Cucumber Sandwiches

Storing and Planning Ahead

Under a damp cloth for 2 hours at most. Never refrigerate — the bread goes stale and hard.

How to Make Cucumber Sandwiches

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1. Peel the cucumber in stripes and slice it as thinly as you can on a mandolin or with a peeler.

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2. Layer the slices in a colander with the salt and leave 20 minutes over the sink.

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3. Rinse briefly, then press the slices dry between two clean tea towels until they no longer feel wet.

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4. Toss them with the vinegar and white pepper, and the herbs if using.

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5. Spread the butter on all eight slices of bread, right to the edges and into the corners.

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6. Lay the cucumber over four slices in overlapping rows, two layers deep, and close the sandwiches.

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7. Press gently, cut the crusts off with a sharp knife, and cut each sandwich into three fingers.

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8. Cover with a damp cloth until served, within the hour.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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A Few Pointers

• Salt and dry the cucumber. It is the whole thing.
• Butter to the very edges — it waterproofs the bread.
• Cut the crusts after filling, not before.

Why the Method Is What It Is

Salt the cucumber and drain it for twenty minutes, then dry it. Cucumber is ninety-six per cent water and unsalted slices will soak through the bread within ten minutes, which is why the sandwiches at bad afternoon teas are always slightly damp. The butter is the second defence: spread right to the edges, it waterproofs the crumb. Slice the cucumber on a mandolin as thin as you can — the texture should be barely there, not a chunk of salad in bread.

What to Put Next to It

A pot of Darjeeling · Scones after · A very hot afternoon

Ingredient Swaps

• A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.

Quick Answers

Cucumber Sandwiches Nutrition

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.

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