Elegant Egg Salad Sandwich Savoury
Adapted from Dorothy Allhusen’s recipe for Berkeley Sandwiches in A Book of Scents and Dishes
Makes several small sandwiches or two large; yield may be increased by using four egg yolks
prep time: about 20 minutes
Note: I give the measurements for the egg salad mix below, but these are flexible. Please taste as you go and adjust accordingly.
2 large eggs
1 salt-preserved anchovy filet, rinsed and boned under a trickle of running water and patted dry. Once dry, mince it.
1/8 teaspoon Amora or your favorite sharp mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestshire sauce
1 tablespoon sweet butter at room temperature, to amalgamate mixture; more if necessary
4 slices plain white bread
Fresh herbs, to decorate (optional; I used basil blossoms from our garden)
butter, for outside of sandwich (optional; messy but good)
Hardboil the eggs for about nine minutes. You want a firm yolk but not a rubberized one.
Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, shell them, and extract the yolks. Save the whites; see the notes, below, for other uses.
In small bowl, mash the egg yolk, anchovy, thyme, mustard, red wine vinegar, Worcestshire sauce, and butter together with a spatula. Taste for seasoning; carefully add more of whatever you think you need. More butter may be necessary. Take care not to oversalt. The mixture should be smooth enough to spread easily on the bread without tearing.
If you are making two large sandwiches, spread one piece liberally with the egg mixture and butter the other. Close. Butter top, if desired, and top with fresh herbs, if wished. Slice and trim crusts, if wished. Eat.
If you are making smaller, shaped sandwiches, cut the bread first to avoid wasting the spread. (I admit to making this error.) Use biscuit cutters, cookie cutters, or a glass, and cut as many shapes as desired; from four pieces of bread, sandwiched, I got five wee sandwiches and two larger circles: I ate the offcuts. Spread the egg mixture on one side, butter the other, then sandwich. Butter the top, if desired, and add an herb sprig.
The egg mixture may be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated in a sealed container. Do not freeze it. Commercial white bread is indestructible, provided it is wrapped; either refrigerate or freeze.
The elegant egg salad sandwich savoury may be served as an appetizer, a savoury (of course!), a picnic lunch, a lunch lunch, or part of an appetizer spread. As it contains no mayonnaise, it will not go off in hot weather (but take care anyway!) With a salad, it makes a nice light meal.
Notes:
The hard boiled whites may be filled with minced black olives and parsley, chopped up and added to a salad, or filled with home-made mayonnaise and eaten without a second thought. You might also fill them with quality commercial mayo and eat them when nobody is looking, because you did all the work.
The elegant egg salad savoury is crying out for experimentation with better breads and other seasonings.
Citations, because I get my information from somewhere:
Andrews, Coleman: The British Table: Abrams, New York 2016, for history of the savoury
*Boxer, Arabella: Arabella Boxer’s Book of English Food, Penguin Books, 1991, 2012: recipes, history of the savoury, and wonderful recipes. This is a marvelous book. Boxer is matriarch of a famous English cooking family and deserves to be far better known in the United States. Were this not enough, the book cover is designed by Cressida Bell–Virginia Woolf’s niece, Quentin’s daughter. Go look at her site.
**The J. Geils Band: No Anchovies, Please, From the LP Love Stinks 1980
Lyrics: Seth Justman, Peter Wolf, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing, LTD.