There’s tea in the sandwiches? No… “Tea sandwich” is a term used to refer to small sandwiches that are traditionally served with English afternood tea.
So, yes, these are mini sandwiches. So dainty. And sexy. There’s something so appealing about picking up a small piece of bread and munching on it. The act itself is so much more beguiling than watching someone bite into an oversized sandwich with sauces and condiments dripping down his or her chin.
Now, how to make these tea sandwiches. How each ingredient is chosen matters a lot. The grainy mustard, the best salami you can get your hands on, slicing the cucumber into slices so thin you can see right through them, and the thoughtful assembly.
Unless you have chef-level knife skills, a mandoline slicer helps tremendously in slicing the cucumber. You’ll be able to come up with uniform ultra thin slices.
Grainy mustard is something you have to experience to understand why it’s notches above smooth mustard. Still, if you can’t get it, substituting plain mustard won’t ruin your sandwiches. What you don’t want to use as substitutes are sweetened mustard dressings. You want the mustard tart because that goes best with the salami.
To assemble the sandwiches, cut off the bread crusts and set aside (you can make croutons or milk and bread pudding with them). Cut each slice of salami into halves.
Spread the mayo-mustard mixture on a slice of bread and arrange two salami halves on top so that the cut sides are parallel to the “near” and “far” edges of the bread.
Take two more salami halves and arrange so that the cut sides are parallel to the left and right edges of the bread. The careful arrangement of the salami is so that when you cut the sandwich into quarters, all pieces will have equal amounts of meat. And the salami will be visible from all sides too.
Once the salami is in place, pile on the cucumber slices. How many slices per sandwich depends on you. Just remember that you will be cutting each sandwich into quarters. The cucumber slices are wet and slippery, and if you add too many, it might be difficult to make clean slices.
Cucumber and salami tea sandwiches
Ingredients
- 8 slices white loaf bread
- 8 very thin slices good-quality salami
- 1 cucumber
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 to 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
Instructions
- Thinly slice the cucumber.
- Whisk together the mayo and grainy mustard.
- Cut off the crusts of the bread.
- Spread four slices with mayonnaise.
- Cut the salami into halves.
- Arrange two pieces on the bread so that the cut sides are parallel to the “near” and “far” edges.
- Lay two more pieces of salami on the bread, this time, the cut sides parallel to the side edges.
- Start piling on the cucumber slices.
- Cover with the four remaining slices of bread.
- Cut each sandwich into quarters.
- Serve, savor and enjoy.
