What I'm Cooking This Week: Saturday Sandwiches. Patchwork Squares of Childhood Memories
Tracy
This summer my kids discovered the glories of tuna salad, and I was overjoyed. (um, I don't get out much, OK?) Anyway. Considering that it's slightly more nutritious than PBJ, contains a lean protein and is something other than goldfish crackers, I was delighted to add something different to their usual Saturday lunchtime rotation.
Olivia first tasted it a couple of years ago, when she was about 4. I'd tried to get her to sample it many times, but no go. She's much more adventurous when it comes to trying new foods, so I was surprised by this. Heck, the other day at Trader Joe's, she visited the sample station for Moroccan-spiced chicken and couscous so many times I had to slink over and buy two packages just to call it even. She liked her first taste of the tuna, but even still, when given the choice of tuna or any other sandwich fixing, she inevitably chose the alternative.
But one muggy day in June, something clicked and as I was mixing up a bowl of the stuff for me and H., the kids kept dipping in spoons to taste just a little until it was nearly gone. My standard mixture for years had been just tuna packed in water, with light mayo and a little sweet pickle relish. If I was feeling extra fancy, I'd add a squeeze of lemon. The bread absolutely must not be any uppity sourdough-organic-brick-oven-baked nonsense. Only the simplest, softest white or whole wheat bread will do. And it must be toasted, just lightly.
The old standby was fine, but lately I've been recalling the tuna sandwiches of my childhood, often made on Saturday afternoons or summer weekdays after my mom and I rushed to get household chores done so we could watch our "stories" at 12:30. Those sandwiches were different- - richer and somehow more satisfying. Or maybe it was just that they were served with Ruffles potato chips and a glass of REAL Pepsi. During the first commercial break we'd often trot back to the pantry to fetch a Little Debbie's oatmeal creme pie. Hmmm. . .it's becoming more clear why I was in the Husky pants by fifth grade.
Recently I saw an article that touted the return of tuna packed in higher-quality oil and how it was more flavorful and even a tad healthier than water-packed. Eureka! That had to be it. I bought a couple of cans of an Italian variety called Genova, packed in olive oil. The resulting tuna salad was immediately better, but there was still something missing. I asked my dad--what made that tuna salad so special? Was it just because Mama made it, or did she have some secret? He said, "Try a hard-boiled egg. She put them in every other kinda salad, so I bet she used 'em in tuna too. "
That was it- - the egg, combined with the other ingredients including the oil-enhanced tuna, gave my old mixture a silky, lucscious new life. Once again I was transported to my parent's breakfast nook, sitting on a swivel barstool next to my mom, with one eye on the huge console TV in the next room, watching to see if Victor was going to come back after his faked death and marry Nikky, who was by now pregnant with her ex-stepson's child. Good times.
At my house we all have our favorite ways of chipping away at the big tub of tuna salad after it's made. H enjoys it spread on Triscuits. The kids, like me, stick with the tried-and-true and devour it on toasted bread. I like to think that they're building their own new memories of kitchen comforts.
Real Simple magazine has recently given me some new sandwich ideas: grilled cheese with bacon and sliced apple, peanut butter on toast with thin apple slices and a drizzle of honey, toast with melted brie and sliced pear. I can't wait to try them all. But can they tangle with the tuna? It's a fall experiment I'm willing to tackle. H
Hey Dawn! What's your favorite sandwich memory?
we used to stick potato sticks straight up into our tuna fish sandwiches so they looked like porcupines. a challenge to eat, but once you got a bite, it was worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment