Saturday Sandwich 60: English Tea Sandwiches

Years ago people used to have an extra meal around 3-4pm to keep them going until the evening meal. This meal was called Afternoon Tea and consisted of small, light, delicate sandwiches and cakes served with a pot of tea.

The entry in our book lists three types of English Tea Sandwiches so we made them all.

Sandwich 1 - Anchovy Butter and Radish

Chop up 3 anchovy fillets and mix with a tablespoon of butter. Spread over two slices of bread and add a layer of thinly sliced radish. Cut off the crusts and cut into fingers.

Sandwich 2 - Egg and Cress

 Mash up two hard boiled eggs. Add mayonnaise and some cress to the mix. Sandwich between two slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut into fingers.

Sandwich 3 - Cucumber

 Halve a section of cucumber and scrape the seeds out. Thinly slice the cucumber and sprinkle with salt and a dash of lemon juice. Sandwich between two slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut into fingers.

Serve with a pot (or cup) of tea.

These sandwiches make a lovely presentation but lack any real substance. The anchovy one was a bit too salty but was an interesting taste. The egg sandwich was nice enough but a bit too light and delicate. I liked the cucumber one the most because it had a nice crunch to it at least with the lemon giving it a different cucumber taste than usual.

We both enjoyed having a hot drink for a change because we never drink tea with food (or without food actually).

So, in conclusion, these sandwiches would be nice to show off if the vicar was coming round for tea but other than that they're a bit wishy washy for us. :D

Ratings: JD - 2, Emma - 1

Coming up next Saturday - Francesinha