Sauteed Swiss Sandwich

Tuck a slice of Swiss cheese between two pieces of thickly b.u.t.tered bread, trim crusts, cut sandwich in two, surround it with one well-beaten egg, slide it into sizzling b.u.t.ter and fry on both sides. A chef at the New York Athletic Club once improved on this by first sandwiching the Swiss between a slice of ham and a slice of chicken breast, then beating up a brace of eggs with a jigger of heavy sweet cream and soaking his sandwich in this until it sopped up every drop. A final frying in sweet b.u.t.ter made strong men cry for it.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Chapter Ten_

Appetizers, Crackers, Sandwiches, Savories, Snacks, Spreads and Toasts

In America cheese got its start in country stores in our cracker-barrel days when every man felt free to saunter in, pick up the cheese knife and cut himself a wedge from the big-bellied rattrap cheese standing under its gla.s.s bell or wire mesh hood that kept the flies off but not the free-lunchers. Cheese by itself being none too palatable, the taster would saunter over to the cracker barrel, shoo the cat off and help himself to the old-time crackers that can't be beat today.

At that time Wisconsin still belonged to the Indians and Vermont was our leading cheese state, with its Sage and Cheddar and Vermont Country Store Crackers, as Vrest Orton of Weston Vermont, calls them.

When Orton heard we were writing this book, he sent samples from the store his father started in 1897 which is still going strong. Together with the Vermont Good Old-fashioned Natural Cheese and the Sage came a handy handmade Cracker Basket, all wicker, ten crackers long and just one double cracker wide. A snug little casket for those puffy, old-time, two-in-one soda biscuits that have no salt to spoil the taste of the accompanying cheese. Each does double duty because it's made to split in the middle, so you can try one kind of cheese on one half and another on t'other, or sandwich them between.

Some Pied Piper took the country cheese and crackers to the corner saloon and led a free-lunch procession that never faltered till Prohibition came. The same old store cheese was soon pepped up as saloon cheese with a saucer of caraway seeds, bowls of pickles, peppers, pickled peppers and rye bread with plenty of mustard, pretzels or cheese straws, smearcase and schwarzbrot. Beer and cheese forever together, as in the free-lunch ditty of that great day:

I am an Irish hunter; I am, I ain't.

I do not hunt for deer But beer.

Oh, Otto, wring the bar rag.

I do not hunt for fleas But cheese.

Oh, Adolph, bring the free lunch.

It was there and then that cheese came of age from coast to coast. In every bar there was a choice of Swiss, Cottage, Limburger--manly cheeses, walkie-talkie oldsters that could sit up and beg, golden yellow, tangy mellow, always cut in cubes. Cheese takes the cube form as naturally as eggs take the oval and honeycombs the hexagon.

On the more elegant handout buffets, besides the shapely cubes, free Welsh Rabbit started at four every afternoon, to lead the tired businessman in by the nose; or a smear of Canadian Snappy out of a pure white porcelain pot in the cla.s.sy places, on a Bent's water biscuit.

SANDWICHES AND SAVORY SNACKS

Next to nibbling cheese with crackers and appetizers, of which there is no end in sight, cheese sandwiches help us consume most of our country's enormous output of Brick, Cheddar and Swiss. To attempt to cla.s.sify and describe all of these would be impossible, so we will content ourselves by picking a few of the cold and hot, the plain and the fancy, the familiar and the exotic. Let's use the alphabet to sum up the situation.

A Alpine Club Sandwich

Spread toasts with mayonnaise and fill with a thick slice of imported Emmentaler, well-mustarded and seasoned, and the usual club-sandwich toppings of thin slices of chicken or turkey, tomato, bacon and a lettuce leaf.

B Boston Beany, Open-face

Lightly b.u.t.ter a slice of Boston brown bread, cover it generously with hot baked beans and a thick layer of shredded Cheddar. Top with bacon and put under a slow broiler until cheese melts and the bacon crisps.

C Cheeseburgers

Pat out some small seasoned hamburgers exceedingly thin and, using them instead of slices of bread, sandwich in a nice slice of American Cheddar well covered with mustard. Crimp edges of the hamburgers all around to hold in the cheese when it melts and begins to run. Toast under a brisk boiler and serve on soft, toasted sandwich buns.

D Deviled Rye

b.u.t.ter flat Swedish rye bread and heat quickly in hot oven. Cool until crisp again. Then spread thickly with cream cheese, bedeviled with catsup, paprika or pimiento.

E Egg, Open-faced

Saute minced small onion and small green pepper in 2 tablespoons of b.u.t.ter and make a sauce by cooking with a cup of canned tomatoes. Season and reduce to about half. Fry 4 eggs and put one in the center of each of 4 pieces of hot toast spread with the red sauce. Sprinkle each generously with grated Cheddar, broil until melted and serve with crisp bacon.

F French-fried Swiss

Simply make a sandwich with a n.o.ble slice of imported Gruyere, soak it in beaten egg and milk and fry slowly till cheese melts and the sandwich is nicely browned. This is a specialty of Franche-Comte.

G Grilled Chicken-Ham-Cheddar

Cut crusts from 2 slices of white bread and b.u.t.ter them on both sides. Make a sandwich of these with 1 slice cooked chicken, 1/2 slice sharp Cheddar cheese, and a sprinkling of minced ham.

Fasten tight with toothpicks, cut in half and dip thoroughly in a mixture of egg and milk. Grill golden on both sides and serve with lengthwise slices of dill pickle.

H He-man Sandwich, Open-faced

b.u.t.ter a thick slice of dark rye bread, cover with a layer of mashed cold baked beans and a slice of ham, then one of Swiss cheese and a wheel of Bermuda onion topped with mustard and a sowing of capers.

I International Sandwich

Split English m.u.f.fins and toast on the hard outsides, cover soft, untoasted insides with Swiss cheese, spread lightly with mustard, top that with a wheel of Bermuda onion and 1 or 2 slices of Italian-type tomato. Season with cayenne and salt, dot with b.u.t.ter, cover with Brazil nuts and brown under the broiler.

J Jura.s.siennes, or Croutes Comtoises

Soak slices of stale buns in milk, cover with a mixture of onion browned in chopped lean bacon and mixed with grated Gruyere.

Simmer until cheese melts, and serve.

K k.u.mmelkase

If you like caraway flavor this is your sandwich: On well-b.u.t.tered but lightly mustarded rye, lay a thickish slab of Milwaukee k.u.mmelkase, which translates caraway cheese. For good measure sprinkle caraway seeds on top, or serve them in a saucer on the side. Then dash on a splash of k.u.mmel, the caraway liqueur that's best when imported.

L Limburger Onion or Limburger Catsup

Marinate slices of Bermuda onion in a peppery French dressing for 1/2 hour. Then b.u.t.ter slices of rye, spread well with soft Limburger, top with onion and you will have something super-duper--if you like Limburger.

When catsup is subst.i.tuted for marinated onion the sandwich has quite another character and flavor, so true Limburger addicts make one of each and take alternate bites for the thrill of contrast.