumber sandwiches, and most of them are worthless. I settled on two. One suggested the inclusion of mint, another ingredient I think of as light. The other called the creation "Best Cucumber Sandwiches".
It's all about the lightness with these sandwiches. I wanted to cover every inch of the bread with the seasoning, but held back, because the cucumbers needed room to breathe. What I didn't expect was for them to be so good. Maybe it was my full stomach, maybe the thought of cheez whiz that still lingered in my mind from the weekend. Regardless the nature of your own binge, these sandwiches are like a snippy Sunday morning friend who makes the world calm again.
I can safely say I'd never had cucumber sandwiches before, and I undertook this mission more as a joke than of something of real importance. But like Algernon says later in the play, "I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them." Take them seriously and you'll enjoy real insubstantial delight.
-Nick
Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches
- 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 6 slices of bread
- 3-inch length of cucumber
Recipe from epicurious.com
Best Cucumber Sandwiches
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 8 ounces of cream cheese
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
- dash Worcestershire
- 1 loaf sliced, firm-textured bread
- dash of paprika
Recipe from Dayles Incredible Links.
Recipe I: Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches
Quickly pick off some mint leaves and place them in a salad spinner, or rinse them all by hand and shake the water at a friend.
Dry the leaves, then dice them into oblivion.
Place the cream cheese, butter, and mint into a bowl and mix well. It helps if the cream cheese and butter are softened ever so slightly. It should become a sort of herb paste.
Spread the mixture on the bread.
Slice the cucumbers -- how thick you'd like to slice them is up to what kind of crunch you want in your sandwich. Me, I'm right in the middle.
To be all proper, slice the crusts off and slice the sandwich up into nice little finger-approved rectangles.
Just like this. You may also opt for the diagonal slice, creating triangles. Pick up delicately between thumb and forefinger. Crunch.
Recipe II: "Best Cucumber Sandwiches"
For the "best cucumber sandwiches", things get fancy quick. Score the sides of the cucumber with a fork. Just run a fork over the sides, slightly puncturing the skin. I'm sure the cucumber is now able to soak up the goodness of the vinegar bath that shortly awaits it, but also they just look nice. Slice the cucumbers to your desired thickness. In a bowl pour in the vinegar and the water. Place the cucumber slices in the bowl and let them sit for 30 minutes. If desired, cut two extra slices to put over your eyes while you wait.
In a mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, cream cheese, garlic powder, onion salt, and the Worcestershire. Mix well.
Drain the cucumber slices by placing them between two paper towels.
Put the spread on the slices of bread. Place the cucumber slices on the bread. Slice in whatever superfluous way you'd like. Top with a dash of paprika. Again, use thumb and forefinger to handle delicately. Brew some tea. Call your friend Jeeves.
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
I've always wondered why we have Mexican restaurants, Chinese restaurants, French restaurants, but no real English restaurants. I've never had the urge to slap my friends on the back and say, "Let's go English tonight!" Now I can thanks to this wonderful post.
ciao ragazzi,
i'm making cucumber sandwiches numero uno. right now. cucumbers from my garden, natch.
can't find things like onion and garlic powder here. although lea and perrins you come across every so often. just doesn't go with anything tuscan. there's tons of wild mint growing along the road all the better to rinse and shake at a friend.
love this web site. makes me laugh and the info is really good.
ciao,
martha from tuscany
the Telephone Bar is quite anglo-centric, although I don't think they have cucumber sandwiches. More of the hearty pub fare. It's one of my favorites. Also, you could try Tea & Sympathy or the London Bar at the London Hotel. I seem to remember the High Tea at the MoMA having Cucumber sandwiches, but from what I can tell after a quick search it appears I may be incorrect. Anyway, a search for "high tea" and "New York" should find you plenty of options.
all those extras sound lovely- but all you really need for an authentic cucumber sandwich is butter, cucumbers, and bread.
Iwill be opening a Sandwich Shop in centra west coast florida.
Any sugestions, recipes comments you have?
all the best
Chef Bernard
Iwill be opening a Sandwich Shop in centra west coast florida.
Any sugestions, recipes comments you have?
all the best
Chef Bernard
Wow, this is a fun site, I think I will take your suggestion and cut a couple of extra cucumbers for my eyes! My family is english and growing up in the US I often ate cucumber sandwiches that were just cut and put on bread with mayonaise, but I wanted to know how the english really make them, so now I know. Thank you so much, I am looking forward to making and eating them.
Cindy
Well, for heaven's sakes, how come no one thinks anything is worth eating unless they complicate it?! Mix up some mayo, sour cream and horseradish, slap it on a piece of pumpernickel party bread and put a large slice (in diameter)of cuke on it and eat it. It's actually good and simple and uncomplicated.
Whoops! Scratch the mayo and replace with
cream cheese along with sour cream and horseradish for the spread on cukecumber sandwiches. Sorry 'bout that!!
Yummy! Finally an easy recipe! Thanks!
When I was in England, my sister-in-law made Prawn sandwiches. Does anyone have a recipe for that? Thanks
Thanks for the sandwich! I will use it in my upcoming Mad Tea Party, thinking vaguely of you while spooning mustard into my tea. Thanks!
In response to the lady who requested a recipe for "prawn sandwiches", I can give a most simple answer:
Take one good quality can of shrimp, and mix together with some mayonnaise (or, as I prefer, Miracle Whip!), lightly mashing the shrimp as you mix. Spread on any kind of bread you desire – Voila! You have a prawn sandwich…. growing up in Canada we ate them regularly. Hope this answers your inquiry.
Thanks for the recipes. I've been looking for some good ones for some tea parties I have coming up.
http://www.theteafairy.org
http://www.fireandlightretail.com
My husband and I made these for dinner last night. Wonderful recipe. Thanks!
No NoNo No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am English and live in England near London. Proper cucumber sandwiches are Good white bread, good butter spread on the bread and slices of cucumber with a bit of ground black pepper. Thats it. Never seen any of the stuff in the recipes
I agree with Catherine. Real english cucumber sandwiches are bread and butter and cucumber and a pickle of salt and pepper. Thats it – easy peasy.
I just made me a Tomato Sandwich inspired by this post.
Sliced ripe tomatoes and spread good butter on two slices of home-made white bread (soo good!) with a little sprinkle of black pepper and and something called 'Chaat Masala'.
You should be able to get Chaat Masala at grocery stores that sell Indian cooking spices. It has a warm light flavour, almost like deviled eggs.
Was so delicious, light and filling! thanks for the inspiration!
I've been making the "best cucumber sandwich," often, since I found it here! Yogurt can substitue for mayonnaise. I'm glad that cukes don't always mean sliced in a bowl. Another easy sandwich is sliced sweet onions with mayonnaise. Although baking a German Onion Cake (using sweet onions) … yum … Did everyone know that cukes can be cuked?
When I was on the Western Sovereign Base Area of Cypress (the British part of Cypress)The Brits introduced us to a simple recipe. white bread, butter, cucumbers and shredded goat cheese. I usually don't eat sandwiches without meat, but these are great.
Whether not quite "proper English" or not I think these sound delicious and will add to my sandwich repertoire with classical music playing in the background during serving time.
Sharon you said "Although baking a German Onion Cake (using sweet onions) … yum … Did everyone know that cukes can be cuked?"
Please elaborate! Thank you.
Sounds lovely, wikipedia says traditional english versions are done only with butter, and cucumbers sliced so thin you can read a newspaper through them. What do you think?
When I was 8 I remember eating Irish made cucumber sandwiches in Chicago. My sister's in-laws are 100% Irish and were recent immigrants. The sandwiches were more like hors d'oeuvres — they were bottom slice only, butter, sprinkled with very thinly delicately diced onion, and paper-thin slices of cucumber laid over the top. All sliced crust-free and into fancy triangles. They were delicious, I'm sure there was something like white pepper or garlic powder in them too.
I think cucumber and cream cheese together are irresistible. In other words, just like "The Importance of Being Earnest"!
Hello! I just dropped in,searching for a good cucumber sandwich recipe.I will try the "Best Cucumber Sandwich" for my Tea Party/Halloween Party tonight.As a member of the Red Hat Society,we are all about Teas.Just a bunch of us Red Hat Ladies having Tea and dressed for the Season.Wish me luch.
Came to this site for a good cucumber sandwich that had a bit more substance then the tried and true combination of white bread, cucumber, butter and S & P. Although a tad unorthodox from the British custom, this guy's recipe (the non-mint one) is good and once in awhile it is satisfying to experience the food, not just eat it. I'm not knocking the tried and true methods and customs, but sometimes it is fun to steer away from the norm (however brief it may be) and surprise yourself! Try it, you might like it! BTW- I love the "Customary" British cucumber sandwich too.
I was just looking for ideas on how to eat the couple of cucumbers I was given with spices or such so I used what was on hand: cucumbers, cilantro, lime juice, margarine, mayo, onion, garlic, Worcester sauce & salt. That was pretty decent for a veggie sandwich, but I'll have to try this again with all these various recipes, including the simplest one. Heck, I think that even my wife would even eat my cooking this time!
did anyone think to ask what's up with the dollar next to the mint on the cutting board? how unhygienic…
Well, I am sorry, but the best cucumber sandwich recipe in the world was handed down to me by my English grandmother from Devon and it was handed down to her from her mother. None of the recipes posted on the web come near to it. It is very simple. Ingredients: Thinly sliced, plain white bread. Unsalted, preferably Normandy, Butter. A peeled cucumber very thinly sliced, preferably on a Mandolin for consistency. Half a cup of white castor sugar. A cup of Malt Vinegar. Fresh, course ground black pepper. Mix the vinegar and sugar together in a bowl until as much of the sugar has dissolved as possible. Soak the thinly sliced cucumber in the sweet/sour solution for a couple of hours minimum. Spread the butter on the bread nice and thickly then place the cucumber slices on the bread generously (shake off excess vinegar/sugar solution, but do not dry). Apply fresh ground black pepper and apply top layer of buttered bread. Apply pressure to ensure the sandwich does not come apart. Cut off all crusts and cut diagonally. Voila! Ready to serve – THE best cucumber sandwich on Earth!
cucumber sandwich
When I lived in India my dad always bought english finger sandwiches from a special store where it was available. They made it with butter, soft white mouthwatering white bread and tomatoes and cucumber. The wonderful smell of the sandwiches remained in the hand for a long time. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water. I have not found a substitue since. Ihave tried making it. Not the same. We used to also get bun butter jam with soft round bread and the raisin filled black fruit cake! Good memories.
I just found this post, and I thank you for referencing The Importance of Being Earnest as well as posting these delicious-sounding recipes. I had actually just reread the aforementioned play and got to craving cucumber sandwiches, even though I’ve never had one before. But after tomorrow, I will have the mint version in my belly!
I noticed the dollar bills next to the cutting board. Quite a sense of humour. Are you sure that was mint you were chopping?
Ever since I read “The importance of Being Earnest” I fancy so much a cucumber sandwich but never found a real good recipe…all I could find was butter and cucumber..seemed so simple…and not so tasty as in the book…ha im going to make them for the fist time tonite (for a babyshower).
Cheers,
Nazareth from Guadalajara
A tasty variation on the first recipe is to replace the cream cheese with goat cheese and add a bit of minced shallot. Delicious! I also fry-toasted the bread ahead of time with a little butter in a skillet and served open-faced. Sure, it’s not “traditional” but it’s fun to be creative sometimes.
I’m looking forward to trying these sandwiches! I still remember eating delicious cucumber sandwiches in a tiny shop on the street level of the Olympic Hotel in Seattle during the World’s Fair in ‘62.
Surely the money is there because of the picture the centers of the dollars make. It looks deliberate. I have 3 cukes from the garden calling my name and since I am reading some Jane Austen (again); cucumber tea sandwiches sounded great. Thanks so much!
Like many New Englanders, I’m quite partial to all things Hellman’s mayo… whether in potato salad, lobster rolls, or yes… cucumber sandwiches. It doesn’t appear anyone else has offered it up yet, and so I must. It may not have the English pedigree, but I find it delicious, and it is quite common here in Maine: take plain white bread of any sort, sliced thinly (even store bought, pre-sliced), spread both slices liberally with Hellman’s mayo, top one slice with cukes cut to the width of your choice (peeled or not, as you prefer), sprinkle with salt and (if you like) pepper. Press together and eat. It’s only worth eating when the cukes have come straight from the garden to your plate, but then it’s just great.
A tomato sandwich made in the same manner with fresh garden beefsteaks is also lovely, cool, and refreshing on a hot summer day.
Hey Everyone. Thanks for the comments. These were tasty little sandwiches, but as a few commenters have pointed out, they weren’t very authentic. After some research I came up with a new recipe, one that starts with freshly baked pain de mie, in season cucumbers, and some fine English butter. The results are simpler, lighter, and delicious.
Click here for the updated version.
PS: Oh, and to those wondering about the dollar bill…I have no idea why it is there.
I am almost sure the dollar bill is there to show the proportion of the diced mint in comparison to the size of the dollar bill. At least, that is what popped into my mind when I saw it.
My best friend Lydia and I are are making cucumber sandwiches for my “going away tea party”:-) We chose this recipe because it looks delicious…. and we loved the part about shaking water at your friend from the mint leaves:-)
This was so delicious! I just made the best cucumber sandwiches for a high tea my drama class is having, and everyone loved them! I don’t care if they weren’t authentic…. they were still great! I will most definitely be making these all the time
For heavens sake! High tea is a working class meal or something one eats after a hunt and is then called a hunt breakfast, with ham and other heavy victuals- just like highg tea. Afternoon tea is a delicate meal enjoyed with fine cina, linens and siver- and cucumber sanwiches! Cucumber sanwiches are made from hothouse, seedless cucumbers which have been peeled, or mostly so, salted, rinsed, and then refreshed in a bath of iced water, or so my butler tells me. One (or one’s cook rather) then spreads fresh butter on white or brown bread – sometimes, if she is feeling a bit daring she mashes a bit of cayenne pepper into the butter befor spreading it onto the bread. On go the cucumbers, which are not drippy but are firm and top then with another slice of bread and one has cucumber sanwiches- cut into fingers or little triangles. These with a plate of watercress, toungue, and pate sanwiches, some biscuits, a lovely gooey cake and some strong hot tea is paradise to me!!!!!