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The smallest sandwich there is, made of white bread, butter and cucumber, and a genuinely useful lesson in the one problem that governs every cold sandwich: water. There is nothing else in it. If it works, it is because the water was managed; if it fails, it is a wet paper triangle.
Which makes it worth knowing even if you never serve afternoon tea. Everything here transfers directly to caprese sandwich, hummus vegetable sandwich and any sandwich with a raw vegetable in it.
What makes it work
- Salt the cucumber and throw away what comes out. A cucumber is about 95 % water. Slice it thin, salt it, leave it in a sieve 20–30 minutes, then press it gently between towels. You will pour off a surprising amount, and that amount is exactly what would otherwise have gone into the bread.
- Vinegar with the salt. A splash of white wine vinegar during the salting seasons it and firms the texture. This is the step that separates a good cucumber sandwich from a bland one.
- Butter, softened, to the very edge of both slices. Not spread thin — spread properly. The butter is a waterproof membrane and any gap is where the sandwich fails. Butter is better than mayonnaise here because it sets firm when cold.
- Slice the cucumber on a mandoline if you have one. 1–2 mm. Thick slices make the sandwich slip apart as you bite.
- Crusts off, after assembly, with a serrated knife, one clean stroke.
Ingredients
Makes 16 small triangles.
- 8 slices soft white sandwich bread, thin cut
- 100 g good salted butter, properly soft
- 1 large cucumber
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- White pepper
- Optional: 3 tbsp chopped dill or mint beaten into the butter · 60 g cream cheese in place of half the butter
Method
Slice the cucumber as thinly as you can. Toss with the salt and vinegar and leave in a sieve for 20–30 minutes. Press between two clean towels — firmly, but without crushing.
Beat the butter until it is genuinely spreadable and mix in the herbs if using. Spread on every slice, edge to edge.
Lay overlapping cucumber over four slices, one and a half layers deep. White pepper. Close, press gently but definitely.
Trim all four crusts with a serrated knife, then cut each sandwich into four triangles or three fingers.
Notes
- They hold about two hours covered with a damp cloth in the fridge, which is the whole reason the salting step exists. Unsalted cucumber gives you twenty minutes.
- Use an English or Persian cucumber if you can — thin-skinned, few seeds, less water than a standard field cucumber. If yours has large seeds, halve it and scrape them out.
- White pepper rather than black is the traditional choice and it is not snobbery: black specks are visible, and the flavour of white pepper suits the dish better.
- Related small sandwiches on the same technique: smoked salmon and cream cheese (smoked salmon), egg salad sandwich filling cut into fingers, and coronation chicken.
Elsewhere on the site
The formula, the sog rules, and the keeping table: Cold Meals
Ingredients: sandwich bread · cucumber · dill · smoked salmon
Nearby: egg salad sandwich · caprese sandwich · mezze plate · Drink