Cucumber sandwich
From Free net encyclopedia
The traditional cucumber sandwich is composed of paper-thin slices of cucumber placed between two slices of lightly buttered white bread.
Preparation and use
Because the cucumber sandwich is usually considered a delicate food, the bread is sliced as thinly as possible. The peel of the cucumber is either removed or scored lengthwise with a fork before the cucumber is sliced, and the slices of cucumber are dried gently with a paper towel before use. The slices of bread are carefully buttered all the way to the edges and the slices of cucumber placed in the sandwich just before serving in order to prevent the sandwich from becoming damp and thus losing its freshness. A few drops of lemon juice may be dashed on the cucumber slices, if desired. The crusts of the bread are cut away cleanly and the sandwich sliced diagonally twice, creating four small triangular tea sandwiches.
The traditional cucumber sandwich is often considered to be of British origin. Modern variants (largely of American origin) do exist, involving cream cheese, chopped dill or spices, brown bread, salmon, and even bread with crusts left intact. One specific American variant includes benedictine, a green soft spread based on cucumbers and cream cheese. British cucumber sandwich purists conventionally frown on these variants.
Cucumber sandwiches are most often served for a light snack or at afternoon tea, a formal light meal served some time in the late afternoon or early evening before the main supper. In addition, cucumber sandwiches are supposed to be served in the tea break at club cricket matches in England. Due to English influence on Indian culture, in India, cucumber sandwiches are popular during cricket matches and weekend picnics. The Indian variant is flavoured with green chutney, and sometimes contains slices of boiled potatoes. In the United States, benedictine cucumber sandwiches are frequently served at outdoor gatherings during summer months as an hors d'oeuvre.
Because of cucumber's cooling nature, cucumber sandwiches are often eaten in the summer months or in warmer climates; in parts of India, for example.
Cultural and historical associations
Cucumber sandwiches contain little protein and so are generally not considered sustaining enough to take a place at a full meal. This is deliberate; cucumber sandwiches have historically been associated with the Victorian era upper classes of the United Kingdom, whose members were largely at leisure and who, therefore, could afford to consume foods with little nutritive value. Stereotypically, cucumber sandwiches formed an integral part of a polite afternoon tea. (By contrast, people of the era's lower working classes were thought to prefer a coarser but more satisfying protein-filled sandwich, in a "meat tea" that might substitute for supper.)
Some writers have attempted to draw out an association between the daintiness of the sandwich and the perceived effeteness of the British aristocracy. Cucumber sandwiches are often used as a kind of shorthand in novels and films to identify upper class people, occasionally in a derogatory manner. In addition, the sandwiches were once considered appropriate delicacies to offer to visiting clergy, in times when such visits were still a common feature of English middle class life. Some harmless satire may be intended in such novels and films, the implication being that Anglican clergy are as limp and ineffectual as thinly sliced cucumber.
The popularity of the cucumber sandwich reached its zenith in the Edwardian era, when cheap labour and plentiful coal enabled cucumbers to be produced in hotbeds under glass through most of the year. With the declining popularity of tea as a meal in the United Kingdom, largely a result of the increasing proportion of women working outside the home, there has been a corresponding decline in the popularity of cucumber sandwiches, but they are still frequently served at teas, luncheons, and gatherings.